《Infinite Evolution System Made Me Too OP!》


 Chapter 1: An Ending

    <h4>Chapter 1: An Ending</h4>


    <i>~Whoosh~</i>


    The wind was blowing hard on a certain day in the Yang Sect, as a young boy around fourteen years old was standing in the middle of a wide, messy courtyard, surrounded by hundreds of dark red and yellow eastern-style buildings.


    "Just another day of sweeping..." The boy muttered with a self-deprecating smile stered on his average face, his hands skillfully moving a broken broom around the courtyard.


    -


    This boy''s name was Azmodeus; he had nost name, and for his entire life, he had been working away in the Yang Sect.


    When he was an infant, likely no older than a few days old, he was dropped off at the Yang Sect''s gates with nothing but a bamboo basket to keep him in and a note that said, ''His name is Azmodeus...''


    It has been fourteen years since that day, and he was admitted as a Trial Disciple of the Yang Sect the day he turned twelve.


    Although he wasn''t allotted any resources by his sect, and despite hisck of cultivation talent and high-rank Spiritual Roots, he tried to make the most of his life.


    He had no friends, he had no family, and he had nopanions.


    There were no secret lovers, no girl next door; he had no one.


    Even his fellow elder sect brothers and sisters, along with the elders of the sect, despised him.


    The reason for their disdain? Well, it was because of nothing more than the ''Spiritual Root'' and subsequent cultivation talent that he was born with.


    In the world of Prometheus, power was everything.


    And to acquire that power, one needed the talent to grasp it!


    However, in the case of Azmodeus, he was born with the lowest-ranked and most useless Spiritual Root of all time, namely, the ''Crystallized Embryo''.


    Even the most basic of Spiritual Roots gave the owner the lowest quality of cultivation talent, along with a matching innate ability.


    But for him, he was only given the ''lowest quality cultivation talent'' part...


    Which was to say that he was more useless than even the worst of the cultivators out there.


    And it was because of this inadequate talent that he was essentially abandoned by the Yang Sect in everything but name.


    There were no resources allotted to him, people treated him as thin air, and he was despised by everyone for being weak and useless.


    This was his life as one who possessed the weakest of Rank 1 Spiritual Roots...


    Nevertheless, just like every other day, he walked through the vast courtyards of the Outer Sect, attempting to make everything spotless.


    He did this even though he knew for a fact that no one would thank him or even appreciate him for what he was doing...


    "I wonder where Elder Chong is..." He spoke with a curious tone as he looked toward the Sect Library.


    Elder Chong was the one who gave him his daily menial sect quests, and he was expected toplete at least three of them daily.


    If he didn''tplete three at the very minimum, then he would be publicly whipped in front of all the Outer Sect Disciples and Entry-Level Disciples.


    "It looks like he''s not here today." He sighed as he turned his dull gaze away from the empty Sect Library.


    "Well, they are having that group Sect Gathering Celebration today, so it''s no surprise that the Sect Library, just like the rest of the sect, is deserted."


    After realizing this, he remembered that he was the only one not invited to the celebration of the sect''s victory against the Beast Wave that attacked one of its affiliate towns.


    "Oh well... Just another day in paradise."


    His dejected words echoed out as he continued thest of his daily tasks for the day.


    ...


    A few minutes passed as Azmodeus was just about finished with his sweeping of the Sect courtyards, which spanned tens of thousands of meters altogether.


    And just as he was about to pack it up and head back to his ''home'' outside of the sect, a few drunken figures in gray robes walked into view.


    Their robes had little red badges stitched onto the front of them, and on those badges, there were exactly three green bamboos, which indicated that these disciples were Inner Disciples of the Yang Sect.


    Furthermore, it also went to say that all of them had reached at least the Early Pulse Condensation Stage of the Body Refinement Realm.


    And when their cultivation bases were pitted up against Azmodeus''s, they were five minor realms higher than his Flesh Refining Realm!


    But even in spite of the vast difference in their strengths, Azmodeus simply stared at these familiar faces with a darkened expression.


    "Eh? Is that Azmodeus??" The leading man, with his hair tied into a bun, sneered with a smug and disoriented look on his face.


    "Ahh, brother Yang Cheng, it turns out it really is that piece of trash!" A hunch-backed young man with a kiss-ass disposition fervently agreed with his Young Master.


    "I really don''t like how that one is always looking at me, brother Yang Cheng. Could you pretty pwease do something about him for me~?"


    A girl with a makeup-covered face and a well-endowed body made of 95% stic snuggled up to the leading drunken figure, her sinuous gaze focused on the inexpressive Azmodeus.


    She seemed to have some personal grievances against him.


    Her name was Yang Yun, and she was considered one of the Yang Sect''s untouchable flowers.


    "!!!"


    Yang Cheng looked down at the cleavage that was pressing up against his chest as a lecherous look formed on his face before he turned his head in Azmodeus''s direction, slurred his words, and said, "D-Do you know *hick!* wh-who I am...? Y-You stupid useless trash! *hick!*


    He burped a few times during his speech, as he was clearly intoxicated to the extreme.


    "..." Azmodeus looked at this ridiculous scene with a nk expression, as he could tell that Yang Cheng was barely keeping himself off the ground.


    He expected this to end with him having to ''sincerely apologize'' for his ''rude behavior'' like usual; however, contrary to his expectations, Yang Cheng stepped forward with wobbly steps.


    After making it to a location around five meters away from him with great effort, he stammered, "*hick!* I-I am the son of the Grand Elder! This ma-makes me far better than you! W-What was that!? You wish to fight me, you say!?"


    Yang Cheng''s expression turned enraged as he conjured up the inner strength within his body and directed it toward his fists before shouting, "How dare you im to be superior to one such as I!? M-My woman says you have been staring at her with your poor people eyes, wh-which is uneptable! S-So just die for this d-daddy!"


    "???"


    Azmodeus had no clue what this lunatic was spouting out of his disgusting mouth, but before he could evenprehend what was happening, a fist beyond anything he could withstand was sent barreling in his direction.


    <i>What the hell-!?</i>


    His astonished thoughts were interrupted by Yang Cheng''s fist¡ªcoated in a mysterious blue energy¡ªhitting him directly in the pit of his stomach!


    <i>How is he so urate even while ck-out drunk!?</i>


    Azmodeus''s bewildered thoughts were followed by a great amount of blood pouring out of his mouth as he was sent flying into a nearby red brickyered wall!


    BOOM!


    The brick wall was destroyed in less than an instant, as the bloodied figure of a young boy was seenying up against a few loose bricks with arge hole in his stomach.


    "W-What the hell..." He mumbled through bloodied teeth.


    The light in his eyes began to flicker as Yang Cheng, Yang Yun, and the hunchback walked over to his dpidated figure.


    "!!!" Yang Yun, upon seeing the mangled body of Azmodeus, immediately threw up onto the ground, as she was clearly not used to gory sights.


    Yang Cheng and the hunchback would likely be reacting the same way, but they were far too drunk to even notice the ribs poking through his organs.


    Instead, Yang Cheng walked up to his bloodied body with dazed eyes as he stammered, "T-This is what happens when someone goes against me!"


    After getting out this narcissistic statement, his eyes closed up as he fell onto the dying figure below him.


    Azmodeus turned his pained expression down toward the seventeen-year-old young man snoring on his mangled torso, as he couldn''t believe what was happening right now.


    However, it didn''t take long before the pain kicked in and he epted the reality of his situation.


    "Urrghh...!" He grunted with a look that said he wasn''t willing to show any sign of pain.


    But on the inside...


    <i>F*cking sh*t, this really hurts!!!</i>


    He screamed out within his mind while squirming on the brick wall with the man who did this soundly sleeping on top of him.


    After a few seconds of futile struggle, under the drunken eyes of Yang Yun and the hunchback, Azmodeus ultimately came to terms with his destined fate.


    <i>Th-This is really happening... I''m going to die, aren''t I...?</i>


    Following this thought, the light from his eyes started to fade, as he was close to slipping away into the afterlife.


    But before he passed away for good, he shouted, "...I-I refuse! I''m unwilling! I can''t die!"


    He was unwilling to die! He didn''t care how terrible his life was! He didn''t care that there was no one but himself in his life!


    Every day since the moment he came to learn about cultivation and acquired the most basic Qi cirction technique there was, Azmodeus arduously cultivated!


    He cultivated tens of times harder than all the geniuses in his Sect! He cultivated so hard while juggling his sect duties, all for the sole purpose of bing stronger!


    He didn''t know anything about bing the strongest, but what he did know was that he had to give it his all!


    And that''s exactly what he did, as he spent 12¨C14 hours cultivating every single day!


    Although after tens of thousands of hours of cultivating, he had only advanced from the first realm of the Body Refinement Realm, the Strength Training Stage, to the second realm, the Flesh Refining Stage, he didn''t care!


    He wasn''t cultivating in hopes of gaining instant sess like all the Young Master''s of the Yang Sect.


    No! He was cultivating to get stronger! To make everyone, including his parents, regret ever looking down on him!


    He did everything he was told to do; he was willing to be humiliated by whatever means those stronger than him deemed fitting for him, all because he merely existed.


    There was nothing he wasn''t willing to do in order to be stronger!


    All so he could prove to everyone else, and more importantly, to himself, that he was worth something!


    And yet...


    "L-Life truly is so unfair..." Azmodeus despondently mumbled, a self-deprecating smile ying on his cracked lips.


    He held the hole in his stomach while inflicting more pain on himself in an attempt to keep his eyes open.


    <i>I can''t die here... </i>


    <i>I refuse to die here! </i>


    <i>I want power! I want to get stronger! I want to prove them all wrong!</i>


    A fire was lit in his ck eyes as he attempted to roll the drunken bastard off of him, aiming to find someone who could heal him.


    However, no matter what he did, none of his muscles were responding to hismands...


    But regardless of the unresponsiveness of his body, he tried to get himself up again.


    He failed.


    He tried again.


    He failed again.


    He tried again...


    And after more than a dozen attempts at trying to move, nothing was working, so Azmodeus tried something else as he called out to the two wide-eyed people watching his struggle with shocked expressions.


    "H... Hel..." He tried to call out to the two idiots, but his voice just didn''t have anything left to give.


    After a dozen or so attempts to get out his voice, he realized something that he should have understood the very moment Yang Cheng hit him.


    <i>I''m going to die... </i>


    <i>I''m really going to die... </i>


    <i>Before I even made my mark in this world... </i>


    <i>Before I proved that I was worth something...</i>


    He used the rest of his strength to turn his face up to the star-spackled night sky, and inside his head he mumbled, ''This is the end for me... But for some reason, the night looks a whole lot prettier today...''


    He marveled at the sparkling stars as the light from his eyes faded away forever.


    And just as he vanished into the world of the unconscious, a particrly distinct star shot through the ck nket that covered the world of Prometheus, a star that held untold meanings for the untimely death of the Yang Sect''s only Trial Disciple...

 Chapter 2: And A Beginning

    <h4>Chapter 2: And A Beginning</h4>


    *****


    "...Haa!" Azmodeus awakened in a cold sweat.


    After which, he gauged his surroundings, only to find out that he somehow made his way back into the shed that he stayed in while living in the Yang Sect.


    "What happened?? I''m not dead??" He asked with a bewildered expression.


    One second, he was on the ground with a gaping hole in his chest, and the next, he found himself on his thatch bed with the same rundown shed shielding him away from the world.


    "Did I not die??"


    He tried to figure out what happened during that period of time while brooding over thest sequence of events.


    ...


    A few seconds passed by before he eventually gave up on mulling over it and surmised that it was likely just a nightmare.


    After reaching that conclusion, he got up from his creaky bed.


    Upon getting up, he noticed that he felt a little bit shorter than usual.


    However, after a moment, he passed it off as nothing much and headed over to an austere dresser that held his only set of clothes.


    He proceeded to put on the same pair of ragged brown and gray sect robes he wore every day as a Trial Disciple of the Yang Sect.


    Let alone multiple pairs, he wasn''t even allotted the robes with a single bamboo stick on them that the Entry Disciples wore...


    On that note, there were no bamboo sticks on his robes, which made him the only bambooless Trial Disciple in the entire sect.


    He grumbled over this fact for a second before he walked outside of his thatch hut and headed in the direction of a chicken coop, which was where he began his day by collecting eggs from the coop.


    Like usual, he went to collect the eggs with a loose bambooced basket; however, when he touched an egg, somethingpletely unexinable happened...


    [Ding!]


    [Host has achieved the only prerequisite to activating the Infinite Evolution System]


    [The Activation Process willmence when the countdown from five ends... 5... 4...]


    "!!!"


    He started to freak out after hearing a robotic female voice ring out in his head, as some weird translucent screens bombarded his vision.


    He immediately ran away from the chicken coop in confusion, attempting to find someone to help him; however, he didn''t even make it a few steps before the robotic female voice sounded out once again.


    [3... 2... 1... 0...]


    [Activation process for the Infinite Evolution System will start now.]


    [Host will be knocked out cold until the Activation Process and subsequent Assimtion Process arepleted.]


    [Approximate wake-up date: 30 Minutes]


    [Until then, host...]


    "Wha-!?" Azmodeus wasn''t even able to finish his exmation as he fell face first to the ground, disbelief etched across his face.


    ...


    Thirty minutes passed by, and Azmodeus abruptly woke up with the same cold sweat that he had not too long ago.


    "!!!"


    "What the hell is going on as ofte!? And where is that mysterious voice!?" He asked himself while scanning the lush green surroundings, attempting to locate the existence of any women nearby.


    However, after a few seconds of scrutinizing his immediate vicinity, he saw nothing besides a few startled animals.


    And just as he was about to sum it up to him going crazy and this all being some kind of insane dream, he noticed that his cultivation base had somehow reverted back to the first stage of the Body Refinement Realm, ''The Strength Training Stage''.


    And not only that, but he had failed to notice that this entire time, his body was far younger than it was before, as his hands and his appearance in a puddle reflection were exactly as they were when he turned twelve years old and had just awakened his Rank 1 Trash Spiritual Root, Crystallized Embryo.


    However, despite the weird oddities centered around his body and cultivation realm, the robotic female voice once again rang out in his head.


    [Ding!]


    [You have acquired +0.001 Evolution Essence after touching a Mortal Chicken egg and cloning an atom of its existence before integrating it into your own.]


    [You have obtained enough Evolution Essence to progress in your cultivation!]


    [Ding!]


    [Your cultivation has advanced from the ''Strength Training Stage of the Body Refinement Realm'' to the ''Flesh Training Stage of the Body Refinement Realm'']


    [Ding!]


    [As a bonus for your first use of the system, you have gained 0.1 points in the Strength, Defense, Speed, and Qi stats for assimting a part of the existence of a chicken egg.]


    [Ding!]


    [Your overallbat strength has increased from the ''Lowest Levels of the Strength Training Body Refinement Realm'' to the ''Early Stages of the Flesh Refining Realm'']


    [Ding!]


    [Your cultivation realm has increased by the same amount due to the Body Refinement Realms first few minor realms being based on the strength of your body, which is to say that yourbat strength and realm will be the same until you begining into contact with Qi and discrepancies start urring.]


    [Ding!]


    [You have gained 0.1 stat points in the ''Cultivation Talent'' category!]


    [Your previous ''0.01'' stat in the ''Cultivation Talent'' category has been increased to ''0.1'' through a roundup.]


    [Ding!]


    [You have absorbed the Evolution Essence of a chicken egg and have gained the ability to fart eggs out of your anus as a form of attack.]


    [Ding!]


    [You have gained the Low Common Rank Skill ''Egg Fart'']


    [P.S. This skill doesn''t increase your overallbat strength by any amount.]


    [Ding!]


    [You have the option to assimte the DNA of a chicken''s egg.]


    [If you choose to Assimte the DNA, you have two options, and since the Infinite Evolution System has already taken the liberty to choose the ''Absorb the stats and exclude the Racial Qualities'' option to fully limate the system to your existence, the ''Assimte the Racial Qualities and exclude the Stats'' option will be deemed null and void.]


    [Ding!]


    [Do note that this will be the only time that the host can acquire Evolution Essence from an existence that has not been killed.]


    [To further gain more Evolution Essence, the host will need to kill and kill until no being in existence is able to stand in your way on the path to Infinite Evolution.]


    [Good Luck, Host.]


    The cold robotic female voice unleashed a number ofments and transparent blue screens, as Azmodeus was left in utter shock over the recent series of events.


    "Seriously! What the hell is going on here-!?" However, before he could finish his sentence, a wave of power washed over him, as he could feel not only his power increasing but also his cultivation talent!


    "I''m back at the Flesh Training Realm in strength!? And what''s with my talent improving!?" He questioned while clenching and unclenching his fists.


    His strength had more than doubled from 50 kg of physical strength, which indicated that he was in the Flesh Refining Realm with 100 kg of physical strength!


    Not only that, but his strength had been refined to its absolute peak, and he could also feel that his flesh was refined by quite a sizable amount in the Flesh Refining Realm!


    ......

 Chapter 3: Infinite Evolution System

    <h4>Chapter 3: Infinite Evolution System</h4>


    ......


    "How is this possible...?"


    Azmodeus didn''t even know how to quantify his confusion over what was happening...


    He was cleaning up the Sect grounds when he was attacked by his elder sect brother, ''Yang Cheng''. He died. He came back to life.


    Time was somehow rewound by two years. Some new existence calling itself the ''Infinite Evolution System'' invaded his mind and spouted all this ludicrous knowledge.


    And now his strength soared due to what he assumed to be the system''s doing!


    "..." Azmodeus analyzed all the facts presented to him while sitting on a rock near a stream.


    And after a few minutes of brooding over the subject, he realized what was going on.


    "I''m going absolutely f*cking insane!" He mumbled while looking up at the clear blue sky with an expression that said he knew it all.


    ~Whoosh~


    He felt the cool spring wind blow his long ck hair in the air, as he felt like a Buddha who was about to ascend after understanding the truth.


    However, after a few minutes of not feeling his ascensione, he was ultimately forced to understand that there was no impending ascension.


    And it was also through that realization that he understood that he wasn''t going crazy either...


    "So this is really happening...? Is my life actually turning into a Slice of Life...?" He asked himself with a disbelieving tone.


    His voice was apprehensive and slightly cautious, but when he realized just what this could mean for his future, he practically jumped up in glee.


    "This is what I have been searching for! A way to gain more strength! A way to power! Who cares what sort of motives the being who did this has in store for me?? If they really wanted to kill me, then I''m sure it would be easier than snapping one''s fingers!"


    At this exmation, Azmodeus got up off the boulder, heading toward a nearby turtle he saw crawling near the stream.


    "There''s no point in dawdling around when a way to acquire more strength was given to me on a golden tter."


    Although he wasn''t the smartest boy around, he at least knew when to be grateful and when to make use of an opportunity presented to him.


    In his opinion, it was better than spending extended periods of time denying something that was undeniably happening to him!


    And he further strengthened his resolve to test the theory that this was actually happening by ying around with a few key words, all in an attempt to get those screens to appear again.


    Of course, the keywords did absolutely nothing to aid him in his objective, but they helped him ask a question that would.


    <i>What did that robotic female voice call itself again...?</i>


    He tried to recall what that voice called itself, as he ultimately remembered it before his ck eyes brightened and he muttered, "Open System... Please..."


    He had no clue if this would actually work or not, but there was no harm in trying.


    And luckily for him, a bright blue and golden light shed in front of him.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    <strong>{[Infinite Evolution System]} </strong>


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: 12/62]


    [Cultivation: Early Stages of the Flesh Refining Realm.]


    [Level: 1]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 0.01]


    [Overall Combat Power: Early Stages of the Flesh Refining Realm]


    <strong>{[Stats:]}</strong>


    [Strength: 0.1]


    [Speed: 0.1]


    [Defense: 0.1]


    [Qi: 0.1]


    [Cultivation Talent: 0.1]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    <strong>{[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}</strong>


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations: None]


    ¡ª------------


    "So this is my ''system interface''?" Azmodeus asked himself with a small grin on his face.


    Even though he didn''t understand a single that was being shown to him, when he saw the ''strength stat'', he understood that this was a way to gain more power!


    And that was all he needed to know to be more pumped up than ever as he walked toward a turtle that was sitting by a tranquil stream of water.


    The entire ce that he lived in was surrounded by nothing but lush green forestry and a few small hills, so he didn''t have to worry about there being other beings that could be spying on him.


    After all, no one would be willing toe out to where the lowest of the lowest-ranked new sect disciples lived...


    Even so, he took hurried steps toward the harmless turtle as he was ready to test out this system for himself!


    "What did it say again? I need to kill something and choose if I want to absorb these ''stat'' or ''ability'' things?"


    Azmodeus was positive that this was what the system told him as he walked over to the turtle with a sharp stone in hand.


    "Sorry little guy, but you will have to be the first stepping stone in my path to power," he apologized to the turtle before hurtling the stone in the direction of its head.


    *Spurt!*


    The rock quickly made contact with the soft tissue of the turtle''s head as brain guts sttered the nearby creak stones a deep crimson red.


    Azmodeus looked at this sight with a remorseful expression before his gaze hardened as he clenched his fists and said, "This is what I must do for power."


    It wasn''t the first time he had taken a life and it sure as hell wouldn''t be hisst, so he steeled his resolve and awaited that roboticdy to speak again.


    And he didn''t have to wait long as a robotic female voice rang out inside his head, followed by a few system notifications materializing in front of him.


    BLING!


    [Ding!]


    [You have killed a Mortal Level turtle.]


    [You have obtained 0.01 Evolution Essence.]


    [Ding!]


    [You have leveled up!]


    [Ding!]


    [You have reached Level 2!]


    [All of your stats have been increased by 0.1 for leveling up! (Only applicable past Level 1)(Stat increase per level varies based on power bracket of the host.)]


    [Ding!]


    [Would you like to absorb part of the stats possessed by the turtle or would you like to roll for one of its innate abilities?]


    .......

 Chapter 4: Middle Stages of the Flesh Refining Realm

    <h4>Chapter 4: Middle Stages of the Flesh Refining Realm</h4>


    ...


    Two very different buttons appeared in front of Azmodeus, making it clear that he was expected to click one of them.


    "I am looking for direct strength right now, and I doubt that a turtle could give me much in terms of abilities, so I choose this one..."


    His voice echoed out while his finger had already found its target, namely, the first button that read, ''Choose to Assimte Stats''.


    BLING!


    After his finger made contact with the button, a bright light shed, and his body was enveloped in a low shining blue light!


    A second passed by as he could quite literally feel his strength increasing!


    Not only that, but he could also feel that his speed, defense, and Qi were improving ordingly.


    And after a few milliseconds for the boons to finish processing, he felt that his physical strength had increased from 100 kg to 200 kg as easily as that!


    "This is actually happening..." He mumbled with a slight tone of disbelief.


    Even though he had already decided that he wasn''t merely hallucinating, it was still such a surreal thing to experience a thing like this actuallying to pass...


    Even so, he snapped out of his stupor when he felt newfound strength coursing through his veins and figured that he ought to test it out on something.


    He began his approach toward a ten meter tall tree on the other side of the stream, as he stepped through the knee high water of the creek, making his way toward the base of the tree.


    And just as his body was going to get into a fighting stance, using the only technique that he knew, a few more system notifications appeared in front of his vision.


    [Ding!]


    [All of your stats have increased by 0.1 (Including your cultivation talent.)]


    [Ding!]


    [Your cultivation and overallbat power have moderately improved!]


    [Your overallbat power has increased from the ''Early Stages of the Flesh Refining Realm'' to the ''Middle Stages of the Flesh Refining Realm''.]


    Following these system notifications, Azmodeus opened up his system interface while getting into a punching form, about to unleash hisprehensions over his ''Tiger Barrage Fists''.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    <strong>{[Infinite Evolution System]} </strong>


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: 12/64]


    [Cultivation: Middle Stages of the Flesh Refining Minor Realm (Body Refinement Realm.)]


    [Overall Combat Power: Middle Stages of the Flesh Refining Realm]


    [Level: 2]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 0.05]


    <strong>{[Stats:]}</strong>


    [Strength: 0.3]


    [Speed: 0.3]


    [Defense: 0.3]


    [Qi: 0.3]


    [Cultivation Talent: 0.3]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    <strong>{[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}</strong>


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations: None]


    ¡ª------------


    "My strength has improved by so much! Now it''s time to test it out!" Azmodeus eximed before using his knowledge of Tiger Barrage Fists to strike forth with all his newfound strength.


    WIZ! WIZ!


    Multiple illusory fists were seen flying from his thin figure, as five nearly identical four inch dents were made in the shed bark of the tree!


    "This is beyond amazing!" He shouted with his fists stretched to the skies above.


    He had expected to do a significant amount of damage to the tree, but he never would''ve anticipated that his strength had already surpassed what he possessed in his past life!


    ...


    After a few seconds of venting his excitement, he calmed his nerves and returned to his stoic countenance.


    "I am already stronger than I was when I assume, was two years into the future, but that doesn''t mean I''m willing to call it quits with just this."


    He had alreadye to the conclusion that he was somehow sent back two years in the past, somewhere after the time he was admitted as an official Trial Disciple of the sect.


    This was a time when he had shed his past as a secret Trial Disciple nurtured by the sect and became a genuine Trial Disciple with the awakening of his Trash Spiritual Roots.


    It was a period in time when he was at his lowest...


    But now things were different! He was different!


    And as long as this ''system'' didn''t decide to up and leave him all alone, then he was confident that he could make up for all the time he wasted cultivating for minimal returns in his past life!


    He would be different! He would be stronger!


    That much he promised himself the moment he saw that the system was a real thing and not just a hallucination!


    -


    Azmodeus walked away from the bruised up tree as he turned his head in an arbitrary direction and shouted, "I thank you for this chance, Mr or Mrs System! I promise you that I won''t squander this opportunity to live a better life! This I swear on my martial heart!"


    Bzzzt!


    A light buzzing sound resonated in the surroundings as swearing upon one''s Martial Heart was the same as swearing upon your entire future as a Cultivator, and in more severe cases, it meant that you were betting your life!


    But if he didn''t have at least this much determination, then was he truly worthy of this gift that was bestowed upon him??


    [...] The system seemed to go silent at this deration of his.


    "You don''t need to respond. I just wish to let you know that I will pay back this debt in the future, no matter what it is that you want to ask of me!"


    Azmodues had barely any power of his own, but that didn''t mean his words meant any less.


    [Host does not need to pay the system back. The system is just an extension of the host''s existence.]


    The System''s robotic female voice rang out inside his head, as he lifted up his bowing face and looked at the blue translucent screen floating in front of him.


    His eyes emitted overwhelming amounts of gratitude as he announced, "I will pay you back!"


    [There is no need-]


    "I will pay you back, no matter the cost!"


    [...]


    The system went silent as it was trying to understand how it had ended up with such an unusual host.


    Nheless, Azmodeus bowed at a deep angle for a few moments before he looked up and said, "But until I am capable of paying you back, I will use you to obtain more power. I apologize in advance!"


    After getting out those heartfelt words, he began his approach toward the nearest animal.


    The closest thing he could find in his proximity was a river eel that wasying low in a shallow part of the creek, awaiting its next prey to swing by.


    However, today would be the day that its entire world would get rocked, as a rock quite literally came flying down on top of its head!


    BLING!


    [Ding!]


    [You have killed a Mortal Level creature!]


    [Ding!]


    [You have obtained 0.01 Evolution Essence!]


    ......

 Chapter 5: Prometheus Cultivation Realms

    <h4>Chapter 5: Prometheus Cultivation Realms</h4>


    .......


    After the first few system notifications, Azmodeus clicked the option that said, ''Choose to Absorb Stats''.


    Following the clicking of that button...


    BLING!


    [You have obtained 0.1 Stats in all of your basic attributes!]


    [Ding!]


    [Your overallbat power and cultivation have moderately improved!]


    [Your overallbat power and cultivation have increased from the ''Middle Stages of the Flesh Refinement Realm'' to ''Nearing the Late Stages of the Flesh Refinement Realm'']


    Following these system notifications, Azmodeus felt another wave of power rush over him, as he wasted no time and continued his hunt, aiming to reach Level 3!


    ...


    A few minutes passed by as he was ultimately able to kill another four creatures that lived in the forest around his ''house'', namely, a small yellow bird, two lizards, and a frog.


    All of which allotted him the exact same amount of stat points upon choosing to absorb their stats.


    And at the moment he finished off the frog, a few system notifications rang out.


    BLING!


    [Ding!]


    [You have obtained a total of 0.05 Evolution Essence and have achieved the total amount needed to level up!]


    [Ding!]


    [You have leveled up!]


    [You have reached Level 3.]


    [All of your basic attributes have increased by 0.1 points!]


    [Ding!]


    [Your overallbat power and cultivation have tremendously increased!]


    [Both your overallbat power and cultivation have increased from the ''Middle Stages of the Flesh Refining Realm'' to the ''Peak Stages of the Flesh Refining Realm'']


    After these system notifications sounded out, another wave of power washed over Azmodeus as it started coursing through his veins, increasing every basic aspect of his existence!


    "This means my stats have sessfully reached 0.78!" He eximed, his impassive expression once again breaking.


    After all these years of solitude, he had gotten used to theck of emotions he let show through his facial expressions.


    But after this system appeared in his life, the light was beginning toe back in his eyes, as even hisplexion had dramatically changed from what it was a few days ago.


    Nevertheless, he yed around with his new level of strength, measuring in at 400 kg, as he just couldn''t get enough of the feeling of bing stronger!


    And as he reveled in his strength, he took this chance to look at his system interface.


    He called out, ''Open System'', as a bright light shed.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    <strong>{[Infinite Evolution System]} </strong>


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: 12/66]


    [Cultivation: Peak Stages of the Flesh Refining Minor Realm (Body Refinement Realm.)]


    [Overall Combat Power: Peak Stages of the Flesh Refining Realm]


    [Level: 3]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 0.20]


    <strong>{[Stats:]}</strong>


    [Strength: 0.9]


    [Speed: 0.9]


    [Defense: 0.9]


    [Qi: 0.9]


    [Cultivation Talent: 0.9]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    <strong>{[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}</strong>


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations: None]


    ¡ª------------


    Azmodeus was happy over seeing his new level of strength, but when he saw the amount of Evolution Essence he needed, he realized that he might have to hunt something a little stronger if he wished to keep the ecosystem around his house functioning properly...


    "Maybe I should try to hunt a Spiritual Beast?" He asked himself with a pondering expression.


    He thought it over for a second and decided that it wouldn''t hurt to attempt to defeat a few Lowest-Ranked Beast Minions.


    -


    In the world of Prometheus, there were certain categories that creatures who surpassed the ''Mortal Rank'' went by.


    Monsters and Beasts alike followed the same ranking system to determine just where it was that they stood in terms of the power hierarchy.


    Namely, they were:


    Monster/Beast Ranks From Lowest To Highest:


    [Minion] ¡ú [Body Refinement Realm]


    [Low-ss Soldier] ¡ú [Qi Condensation Realm]


    [Mid-ss Soldier] ¡ú [Foundation Establishment Realm]


    [High-ss Soldier] ¡ú [Core Formation Realm]


    [Low-ss General] ¡ú [Golden Core Formation Realm]


    [Mid-ss General] ¡ú [Nascent Soul Realm]


    [High-ss General] ¡ú [Soul Transformation Realm]


    [Low-ss King] ¡ú [Void Refining Realm]


    [High-ss King] ¡ú [Unity Form Synthesis Realm]


    [Emperor ss] ¡ú [Tribtion Transcendence Realm]


    [Great-Emperor ss] ¡ú [Mahayana Realm]


    -


    Everyone knew of this ranking system, as it was passed around likemon goods from generation to generation.


    However, knowing something and actually experiencing it were two very different things.


    On this note, someone of the Rank 1 Yang Sect would be out of luck if they encountered a monster or beast of the Low-ss Soldier Rank.


    After all, even the most powerful of elders in the Yang Sect had only reached the very peak of the Body Refinement Realm...


    Of course, all of these ancient elders hoped to acquire a way to break through into the Qi Condensation Realm; however, it was easier said than done...


    Even if one scoured thends for hundreds of miles, it would be nearly impossible to find a master in the Qi Condensation Realm!


    However, in the case of Minion-Ranked Beasts and Monsters in the Body Refinement Realm, one could find them all over the ce!


    This was because Minion-Ranked Beasts and Monsters were nothing more than creatures that had limated to the Qi-Rich atmosphere and started their unique cultivation journey''s.


    When ites to the cultivation journeys of beasts and monsters, unlike humans, beastkin, or demon subspecies, pure-blooded Monsters and Beasts advance in their cultivation through the devouring of other creatures.


    Nevertheless, none of that was really relevant for the current Azmodeus, as he was in the middle of a beast hunt, aiming to find something that would give him more gains from killing them...


    -


    "This is where the beast tracks lead, but I can''t quite figure out where the beast is..." Azmodeus muttered with a perceptive gaze before he put his hand to the hand-sized imprints in the dirt, a sudden sh of realization oveing him.


    He searched through the dirt and noticed the most distinctive feature of a baby direwolves'' tracks, namely the slightlyrger padding that they possessed.


    "It looks like a rtively high-ranking Minion-Ranked Beast has taken away the owner of the first set of tracks belonging to a horned rabbit."


    He didn''t see it before, but the tracks weren''t those of a spazzy horned rabbit, but were instead the mixed-tracks of a young Direwolf chasing its prey...


    After understanding the truth of the situation, he brushed aside some shrubbery and saw the two culprits of both sets of tracks.


    There was a two-meterrge Direwolf and a far smaller one-meterrge Horned rabbit. The Direwolf had dark-gray spiked fur and savage eyes, while the Horned rabbit had tannish brown fur with a singr pointy horn spiraling off the top of its head.


    However, of the two, only one of them still had a semnce of life still left in its gaze...


    ....

 Chapter 6: Viscera Training Small Success

    <h4>Chapter 6: Viscera Training Small Sess</h4>


    ......


    "..." Azmodeus watched the Direwolf tear out the innards of its prey, reminded of just whaty in store for those who weren''t strong enough to fend for themselves in this cruel world.


    <i>That was me at one point...</i>


    He recalled a time not too long ago, when he was lying on the ground just like the rabbit.


    He thought about the helplessness he felt when he was in a simr situation, as that was all it took for his gaze to harden.


    His emotionless eyes stared at the Direwolf like a predator who had found its next prey. After which, his thin figure disappeared from sight and silently moved throughout the surrounding bushes.


    <i>This is the world of survival of the fittest... And if I can''t understand that even with this cheat that decided I should be its host, then I am a failure...</i>


    His ck eyes lit up as he whispered under his breath, "And I am no failure."


    Following his self reaffirmation, he sped around to the far backside of the giant wolf and dashed out of the bush he was in.


    Azmodeus didn''t even give the wolf cub enough time to react as he circted the strength within his body, directing it all to his fists before silently enunciating his Tiger Barrage Fists.


    "This is how the world is," he said with a cold glow in his eyes. "So just die and be my strength."


    *Spurt!*


    A hole was sted through therge body of the Direwolf as its organs and intestines were sent flying in every direction.


    Azmodues''s face was painted with the color of the Direwolf''s blood; however, his natural expression never left his face as he pulled out a knife and started sawing off the ears of the Direwolf.


    While he was doing this work, a few system notifications rang out in the background.


    BLING!


    [Ding!]


    [You have killed a Lowest-Ranked Minion Beast in the Late Stages of the Flesh Refining Realm!]


    [You have gained 0.10 Evolution Essence!]


    After these system notifications finished sounding, Azmodeus paused his butchery for a second as he clicked on the option that would allot him stat points.


    BLING!


    [Ding!]


    [You have partially assimted the stats that a Flesh Refining Realm Direwolf possessed!]


    [You have gained 0.5 stat points in every basic attribute!]


    [Ding!]


    [Your overallbat power and cultivation have tremendously improved!]


    [Your overallbat power and cultivation have increased from the ''Peak Stages of the Flesh Refining Realm'' to the ''Initial Stages of Viscera Training Small Sess'']


    After all these pop-ups appeared and the subsequent rewards were allotted, Azmodeus instantly felt his strength skyrocket!


    "My punching strength is now around 900 kg..."


    He could hardly believe it himself, but his strength and cultivation realm had already entered the ranks of the Viscera Training Stages!


    -


    The Viscera Training Small Sess Stage.


    It was the third realm within the Body Refinement Realm, and was one where the cultivator diverted their focus from improving the resilience and strength of the muscles of one''s body, and instead focused on improving the functionality of the body''s organs.


    This was done so as to better amodate the future strength that the cultivator would obtain.


    After all, if one didn''t possess even the smallest modicum of bnce within their very body, then it was highly likely that organs would begin exploding due to the stress put on them by the power contained within your physical form.


    -


    "If I have already achieved the Viscera Training Small Sess Stage, then I''m one step closer to being able to apply as an Entry-Level Disciple of the Yang Sect."


    At this thought, a small smile emerged on Azmodeus''s facial features as he looked forward to such a future.


    However, after getting a good feel for his energy strength, he moved onto his next target.


    He ced the two fuzzy ears of the Direwolf inside a satchel before heading toward the next set of spiritual beast tracks he observed earlier.


    ...


    Half an hour passed by, as Azmodeus had sessfully hunted a total of four Lowest Ranked Beast Minions.


    Namely, there were three more baby Direwolves and one mutated roon beast called the ''Roon Terror''.


    And out of all the beasts one could find in the Strength Training and Flesh Refining Realms, the Roon Terror was definitely one of the most feared.


    This was because these beasts were over two metersrge and tended to travel in packs, with all of the pack being literal savages when it came to the art of battle!


    Though, luckily for Azmodeus, the Roon Terror he encountered was a light red in color and had clearly been ostracized by the rest of its dark brown and white-colored pack.


    Which eventually led to him quickly dispatching of the Peak Flesh Refining Beast. After which, he digested his recent gains while looking over his system interface.


    A bright blue and golden light shed.


    BLING!


    [Ding!]


    [You have killed a Lowest-Ranked Minion Beast of the Peak Stage Flesh Refining Realm!]


    [You have gained 0.25 Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding!]


    [You have leveled up!]


    [Ding!]


    [You have reached Level 5!]


    [You have obtained 0.5 points in all of your basic attribute stats!]


    Azmodeus clicked the same, ''Choose to Absorb Stats'' button, as a few more system notifications rang out.


    BLING!


    [Ding!]


    [You have obtained 0.2 points in the Strength stat, 0.1 points in the Speed stat, 0.2 points in the Defense stat, 0.1 points in the Cultivation Talent stat, and 0.1 points in the Qi stat.]


    [Ding!]


    [Your overallbat power and cultivation have tremendously improved!]


    [Your overallbat power and cultivation have increased from the ''Middle Stages of the Viscera Training Small Sess Realm'' to the ''Late Stages of the Viscera Training Small Sess Realm''.]


    [Your organs have been automatically refined to amodate this strength gain. (Part of the stats you absorb from beings will be stored within the system and used to fill in any gaps that may or may not appear in your cultivation.)]


    [However, it is rmended that the host cultivate himself to fill in these gaps. All so as to not use up any potential stats points that may or may not be allotted to the host.]


    ...

 Chapter 7: Late Stages of the Viscera Training Small Success Realm

    <h4>Chapter 7: Late Stages of the Viscera Training Small Sess Realm</h4>


    .......


    After looking over the most recent system notifications, Azmodeus was reminded of the fact that all his stats were no longer increasing at the same rate.


    It turned out that for the first three levels, he was only gaining so many stat points due to something that the system called giving him ''a little starter boost''.


    However, after he passed level 4 and subsequently made it past the 1.0 stat point mark for each stat, things started to change with each creature that he absorbed the stats of.


    He decided to look over his current system interface to get a better understanding of his new system interface management.


    A bright blue and gold light shed.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    <strong>{[Infinite Evolution System]} </strong>


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: 12/68]


    [Cultivation: Late Stages of the Viscera Training Small Sess Minor Realm (Body Refinement Major Realm.)]


    [Overall Combat Power: Late Stages of the Viscera Training Small Sess Realm]


    [Level: 5]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 1.0]


    <strong>{[Stats:]}</strong>


    [Strength: 2.6]


    [Speed: 2.5]


    [Defense: 2.4]


    [Qi: 2.8]


    [Cultivation Talent: 2.2]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    <strong>{[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}</strong>


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations: None]


    ¡ª------------


    "It seems like my strength is increasing at quite an unbelievable rate," Azmodeus mused after scrolling through his system interface.


    After looking at it over a dozen times since the system activated, he had already gotten used to the insanity that was this Infinite Evolution System.


    Furthermore, there was no use in being so surprised every single time that his stats improved.


    He was a very simple man, as that was just how his life had been for as long as he could remember.


    He would wake up every morning, tend to the chickens, collect some fruits for his elder sect members, and then finish off the day by cleaning up the sect grounds.


    There were few discrepancies between that agenda from day to day, and he had lived an extremely mundane life due to the same things happening constantly.


    It was because of those routine days that he eventually adapted, and along with that adaptation came a rtively nonchnt and aloof persona.


    However, things were different now...


    -


    After looking over his system interface, Azmodeus started walking in the direction of a set of tracks around five hundred meters out.


    If his spections were right, then these tracks had a high probability of being the prints of a spiritual beast in the Viscera Training Small Sess Realm.


    <i>This will make for the perfect opportunity to test out my new strength...</i>


    He was just itching to find another beast that was near his general bracket of power!


    After obtaining more power and a faster way to acquire that same power, he also started to have this odd craving that told him to actively search out anything to fight.


    He had never felt anything like it before, but considering how weak he was pre-system, it was no surprise that he never had the urge to fight stronger opponents.


    But in the end, a cultivator who pursued the peak of power would oftentimes find ''objects'' to help sharpen their des as they became stronger.


    Which in his case didn''t happen until after he became more confident in his power.


    *Tap Tap*


    Soft steps sounded out as a shadowy figure crouched through a few bushes, his fierce eyes honed in on arge bird that went by the name of a ''Cockatoo''.


    It was a beast subspecies of a mutant bird, and possessed vibrant, colorful feathers and a razor-sharp beak capable of cutting through metal sheets.


    And this very beast in the Viscera Training Small Sess Realm was staring down a small-horned rabbit that was munching on some horsetail grass.


    It was looking to sneak up on that swift rabbit and take it by surprise; however, it waspletely unaware of the being behind it that was aiming to do the same exact thing...


    <i>A mantis is stalking a cicada, utterly unaware of the oriole behind...</i>


    Azmodeus quite liked that saying. And it was this very thing that upied his mind as he inched ever closer to the Cockatoo that was getting ready to pounce.


    *Pat!*


    And at the exact moment that the Cockatoo dashed forward, he leaped out from a nearby bush and lifted his sharp rock upwards, striking the Cockatoo across its head!


    "Crackkaaa!!"


    The beast hollered with an anguished and shrill cry, as it seemed like one strike wasn''t enough to take it down once and for all.


    Azmodeus saw the Cockatoo go tumbling due to the force of the attack before it limped up off the ground with an enraged look on its colorful, feathered face.


    "It appears like you''re not wanting this to be easy, huh...?" He questioned with a cold gleam shing past his eyes.


    And before the giant three-meter bird could charge at him and unleash its ''Feather Spray'' attack, he disappeared from view and used his superior speed to run around the Cockatoo.


    He used the surroundings to his advantage, aiming to sneak around therge bird and snap its neck with one swift strike.


    However, it looked like the Cockatoo had already expected such a move from the unknown creature, as it shot its head toward a particr tree and rushed to it whileunching its ''Feather Spray''.


    SHING! SHING!


    A couple dozen razor-sharp red and blue feathers with the thickness of steel were shot out from the top of the Cockatoo''s fro.


    SLICE! SLICE!


    The tree it shot them at was subsequently turned into swiss cheese as the entire thing came crashing down onto the grass below!


    BAM!


    It hit the ground with a loud bang as all the nearby animals ran away in fear.


    The Cockatoo took painful steps toward the destroyed tree as it was looking for any sign of that bipedal creature that had dared to sneak attack it.


    However, when it saw that no one was bleeding out from its devastating attack, it swiveled its head in a different direction.


    But as soon as it noticed something was up, it was already toote...


    ......

 Chapter 8: Punching Strength Over 5000kg!

    <h4>Chapter 8: Punching Strength Over 5000kg!</h4>


    ......


    CRACK!


    A loud cracking sound reverberated as the neck of the once-mighty Cockatoo was twisted two different ways!


    The beast wasn''t even given the chance to resist such overwhelming might, as it fell to the ground with a loud bam.


    And as the light faded from its baseball-sized eyes, a few system notifications rang out inside Azmodeus''s head.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed a spiritual beast in the Middle Stages of the Viscera Training Small Sess Realm!*


    *Ding!* *You have gained 1.1 Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *You have leveled up!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 0.6 stat points in each of your basic attributes!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to assimte the stats of the beast, or would you like to roll for one of its Innate Abilities?*


    Azmodeus immediately clicked the ''Assimte the Stats'' option.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 0.5 stat points in Strength, 0.6 in Speed, 0.4 in Defense, 0.5 in Qi, and 0.3 in Cultivation Talent.*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power and cultivation realm have tremendously improved!*


    After getting these pop-ups, Azmodeus sliced off the talons of the Cockatoo before opening up his system interface.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    <strong>{[Infinite Evolution System]} </strong>


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: 12/69]


    [Cultivation: Absolute Peak Stages of the Viscera Training Small Sess Minor Realm (Body Refinement Major Realm.)]


    [Overall Combat Power: Absolute Peak Stages of the Viscera Training Small Sess Realm]


    [Level: 6]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 4.4]


    <strong>{[Stats:]}</strong>


    [Strength: 3.7]


    [Speed: 3.7]


    [Defense: 3.4]


    [Qi: 3.9]


    [Cultivation Talent: 3.1]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    <strong>{[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}</strong>


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations: None]


    ¡ª------------


    After looking over his system interface, Azmodeus finished up his butchering as he felt a surge of strength wash over his body, increasing his physical strength up to 1100 kg!


    He could hardly believe it himself, but if he were to be pitted against the him who was fourteen years old, then he would absolutely wipe the floor with him!


    He was more than a little overjoyed by this fact, but in the end, his goal was far greater than what he had, so he continued his search for stronger opponents.


    It was clear that the stronger the beast he fought, the more power he gained, and that was all the incentive he needed to actively hunt everything that was worth half its weight in strength!


    ...


    A few hours quickly passed by, and it was around noon in the Yang Sect. At this time, everyone was returning from various lectures and studies, hoping to gain more insights into their cultivation.


    There were thousands of members of the Yang Sect, and every single one of them possessed a strength of the Flesh Refining Realm, while the strongest of them had already touched upon the fourteenth minor stage of the Body Refinement Realm!


    And today, a few Yang Sect Disciples in the Viscera Training Large Sess Stage were heading toward the outskirts of the Sect, aiming to find out exactly where that trash who skipped out on his sect duties had gone.


    -


    "I don''t understand why it is that we have to go out to bring back that waste," a man with his long hair pulled back behind him said with a slightly vexed tone.


    "Can''t we just have useless trash like him executed or something?? I mean, he is still in the Lowest Stages of the Strength Training Realm even after nearly two weeks of cultivation! Does trash like that really deserve to be in the Yang Sect??"


    A man with his hand always on his sword looked behind his shoulder with a cold gaze and said, "You know the rules, so just shut up and let''s get this over with. After all, we still get sect contributions for doing these menial tasks."


    The first man who spoke shrugged his shoulders before responding, "Ai, Senior Brother. Whatever you say..."


    After which, he, along with the stern sect disciple and two others, walked into the deeper parts of the Yang Forest thaty outside the Yang Sect.


    ------


    The Yang Forest.


    A wide forest that stretched on for dozens of miles and covered up the Yang Sect from the rest of the world.


    It made for great cover and added an air of mystique for the Yang Sect, as the Sect itself stood atop a mountain, taking up a small area of the Great Fire Nation.


    The Yang Forest was a source of supplies for all those in the Yang Sect, and most of the Entry-Level disciples and the one Trial Disciple lived out in the forest.


    ------


    In a part of the Yang Forest, thousands of meters away from the main Sect Grounds of the Yang Sect, a boy around twelve years old with slightly above-average facial features was walking back from a bountiful hunt.


    And in his satchel, there were dozens of different sets of spiritual beast ears.


    All of which had been cut with skillful marks at the base of the ears, leaving quite an abundant array of superior-quality spiritual beast parts.


    <i>This will allot me a number of copper coins and sect contributions when I bring them back to the sect...</i>


    Azmodeus was aiming to acquire a certain level of funding so he could obtain some refinement powder to improve his cultivation even faster.


    And to do this, he needed to keep on hunting more spiritual beasts and cutting off more of their ears.


    This was done so he could prove to the sect that he had actually been killing the beasts himself.


    Nevertheless, it had been over four hours since he had begun his hunting of various Spiritual Beasts, and so far, he had killed a total of twenty-two beasts in the Strength Refining Stage, thirteen beasts in the Flesh Refining Stage, six beasts in the Viscera Training Small Sess Stage, and three beasts in the Viscera Training Large Sess Stage.


    And it was through all of these kills that he was able to increase his level to 8 and get all his stats over the 5.0 mark!


    Furthermore, his punching strength had already improved past 5000 kg!


    All in all, his gains over thesest few hours have been utterly insane, and if anyone ever caught wind of this ludicrous cultivation realm progression speed, then they''d surely hunt him down and extract all of his secrets by cutting open his brain.


    However, he already nned on keeping his strength a secret for now, so that was highly unlikely to happen.


    He didn''t like hiding away like a turtle and only considered this as a temporary countermeasure, but in the end, it was necessary if he wished to keep his life intact.


    After all, he still owed the Infinite Evolution System more than he could ever repay, and if he wished to stay alive long enough to pay his dues, then he had to keep it on the down low.


    But unfortunately for him, things didn''t always go the way that one hoped...


    ......

 Chapter 9: Adapting... First Kill...

    <h4>Chapter 9: Adapting... First Kill...</h4>


    ......


    "Knock knock! We are your senior brothers, you piece of trash! Open up!"


    A loud and boisterous voice sounded out from the other side of a small shed''s paper-thin door.


    And it didn''t take much for the door toe crashing down as multiple figures with two bamboo sticks engraved on their robes appeared in the gaping hole of Azmodeus''s home.


    "..." The young boy in question looked at this go down with an apathetic gaze.


    He didn''t very much like rude guests, and these ones were quite the high-ranking ones, so shouldn''t they have more ss than this?


    In spite of these thoughts, he asked, "What are you all doing here?"


    "Is that sas I hear in your voice, you piece of trash??" A young man with his hair pulled down sneered with a disdainful look on his face.


    <i>This waste is only a couple years younger than us, and yet he''s still lingering in the Lowest Stages of the Strength Refining Realm! I''ve never seen such trash in my entire life!</i>


    This young man''s name was Yang Bo, and he was turning fifteen years old this year, making him quite the genius as he had achieved the Peak Stages of the Viscera Training Large Sess Realm within a short two and a half years.


    In terms of the rankings in the Yang Sect, he was considered to be around mid-rank of the Outer Sect Disciples!


    -


    "There''s no need to go so hard on the waste, brother Yang Bo. After all, he has it quite hard! I mean, just take a look at that face of his! And with a cultivation like that, it''s no wonder that he''s such a wastrel..." A man called Yang Ming ridiculed Azmodeus with a ''friendly'' voice.


    "Shut up, all of you. We just need to bring this boy back for punishment. Don''tplicate things with your nonsense."


    The leading man, with a stern gaze, silenced the chatter of his fellow Outer Sect Disciples with a non-negotiable tone.


    This man was called Yang Hao, and he was ranked within the top 30 of the Outer Sect, being at the Absolute Peak of the Viscera Training Large Sess Stage.


    In addition to that, hisbat power had already surpassed his cultivation realm, as he was said to be capable of going toe to toe with someone in the Early Stages of the Altering Muscle Realm.


    "..."


    Azmodeus scanned through all four of the figures who invaded his hut, as he just knew something like this would happen the moment he didn''t go back to the sect for an entire four hours.


    He let out a soft sigh before asking, "What do you guys want?"


    "Only speak when you are spoken to, and you will being back with us to exin your absence of duties to the Disciplinary Committee," Yang Hao responded with a dry tone while making his way over to the boy.


    He was looking to make this a quick and simple job, as cultivation waited for no man, and there was the up-anding Outer Sect Competition, which meant there was no time to gox in his cultivation.


    However, what Yang Hao thought to be a simple job would be anything but...


    And he would figure that out the hard way, as the moment his hand touched Azmodeus''s slightly muscr arms, his vision was flipped upside down!


    "!!!" He didn''t even know what happened until his head suddenly hit the hard wood nked floors with a loud thud.


    CRASH!


    The floor of Azmodeus''s hut immediately crashed through as Yang Hao was nted into the foundations of the hut, causing the entire ce to violently shake!


    "Don''t touch me," Azmodeus uttered in an apathetic voice.


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    And it was in that moment that Yang Hao and the rest snapped out of their reveries as they looked toward the indifferent figure with astonished expressions.


    "H-How could this be?? You were supposed to be in the Strength Refining Stage!" Yang Bao eximed with a tone of disbelief.


    And he wasn''t the only one who was shocked over this situation, as Yang Ming and the other Yang Outer Sect Disciples stared at this scene with their eyes pried wide open.


    "Y-You..." Yang Hao''s seething voice was on the verge of exploding as he was still being held down by this Trial Disciple.


    He was inexpressive the majority of the time, but he hated nothing more than when someone got one over on him!


    "How Dare You!?" Yang Hao roared, his body escaping the tight grip of Azmodeus as he immediately counterattacked!


    And he held back none of his punches, as it was obvious to the other Yang disciples that he was looking to take a life!


    "..."


    Azmodeus looked at the iing fiery fist¡ªa fist that possessed enough power to topple arge tree.


    He was going to just give them a small p on the hand and have them keep quiet about his strength, but that all changed the moment someone aimed to take his life.


    Although he had never taken a human life himself, there was really only one thing that he had been adept at for as long as he could remember...


    <i>Adaptation... For a cultivator to be stronger, they must adapt...</i>


    His thoughts were followed by lightning-quick decisiveness as he lifted up a hand, taking out a sharp stone head.


    Following this sudden movement, he took the stone and sliced the air in front of him.


    *Spurt!*


    Crimson-colored blood gushed out of the neck of Yang Hao, as he wasn''t even given the time to understand what happened before the light faded from his eyes.


    And along with it, something else changed in the eyes of Azmodeus.


    Something started to change, something that bridged the gap between his humanity and something far less human...


    <i>To be a cultivator, one must adapt...</i>


    That was a code that he had lived by since the moment he was abandoned.


    To adapt was to ept and improve. And that was what a cultivator needed to survive in the dog-eat-dog world of Prometheus.


    <i>This is what must be done if I wish to survive... If I wish to get stronger and pay back my dues...</i>


    After this thought entered Azmodeus''s mind, his gaze hardened as he turned his head up from the dead Yang Hao, finding his next targets.


    <i>They will help me adapt... They will help me improve...</i>


    .......

 Chapter 10: Altering Muscle Realm

    <h4>Chapter 10: Altering Muscle Realm</h4>


    .......


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    The three Yang Sect Disciples were still trying to process what was happening when, out of nowhere, a predatory gleam shed in-between the sword-like brows of Azmodeus.


    And that was all they needed to know to realize that they were about to die...


    However, no one was willing to let life slip away so easily, and these Yang Sect Disciples were no exception.


    OOOM!


    They instantly released their inner strengths, hoping to thwart the advances of this freak of nature!


    "Die! Bear Punch Destruction!" Yang Bao shouted.


    "Flying Eagle Strike!"


    "Spinning Circle of Death!"


    They all unleashed everything they had!


    However...


    *Spurt!* *Spurt!* *Spurt!*


    A blood fountain was shot out of each of their necks as the interior of the small hut was dyed a crimson red.


    And inside this hut, four Yang Sect Outer Disciples died with disbelief etched across their faces.


    -


    "..." Azmodeus worked on cleaning up the ''mess'' inside his home while a few system notifications rang out inside his head.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed four cultivators in the Peak Stages of the Viscera Training Large Sess Stage!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 30 Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *You have leveled up!*


    *Ding!* *You have leveled up!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 0.8 Stat points in all of your basic attributes!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 1.1 Stat points in all of your basic attributes!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte the stats of all these cultivators, or would you like to roll for one of their abilities?*


    Following these system notifications, Azmodeus immediately clicked on ''Assimte the Stats'' and a few more pop-ups appeared not long after.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 2.2 Stat points in Strength, 2.1 points in Defense, 2.4 in Speed, 2.8 points in Qi, and 1.7 points in Cultivation Speed!*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has tremendously improved!*


    After all of these system notifications finished ringing out, he called out for his system interface, which opened up in less than an instant.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    <strong>{[Infinite Evolution System]} </strong>


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: 12/75]


    [Cultivation: Absolute Peak Stages of the Altering Muscle Minor Realm (Body Refinement Major Realm.)]


    [Overall Combat Power: Absolute Peak Stages of the Altering Muscle Realm]


    [Level: 10]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 42]


    <strong>{[Stats:]}</strong>


    [Strength: 8.9]


    [Speed: 8.7]


    [Defense: 8.6]


    [Qi: 9.2]


    [Cultivation Talent: 8.2]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    <strong>{[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}</strong>


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations: None]


    ¡ª------------


    Azmodeus looked over his system interface and got a good understanding of the strength he now wielded.


    "These boons are beyond myprehension, and I haven''t even had the system for longer than a few hours..."


    He was overjoyed at everything that he was gaining, but in the end, he knew that his strength was nowhere near what it needed to be if he wished to fully cover up the killing of four fellow sect members...


    Unless he made it to the Early Pulse Condensation Stage and sessfully became an Inner Disciple, it was highly likely that he would be hunted down as soon as it was discovered that he killed four members of his own sect.


    This was all to say that he had two choices if he wished to survive this debacle.


    Option Number One: Give up and hand himself into the Yang Sect, hoping for some leniency on his punishment.


    Or Option Number Two: Head deeper into the Yang Forest and find Spiritual Beasts at the Altering Muscle Stage and above. After which, he would kill them until he bes strong enough to rocket straight up into being an Inner Disciple.


    And if he were being honest, it wasn''t even a question anymore...


    -


    *Step Step Step*


    Soft footsteps echoed throughout the lush greenery around him as Azmodeus took one final look at his home before venturing deeper than he had ever traveled into the Yang Forest.


    "It looks like things have been thrown off track, huh?" He asked himself with a wry chuckle.


    Even after everything was presented to him in such a way, and his Outer Disciple dreams were crushed, he couldn''t help butugh at this entire situation.


    He, who was once the weakest in his sect and likely all of the cultivation world, was now on the run after killing people who he once looked up to and aspired to be!


    <i>Fate truly has a funny way of letting things y out, haha...</i>


    Light-heartedughs resounded in the Yang Forest as a boy who was once deemed the weakest of all cultivators made his way into an area that even Inner Sect Disciples of the Yang Sect tended to steer away from.


    ------


    The Altering Muscle Minor Stage of the Body Refinement Realm (5th Minor Realm of 14).


    This stage was one in which the cultivator would stop refining their organs and instead focus back on the muscles of the body.


    Everything on the path of a cultivator was filled with bnce, and after two minor realms focused almost entirely on improving the fortitude of the organs, it was once again time to find bnce.


    The Altering Muscle Stage was one of the most well-known stages in the Body Refinement Realm, mainly because of its affect on bncing various aspects of existence.


    ------


    "Where is it...?"


    Azmodeus''s voice sounded out in a low tone as he was trying to find an Altering Muscle Realm Spiritual Beast in the depths of the Yang Forest.


    A few seconds passed, and just as he was about to give up on locating the Shadow Panther that escaped him a little bit ago, a shadowy figure leaped out from a few nearby bushes!


    "Rawrrghh!!" The Shadow Panther roared with its razor-sharp fangs bared in the direction of a young boy.


    "Ahh... There you are..."


    Azmodeus''s fierce eyes suddenly shot in the direction of the beast as he pulled out a sword and cut upward!


    SLICE!


    "Arrgghh...!


    An anguished cry sounded before the four-meter-long beast was cut into two separate bloody pieces.


    *Bam!*


    Both evenly cut parts of the Shadow Panthernded on the grassy ground with a loud thud!


    Following the splitting and subsequent defeat of the Shadow Panther, a few system notifications rang out inside Azmodeus''s head.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed a Spiritual Beast in the Middle Stages of the Altering Muscle Stage!*


    *Ding!* *You have gained 35 Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *You have leveled up!*


    *Ding!* *All of your basic attributes have increased by 1.5 Points!*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has once again taken a massive leap!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte part of the Stats of the beast or roll for one of its abilities?*


    .....

 Chapter 11: Bone Forging Realm

    <h4>Chapter 11: Bone Forging Realm</h4>


    .....


    After thest system notification rang out, Azmodeus, for the first time since he acquired the system, decided that he would like to roll for an ability.


    So he did just that as he clicked the option that said, ''Roll for one of the abilities of the beast.''.


    A bright blue and golden light shed following the pressing of the button!


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *This beast possesses a total of two different innate abilities! Are you sure you would like to roll with a 50/50 chance for either ability?*


    *Ding!* *Yes/No*


    Azmodeus clicked yes.


    After confirming his choice, a roulette started to spin, and on that roulette, there were two triangle shaped options, with one option saying, ''Stealth'' and the other option saying, ''Super Strength''.


    As much as he would like the Super Strength ability, the one that was most useful was...


    *Ding!* *You havended on the ''Stealth'' Ability!"


    *Ding!* *The Stealth Ability will be added to your ''Special Trait'' section and will have a level indicator to the side of it. In addition, there will be a rank indicator right beside it!*


    *Ding!* *All future Evolution Essence will be transmitted to a segment in the Infinite Evolution System, namely, the ''Evolution Essence Bank''.*


    *Ding!* *The Evolution Essence Bank is a part of the System that is used to store all Evolution Essence! It is there so you can allocate your Evolution Essence however you so choose!*


    *Ding!* *You can now use Evolution Essence to level up Abilities, their skill ranks, and their levels!*


    *Ding!* *Choose carefully how you wish to allocate your Evolution Essence because refunds don''te cheap!*


    After all of these system notifications sounded out, Azmodeus instantly opened up his system interface with clear glee in his expression.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    <strong>{[Infinite Evolution System]} </strong>


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: 12/82]


    [Cultivation: Middle Stages of the Bone Forging Minor Realm (Body Refinement Major Realm.)]


    [Overall Combat Power: Middle Stages of the Bone Forging Realm]


    [Level: 13]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 125]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 0]


    <strong>{[Stats:]}</strong>


    [Strength: 16]


    [Speed: 15]


    [Defense: 14]


    [Qi: 18]


    [Cultivation Talent: 13]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    <strong>{[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}</strong>


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Stealth - Level 0] (J Rank)] ¡ú [0/10]


    [Brief Reminder! All stat points will be rounded up to the nearest whole number from this moment onwards! Actual stats may vary between whole numbers so don''t take them at face value!]


    ¡ª------------


    "Th-This is..." Azmodeus could hardly believe what he was seeing!


    His strength and not only spiked up to the Middle Bone Forging Realm, but he now had a special Trait!


    <i>This system is too OP... How have I never heard of powerful Mahayana Realm Cultivators having something like this? Since they are the strongest, then naturally it would have to be one of them who bestowed this system to me.</i>


    <i>Right...?</i>


    He wasn''t too keen on the origins of the system, and he had tried asking a number of times; however, every time he asked, the system would just respond with something like, ''The Host does not meet the necessary requirements to know the origin of the System. Please continue evolving to understand more!''.


    It was quite obvious that the Infinite Evolution System was trying to divert his focus away from the topic, but it wasn''t like Azmodeus didn''t want to get stronger, so he didn''t really care...


    Nevertheless, with his ability function fully activated, he now had a way to increase his overallbat power even further!


    However, he had to acquire some more Evolution Essence if he wished to get the skill to a usable level, so that''s what he started working on.


    ...


    Half a minuteter, a Viscera Training Large Sess Spiritual Beasty on the ground with half its monkey head sliced off the base!


    "This sword I picked up from those generous seniors is quite to my liking," Azmodeus mused while wiping off the greenish-red blood on his de.


    His sword was nothing special with an average sleek design and wasn''t even considered a Treasured Weapon, but it was still sharp enough to be used by those in the Viscera Training to Bone Forging Stages.


    And for him, that was good enough, as he figured he would acquire better items when he climbed his way through the ranks of the Yang Sect.


    While he was deep in thought, a few system notifications rang out in the background.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed a Spiritual Beast in the Peak Stages of the Viscera Training Large Sess Realm!*


    *Ding!* *You have gained 10 Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte or roll for a skill?*


    Azmodeus clicked on the Assimte option as a wave of power rushed over him before a couple more system notifications appeared not long after.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have gained 0.4 Stat points in Strength, 0.3 points in Speed, 0.4 points in Defense, 0.5 points in Qi, and 0.2 points in Cultivation Talent.*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has slightly improved!*


    After these system notifications rang out, Azmodeus decided to open up his system interface to dump his Evolution Essence into his Stealth Skill.


    And after tapping the [0/10] button a total of ten times, there was an abrupt change in the System Interface!


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    <strong>{[Infinite Evolution System]} </strong>


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: 12/82]


    [Cultivation: Middle Stages of the Bone Forging Minor Realm (Body Refinement Major Realm.)]


    [Overall Combat Power: Middle Stages of the Bone Forging Realm]


    [Level: 13]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 125]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 10 ¡ú 0]


    <strong>{[Stats:]}</strong>


    [Strength: 16]


    [Speed: 15]


    [Defense: 14]


    [Qi: 18]


    [Cultivation Talent: 13]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    <strong>{[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}</strong>


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Stealth - Level 1] (J Rank)] ¡ú [10/10] ¡ú [Level Up!]


    ¡ª------------


    "This is amazing..." Azmodeus mumbled, as he could already feel a certain power coursing through his veins, ready to be unleashed as soon as he gave themand.


    And this power didn''t have to wait very long at all, as he took a moment to understand how the Ability worked before he called ''Stealth'' inside his head.


    Bzzzt...


    Following thismand, a pitch ck energy was released from his body as it enveloped his 5''7 figure!


    And after this energy fully covered him, he seemed to fade away from sight as his body blended in with the shadows of his surroundings.


    <i>This will make for quite an addition to my arsenal of Jack Diddly Squat, haha!</i>


    Heughed a little at hispleteck of techniques and abilities, as even his ''Tiger Barrage'' Fists was a lowest-ranked Common Technique with aprehension level barely worth mentioning.


    After all, he was not only born with the lowest-ranked Spiritual Roots and cultivation talent, but he was also given the crappiestprehension speed imaginable...


    On that note, even after two years of cultivating his ''Tiger Barrage Fists'' as much as humanly possible, it had only reached the earliest stages of the Beginner Proficiency stage, while most with the same amount of effort would''ve already made it to the Minor Proficiency stage.


    This was all to say that Azmodeus was given absolutely every bad card imaginable!


    But sometimes, fate had a way of bncing things out, as karma was always fair in what it gave to those within its scope.


    And in this case, it had given out the Infinite Evolution System!


    ......

 Chapter 12: Killing Early Pulse Condensation Realm Assassins

    <h4>Chapter 12: Killing Early Pulse Condensation Realm Assassins</h4>


    ......


    A few more hours passed by as Azmodeus continued his hunt for more Spiritual Beasts.


    So far, he had killed hundreds of beasts in the Strength Refining and Flesh Refining Stages, dozens in the Viscera Training Small Sess and Large Sess Stages, and nearly ten beasts in the Altering Muscle Stage.


    On the other hand, he had only found one Spiritual Beast in the Bone Forging Stage.


    It was a big bear over five meters tall and utterly towered over him, but its massive size didn''t stop a sword and a rock from pping across its head!


    And from all this killing that had been conducted, Azmodeus had obtained hundreds of Evolution Essence, and it was at this moment that he felt a few presences not belonging to those of beasts.


    Bzzzt...


    His Stealth Trait immediately activated as he hid up on top of a tree branch within a few dozen meters of the ground.


    The moment he settled down, a few figures in ck cloaks emerged from a nearby area of shrubbery.


    There were a total of five of these cloaked figures, and all of them had rtivelyrge frames¡ªclearly not your typical assassins.


    <i>I mean, these guys are assassins, right? Just one look at their getup and that much is clear...</i>


    Although Azmodeus had never seen an assassin in person, after the constant hounding of Elder Chong to allow him ess to the lowest levels of the Sect Library, he was permitted to read a few books that mentioned them.


    However, what confused him about this situation was that these ''Assassins'' were clearly looking for him, and all their cultivation bases were somewhere around the Early Pulse Condensation Stages.


    <i>To send four Early Pulse Condensation Assassins after me... Did I reallymit such a crime to be deserving of this...?</i>


    <i>Well, I did kill a few sect members, but they forced my hand! How can I be med for a small thing like that??</i>


    Azmodeus felt like he was being unjustly treated by the sect!


    However, he soon had a change of mind when he saw the tiger emblems stitched onto the cloaks that these four men were wearing.


    <i>The ck Tiger Family...? But why would they be searching for me- Oh wait, that Yang Hao guy was a Young Master of this household, wasn''t he?</i>


    Azmodeus seemed to remember hearing something about Yang Hao bing the rising star of his past life, as he had sessfully achieved the Bone Forging Realm by the age of 19!


    And to have such talent in this part of the Fire Nation, one had to either be extremely lucky or have quite an affluent family.


    Which, in the case of Yang Hao, his family was absolutely loaded!


    In all of Spirit River City, the ck Tiger Family was firmly nted within the top 10!


    The number of experts they had at their beck and call likely numbered in the thousands, and of those, at least 10 had already approached the peak of the Body Refinement Realm!


    -


    <i>It looks like I brought quite the troublesome situation to myself...</i>


    Even though Azmodeus was thinking things like this, there was a wide grin stered on his face, as he was truly bing addicted to the feeling of bing stronger.


    And what allowed him to be stronger faster than ever?


    <i>Walking loot bags... That is all they are...</i>


    Following this train of thought, his figure blurred as he used his Level 2 Stealth Skill to sneak around the four figures scouring the area for any traces of their target.


    Luckily for Azmodeus, all of them were focused on the same general area, which allowed him to get behind the four of them with skillful movements.


    He didn''t make even the slightest sound as he unsheathed his sword and dashed straight for the throat of thergest and strongest of the Assassins!


    <i>Adaptation... To evolve, one must be willing to throw away their humanity... One must be ruthless...</i>


    Through these thoughts, a razor-sharp sword edge touched the back of a human''s neck and sliced it clean off.


    <i>One.</i>


    And just as the other three were about to realize that something was off, Azmodeus struck preemptively and leaped up off the ground like a nimble jumping monkey, his sword aiming for the head of the second cloaked man!


    SLICE!


    <i>Two.</i>


    After making such a clean strike to the back of that man''s head, he moved onto the next assassin in sight.


    "!!!" "!!!"


    And by this point, the two who were left alive had already noticed the disturbance, as they shot their heads behind them.


    Azmodeus was nowhere to be seen, but...


    "Brother Bo and Brother Ming!" Both of the assassins shouted with enraged expressions as they saw two headless corpses sprawled out on the cold, hard ground.


    They wished to find whoever was messing with them and kill them right away!


    However, when they looked around the area, they saw no one... Not a single trace of an existence could be discerned from the deaths of their two brothers.


    "Find that slimy bastard! When you find him, make sure to keep him alive so we can give him the most painful death imaginable!"


    After one of the two remaining assassins gave thismand, the both of them split up and dashed in two different directions.


    And such a rash decision to split up would be their downfall...


    -


    *Rustle!*


    A slight rustling sounded from a nearby bush as one of the assassins darted in that direction with his dagger in tow!


    "I found him, brother Yao! I will cripple him first!" He hollered with the sharp end of his dagger slicing at the bush in front of him.


    "!!!"


    However, after the bush was sliced up into dozens of pieces and the ground was diced up into x-like marks, there was no one there...


    "How-!?" He tried to speak, but he was interrupted by a sword gleam hitting him from the side!


    *Spurt!*


    "Gurg-!!..." The assassin gurgled on his own blood as his widened eyes caught a glimpse of an emotionless face staring at him like nothing more than mere cattle...


    <i>Three.</i>


    As system notifications were going off in the background, Azmodeus felt the thrill of a well-thought-out battle and couldn''t help but think that it was just as good as fighting someone head on!


    ......

 Chapter 13: Killing and More Leveling!

    <h4>Chapter 13: Killing and More Leveling!</h4>


    ......


    <i>It seems like this Stealth Skill makes me a natural-born assassin...</i>


    Azmodeus had realized this a couple hours ago, but after obtaining the Stealth Skill, everything from his cunningness to his fighting style had started to change.


    <i>Are there more to these ''Traits'' than meets the eye, or am I just imagining things...?</i>


    He started to ponder the matter concerning his slight changes before he suddenly felt the presence of thest assassin nearing his location.


    After feeling the assassin rush toward his location at an insane speed, Azmodeus dashed toward the lush green trees.


    It didn''t take long before he once again found himself atop a tall tree.


    And as soon as he made it up there and went deathly silent, stopping most of his bodily functions, thest Early Pulse Condensation Stage Assassin approached the body of thest of his brother''s.


    "Arrgghh!!! Just wait until I find you, you son of a b*tch!! I''ll capture you and then slice you up into a million different pieces before scattering your corpse throughout the Yang Forest!"


    The Assassin''s sorrow-filled screams could be heard from thousands of meters away, drawing many powerful beasts to their location due to the noise.


    -


    <i>As much as I feel bad about killing this guy''s brothers, this is life, and I only kill those who have attempted to kill me... </i>


    <i>Adaptation and Evolution... If I wish to survive, I have to know when to not let emotions get involved...</i>


    Azmodeus''s thoughts swirled around inside his head, as he had already disappeared from his spot on the tall tree, his nimble frame sliding throughout the forest terrain.


    There was no better time to take advantage of someone than when their emotions were spiraling and their guards were lowered.


    And in this situation, the deaths of all of his brothers caused thest assassin to enter a state of deep, mindless grief.


    *Pat!*


    Azmodeus jumped atop a short tree as he leaped over it and made a quiet slide.


    Following these discrete actions, silence deafened the forest...


    *Spurt!*


    However, that silence was swiftly broken by the gushing sound of crimson blood!


    <i>Four.</i>


    The counting hade to an end as Azmodeus deactivated his Stealth Ability and came back to the world of the seen.


    And around him, there were four assassins scattered throughout this section of the Yang Forest.


    However, despite the bloody scene before him, he quickly moved toward all the gruesome corpses and picked up everything of value.


    Of which, he had found not only a few Low level Common-Rank Daggers, but also a few thousand Copper Coins!


    <i>These guys were quite rich, eh?</i>


    <i>A few thousand Copper Coins are enough for one to livefortably for months in Spirit River City, and these guys just had it lying around with them...</i>


    At this thought, Azmodeus suddenly remembered that he forgot to loot the bags of the Young Master and his fellows when they came to take him away.


    <i>Damn it! How could I be so stupid!? Just imagine all the money and items I missed out on!</i>


    The only thing he had taken was a sword, which at the time seemed like the smartest choice, but now he couldn''t help but feel that he was an absolute idiot!


    <i>Sigh...</i>


    He let out a soft sigh before dashing away from the scene, as a few beasts beyond his capabilities were headed straight for him.


    And as he made his swift escape, he took the chance to scan over the various system notifications that he had ignored during his fight with the four assassins.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed four Cultivators in the Early Stages of the Early Pulse Condensation Stage!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 1,200 Evolution Essence!*


    After receiving these notifications, Azmodeus decided to put all of his Evolution Essence into leveling up, as his Stealth Skill was still good at Level 2, and Level 3 required him to use 1000 Evolution Essence, so he''d rather not spend that much if not necessary.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have leveled up!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 2.5 Stat points in all of your basic attributes!*


    *Ding!* *You have leveled up!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 3 Stat points in all of your basic attributes!*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has tremendously improved!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to take out your ''Egg Fart'' skill from storage or convert it to Evolution Essence?*


    "!!!"


    Azmodeus didn''t even need half a second to decide what he wanted to do after seeing thest pop-up, as he immediately clicked ''Convert to Evolution Essence''!


    Just imagining the embarrassment he would feel after using such a ridiculous ability was enough to have him crawl into a hole and bury himself alive!


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 1 Evolution Essence after disassimting your ''Egg Fart'' Trait!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained a bonus of 1000 Evolution Essence for disassimting your first Trait!*


    After acquiring anotherrge sum of Evolution Essence, Azmodeus dumped it all into his level.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have leveled up!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 3.5 Stat Points for all of your basic attributes!*


    *Ding!* *All of your stats have sessfully crossed the 25-point threshold and have thus allowed your strength to skyrocket straight into the Early Pulse Condensation Stage!*


    "!!!"


    Azmodeus felt a wave of power wash over him, as his strength had just crossed a point where he could be considered someone quite strong among the Inner Disciples of the Yang Sect.


    Unbeknownst to him, he had already surpassed the strength that Yang Cheng possessed in his past life!


    "I can''t believe that my strength has already reached such a point... And this is merely after around half a day of using the system..."


    He had disbelief etched across his face, as he had no clue what he had done in his past life to deserve such fortune!


    *Bang!*


    He suddenly paused in his tracks after getting far enough away and smacked his head to the ground with an extremely grateful expression on his face as he shouted, "Thank you very much, Infinite Evolution System! I promise to pay this favor back a thousandfold! Just wait until that day, and I promise you won''t regret it!"


    *...* The system went silent at such an earnest promation.


    *There is no need for the host-*


    "I promise to pay you back!" Azmodeus interjected.


    *Host, there is no point-*


    "Don''t worry! I will give you back everything you gave me and more!"


    *...*


    .....

 Chapter 14: The Yang Sect

    <h4>Chapter 14: The Yang Sect</h4>


    .....


    Half a day passed since Azmodeus ''took care'' of the Assassins sent by the ck Tiger Family, and since then, he had not taken a single break, as even sleep became a lot less necessary after reaching the Early Pulse Condensation Stage.


    And it was at the moment that a full day had passed since the system came into his life that he decided to open up his system interface to see how much had changed.


    A bright blue and golden light shed!


    BLING!


    <strong>{[Infinite Evolution System]} </strong>


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: 12/88]


    [Cultivation: Absolute Peak Stages of the Early Pulse Condensation Minor Realm (Body Refinement Major Realm.)]


    [Overallbat power: Absolute Peak Stages of the Early Pulse Condensation Minor Realm]


    [Level: 19]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 1,500]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 600]


    <strong>{[Stats:]}</strong>


    [Strength: 36]


    [Speed: 35]


    [Defense: 34]


    [Qi: 38]


    [Cultivation Talent: 32]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    <strong>{[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}</strong>


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Stealth - Level 3] (J Rank)] ¡ú [0/10,000]


    ¡ª------------


    "Everything is looking good so far. Furthermore, I can feel that my cultivation is beginning to approach the Middle Pulse Condensation Stage."


    A small smile formed on Azmodeus''s slightly handsome face as he scanned through all of his recent gains and once again emitted immense gratitude toward the system that made this all possible.


    -----


    The Bone Forging, Early Pulse Condensation, Middle Pulse Condensation, Late Pulse Condensation, and Peak Pulse Condensation Stages.


    In the Bone Forging Stage, the cultivator was required to refine and improve the fortitude of one''s bones through various uses.


    Of which, one could use Bone Refining Powder concocted by an alchemist, or they could temper their bones the old-fashioned way, otherwise known as ''Beating the sh*t out of yourself until you make or break!''.


    On the other hand, the Early through Peak Pulse Condensation Stages were the realms in which one started to prepare for their advancement into the Qi Condensation Realm.


    This was because the Pulse Condensation Stages were where one had to activate and fill up these things called meridians inside the body, specifically across your entire physical form.


    After filling up 27 Meridians, you would have made it to the peak of the Early Pulse Condensation Stage.


    Upon lighting up your 28th Meridian, you would have broken through into the Middle Pulse Condensation Stage.


    55 through 81 was for the Late Pulse Condensation Stage, while 82¨C108 was for the Peak Pulse Condensation Stage.


    And in Azmodeus''s case, he was able to fill up his meridians with a little assistance from the system.


    He had already stopped only relying on the Infinite Evolution System for everything cultivation-rted, as it repeatedly reminded him to solidify and improve things himself.


    After all, he was given the ''Cultivation Talent'' stat for a reason.


    In fact, it was because of this stat that his cultivation speed had improved by leaps and bounds as opposed to his speed pre-system!


    So that was to say that Azmodeus was able to cultivate far faster than he could before! Hundreds of times faster!


    And in less than a few hours of trying things out for himself, along with the systemying down the foundations, he was able to acquire a perfect cultivation base with 27 of his Meridians having been filled!


    -----


    "This is a good time to begin heading back toward the Sect." Azmodeus spoke with furrowed brows as he looked down at the dozens of beast corpses he sat atop.


    After hunting in this forest for thest period of time, most of the Spiritual Beasts had already memorized his face and ran away upon contact.


    Which ultimately led to quite the hassle when it came to acquiring more Evolution Essence.


    So in the end, he had two choices: either head into the deepest depths of the Yang Forest and encounter beasts in the Peak Pulse Condensation Stage and above, or head back to the Yang Sect and find some opportunities there.


    The choice was quite obvious for Azmodeus, and his pack-full storage bag only further solidified the choice as it was begging to be emptied out in return for some Copper and Silver Coins!


    "Yang Sect it is. Time to be something the past me wished to be... An Inner Sect Disciple..."


    Azmodues''s slightly excited voice echoed out as his short yet muscr figure vanished from atop the mountain of corpses beneath him.


    FWIP!


    His nimble body moved throughout the Yang Forest at speeds over fifty meters a second, as it took him no longer than three or four minutes to make his way to the edge of the forest.


    And when he found himself at the line that separated the Yang Forest from the Yang Sect, a new world opened up for him.


    "The Yang Sect..." He softly murmured.


    This would be a whole new chapter in his story, one that could mean everything in his journey to acquiring more strength and surviving in this cruel world.


    <i>This is a new beginning... A new start.</i>


    For the first time in a long time, his eyes brightened as his sword-like brows knitted together.


    One might even think that he looked like a youth who found out there was more to the wide and vast world than the countryside he came from...


    However, Azmodeus was noting to realize there was a wider view after seeing the hundreds of red-tiled buildings and pagodas that lined every area of the Yang Sect.


    Instead, it was the fact that there were cultivators stronger than him walking around that made him realize there was more!


    There was more power to reach for! More power to grasp!


    "A new beginning, and also a new goal..." He spoke with a sense of expectation welling up within him as he faded from his position and headed for the crowd of cultivators walking into the Yang Sect.


    -


    "Have you heard the recent rumors spreading around, brother Yang Fan?"


    "What rumors??"


    "The ones going around about the trash Trial Disciple suddenly going rogue, ultimately killing four Outer Disciples of the Sect! From what I hear, he has even killed the third Young Master of the ck Tiger Family!"


    "The ck Tiger Family!? Does this Trial Disciple have a death wish or something!?"


    "I have no clue! But what confuses me is how a trash Trial Disciple who was said to be the slowest when it came to cultivating was suddenly able to ovee Outer Disciples at the Viscera Training Large Sess Stage!?"


    "Maybe a random bout of luck, or it could be that he caught them off guard?"


    The chatter of those on the gray cobblestoned streets of the entry grounds of the Yang Sect entered the ears of a short boy¡ªa boy who was weaving in and out of the crowds.


    <i>It looks like word spreads fast in ces like Spirit River City and the Yang Sect...</i>


    Azmodeus listened in on various conversations for a moment before he refocused his attention on making it over to the Sect Registry Grounds.


    .....

 Chapter 15: Signing Up for the Benefits!

    <h4>Chapter 15: Signing Up for the Benefits!</h4>


    ...


    After a few minutes, Azmodeus found himself standing in front of arge red and gray building with an old-eastern-style appearance.


    This building was the Sect Registry Grounds, and it was also the ce where all Sect Disciples went if they wished to exchange beast materials and apply for a higher sect position.


    Although one could be an Entry Disciple purely by reaching the Middle Stages of the Flesh Refining Realm, to be an Outer Disciple, one needed topete in apetition known as the ''Outer Disciple Admittance Competition''.


    It was a fairlymon set of bouts in which all Entry Disciples could participate topete for the chance of bing an Outer Disciple.


    There were usually hundreds of Entry Disciples who participated every month, and of those hundreds, around five to ten of them would sessfully be Outer Disciples.


    And it was precisely this type ofpetition that Azmodeus was aiming to sign up for.


    -


    *Tap Tap*


    Azmodeus took slow and calcted steps through the doors of the Sect Registry Building, swiftly made his way around a set of spiraling stairs, and walked up to arge counter.


    He wasn''t the tallest around, and the counter nearly trumped him in height, but he was still able to poke his head over the top as he asked, "Can I sign up for the Outer Sect Admittance Competition?"


    "???" Thedy receptionist looked down from a mirror she held within her slender hands as she saw the sight of a slightly adorable boy with big ck eyes staring at her.


    "Are you lost by chance, kiddo? You do know this is the section for the Outer Sect Disciples, don''t you?" She asked with a mildly friendly voice.


    This receptionist didn''t much like kids; however, this one was quite cute, so she felt it wouldn''t harm her to show a littlepassion.


    "..."


    Azmodeus gazed up at the ''kind''dy, as he felt a little weird upon being the recipient of such kindness.


    But if he remembered correctly, then this receptionist was anything but nice to him thest time he met her...


    <i>Has something changed with me? Why else would someone like her start being friendlier to someone like me...?</i>


    Azmodeus had an inherent doubt about the intentions of all those around him.


    It was something that originated from all the years he spent being shunned by everyone he met; no matter if they were ''kind'' people or not, everybody always gave him the same look.


    It was a look that practically emitted all the disdain that everyone felt for him just because he existed...


    However, things were different now, and if he wished to adapt and evolve, then he needed to understand that things were changing...


    He was changing...


    -


    Azmodeus looked up at the friendly receptionist and responded, "I know where I am, Miss, and that is why I''vee to ask you if I can sign up for the Outer Disciple Admittance Test."


    "???" Thedy receptionist was more confused than ever, but she still replied, "You do know that you have to be in the Viscera Training Large Sess Realm and possess abat strength equal to or above your realm to apply, don''t you?"


    "Yes, I do. So, can you sign me up? My name is Azmodeus," Azmodeus asked with a small smile on his kid-like face.


    "!!!" <i>Did this kid just say his name was Azmodeus!? Like the one who killed four Outer Sect Disciples in cold blood!?</i>


    Thedy receptionist could hardly believe what she was hearing, as she felt that she should report this in, so that''s exactly what she did.


    A hand signal was made by her, directed toward an old, hunch-backed man sitting on a crickety chair behind her.


    "Hmm...?" The old man slightly jarred open one of his eyes as he saw the signals that the receptionist was making behind her back.


    <i>Ahhh, so we have that Trial Disciple in our midst, eh? It looks like I need to report this back to the head of the ck Tiger Family...</i>


    After this thought entered the old man''s mind, his figure disappeared as he darted in the direction of arge and expansive ck and white building with tiger stripes stered across the sides.


    "So I can sign up, right?" Azmodeus asked with a slightly impatient tone.


    It almost seemed like the receptionist was stalling at this point, and there was the fact that the hunchbacked old man had gone off somewhere.


    Furthermore, it wasn''t like he was an idiot, as he understood that something fishy was going on in the Yang Sect, but in the end, he still wanted to be an Outer Sect Disciple and obtain greater rewards.


    Everything he did was for the benefits! In fact, he couldn''t give a damn about the Yang Sect, but missing out on benefits was a big no-no!


    However, he was soon taken out of his thoughts by the voice of thedy in front of him...


    "...D-Don''t worry, Young Sir! You have already been signed up for the Outer Sect Admittance Competition!" She spoke with an anxious tone, sweat beads forming on her forehead.


    <i>I have no choice in this matter, little boy... As cute as you are, no one can deny the authority of the ck Tiger Family, and although I did sign you up, it''s not like you will make it through the night to participate in thepetition tomorrow...</i>


    Thedy receptionist fiddled with her long blonde hair with sweaty hands as her expression became increasingly fretful.


    "..."


    Azmodeus looked at all the signs, as he had already deduced the facts just from the mannerisms of this receptionist.


    <i>A set-up, huh...? It looks like I have a long night ahead...</i>


    <i>Sigh... </i>


    Following a soft sigh, he said, "Thank you, Miss! I will be on my way now!"


    After getting out those words, he walked out the doors of the Sect Registry Building under the shocked eyes of all the people inside.


    Everyone eavesdropped on the conversation the young boy had with the receptionist, and they understood the gist of the situation.


    Realizing this, they all began to panic as they prepared to leave the Yang Sect.


    No one wanted to be around when the ck Tiger Family came around to get their revenge, and there was no way in hell that they were willing to be coteral damage!


    ......

 Chapter 16: Killing a Late Pulse Condensation Realm Assassin

    <h4>Chapter 16: Killing a Late Pulse Condensation Realm Assassin</h4>


    *****


    In a dark space within the confines of the ck Tiger Family main building, an old man wearing ck and white robes sipped on some tea while looking out at the bright moon hanging in the night sky.


    *Knock! Knock!*


    This old man appeared to be missing one of his eyeballs; however, that didn''t stop him from shooting his remaining eye in the direction of the sound of knocking.


    "What is it?" He inquired with an old, raspy voice.


    "S-Sir! The boy who killed the third Young Master has been reported by one of our spies in the Yang Sect! He''s just now leaving the Sect Registry Grounds!" A slightly shaky voice sounded from the other side of the thin Japanese-style doors.


    "Is that so...?" The Old Man''s eyes thinned as he let out a breath of cold air. "Send out shadows eleven through twenty. Capture him and bring him back to me alive."


    "Eleven through twenty?? Are you sure, sir??" The man from the other side of the doors questioned with a tone of disbelief.


    <i>Shadows eleven through twenty are in the Middle and Late Pulse Condensation Stages, and yet Lord ck Tiger is sending them after a boy no older than twelve years old!?</i>


    WAAA!


    He was deep in thought until a sudden burst of killing intent erupted from the decrepit and wrinkled figure of the old man.


    "Did I not make myself clear enough before...?" Lord ck Tiger asked with a voice oozing death, his emotionless gaze focused on the other side of the screen doors.


    "!!!" The man outside the room nearly p*ssed himself right then and there as he stuttered, "N-No sir! I will get this done right away!"


    After which, he vanished from his spot and headed toward a barracks building in the outer parts of the ck Tiger Families main building.


    And in his ce, he left an old man with a face that looked like it came from the deepest depths of the coldestyer of hell.


    "You will pay for what you have done to my son, boy. That much, I guarantee."


    His voice, devoid of emotion, echoed through the room as he gazed again at therge luminescent moon illuminating the star-spangled night sky.


    ****


    Meanwhile, in an area outside the Yang Sect, Azmodeus waited in an open-spaced area, awaiting the inevitable approach of ten or so shadowy figures.


    They had been on his tail for the past ten minutes or so, and there was absolutely no chance of him escaping their pursuit, so he thought he would try a different approach.


    FWIP! FWIP! FWIP!


    Ten figures of varying sizes, both male and female, appeared on the opposing side of the open field he was standing on.


    "Why did you stop, target #2056?"


    The voice of the first assassin echoed out as he looked at his target with a mildly perplexed look on his usually stoic face.


    "Target #2056, eh? That doesn''t sound like a very nice thing to call your target. Couldn''t I at least get a code name or something?" Azmodeus asked with a neutral voice.


    "No, you cannot, for you are not strong enough to be deserving of a name," the first assassin responded, his sinuous gaze focused on his target.


    The rest of the shadows got ready to move, as all of them knew only one thing in this life. And that was to kill.


    They weren''t like the previous ''assassins'' that came after Azmodeus earlier. No, these men and women were the real deal, genuine assassins.


    "...Is there really nothing that we can do to resolve this dispute with words?" Azmodeus asked.


    "No, there is not, and you will be dying soon, so do you have anyst words?" The first shadow replied while tightly gripping onto his dagger, dripping a green and dangerous substance off its razor-sharp edges.


    <i>Poison, huh...?</i>


    Azmodeus observed the uniqueness of every one of the ten assassins, as he basically understood what they were going to do next.


    <i>Even as trained assassins, aren''t they going a little hard on someone who they assumed to be in the Early Pulse Condensation Stage?</i>


    Even he could tell that all of the Assassins were nning on holding back none of their punches.


    They were going to try and kill someone weaker than them with everything they had, which was quite unusual for strong cultivators.


    <i>It looks like their egos have been trimmed down by the ck Tiger Family, allowing for the perfect execution of any assassinations that they were told to dish out...</i>


    At this thought, Azmodeus felt that this fight might be a tad bit troublesome, but it didn''t matter much. After all, before these assassins got here, he made his way deep into the Yang Forest, killing any Spiritual Beasts he found along the way.


    And of all those Spiritual Beasts, there was one in particr...


    One that wouldpletely alter what should''ve been a 100% certain death for him with the arrival of the assassins...


    -


    "It truly is too bad that we couldn''t talk things out..." Azmodeus murmured as a soft sigh escaped his mouth.


    SLICE!


    *Spurt!*


    A blood fountain gushed out of where the head of the leading shadow used to be.


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    Nobody even knew what had happened when, out of nowhere, the strongest of them had died!


    However, they were taken out of their stupors by the dry voice of their target as he said, "It really is too bad that words weren''t enough to let bygones be bygones, as now I''ll have you all be my strength."


    As Azmodeus''s words echoed throughout the wide, empty field, a few system notifications went off inside his head.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed a cultivator in the Peak Stages of the Late Pulse Condensation Stage!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 5,000 Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *Your Evolution Essence Bank has increased from 500 ¡ú 5,500*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte or roll for an ability of the being you just killed?*


    Azmodeus immediately clicked the Assimte button. After which, his strength spiked up!


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 8 Stat points in Strength, 6 points in Speed, 7 points in Defense, 9 points in Qi, and 4 points in Cultivation Talent!*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has tremendously increased!*


    .....

 Chapter 17: Mirror Mirage Trait

    <h4>Chapter 17: Mirror Mirage Trait</h4>


    .....


    After all of the most recent system notifications rang out, Azmodeus turned his impassive gaze up toward the nine remaining Assassins who were sent after his life.


    Upon observing the astonished looks on all of their faces, he uttered the name of the ability he used to kill the first shadow.


    <strong>|Mirror Mirage|</strong>


    After silently activating the ability, a faint silhouette resembling him emerged from his body, which then split and multiplied into nearly a dozen identical figures.


    And while the nine shadows of the ck Tiger Family were stilling out of their reveries, nine mirror mirages of a short, indifferent boy snuck up behind them and sliced at their necks and hearts.


    *Spurt!*


    Nine consecutive blood spatters sounded out at the exact same time, as every single one of the Nine Shadows had the light fade away from their eyes.


    And as they turned their shocked and anguished expressions upward while slowly bleeding out on the ground, all they saw was their target gazing down at them with an inexpressive look on his face.


    As they left the world of the living, they heard the ice-cold voice of the boy saying, "You should''ve just taken the offer to talk things out."


    However, it was far toote for regrets, as they were no more, and their strength became Azmodeus''s.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed nine cultivators in the Middle and Late Pulse Condensation Realm!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 35,000 Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *Your Evolution Essence Bank has increased from 5,500 to 40,500.*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte or Roll for the abilities of all the beings you just killed?*


    "..."


    Azmodeus thought the matter over for a second before he clicked on the ''Assimte'' button.


    After which, a few more bright blue and golden lights shed in front of him.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 35 Stat points in Strength, 37 points in Speed, 33 points in Defense, 40 points in Qi, and 31 points in Cultivation Talent.*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power and cultivation have tremendously improved!*


    Following all of these system notifications, Azmodeus started looting all of the Shadows of the ck Tiger Family while looking over his system interface.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    <strong>{[Infinite Evolution System]} </strong>


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: 12/92]


    [Cultivation: Early Stages of the Middle Pulse Condensation Minor Realm (Body Refinement Major Realm.)]


    [Overallbat power: Peak Stages of the Late Pulse Condensation Minor Realm]


    [Level: 21]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 2,500]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 40,500]


    <strong>{[Stats:]}</strong>


    [Strength: 89]


    [Speed: 87]


    [Defense: 85]


    [Qi: 92]


    [Cultivation Talent: 78]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    <strong>{[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}</strong>


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Stealth - Level 3] (J Rank)] ¡ú [0/10,000]


    [Mirror Mirage - Level 3] (I Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000]


    ¡ª------------


    After looking over his system interface, Azmodeus immediately dumped 10,000 of his Evolution Essence into the Stealth Trait before putting the other 30,500 into leveling up.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have used up 10,000 Evolution Essence to upgrade your Stealth Trait!*


    *Ding!* *Your Stealth Trait has leveled up from ''Level 3'' to ''Level 4''.*


    *Ding!* *You have leveled up!*


    *Ding!* *All of your basic attributes have increased by 5 Stat points!*


    *Ding!* *You have leveled up!*


    *Ding!* *All of your basic attributes have increased by 7 Stat points!*


    *Ding!* *You have leveled up!*


    *Ding!* *All of your basic attributes have increased by 9 Stat points!*


    *Ding!* *You have leveled up!*


    *Ding!* *All of your basic attributes have increased by 11 Stat points!*


    *Ding!* *All of your basic attributes have surpassed the 100 mark and have thus boosted your cultivation realm into the Late Pulse Condensation Stage!*


    *Ding!* *You have leveled up!*


    *Ding!* *All of your basic attributes have increased by 13 Stat points!*


    After all of these system notifications sounded, Azmodeus felt another wave of power wash over him as his cultivation once again made a leap!


    And that wasn''t all, as his overallbat power had officially surpassed his Cultivation Realm with the addition of the ''Mirror Mirage'' Trait¡ªa Trait that he rolled for when he encountered a Spirit Mirage Monkey while escaping his pursuers.


    -----


    Spirit Mirage Monkey.


    The Spirit Mirage Monkey was a special type of beast that was capable of making mirror images of itself using a unique innate ability called ''Mirror Mirage''.


    This ability was capable of conjuring up a total of nine other versions of yourself, with each of those mirror copies possessing around 10% of your total strength. (Only applies while in the Body Refinement Realm unless Rank ups and level-ups are made to the ability.)


    It was because of this ability that Azmodeus wasted nearly three minutes fighting a mere Bone Forging Realm beast!


    That just went to show how troublesome it was to fight something that could keep on making mirror images of itself before vanishing from sight!


    However, it was all worth it in the end, as he was able to acquire an extremely effective I-Rank Skill to add to his arsenal.


    -----


    After looting all ten Shadows of the ck Tiger Family, Azmodeus checked his system interface onest time before heading home. He intended to prepare for the Outer Sect Disciple Admittance Test with the various medicines he had bought on his way out of the Yang Sect.


    But before that pill grinding session came to pass, a bright blue and golden light shed.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    <strong>{[Infinite Evolution System]} </strong>


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: 12/95]


    [Cultivation: Early Stages of the Late Pulse Condensation Minor Realm (Body Refinement Major Realm.)]


    [Overallbat power: Early Stages of the Peak Pulse Condensation Minor Realm]


    [Level: 26]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 2,500]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 40,500 --> 0]


    <strong>{[Stats:]}</strong>


    [Strength: 134]


    [Speed: 132]


    [Defense: 130]


    [Qi: 137]


    [Cultivation Talent: 123]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    <strong>{[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}</strong>


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Stealth - Level 4] (J Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000]


    [Mirror Mirage - Level 3] (I Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000]


    ¡ª------------


    After understanding just what level of strength he possessed, Azmodeus realized that he might have just reached the level of a Core Disciple of the Yang Sect before even bing an Entry-Level Disciple...


    .......

 Chapter 18: Peak Pulse Condensation Realm

    <h4>Chapter 18: Peak Pulse Condensation Realm</h4>


    .......


    "It seems like I went a little overboard in my looting, huh...?" Azmodeus asked himself with a wry chuckle.


    "Well, it''s whatever. There''s no limit to the world of cultivation, so I will just keep progressing regardless of how far I go, all to acquire even greater strength."


    Following these ludicrous words, he started walking away from the bloody scene behind him.


    And his destination was none other than the shed he had been struggling in for as long as he could remember.


    <i>Time waits for no man, and it is unknown whether I''ll be able to kill the next assassins that are sent after me...</i>


    <i>Which is all to say that I just need to keep bing stronger and stronger...</i>


    At these thoughts, Azmodeus took out a few dozen Pulse Condensation Qi Pills from his storage bag.


    "These will be my ticket to making it into the Peak Pulse Condensation Realm," he murmured with an expectant gaze, his small hands holding the faint gray pills like the most priceless of jewels.


    ...


    A few hours passed by, as Azmodeus could be seen cultivating inside a hut with a giant hole in the ce where a door used to be.


    He sat in a lotus position with his hands interlocked over one another as he circted his inner strength, attempting to light up even more of his Meridians.


    So far, he had filled a total of 81 Meridians, some with and some without the help of the Infinite Evolution System.


    And it was now time for him to begin lighting up his 82nd Meridian, which would be the one that would allow him to progress into the Peak Pulse Condensation Realm!


    WAAA!


    Slight blue energy fluctuations emanated from the body of a young boy with above-average facial features asrge beads of sweat rolled down his face.


    It was quite obvious that breaking through into the Peak Pulse Condensation Stage was taking quite a toll on Azmodeus, but that didn''t stop him from giving it everything he had!


    And after a few minutes of tinkering on the verge of exhaustion, he ultimately came out on top as the energy surrounding him had dispersed, and along with it was a breakthrough into the Peak Pulse Condensation Stage!


    "Haah... I finally did it... Haah..." He muttered, his body copsing onto the ground as the fatigue from everything that happened in thest twenty four hours hit him all at once.


    <i>It looks like my cultivation isn''t yet high enough to fully resist the need to sleep...</i>


    Azmodeus''s thoughts echoed in his head as thest of his remaining strength faded away along with his consciousness...


    ...


    Half a day passed by in the blink of an eye as a young boy awoke with an abruptness that caused his still-evolving body to go flying off his straw-filled bed straight into the wall of his home!


    BANG!


    Azmodeus went right through the paper-thin wall like it wasn''t even there as his body flew out of the hole he made, causing him to tumble a few times on the hard grassy ground outside.


    "... Well, that was one hell of a wake-up call..." He murmured with a lethargic look on his face.


    He was still getting used to the immense level of strength he possessed after breaking through to the Peak Pulse Condensation Stage.


    And it was because of thatck of sufficient control that some of his physical abilities were out of tune, and would continue to stay that way until he figured out how to properly get his power under his reigns.


    Even so, he still had some time till the Outer Sect Disciple Admittance Test started, so he figured he would practice throwing punches and stuff to better understand his own strength.


    After around half an hour of experimentation, Azmodeus sessfully obtained full control over all of his power.


    And since there were still another two hours until the Outer Sect Disciple Admittance Test began, he decided to head deeper into the Yang Forest, aiming to take out a few Pulse Condensation Realm beasts before he made his way back to the Yang Sect''s Outer Disciple Grounds.


    -


    Two hours passed like the changing of seasons as Azmodeus stood atop the corpse of a ten-meterrge boar-like beast, holding a long, sleek white jade dagger in his hand.


    He wasn''t really a fan of daggers, but this dagger was obtained from the leader of the Ten Shadows yesterday, so he decided to give it a chance.


    And it turned out that he was far better at wielding a dagger than he was at wielding a sword, likely due to one of the side effects of his ''Stealth'' Trait.


    Nevertheless, a few system notifications rang out inside his head as he was slicing off the ears of the boar beast.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed a Peak Pulse Condensation Spiritual Beast!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 15,000 Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *Your Evolution Essence Bank has increased from 5,000 ¡ú 20,000*


    *Ding!* Would you like to Assimte the stats or roll for an ability of your most recent kill, the Peak Pulse Condensation Beast, Goliath Boar?*


    Azmodeus clicked the ''Assimte Stats'' option, as a few more pop-ups appeared in front of his face.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 13 Stat points in Strength, 12 points in Speed, 14 points in Defense, 15 points in Qi, and 9 points in Cultivation Talent.*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has tremendously improved!*


    After all of these system notifications rang out, Azmodeus decided he would use 10,000 of his 20,000 Evolution Essence to upgrade his level.


    After which, a few more system notifications sounded, followed by a system interface opening up.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have leveled up!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 22 Stat Points in each of your basic attributes!*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has tremendously improved!*


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    <strong>{[Infinite Evolution System]} </strong>


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: 12/102]


    [Cultivation: Absolute Peak Stages of the Peak Pulse Condensation Minor Realm (Body Refinement Major Realm.)]


    [Overallbat power: Initial Stages of the 20% Tempering Marrow Minor Realm]


    [Level: 29]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 15,000]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 20,000 ¡ú 10,000]


    <strong>{[Stats:]}</strong>


    [Strength: 178]


    [Speed: 176]


    [Defense: 179]


    [Qi: 185]


    [Cultivation Talent: 161]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    <strong>{[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}</strong>


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Stealth - Level 4] (J Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000]


    [Mirror Mirage - Level 3] (I Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000]


    ¡ª------------

 Chapter 19: Registering in the Outer Sect Competition

    <h4>Chapter 19: Registering in the Outer Sect Competition</h4>


    .......


    After understanding just where his strength was, Azmodeus couldn''t believe that he had already reached a point where he could be considered a senior Core Disciple of the Yang Sect...


    <i>The Tempering Marrow Realm... How far have Ie in a mere two short days...? Two days to encroach upon the 10th Minor Stage of the Body Refinement Realm...</i>


    -----


    The Tempering Marrow Stages of the Body Refinement Realm, otherwise known as thest stages one must progress through before they''re able to be true cultivators in the Qi Condensation Realm.


    In this set of five minor realms, one must temper their marrow enough to reach certain milestones.


    These realms were split up into five unit indicators, namely ¡ú


    20% Tempering Marrow


    40% Tempering Marrow


    60% Tempering Marrow


    80% Tempering Marrow


    100% Tempering Marrow


    The 100% Tempering Marrow Stage was thest known stage of the Body Refinement Realm.


    -----


    "If I can make it to a state of 100% Tempering Marrow, then I should be able topete with the strongest elders of all the big forces in Spirit River City, as well as the Yang Sect..."


    At this notion, a small smile formed on Azmodues''s face.


    However, he soon remembered the fact that the ruling forces of Spirit River City would never allow any itinerant cultivators to obtain enough resources to break through into the 100% Tempering Marrow Stage...


    <i>It looks like I''ll need to quickly scale up the ranks of the Yang Sect if I wish to acquire enough resources to breakthrough withoutpletely relying on the system¡ªa reckless action that would should leave me with a skewed foundation.</i>


    After this thought entered his mind, he already knew what he needed to do next.


    "The Outer Sect Disciple Admittance Competition..." He muttered.


    Even though he had already surpassed a strength level far greater than what he needed to be an Outer Sect Disciple, there was still a due process to everything.


    And in his case, he just had to spend a few days climbing through the ranks of the Yang Sect.


    And luckily for him, the day after the Outer Sect Admittance Competition, there would be the Inner Sect Competition, and then two days after that, there was the annual Core Disciple Competition!


    Everything almost lined up a little too perfectly, but it didn''t matter, for as long as he could acquire more strength, he didn''t care who was scheming behind the scenes.


    After all, if whoever was scheming was so strong, then why didn''t they simply kill him, take what they wanted, and be done with it??


    <i>Why go through so much trouble for minimal returns??</i>


    It just didn''t add up, which led to Azmodeus scratching the topic altogether as he focused on cleaning up.


    Afterpleting this ''task'', he made his way to the Outer Sect Admittance Competition.


    ...


    A few minutes passed as a young boy around twelve years old with facial features that one would deem quite adorable¡ªcontrasting greatly with the slight traces of solemnity in his expression¡ªmade his way throughout the outer stretches of the Yang Forest.


    As Azmodeus sped through the forest at a speed nearing hundreds of meters a minute, he was also killing all of the Spiritual Beasts that he passed on this brief trip of his.


    He gained a few thousand Evolution Essence simply by swinging his sword around like a fool and cleaving down a few trees, which made him quite pleased.


    However, after a short while, he eventually made it to the entrance of the Yang Sect, and upon seeing therge arch gates that had a wide golden que that said, ''Yang Sect'', he walked through them.


    After a few short moments and a few weaves through the bustling streets of the Yang Sect Outer area, he made it to the Sect Registry Grounds.


    Contrary to expectations, he didn''t stop at the Sect Registry Grounds like he did yesterday, and instead he took a cursory nce at the building before moving along, making his way toward an arena with a rather Spartan look to it.


    -----


    The Yang Arena.


    It was an arena that was set up by the ancestors of the Yang Sect a few hundred years ago, and since then, it has stood strong and been used for various Sect activities.


    Once every month, it would be used to hold the Outer Sect Admittance Test, and once every half a year, it would be used to hold the Inner Sect Competition.


    Furthermore, every year, there would be a special asion in which all the members of the sect and even a few other sects woulde by to catch a glimpse.


    Namely, it was when the Core Disciple Competition was held at the end of the year!


    -----


    *Tap Tap*


    Azmodeus silently moved throughout the crowds surrounding the Yang Arena, heading straight for the area in which all of the participants of the ongoingpetition would go to announce their arrival.


    Not long after, he made it to the other side of a tall mahogany counter that, just like the one in the Sect Registry Grounds, was just able to allow him to peek over the other side.


    "Excuse me?" He asked, his question directed toward ady with short ck hair on the other side of the counter.


    "Hmm?" Thedy receptionist looked down at the young boy speaking to her as she asked, "Do you need something, boy?"


    "Yes, I need to announce my arrival for the Outer Sect Competition," Azmodeus responded.


    "Are you sure you aren''t los-?"


    "No, I''m not lost, and could you please just pencil my name down on that piece of paper right there?" Azmodeus interjected.


    "..."


    Thedy receptionist didn''t know what to do in this situation, considering that this boy was clearly too young to be qualified to be an Outer Disciple.


    And if she let him in and he died, then it might bring some trouble back to her and her family...


    However, her mind took aplete 360 with the next words that escaped the boy''s mouth as he said, "My name is Azmodeus. Nost name."


    "Did you say Azmodeus???" The receptionist questioned with a tone of disbelief.


    "Yes, I did. Now can you put my name down so I can get into the Outer Sect Competition?"


    "...V-Very well..."


    Thedy receptionist had no clue on how to go about this, so she simplyplied with his request and reported this matter to her seniors in a simr manner to thedy in the Sect Registry Grounds.


    .......

 Chapter 20: The Beginning of the Outer Sect Competition

    <h4>Chapter 20: The Beginning of the Outer Sect Competition</h4>


    ........


    "..." "..."


    A few mysterious figures came into the hall of the Yang Sect Registry building, looking for any signs of the boy they had been ordered to kill, no matter the cost.


    However, when they arrived, the boy was nowhere to be found, and a dumbfounded receptionist was left in his ce...


    "It looks like he''s already made it to thepetition venue..." One of the figures spoke with a disgruntled expression.


    "Should we take immediate action and ignore the rules of the Yang Sect, or should we report back to the master and wait for his decision?" The same figure inquired.


    "..."


    The second figure seemed to be in deep thought for an instant before he replied, "Let''s just wait it out here. When the boy wins thepetition, we will simply take him out and bring his head back to the ck Tiger Lord."


    "Understood," the first shadowy figure responded before both of them vanished into their surroundings.


    "It looks like I lost them for now..." Azmodeus murmured while looking at the two elusive men in cloaks from a few hundred meters away.


    <i>Both of them are in the peak stages of the 20% Tempering Marrow Realm, and as confident as I am in my strength, there is absolutely no way that I can take on both of them even while using my brains to fight...</i>


    He wasn''t stupid, and he knew when it was time to back off from an extremely tough battle.


    However, if Azmodeus''s guesses were correct, then he should be able to surpass both of them by the end of the Outer Sect Admittance Competition.


    Nevertheless, he got out from behind a few bleachers and headed in the direction of the area where all the contestants for thepetition were gathered.


    -


    "So this is thepetition that I''mpeting against?" Azmodeus asked with a slightly disappointed look on his face.


    Out of all the other contestants, there were a total of five people in the Viscera Training Large Sess Stage, while the rest were in the Viscera Refining Small Sess Stage.


    <i>Well, I guess I shouldn''t be too surprised, considering that for an Outer Sect Competition, this is already quite good...</i>


    He was disappointed in theck of a challenge, but regardless of his grievances, the announcer of thepetition soon started to speak:


    "Is everyone ready for the Outer Sect Admittance Test of the Yang Sect!?"


    A boisterous voice bellowed out from atop the dozens of rows of stone bleachers as a man with a thin frame and yellow robes stood atop an extended building, using some sort of voice transmission technique to make his voice louder.


    HOOORAAH!


    The crowd went absolutely wild at the words of the announcer, as the thousands of people who came to spectate this match were quite excited about getting to see real ''immortals'' in action.


    "I love you, immortal Mr! Please marry me!"


    "I want your seed inside me, Mr. Immortals!!"


    "Why won''t you look my way, Mr. immortal!? I really want you to stare at me with that menacing re all day long!"


    "Ms. Yang Yu, please look at this deration of love that I''m about to let rain from the sky onto your perfect, supple jade skin!"


    Everyone in the crowd was, to say the least...


    "A bunch of perverts..." Azmodeus muttered while blending in with the few other hundred contestants.


    He had already informed a few staff members of his arrival, upon which they started to freak out while agreeing to whatever he requested.


    <i>It seems like everyone I talk to is somehow directly rted to the ck Tiger Family or in cahoots with a subsidiary of the ck Tiger Family...</i>


    He figured there would be a number of spies in the Yang Sect; however, he never would''ve anticipated there to be so many!


    <i>I mean, literally every single staff member calls someone from the ck Tiger Family every time I tell them my name...</i>


    <i>At this point, I''m beginning to think that I''m quite famous around these parts...</i>


    He chuckled a little before focusing his attention back on the announcer, who was informing everyone of the rules of thepetition.


    It didn''t take long before the announcer got to the end of his instructions and switched to a narrator''s point of view, starting the countdown for thepetition.


    "3... 2... 1... Begin!"


    After which, all of the contestants started fighting each other on the same square-blocked ring.


    The ring itself was sturdy and stretched in every direction for around a thousand meters, which made it big enough to fit all these different cultivators.


    However, since the Outer Sect Admittance Test was a free-for-all and strictly kept everyone in constant battle, the fighting ring quickly cracked and shattered with all the fierce attacks being thrown by the various contestants.


    HOOORAAH!


    The crowd erupted in uproarious cheers as they couldn''t get enough of watching people fly outside of the arena by those of superior strength!


    ****


    Meanwhile, in the VIP stands of the Yang Arena, a few wizened figures sat atop some rather extravagant chairs, looking down at all the fights urring before them.


    "Who do you think will end up bing Outer Disciples, Elder Yong?" One of the Outer Deacons of the sect voiced his question with his eyes focused on a particr boy sitting back, watching everything go down.


    Elder Yong stroked his long white and gray beard as his eyes honed in on the same nonchnt boy that Outer Deacon Yang Bin was staring at.


    "I think that my son will win it all. After all, although that Azmodeus boy is quite mysterious and has taken the entire Outer Sect by storm with his recent ''achievements'', my son is still superior."


    Elder Yong''s voice resounded as he turned his focus away from the ck-haired boy and instead watched the ongoing fights of a rtively robust man¡ªa man who threw out all of his opponents with just pure brute force!


    "...Your son''s Super Strength Trait makes the rest of us jealous, you know that?" Another Outer Deacon spoke with a wry smile, as he was truly envious of this old bastard for having such a talented son.


    On the other hand, his son was already on the verge of losing to the daughter of Elder Bin...


    .......

 Chapter 21: Super Strength Trait

    <h4>Chapter 21: Super Strength Trait</h4>


    .......


    "Haha! You shouldn''t be jealous! Your son is doing quite well himself! He just needs a little push in the right direction, and I''m sure he''ll surpass my son in no time!" Elder Yong responded with a smug expression as he continued stroking his beard.


    "..."


    The Outer Deacon, who spoke of his son, regretted ever saying anything to that shameless bastard. He should''ve guessed that it would just end up as a bragging session..


    <i>Since I know that my son will not win this thing, I hope that Azmodeus boy will take this Elder Yong down by a peg or two... He doesn''t need to win; he just needs to put up a good fight...</i>


    This Outer Deacon was called Elder Dong and he was the one who made an exception and admitted Azmodeus into the sect all those years ago.


    It was still a mystery to him how a boy who was deemed useless trash was able to be strong enough to take on four disciples in the Viscera Refining Large Sess Stage and ultimately kill them. Even when considering his ''history'' with this boy, it was far out of his expectations. But in the end, this was a world where the one with the biggest fist ruled.


    And there were rules set in ce so that elders weren''t allowed to delve too far into the secrets of juniors. This also included trying to take advantage of any fortuitous encounters that any disciples may or may not have had.


    So in this case, there was nothing that any of the Outer Sect Deacons could do but specte about what could''ve caused such immense changes in a boy who was widely known as the weakest of trash in the Yang Sect.


    Even so, there was still an Outer Sect Admittance Competition going on...


    -


    "This is quite interesting..." Azmodeus muttered as he watched a particrly tall boy, around fifteen years old, mow through all of the various participants with overwhelming physical prowess.


    <i>A Super Strength Trait...?</i>


    He had been looking for a Trait like this since the moment he encountered the Shadow Panther, but in the end, such a rare Trait was nearly impossible to find...


    However, he was immediately taken out of his reverie by the robotic female voice of the Infinite Evolution System.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *The host can use up Evolution Essence to roll for the Abilities and Traits of other beings!*


    *Ding!* *Every further roll increases the cost of rolling by ten times. (Only applies when you are rolling for the Traits of a single target in repeated session.)*


    *Ding!* *Simply touch the being you wish to copy the Trait of to roll for it!*


    "Oh?"


    Azmodeus had no idea that there was such a feature to the Infinite Evolution System, but this served as quite a pleasant surprise.


    <i>If what this says is correct, then all I need to do is touch someone and pay in order to roll for one of their Traits...</i>


    After understanding this, he instantly took action and dashed in the direction of therge man, making his first movement since thepetition began!


    It took no longer than a second for him to reach the body of Yang Cho, the son of Elder Yong.


    "!!!" Therge young man saw the small frame of a boy sneak up on him as he threw one of his brick-sized fists in the direction of the boy.


    It looked like the fist would make contact with the boy''s stomach and send him flying. However, before it could, the boy slid underneath the iing fist, effectively dodging it and making his way under the legs of the young man.


    *Tap!*


    Azmodeus tapped the robust young man on his lower back before making a quick retreat toward the edge of the arena.


    "???" Yang Cho had no idea what was going on.


    One second, he saw a little rat attempt to get the upper hand on him, and the next second, that same rat retreated to the very back of the arena, seemingly running away...


    <i>I didn''t even use that much strength in my fists... Why did he run away?</i>


    He just couldn''t figure out the reasoning behind the rat''s actions. But after a moment, he lightly shook his head, took his fist out of the cracked hole he made in the ground, and got back into the fight.


    -


    Meanwhile, in a certain remote corner of the Yang Arena Ring, Azmodeus was looking over a few pop-ups that appeared in his vision.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *Would you like to roll for one of the abilities of the cultivator known as ''Yang Mo the Iron Fist''?*


    *Ding!* *Yes/No*


    He immediately clicked the yes button as 10 Evolution Essence was deducted from his Evolution Essence Bank.


    Following this price being paid, a roulette with five or six evenly sized triangles was spun in the clockwise direction.


    BING! BING! BING!


    A few tittering sounds were made as the roulette pointer eventually found its final destination andnded on...


    *Ding!* *You have acquired the Special Innate Trait of Yang Cho''s bloodline, ''Super Explosive Diarrhea''!*


    Azmodeus coughed up blood right then and there as he fell to the ground with a crimson liquid drizzling down his lips.


    Elder Yong and the rest of the Outer Deacons were watching this go down with confusion evident in their expressions.


    "Did my son really do that much damage to him when they fought just a second ago?" Elder Yong asked with a puzzled voice.


    "...I don''t know..." Elder Dong mumbled.


    He was beginning to lose hope in Azmodeus somehowing out on top in thispetition...


    Let alone winning thepetition, he wasn''t even sure that he would be able to make it into the Top 20...


    -


    As discussion prevailed in the VIP stands, in a certain remote corner of the Yang Arena fighting ring, various young men aging from 14 to 19 were being sent flying in every direction.


    Their ceaseless battles caused the once-three hundred or so contestants to dwindle down to no more than one hundred twenty...


    And of those 120, a boy with long ck hair and sword-like eyebrows was currently going through quite the quagmire, as he had already rolled twice for the Super Strength Ability.


    And so far, all he had acquired were the ''Super Explosive Diarrhea'' and ''Deadly Urine Shooter'' Traits...


    "Is my luck busted up or something??" Azmodeus muttered with a despondent tone, as he had already spent 110 Evolution Essence and obtained the most useless traits in existence!


    Although not everything was so bad, after all, he was able to recycle both of the traits and gain back 70 of that 110 Evolution Essence. But still...!


    *Sigh...* He let out an exasperated sigh before deciding he would roll one more time.


    If he didn''t obtain what he wanted with this roll, then he would just give up and win this stupidpetition before going home to sulk!


    *Ding!* *Yes/No*


    Azmodeus clicked yes in the same way as the two times before.


    BING! BING! BING!


    A roulette was once again spun as the roulette pointer made its way around thest three options, and just as he was about to open his eyes to see what he got, a few system notifications rang out inside his head.


    *Ding!* *You have obtained the I Rank Trait, ''Super Strength''*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has moderately improved!*


    ......

 Chapter 22: Level 3 Super Strength Trait

    <h4>Chapter 22: Level 3 Super Strength Trait</h4>


    ......


    "Hell yeah!" Azmodeus shouted with a fervent look on his face, as he had finally gotten what he wanted!


    <i>It took over 1100 Evolution Essence to obtain it, but it was all worth it in the end!</i>


    <i>With this new Trait, my physical strength has taken another boost in the right direction, and if I''m correct in my spections, then I should be close to reaching the Middle Stages of the 20% Tempering Marrow Realm in my overallbat power.</i>


    Aftering to this conclusion, he decided to dump all of his remaining Evolution Essence into upgrading the level of his new Super Strength Trait.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have used up 11,100 Evolution Essence in order to take your Super Strength Trait from Level 0 [0/100] to Level 3 [0/100,000]*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has tremendously improved!*


    Following these system notifications and a surge of strength from within him, Azmodeus immediately opened up his system interface.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    <strong>{[Infinite Evolution System]} </strong>


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: 12/102]


    [Cultivation: Absolute Peak Stages of the Peak Pulse Condensation Minor Realm (Body Refinement Major Realm.)]


    [Overallbat power: Late Stages of the 20% Tempering Marrow Minor Realm]


    [Level: 29]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 15,000]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 14,000 ¡ú 2,900]


    <strong>{[Stats:]}</strong>


    [Strength: 178 + 84 (262)]


    [Speed: 176]


    [Defense: 179]


    [Qi: 185]


    [Cultivation Talent: 161]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    <strong>{[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}</strong>


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Stealth - Level 4] (J Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000]


    [Mirror Mirage - Level 3] (I Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000]


    [Super Strength - Level 3] (I Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000]


    ¡ª------------


    After understanding just how his new strength was quantified, Azmodeus looked around the fighting ring and saw that thest of the opponents were battling it out against each other.


    And of thest thirty or so contestants, a few of the more sinister ones were looking to take advantage of the boy who was ''dozing'' off in a corner of the ring...


    "We should just go right up to him and knock him out! Taking out the trash before the real fights start will be beneficial for us brothers!" A young man with more facial hair than muscle remarked, his hands already tightly gripping onto a longsword.


    "I agree! Let''s just go and kick him out of the ring, real quick and easy like!" Another young man around fifteen years old agreed with the first man while conjuring up his inner strength, preparing tounch his most powerful technique.


    Another young man with blonde hair added, "I think we should have him let his guard down first. What do you guys think?"


    "Yeah, we can do that! Simply y the kind and magnanimous seniors willing to help out the newbie!"


    After the man with facial hair spoke, all three of them, with their Viscera Training Large Sess cultivation bases, moved in the direction of the lone twelve-year-old boy.


    Upon making it a few meters away from the boy, the leader with the facial hair asked in a ''kind'' voice, "Why don''t you let us seniors-?"


    However, before he could even finish his sentence while rubbing his hands like a schemer, a kick came flying out of nowhere!


    BAM!


    "!!!"


    The man with the facial hair was knocked outside of the ring in a split second, given no time to react!


    And before he even knew what had happened, his head hit the back of a hard concrete wall that separated them from the spectator stands!


    BAM! CRACK!


    The wall had arge spider web crack spread throughout, as the scrawny man was left unconscious, sliding down the wall before eventually hitting the tough ground floor.


    "..." "..."


    Both of the two other sinister men watched this scene y out as they wore dumbfounded looks on their faces.


    However, they were soon taken out of their reveries by the voice of the boy who caused this all to go down as it did...


    "I don''t like people like you¡ªpeople that use their power to bully those who they assume are far weaker themselves. Such people look like nothing more than trash in my eyes."


    Azmodeus felt nothing but disdain for these three losers who really thought it was best to take out the ''weakest'' person in thepetition before moving onto the strongest ones.


    <i>First of all, that doesn''t even make any sense, and second of all, can''t you aim for higher?? Try to fight something stronger!</i>


    He couldn''t understand the thinking process behind these fools, but regardless of his disgust, his figure blurred as he dashed in the direction of the first young man before moving onto the second one.


    And without anyone in the crowd being able to see a single thing, both of the young men were shot into two separate arena walls, frothing from their mouths!


    "...."


    A hush fell over the Yang Sect Arena as all of the spectators and even some of the VIP members honed in on the small frame of a boy¡ªa boy who took out three Viscera Refining Large Sess Stage Cultivators as easily as breathing...


    There were only five of them in the entirepetition, you know!? And now, three of them were taken out of the game just like that!


    "Just how the hell was that boy able to aplish that...?" Elder Yong mumbled with a tone of disbelief.


    "I don''t know, Elder Yong, but the one thing I know for sure is that this boy could be something big, something that our sect has been looking to find for thest century..." Elder Dong murmured, his antiquated gaze never leaving the sight of the ck-haired boy nonchntly sitting down on the fighting arena.


    "Is he taking a break??" Elder Bin inquired with shock etched across his face.


    He had never heard of someone who had the guts to take a break during the middle of apetition...


    <i>Just how brazen can one boy be?? And especially one who, a couple days ago, was deemed nothing more than irredeemable trash of the highest caliber! It doesn''t make even the slightest bit of sense, no matter how many times I think it over!</i>


    ......

 Chapter 23: A Memory From The Past and Elder Dong’s Involvement

    <h4>Chapter 23: A Memory From The Past and Elder Dong''s Involvement</h4>


    ......


    Elder Bin wasn''t the only one who was astonished by the facts presented before him, as all of the Outer Sect Deacons had simr reactions.


    None of them could believe that someone so unbelievably strong appeared from among those of the Trial Disciple lot!


    "Did this boy acquire the assistance of one of the Sect''s Ancestor''s or something??" Elder Bin questioned with a raised eyebrow.


    He had heard rumors of cultivators in the Peak Stages of the Tempering Marrow Realm that were capable of guiding trash to a spot where they could even be considered rising stars. However, neither he nor the rest of the Outer Deacons had ever heard of a master with that specific skill set being inside of their Yang Sect...


    "An Exterior Force...?" Elder Yong muttered.


    If his spections were true, then it could spell any number of troubles for their jurisdictions and the Yang Sect as a whole.


    "Should we report this in?" Elder Bin asked, his hand tightly sping a transmission talisman.


    All of the Outer Deacons of the Yang Sect were only of the Bone Forging Stage, while a rare few were in the Early Pulse Condensation Stage. With such weak cultivation bases, there was no way they could handle a master of the same caliber as the leader of the Yang Sect!


    "..." "..." "..."


    All three of the Outer Deacons thought this matter over for a second before Elder Dong spoke up by saying, "I think we should let the boy continue as he was and see where he goes from there. It''s not like we can''t do something about him if it turns out that he''s a spy sent from an opposing force, am I right?"


    "..." "..."


    Elder Yong and Elder Bin understood what he was getting at, as who didn''t know of how troublesome it was to report something in for the Yang Sect!?


    Especially when considering that they were merely Outer Sect Deacons...


    "By the faces that you two are making, I can assume that we can let his existence slide for now? After all, there is still the ck Tiger Family on his back, so I''m sure he has enough hurdles he needs to leap over even without our interference," Elder Dong said.


    "You are correct, Brother Dong. Let''s not even inform the other Outer Deacons of this matter and keep it strictly between the three of us. Is that okay with you, Elder Bin?"


    Elder Yong agreed with the points made by Elder Dong as he turned his head in the direction of the still-shocked old man sitting beside him.


    "..."


    Elder Bin thought the options over for a second before he replied, "I also second the choice to keep this under wraps and let things y out however fate and destiny so wish it to."


    "Well, then it looks like we''re all in agreement. So from this point on, not a single one of us will report our spections about the origins of the power that boy now possesses," Elder Dong said with a tone that indicated the conversation had ended.


    After which, his slightly mncholic face turned in the direction of the young boy in the arena as he thought, ''This is the least I can do for you, boy... For in the end, your title as ''The Most Trashy Cultivator in Existence'' was all my fault...''


    ''Your Spiritual Roots not of this world, were never meant to be on Prometheus in the first ce, and having your parents seal them before they left for the Starry Expanse was what had to be done for the good of us all...''


    Elder Dong''s aura seemed to fluctuate for a second as something far stronger than a mere Body Refinement Realm Cultivator should possess was nearly unleashed from him.


    But before it reached such a point, he reigned it in and refocused his attention back on the ck-eyed boy who sat in a meditative position on the fighting arena.


    -


    Meanwhile, back down on therge battle ring, Azmodeus started cultivating in the middle of a free-for-all, trying to digest his gains from the Super Strength Trait as best he could.


    <i>It looks like I acquired more than stronger physical prowess from this new Trait, as I also feel that my personality has been slightly altered...</i>


    <i>Almost like something changed within me when I obtained Super Strength and subsequently leveled it up...</i>


    He could feel something telling him to train and train and never stop training!


    Something wanted him to be stronger! Something within his very core existence wanted him to be the strongest!


    <i>These Traits are definitely double-edged swords. </i>


    <i>Although the boosts they allot are insanely good and some of the side effects are beneficial for my evolutions and adaptations, there is also the daunting thought that I''m being changed...</i>


    <i>I am being changed with every Trait I acquire, and that change only hits harder when I level up the traits...</i>


    There was something that Azmodeus had heard from what he thought to be the only memory he had of his parents. In that memory, there was something that the shadowy silhouette of a beautiful woman said to him.


    This was the only thing that he could recall about his parents...


    What exactly she said in a soft and soothing voice was, "In life, everything has a price. Even if something is free, it will still have a price somewhere down the line... And what I''m trying to say, my lovely little boy, is that there''s nothing without a price tag. You will need to pay it if you wish to rule everything you were destined for..."


    Her voice became a little sad and gloomy after this part, as the memory suddenly cut off. This was followed by radio silence in Azmodeus''s memory department...


    Nothing came before that memory, and nothing came after until many yearster.


    It was almost like he wasn''t allowed to glimpse into his past...


    Like something, or rather... someone was restricting him...


    Although, to Azmodeus, he believed that all of that was mere spection on his part. His assumption was that they likely formted inside his brain in order to cope with the reality that he was abandoned.


    That was the cold, hard truth, and if he wished to adapt and evolve, then he needed to cope with the irrefutable facts presented before him.


    Nevertheless, there was still a Competition going on, and eight or so fifteen- to eighteen-year-olds were still left standing...


    ......

 Chapter 24: Winning the Outer Sect Competition

    <h4>Chapter 24: Winning the Outer Sect Competition</h4>


    ......


    "It looks like I should finish things up here," Azmodeus dered with an apathetic tone, hiding a deep yearning for more strength beneath it.


    After getting a good feeling for these new urges and feelings, he got up from his lotus position and looked toward all of the remaining participants, including Yang Cho.


    And coincidentally, every single one of them also stared at him, almost like they were sure he was the true ck horse in thispetition, while Yang Cho was the originally predicted winner.


    ''That kid is surely hiding something, but what?? What is he hiding?? And why do I have this grating feeling that I would lose in a head-on confrontation with him???'' Yang Cho thought with confusion as a slight hint of anger shone through his expression.


    "..."


    Azmodeus looked at all the predatory gazes focused on him, as he figured this would happen the moment that he disyed a fraction of his strength earlier.


    But regardless of this newfound attention honed on him, his figure quickly blurred as nobody in either the spectator stands or the fighting arena was able to catch a glimpse of his speeding figure.


    "!!!" "!!!"


    Even the Outer Deacons were beyond shocked at the speed at which he was showing them.


    However, Azmodeus cared not for hiding his strength anymore, as it would be easier to exin his strength being what it was now when he eventually made it to the Core Disciple Competition in three days.


    After all, he could just sum up his increase in strength as being due to a fortuitous encounter that he luckily stumbled upon in the Yang Forest.


    So in the end, there was no real point in concealing his strength when he would have to reveal it anyway.


    FWAZIP!


    He zipped around the fighting ring at a speed of dozens of meters per second as his figure became nothing more than a blur to all the mortals in the stands.


    ZIP! ZIP!


    It almost seemed like sparks of electricity were crackling around him as he passed the remaining eight participants, making quick work of six Viscera Training Small Sess and one Viscera Training Large Sess Stage cultivators.


    All that was left was the big guy who had given him an opportunity to obtain such arge improvement in his strength...


    "I thank you for what you allowed me to acquire, but in the end, it really had nothing to do with you, so this is where we part ways..." Azmodeus spoke with a voice bereft of emotion, his fist already nting itself firmly into the stomach of the towering giant.


    "Gugh!!" Yang Cho violently spat out blood as he wasunched hundreds of meters away, turning into a human-shaped cannon as he made contact with the spectator stands.


    BOOOM!


    He crashed into the wall, resulting in the reverberation of a loud explosion. After which, a stalwart figure fell t first to the ground with froth leaking from his mouth.


    "..." "..." "..." "..."


    Everyone in the spectator stands and even the VIP stands wentpletely quiet at this disy, as they didn''t even have the words to express what they were feeling right now...


    ...


    After a few seconds of pin-drop silence, the uproarious cheers of the arena started once more. They never would''ve expected that they''d be able to witness such an unbelievable sight from a simple Outer Sect Competition that they paid a few silver coins for!


    HOORAAHH!


    "..."


    Azmodeus looked up at all the fervish expressions as he realized that he might''ve gone a little overboard with the amount of strength he unleashed.


    But regardless of his thoughts, the boisterous voice of the announcer soon sounded out:


    "It looks like apletely unexpected event has urred here tonight, boys and girls!! And with this surprisees the winner of this month''s Outer Sect Disciple Admittance Competition!"


    HOOORAAH!


    After the words of the announcer sounded out, everyone within the spectator stands went even more wild! They were at a level of excitement never before seen in an Outer Sect Competition!


    However, their cheers andughter were interrupted by the announcer as he shouted, "The winner of the Outer Sect Admittance Competition, Azmodeus, will obtain a lowest-ranked Common level weapon and an Altering Muscle Refining Pill! Thereafter, he can attempt to breakthrough into the Altering Muscle Realm!"


    Following this announcement, the spectators became even more wild and unruly, as just imagining possessing an Altering Muscle Pill was the dream of mortals and cultivators alike!


    A few seconds after the winner was announced, everyone started leaving the stadium, followed by the appropriate rewards being allotted to those who ced well in thepetition.


    Of which, Azmodeus obtained the best rewards, as he not only acquired all of the aforementioned items, but he also found himself with a guaranteed spot as an Outer Disciple of the Yang Sect!


    On top of that, he also had the choice to advance straight into the Top 100 of the Outer Sect, which would allow him to beginpeting with the Sect disciples in the Viscera Training Large Sess and Altering Muscle Stages!


    On a side note, for those who were left as thest 8 standing, they would also be able to obtain a spot in the Outer Sect. However, only Azmodeus was able to acquire the other secondary rewards and the rocket straight up to the Top 100 of the Outer Sect.


    ...


    A few hours quickly passed as a young boy around twelve years old leisurely strolled through the streets of Yang Sect. He viewed all the resplendent, colorful lights and the plethora of various establishments that lined the gray cobblestoned roads of the sect.


    A multitude of people were walking from one location to another, while some were simply walking to walk. Of all of these unique characters, there were two who stood out most of all.


    But at the same time, they also appeared to blend into the crowd like they weren''t red, sore thumbs.


    These two figures were the cloaked men from the ck Tiger Family, and they were also termed Shadows One and Two¡ªdeadly assassins who aimed to take a life today...


    .......

 Chapter 25: Taking out Shadow One and Two

    <h4>Chapter 25: Taking out Shadow One and Two</h4>


    .......


    "I still don''t understand why we didn''t attack earlier, Shadow one. Is there some particr reason that we didn''t get rid of the target as soon as he won the Outer Sect Competition?"


    Shadow One looked over at Shadow Two before he turned his emotionless gaze back to the boy they were trailing.


    "It''s because we must know exactly what it was that caused his power to spike so much. And to do that, we need to preserve his life a little longer," he said after a moment of thought.


    "I see. Then we shall do just that." Shadow Two began with an indifferent tone.


    "For the betterment of the ck Tiger Family," he added with an expression befitting something akin to a zealot.


    "For the betterment of the ck Tiger Family." Shadow One spoke with a voice just as differential as the two of them disappeared into the shadows of all the people in the bustling and vibrant streets of the Yang Sect.


    -


    <i>I wonder how I should go about losing those two guys behind me...</i>


    Azmodeus had been thinking on that topic for a while; however, nothing exceptionally special came to mind. So in the end, he lightly shrugged his shoulders before muttering, "The old-fashioned way it is."


    Following those words, his figure blurred after approaching an alleyway off to the side of a sushi restaurant with a bright neon-colored sign.


    "!!!" "!!!"


    Both Shadow One and Shadow Two immediately noticed the disappearance of their target as they sped up in the direction he disappeared to.


    And just as they turned a corner and reached the end of the alleyway, a sword gleam materialized from thin air as an illusory blue boy emerged right after the appearance of a sleek sword.


    "!?!?" Shadow Two noticed this from the corner of his eye as he backed up as fast as he could, narrowly dodging the sword sh that was aiming to take off his head.


    "Tch." A soft clicking of the tongue echoed out as the illusory blue boy faded into thend of non-existence.


    *ng!*


    The sound of metal hitting a hard surface sounded as an eastern-style sword fell to the ground.


    "!!!" Shadow One was mildly surprised by the appearance of the sword.


    <i>Isn''t that the sword that the winner of the Outer Sect Competition was able to win??</i>


    However, before he could delve deeper into the topic of this mysterious attacker with power rivaling their own, another blue illusory boy materialized from thin air. This was followed by another sword being thrown through the air from a random direction in the wide alleyway.


    "!!!"


    This time around, there wasn''t merely a single illusory boy, as two more sparkled into existence!


    Two more lowest-ranked weapons¡ªa dagger and a sword¡ªappeared in their hands as well.


    "It looks like the report on the abilities of that boy was far off the mark. In addition to that, his strength is far superior to the Late Pulse Condensation Realmbat power that he was rumored to have." Shadow Two spoke with a calm voice.


    Shadow One heard what his fellow shadow said as he thought over any potential countermeasures. After figuring out what they should do, he said, "Get into Pincer Formation. We shall corner the target until hees out from wherever he''s hiding."


    He couldn''t find out where these abilities originated from, and the blue illusory boys were no help in leading back to their source. So, in the end, the only option they had was to whittle down the energy reserves of the target before locating his main body and striking him down.


    Shadow One realized this, and Shadow Two understood it after listening to Shadow One''smands.


    So in response to the unforeseen circumstances before them, both of the two cloaked shadows vanished from sight before reappearing on two different sides of all three of the illusory figures.


    SLICE! SLICE!


    They let out a few shes of their poison-coated daggers, effectively cutting up all three of the illusory figures!


    Bzzzt...


    The energy that was used to hold up the three illusory boys was immediately dispersed as a blue misty substance filled the air.


    "???" "???"


    Both Shadow One and Shadow Two had their peripheral visions covered up as everything around them turned into a blue smokescreen!


    "What the hell-!?" Shadow Two eximed, but before he even got the chance to finish his words...


    SHING!


    A crisp, unsheathing sound echoed out as five razor-sharp ck and silver des came flying from five different directions!


    "!!!" After realizing he couldn''t take care of all five of them, Shadow Two attempted to jump out of the way and dodge the iing strikes.


    However...


    SHING!


    *Spurt!*


    Another de¡ªof far superior quality with a sleek design¡ªprated the tough skin of Shadow Two before making its way deeper into his side!


    "!?!?"


    Shadow Two was still trying to understand what was happening when the pain suddenly registered for him. Along with the pain came a few clots of blood leaving his mouth, as a number of his internal organs were undoubtedly injured with that strike.


    *Tap!*


    He leaped away from his spot as fast as his feet could take him away, but...


    SLICE! SLICE!


    Four more swords found their way into his back as four consecutive bloody holes were made in his body!


    "Blegh!!" He violently coughed up blood while looking at the five different swords lodged in his skin, messing up most of his internal organs and rendering him on the verge of death.


    <i>I''m going to die...</i>


    Shadow Two was a trained professional, and he knew when an injury was proven fatal. With this knowledge, he knew that at the rate he was going, his life force would fade into nothingness within the next five minutes.


    It was this fact that led to him using hisst resort...


    |Shadow Cleaver|


    An ability was silently enunciated by Shadow Two as a shadowy de formed from thin air, and along with it, an increase in his strength was given to him!


    "..."


    Azmodeus watched the pitch ck tendrils of energy being emitted from the slightly shorter, cloaked figure. His smile widened a little as he thought, ''It looks like I found my next Trait.''.


    Through this thought, he cycled a few more of his Mirror Mirages away from Shadow One as he once again focused the majority of them on Shadow Two.


    ......

 Chapter 26: Shadow Cleaver Trait

    <h4>Chapter 26: Shadow Cleaver Trait</h4>


    ......


    A few seconds passed by in the blink of an eye as two cloaked figures were on death''s door. While gasping for breath, they fought off nearly a dozen blue figures that transitioned between attacking the two of them within separate parts of the blue misty screen that kept everything shrouded.


    <i>It looks like those blue floberries worked wonders in keeping everything nice and separated as I work on taking out each of them using the ''Old Fashioned Way''. Otherwise known as ''Two versus One isn''t fair, so why don''t we make it Two versus Ten??''.</i>


    Azmodeus had no shame when it came to being shameless, as he was willing to gang up on enemies slightly stronger than him if it meant he came out on top in the end.


    He wasn''t always like this, but after obtaining the Mirror Mirage and Super Strength Traits, some renditions of ''Numbers and Strength beat all'' were engraved into his subconscious.


    Nevertheless...


    *Spurt!* *Spurt!*


    *Bam! *Bam!*


    Two heads were sliced off their shoulders as two cloaked figures fell to the cobblestoned surface of a random alleyway in the Outer Grounds of the Yang Sect.


    Usually, there would be a number of people left in a state of disarray after seeing such a scene go down so close to a busy area. But in this case, a blue misty substance covered up the entire alleyway, attracting a little suspicion from patrolling guards but not enough to cause them to go and investigate.


    So in the end, the two strongest Shadows of the ck Tiger Family died without a burial, as Azmodeus received a few system notifications not long after.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have touched the body of the being known as ''Shadow Two''*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to roll for one of his abilities?*


    *Ding!* *Yes/No*


    Azmodeus immediately clicked yes, as a simr roulette to the previous ones appeared in front of him.


    After spinning around a few times and going through a thousand or so Evolution Essence, he was eventually able to obtain the ''Shadow Cleaver'' Trait that he was hoping for.


    However, his system notifications weren''t over with just that, as a few more bombarded his vision.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed two cultivators in the Peak Stages of the 20% Tempering Marrow Realm!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte or roll for Abilities of both of the cultivators?*


    Azmodeus clicked the assimte button after realizing that he had already obtained the only Trait that he wanted from the two of them.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 48 Points in Strength, 49 in Speed, 51 in Defense, 54 in Qi, and 42 in Cultivation Talent.*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has tremendously improved!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 50,000 Evolution Essence for killing two cultivators in the Peak Stages of the 20% Tempering Marrow Realm!*


    After these pop-ups appeared, Azmodeus decided to open up his system interface and see what he should do next in terms of Evolution Essence allotment.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    <strong>{[Infinite Evolution System]} </strong>


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: 12/115]


    [Cultivation: Initial Stages of the 20% Tempering Marrow Minor Realm (Body Refinement Major Realm.)]


    [Overallbat power: Initial Stages of the 40% Tempering Marrow Minor Realm]


    [Level: 31]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 60,000]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 2,900 ¡ú 32,000 ¡ú 82,000]


    <strong>{[Stats:]}</strong>


    [Strength: 245 + 84 (329)]


    [Speed: 243]


    [Defense: 240]


    [Qi: 260]


    [Cultivation Talent: 210]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    <strong>{[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}</strong>


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Stealth - Level 4] (J Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000]


    [Mirror Mirage - Level 3] (I Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000]


    [Super Strength - Level 3] (I Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000]


    [Shadow Cleaver - Level 0] (I Rank)] ¡ú [0/100]


    ¡ª------------


    After understanding where his strengths and weaknesses lie, Azmodeus decided to use his remaining Evolution Essence to level up once and then level up his Shadow Cleaver Trait to Level 3.


    After a few clicks and an increase in strength, a new system interface was presented before him.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    <strong>{[Infinite Evolution System]} </strong>


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: 12/118]


    [Cultivation: Middle Stages of the 20% Tempering Marrow Minor Realm (Body Refinement Major Realm.)]


    [Overallbat power: Late Stages of the 40% Tempering Marrow Minor Realm]


    [Level: 32]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 60,000]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 82,000 ¡ú 37,000 ¡ú 25,890]


    <strong>{[Stats:]}</strong>


    [Strength: 267 + 84 (351)]


    [Speed: 266]


    [Defense: 268]


    [Qi: 285]


    [Cultivation Talent: 225]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    <strong>{[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}</strong>


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Stealth - Level 4] (J Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000]


    [Mirror Mirage - Level 3] (I Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000]


    [Super Strength - Level 3] (I Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000]


    [Shadow Cleaver - Level 3] (I Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000]


    ¡ª------------


    After using up the majority of his Evolution Essence, a wave of power washed over Azmodeus. Along with it, an esoteric ck, murky energy enveloped his body before altering his very existence.


    <i>This must be happening because of my Shadow Cleaver Trait...</i>


    At this realization, he felt something else slightly change within him¡ªsomething that he had before but no longer has now.


    <i>I am gaining more strength... but I feel that I am losing something that was quite important to the past me...</i>


    Azmodeus said it in a past tense way because what he ''lost'' no longer held any importance to the current him...


    "Just a second ago, I still held some modicum of emotion when I looked at the people I killed. But now, I feel absolutely nothing when I look at these corpses around me."


    Azmodeus''s eyes scanned the two headless bodies before him, as he felt nothing...


    Not a single hint of remorse or empathy passed through his subconscious upon observing what happened after he reaped two lives.


    "Remember, my lovely little boy, everything in life has a price, and you will need to pay that price if you wish to achieve your destiny."


    "I understand, mother. I will do what I must in order to go further."


    His slightly mncholic words echoed out as the blue mist dispersed into the air, and along with it, the boy who murdered two assassins in cold blood was no longer there.


    It didn''t take long before a few nearby pedestrians walked by and saw the two corpses. This forced hoarse screams out of their throats as a crowd started to form.


    Eventually, arge group of people gathered around the alleyway, and inside the alleyway, there were a few dozen guards inspecting the gruesome scene before them.


    .....

 Chapter 27: The Past

    <h4>Chapter 27: The Past</h4>


    .....


    "Just what sort of monster do you have to be to be able to kill two Tempering Marrow cultivators from the ck Tiger Family?" A guard with long ck hair asked as he lightly tapped his hat, attempting to cover his vision of the sight before him.


    "These guys and all their items were taken from them. In addition, it looks like anything of value they had stashed away was snatched up. Could this just be a case of robbery?" The same guard inquired.


    "..."


    A senior guard who was writing down stuff on a note board turned his head behind him as he asked, "Have you not heard?"


    "Heard what??" The first guard questioned with a confused tone.


    *Sigh...* "Listen up, Newbie; there was an incident a couple days ago in the Yang Forest. And in that incident, there was a Yang Sect Trial Disciple, the only one of his kind.


    And this boy, who was known as the trashiest of all cultivators, suddenly had aplete flip in not only his power but even the way he carried himself. He went on to kill four Yang Sect Outer Disciples when they tried to bring him back by force."


    "What!? This Trial Disciple actually had the balls to go against the Yang Sect?? Does he not fear death!?" The first guard eximed.


    "You truly are a moron, aren''t you? Didn''t I just say that he''s part of the Yang Sect? You should know as well as anybody that the Yang Sect is one where the strongest fist rules," the Senior Guard exined with a slightly exasperated voice while jotting down things on his note board.


    He continued by saying, "Which is to say that this boy was able to do as he wished without punishment. Of course, some of the elders of the Yang Sect were infuriated over this notion. But in the end, it was a dispute between juniors, and thus, they weren''t allowed to interfere by order of the Sect Leader, Yang Fa."


    "You''re saying that this Trial Disciple is doing whatever he wants without any repercussions??"


    "Yes, and he isn''t a Trial Disciple anymore, as he won the Outer Sect Admittance Competition not even half a day ago," the Senior Guard replied.


    "But what I don''t understand is what all of this has to do with this Trial Disciple?? These two assassins are of the 20% Tempering Marrow Realm, and there''s no way that a boy could have anything to do with their deaths..." The younger guard muttered with a puzzled tone.


    "..."


    The Senior Guard let go of his pencil as he turned his head over his shoulder and said, "These cuts are exactly the same as the ones we found on the Yang Sect Outer Disciples. It also just so happens to be simr to the marks on the group of assassins we found dead inside the Yang Forest depths."


    "You can''t be implying...-"


    "Yes, I am saying that this Azmodeus kid was capable of taking out not only cultivators in the Middle and Late Pulse Condensation Stages but also two assassins in the 20% Tempering Marrow Stage," the Senior Guard interjected.


    Even he himself couldn''t believe what he was saying, but there was no other exnation he could think of to exin the events that have happened over thest couple days.


    "B-But sir, surely you jest... I mean, what sort of genius would you need to be to reach the 20% Tempering Marrow Stage at such a young age...?" The younger guard spoke with a tone of disbelief.


    "I don''t know, youngster, but the one thing I do know is that a genius beyond anything ever before seen in Spirit River City has just appeared, and it doesn''t look like he is nning to keep his existence unknown..." The Senior Guard responded. After which, his train of thought was directed toward a question.


    <i>If this boy was considered trash not even a few days ago, and if you include the fact that he likely took the weekly power test for all disciples not even a week prior, then is that to say he had acquired such strength within these two days...?</i>


    <i>And if so, just what sort of aberration are we letting grow up inside our small city...?</i>


    -


    Meanwhile, in a location a few miles out from the ce where two Tempering Marrow Assassins were killed, a young boy with rtively handsome facial features strolled through a shopping district. He bought out any cultivation supplies from all the alchemist shops he could think of.


    The clerks would always ask him where his parents were, to which he would respond by throwing more money in their direction.


    Money was one of the only resources in the world that could be used for a wide number of things, and since it wasn''t even originally his money, he didn''t care how spendthrift-like he appeared.


    There was a time when he once cared about the amount of money he used up in advancing his cultivation at a snail''s pace in his past life. But that all seemed to stop the moment he leveled up the Shadow Cleaver Trait.


    Slowly but surely, he was losing all sense of his past self. Someone capable of infinite adaptation and evolution began to show its head from the flimsy shell that used to be a boy trying to live on a day-to-day basis...


    There was, of course, the option where he could recycle all of his traits and regain his past personality, but what was the point?


    <i>Why show weakness to have it taken advantage of...?</i>


    In his past life, there was a girl, and she was someone who worked at a nearby stone-opening shop.


    This girl was someone who showed levels of kindness to Azmodeus that no one had ever given him in his entire life. And for a few months, he actually thought he had found someone who he could learn to love.


    However, as with all things in life, nothing goodsted forever...


    This girl found herself a powerful boyfriend from a neighboring city''s ruling force. With this boyfriend, the first thing she did wase and shove it in Azmodeus''s face while saying the most demeaning of things.


    His growing emotions died right then and there as he once again understood that nothing would ever go right in his life...


    However, it wasn''t long after this girl came back that he took the beatings of her boyfriend and his group of hooligans with a nk expression. He figured, ''Why whine and sulk when the next day will be just as terrible as the day before? Tears eventually dry up for good...''


    His life was one filled with hurdle after hurdle, and there was no respite for the boy called the weakest and trashiest cultivator in existence...


    He was simply someone trying to survive... But in the end, none of it really mattered, as he died due to the drunken acts of a bastard who had nothing better to do...


    This was the life of a boy named Azmodeus.


    At least, it was...


    ......

 Chapter 28: Continued Farming and a Figure From The Past

    <h4>Chapter 28: Continued Farming and a Figure From The Past</h4>


    ......


    "So, this is what a spiritual beast in the 40% Tempering Marrow Stage is like, huh?"


    A boy''s apathetic voice echoed out as he stood atop arge, 20-meter-long gori-like beast with a sword lodged into its head.


    WAAA!


    Blue energy tendrils were being constantly released from his de as the inside of the gori''s head was turned into a bloody and messy brain smoothie.


    "It honestly wasn''t as impressive as I thought it would be, considering that it possessed such arge frame."


    Azmodeus sighed a little before cutting off the ears of the beast and throwing them into his storage ring.


    BING!


    The ears immediately vanished from view as they reappeared inside a dark space with a wide assortment of items inside it.


    <i>This storage ring cost me nearly half of my three thousand silver coins, but in the end, the benefits of having such arge space to put my loot in is far better than carrying it all inside a big backpack.</i>


    After selling all of his previous ''acquired items'' to a few shops and obtaining a good sum of silver taels, he decided to buy himself some stuff for convenience.


    Of which included a storage ring, a few pairs of daggers and swords, and a few other things.


    Following this spending spree, Azmodeus was poor again, so he brought his ''confirmation of kills'' to the Sect Registry Grounds, causing quite themotion. After which, he obtained arge sum of Sect Contribution Points.


    However, instead of buying things like the Storage Ring with 1,000 Square Meters of internal space, he decided to use his Contribution Points to purchase a number of Pills and cultivation materials.


    And after nearly an entire day of killing and cultivating, Azmodeus was able to increase his cultivation to the Peak Stages of the 40% Tempering Marrow Realm.


    He wanted to improve his cultivation even further; however, anything past this stage would require higher-level resources if he wanted to keep a wless foundation.


    And in the Yang Sect and even the Spirit River City, you had to be in a certain social position to reach the 60% Tempering Marrow Realm and above.


    So in the end, Azmodeus had to halt his cultivation and let it stagnate until he could acquire the appropriate amount of resources to advance further without affecting his foundation.


    Nheless, hisbat power was constantly improving, so he didn''t have many qualms about waiting out his cultivation for now.


    But because of this pause in cultivation advancement, he also had to stop spending his Evolution Essence on leveling up and instead focus it on leveling his various Traits.


    Of which, he got his Stealth Trait to Level 5 and the rest of his skills to Level 4, using up hundreds of thousands of Evolution Essence without a moment''s hesitation.


    On a side note, he also obtained another two Traits during thisst day.


    Namely, they were the ''Speedster'' and ''Fortress'' Traits.


    The first one increased his speed by a huge amount, while the second one did the same thing but for his defense. He got both of these Traits to Level 4 just like the rest of the I-Rank Traits.


    -


    "My overallbat power is slowly but surely increasing. At this rate, it might even reach the 80% Tempering Marrow Stage by the time the Core Disciple Competition begins."


    Azmodeus''s mildly pleased voice sounded out in the Yang Forest as he was making his way back toward the Yang Sect, or more specifically, back toward the Yang Arena.


    After all, he still had an Inner Sect Competition topete in and win.


    And then two dayster, he would do the same for the Core Disciple Competition.


    This was his only n for now, as he was aiming to take the entire Yang Sect by storm without holding anything back!


    A few minutester, outside the towering stepped walls of the Yang Arena.


    "Well... Time to go and win this Inner Sect Competition," Azmodeus muttered before his figure shed into the sign-up area of the arena.


    He found himself inside the same wide room, with various animal carcass decorations andvishly adorned tassels hanging from the walls.


    Not long after making it into the arena, he signed up with the help of the samedy who had signed him up previously.


    She was jittery during the entire sign-up process, but it didn''t bother Azmodeus much, as he figured she would be quite anxious over the next few days.


    After all, she had essentially sent out a kill order on a twelve-year-old boy. However, he wasn''t one to hold grudges over a woman just for doing what she wasmanded to do.


    ...


    A few minutes passed by as Azmodeus, with his new Top 100 Outer Sect Disciple identity, made his way into the stadium section of the arena. Upon entering, he saw the other 99 Outer Disciples who would be taking the Inner Sect Admittance Test along with him.


    "..." "..." "..."


    Every single one of the other participants shot their heads in the direction of thest participant. They were about to berate him for being sote, but when they saw who it was, they froze in their tracks...


    "Azmodeus... Is that really you?" A young boy from among the Outer Sect Disciples inquired with a shaky tone.


    This young boy was no older than twelve years old and was someone whom Azmodeus had weed into the sect with open arms all those years ago.


    At one point in time, they could''ve been considered friends; however, like everything in Azmodeus''s life, that friendship was no more...


    "..."


    Azmodeus turned his apathetic gaze in the direction of a boy with medium-length brown hair, wearing an outfit that would make one assume he was of upper-ss nobility.


    <i>It looks like Yang Xiao is taking the Inner Sect Test as well... I guess it does make sense, considering that it has been nearly two years since he kicked me to the side after figuring out his cultivation talent was so high.</i>


    <i>Err, wait, I forgot about the time gap, so in reality, it has only been less than two weeks since he decided that I wasn''t ''worth the investment''.</i>


    He scoffed a little at the mere notion of being looked down upon by someone in the Viscera Training Large Sess Stage, as his Super Strength Trait seemed to give him quite the level of pride.


    Nevertheless, he quickly turned his head away from the anxious boy as his gaze scanned through all of the other nervous Outer Sect Disciples.


    ......

 Chapter 29: Effortlessly Winning Fights

    <h4>Chapter 29: Effortlessly Winning Fights</h4>


    ......


    <i>It looks like rumors about me have spread around to most of the Yang Sect. The horrified looks on everyone''s faces are evident enough of that fact.</i>


    After realizing this, Azmodeus didn''t even feel like looking eye to eye with a bunch of cowardice trash. Instead of giving them the attention they wanted, he turned his gaze up to the announcer stands, awaiting the announcer''s voice.


    Luckily, he didn''t have to wait long as the announcer did a quick head count and understood that all the Outer Sect Disciples in the Top 100 had made it to the arena.


    "Is everyone ready for the Inner Sect Competition!? Apetition in which the sect will decide who is best fit for the Inner Sect based on a series of bouts that willmence in a short bit!"


    HOOORAAH!


    The crowd erupted in cheers and screams, as the majority of them appeared to be looking in the direction of an adorable boy who stood with a nk expression on his face.


    "I see you all are raring to go, so why don''t we look at the matchups for the Inner Sect Competition!?" The Announcer questioned with a boisterous voice.


    ...


    A few minutes passed by as every participant was redirected to different parts of a now-split arena.


    Unlike the Outer Sect Admittance Test, the Inner Sect Competition was one in which all of the contestants would fight every other contestant at least once until a final winner was ultimately decided.


    Fights between Outer Sect Disciples usually end quickly, so going through thousands of fights doesn''t take too long. That was especially the case when there were exactly 100 separate arena blocks that were made up of the originalrge one.


    As for Azmodeus, he found himself on the other side of a fighting ring, facing a scrawny young man around fifteen years old.


    However, despite the vast difference in size between the twopetitors, the taller one was shivering like a jittery bug. While the other watched a certain location of the Yang Arena with varying emotions shing past his eyes.


    <i>It seems like a few rather distinguished guests have made their way up into the VIP stands...</i>


    Azmodeus''s eyes honed in on the few dozen VIP guests that were sitting up in the VIP stands.


    And of the figures up there, a few Outer Deacons were present, including Elder Dong, Elder Yong, Elder Bin, and a few others.


    However, these Outer Deacons weren''t what put him on edge; it was instead the Inner Deacons, Outer Elders, and Inner Elders that had decided to grace everyone with their presence.


    In particr, it was the 40% Tempering Marrow and 60% Tempering Marrow Outer and Inner Elders that were conversing with each other while focused on him.


    <i>These old coots definitely want to use me as a bargaining chip to appease the anger of the ck Tiger Family. That much I can infer from the sinister looks on their faces...</i>


    Although Azmodeus thought things like this, the truth was that hepletely understood why it was that they were aiming to do something to him.


    After all, in the world of cultivation, benefits were power, and the number of benefits they could obtain from a powerful family like the ck Tiger Family was likely immense.


    All in all, Azmodeus couldn''t me these elders for scheming behind his back, as he would probably do the same if he had been stuck in the same realm for so many years.


    But regardless of how much he rted to their feelings of frustration, they would still die if they went through with their sinister thoughts.


    He was merciless when it came to those who wished to take his life away from him, no matter if they were his elders or not.


    <i>If they have the guts to go against the Sect Leader and collude with the ck Tiger Family, then I will take it upon myself to uproot not only the ck Tiger Family but also the Yang Sect as well...</i>


    Following these thoughts, Azmodeus turned his emotionless gaze back down to his opponent.


    "!!!" The young man opposing him practically pissed himself right then and there when he saw the look in the young boy''s pitch-ck eyes.


    "I-I give up!" He shouted without a second''s hesitation.


    "Very well! Please leave the arena and wait for your next matchup to begin!" The announcer spoke with a loud voice, indicating a certain direction for the young man to go in.


    The young man left the arena like his life depended on it, never looking back!


    "..."


    Azmodeus was left on the stage all by himself, observing the receding figure of a young man in the Viscera Training Large Sess Stage.


    <i>Does not a single one of these Outer Disciples have even the smallest smidgen of courage...?</i>


    He let out a light sigh before focusing on the ongoing fight with a boy he once called his friend.


    Yang Xiao was never really the fighting type, so he was surprised that he participated in a Competition like this of his own volition.


    <i>Maybe he felt guilty about what he did to me on that day and decided to change himself for the better...?</i>


    That thought lingered around for a moment before he shook his head and softly murmured, "There''s no way that conniving bastard would ever think of anyone but himself."


    He discarded the topic of Yang Xiao after reaching this conclusion, as he didn''t feel like wasting any more brain power on that lousy bastard.


    ...


    A few hours passed as thousands of matches had already started and ended.


    All of the matches that Azmodeus participated in were won without him even doing anything. The passive side effects of a few of his traits seemed to have some sort of intimidation effect on those who were significantly weaker than him in strength.


    After all this time of effortlessly winning fights, he simply took out a chair from his storage ring and sat on the fighting ring with a bored look on his face, waiting for the matches to keep ending.


    A few more hours forever disappeared from the echoes of time, as the Top 10 were eventually chosen from all those in the Yang Arena.


    None of them were particrly outstanding, as just about everyone here was someone lucky enough to get past the preliminaries without encountering the monster known as Azmodeus.


    Furthermore, of thest 10 standing, 7 of them were in the Viscera Training Large Sess Stage, while the other two were in the Viscera Training Small Sess Stage.


    There were a few cultivators in the Altering Muscle Stage¡ªcultivators that thought they''d win the entire thing; however, uponing into contact with ''The Monster'', all of them gave up without a fight.


    Finally, the moment finally came when the Announcer gave out the matchups, and unsurprisingly, everyone who got matched up against Azmodeus forfeited the matches right then and there.


    However, there was one young boy who actually had the guts to go against the monster without running away.


    That boy was Yang Xiao, otherwise known as the only friend Azmodeus ever had...


    ......

 Chapter 30: Winning The Arena Competition and More...?

    <h4>Chapter 30: Winning The Arena Competition and More...?</h4>


    ......


    "Do you not remember me, good ol friend? I am Yang Xiao, and you surely know that all the stuff I said earlier was merely a joke, don''t you?"


    Yang Xiao''s slimy voice entered the ears of Azmodeus as he turned his bored gaze up from the ground before saying, "I think I do remember you, but whether I care about your existence in the slightest is a whole other story. So, are you going to make the first move, or shall I?"


    "You surely jest, good ol friend of mine! Why don''t we go and have some lunch together while discussing the good days-!?"


    SHING!


    BOOOM!


    A section of the fighting ring had a deep chasm spread throughout it, as the entire area left of Yang Xiao simply disappeared!


    "!!!" He freaked out at this ludicrous disy of power as he bounced away before shouting, "Wh-What was that for, you dirty bastar-!?"


    However, he wasn''t even given the chance to finish his sentence as another sword sh wasunched in his direction.


    "!!!" Yang Xiao narrowly dodged, barely missing the sword sh, resulting in another section of the arena being destroyed.


    "It looks like you can still dodge even when I unleashed enough strength to kill a Viscera Training Large Sess Stage Cultivator. Those spiritual items on your person are really working well in allowing your power to soar, huh?"


    Azmodeus made hisment while staring at a few shiny pieces of equipment that the young, brown-haired boy was wearing.


    They shimmered and sparkled a little, constantly giving boost after boost to his strength.


    Yang Xiao realized that he would not be able to get through to this less naive version of Azmodeus as he sneered while saying, "You are lucky that I even befriended you for as long as I did, you dirty plebeian! And if you know what''s good for you, then you will hand over all of your secrets to someone worthy of them¡ªme!"


    *Sigh...* A soft sigh echoed throughout the arena as a few more crisp sword sheaths were released in quick session.


    SHING! SHING!


    This time, they were nowhere near the level that they were before, as there was enough power in them to kill multiple cultivators in the Altering Muscle Stage!


    "!!!" Yang Xiao tried dodging out of the way; however, he was nowhere near strong enough, as his body was directly hit!


    His armor broke and shattered less than an instantter!


    Just as he was about to die, an Inner Sect Elder from the stands shot down and thwarted the advancements of the sword strikes.


    "Don''t get ahead of yourself, little boy! Going against our family is the same thing as going against me!" The elder shouted with an imperious disposition.


    "..."


    Azmodeus observed the antiquated appearance of the old man before him. After which, he said, "What if I don''t care that I''m going against you?"


    "!!!" The Inner Sect Elder practically erupted in fury as he roared, "You Dare!? Truly Courting Death!"


    Flowing this outburst from the Inner Elder, he let loose all of his inner strength, quickly unleashing an aura well into the 60% Tempering Marrow Realm!


    Azmodeus could care less about this little disy of his as he asked, "Are you truly looking to take thatst step into the grave? If so, then I think I will assist you in your endeavor."


    FWIP!


    Just as the two of them were about to fight it out right then and there, a sudden sh of light appeared as a middle-aged man with an indescribable aura materialized in between the two of them.


    "!!!" The Inner Sect Elder and father of Yang Xiao immediately realized who this existence was and what he had aplished. This caused him to fall to his knees and yell, "I congratte the Sect Leader for sessfully making it past his mental blockers and breaking through into the First Stage of Qi Condensation!"


    Following this announcement, everyone in the crowd and even the other Outer Sect Disciples, Outer Deacons, Inner Deacons, Inner Sect Elders, and Outer Sect Elders erupted in praise!


    Not a single one of them could believe that a member of their Yang Sect had sessfully broken through into the Qi Condensation Realm!


    This was a monumental asion that would likely bring glory to the sect for hundreds of years toe!


    In spite of all the cheers and such from those beneath him, Sect Leader Yang Fa only had his eyes focused on the young ck-haired boy before him.


    "So you are the one whom he was talking about. Well, you''re definitely an interesting one," he mused while stroking a beard that was no longer there.


    He swiftly put down his hand with a slightly embarrassed expression before announcing, "I have decided something!"


    "....."


    After which, all the chatter of the crowd immediately died out as everyone focused their gazes on their Sect Leader.


    Upon acquiring the attention of everyone in the Yang Arena, Yang Fa continued by saying, "I''ve decided that Azmodeus will skip past the Outer Sect, Inner Sect, Core Sect, and Inherent Disciple Sect. He will directly be my Direct Disciple and be the one to represent the Yang Sect along with my daughter in the battle of the Sects!"


    "..."


    The Sect Leader''s announcement put the entire crowd in a state of disbelief.


    However, it didn''t take long before all of the spectators¡ªexcluding the various elders¡ªexploded out with a plethora of high-pitched sounds, practically breaking the sound barrier!


    Even so, none of them were feeling anywhere near the level of shock that Amzodeus was feeling, as he had no clue what the f*ck was going on!


    ...


    An undisclosed period of timeter, inside an expansive mansion atop a hill, adorned with red and gold shillings on all sides, a few figures looked at each other with varying expressions.


    <i>Am I in some sort of dream or something... Because why the hell am I currently face-to-face with an old man and a 13-year-old girl...?</i>


    Azmodeus sat on a luxurious leather chair in the home of the Sect Leader, Yang Fa, looking at both him and his daughter, Yang Hua.


    "So, what exactly am I doing here...?" He inquired with a slightly exasperated tone.


    "Well, of course you''re here because you are my disciple," Yang Fa replied with a friendly voice as he stretched his hands out, taking a few things from his storage ring.


    "Here, this is what you get for being my one and only disciple. I noticed that your cultivation is a lot higher than you''re willing to show, so I made sure to give you enough resources to reach the very peak of the Tempering Marrow Realm," he added.


    BING! BING!


    Dozens of items that would cost tens of thousands of silver taels plopped onto the wooden floor.


    "!!!"


    Yang Hua''s eyes sparkled a little when she saw so many pretty things, a number of thoughts swirling inside her childish mind.


    .....

 Chapter 31: Yang Fa and His Daughter

    <h4>Chapter 31: Yang Fa and His Daughter</h4>


    .....


    "...I don''t remember agreeing to be your disciple," Azmodeus muttered while putting all of the loot into his storage ring.


    Yang Fa observed the shameless actions of this boy as a smile formed on his face and he asked, "So you don''t wish to be my disciple?"


    "...Well, I didn''t say all that, but there could be a bit more of a reward. Maybe something to help your disciple reach the Qi Condensation Realm," Azmodeus replied, drool drizzling down his mouth as he inspected the inside of his storage ring.


    "Hah... You truly are an interesting one, aren''t you, kid? But I will give you a little extra just this once, so choose from these items."


    Following the mildly humorous words of the Sect Leader, a few more things of immense value were taken out of his storage ring.


    BING! BING!


    Namely, they were three different pills. One was a Physique Refining Pill, the second one was a Marrow Washing Pill, and thest one was a Qi Condensation Realm Breakthrough Pill of the Lowest Quality.


    Azmodeus''s eyes shined a little at the loot in front of him, but he was quickly taken out of his stupor by the following words spoken by the Sect Leader:


    "If you wish to have one of these pills, then you must promise me something," Yang Fa said while swiping away the enticing pillsid out on the center table.


    Azmodeus became a little disappointed when they disappeared, but he still asked, "And what is it that you wish me to do for you?"


    The Sect Leader''s smile widened a little more at this response as he replied, "I need you to look out for my daughter for the next... Let''s say... Forever. Anyhow, on that note, have you ever thought of marriage? I know it''s a little early considering your age, but-"


    "Hold up a second, old man! What are you talking about here??" Azmodeus interjected with a tone of disbelief.


    "Well, of course, I''m trying to ask you what you think of my daughter here? You know, I don''t mean to brag, but her mother is quite the looker, and I''m sure that she''ll be just as gorgeous-"


    "F-Father, what are you saying!?" Yang Hua interrupted the Sect Leader this time, as she covered his mouth with both of her dainty hands.


    Herplexion was as red as a beat as she turned her slightly teary eyes in the direction of the young ck-haired boy staring at them with a stunned look on his face.


    Azmodeus watched the both of them with an utterly baffled expression, as he truly had no clue how his arena battles had turned into this...


    <i>Is this some sort of sick joke yed by whatever gods are up there...?</i>


    He was beginning to think that someone wasughing at him from above as he lightly clicked his tongue before saying, "I don''t wish to marry your daughter, Sect Leader. Give me another task instead."


    "..." "..."


    Yang Hua heard the cold words of Azmodeus as her eyes teared up even further. After which, she took her hands off her father''s mouth before running away with tears streaming down her face.


    "Father, you big meanie, I hate you!" She got out these begrudged words before disappearing behind a screen door that led to the rest of arge mansion.


    And in her ce, she left a young ck-haired boy and an old man staring at the door with nk expressions.


    "You know, this is the part where you''re supposed to run after her before bringing her back," Yang Fa said.


    "The f*ck you mean me, old man?? I just met you and her! Furthermore, she''s your daughter!" Azmodeus eximed, a vein forming on his forehead.


    "Hey, how can you say that, my dear disciple? After all I''ve done for you during these hard times, and this is how you repay me?"


    The Yang Sect Leader''s voice sounded out in a ''devastated'' way, as he was betrayed by his dear disciple!


    There was nothing more terrible than being betrayed by the one you thought you could rely on above all else!


    "..."


    With an astonished look on his face, Azmodeus watched the shamelessness of the man who ruled an entire sect.


    <i>How can one so strong and in such a high position be so utterly shameless-?</i>


    BING!


    His thoughts were interrupted by the three pills that appeared earlier, once again forming from thin air.


    "Go fix things with my precious daughter, and I''ll give you not only a single one of these pills, but all of the pills," Yang Fa said.


    "Say less," Azmodeus responded with a ''righteous'' expression as he immediately got up from his seat and vanished from his spot.


    And then there was one...


    Yang Fa gazed in the direction in which the young boy disappeared as a slight chuckle escaped his mouth before it erupted into an intenseughing session.


    After a few seconds ofughter, the Sect Leader let go of his stomach as he murmured, "He truly is the son of you both, isn''t he...? Even his talent is beyond anything that the Yang Sect can hope to contain."


    A reminiscent look seemed to form on his face as he recalled two figures of strength not belonging to this world.


    They fell from beyond the stars one fateful day, and with them, they brought a destined child in a basket.


    "I do wonder if those two are doing fine wherever they are right now...?" He asked no one in particr while staring up at the bright blue sky¡ªa sky that seemed to hold an untold number of mysteries.


    -


    Meanwhile, in a different part of therge Yang Sect Leader''s Mansion, a boy was walking through wooden corridors, looking for a young, pretty girl around his age.


    It didn''t take long before he caught a whiff of a light sniffling that originated from underneath a low-hanging bridge.


    He took silent steps toward the bridge before he crouched down and asked, "What are you doing under here?"


    "!!!" The sniffling girl was frightened by the sudden voice as she bounced away, bonking her head on a wood beam at the bottom of the bridge.


    "Ow, ow, ow... It hurts...!" Yang Hua eximed while rolling around on the grassy ground, rubbing her head.


    Azmodeus watched this go down with a small, imperceptible grin on his face as he asked, "Did that hurt, little Miss Noble?"


    He was trying his best to stop augh from escaping his mouth, but upon seeing those puffed-out cheeks of hers, he couldn''t help himself...


    ......

 Chapter 32: Yang Hua and a Terrible Master

    <h4>Chapter 32: Yang Hua and a Terrible Master</h4>


    ......


    "Hey, don''tugh at me, you meanie!" Yang Hua grumbled while her small hands softly hit the young boy on the chest.


    "Ai, I''m sorry, little Miss Noble, but your face is just so funny to look at," Azmodeus replied, tears building up in his eyes.


    "You''re stillughing, you meanie! And my name is Yang Hua, not little Miss Noble!" The young girl eximed, her fistsing down even faster on the young boy sitting under a bridge with her.


    "Anyways, little Miss Noble, why did you run away earlier? Your father seems to truly care about you, you know?" Azmodeus stopped his teasing as he asked a question to the girl beating him up.


    *Humph!* "Why would you care?? You said you didn''t like me, so just leave me alone!"


    Yang Hua let out a soft harrumph before moving her body to another section of the underbridge,pletely ignoring the existence of the young ck-eyed boy.


    Azmodeus remembered exactly why it was that women were the mostplicated creatures in existence.


    <i>She saw me for less than a few minutes, and she''s already making a big deal over me saying that I didn''t want to get together with her??? I truly don''t understand what goes on inside the heads of girls...</i>


    He felt like fighting Spiritual Beasts was a hell of a lot easier than trying to understand how toplete this ''mission'' given to him by the Sect Leader.


    *Sigh...* He sighed a little before asking, "Do you like bunnies, little Miss Noble?"


    "It''s Yang Hua! I love bunnies! And stop talking to me, meanie!" The aggrieved girl responded without even turning her head around.


    "..."


    Azmodeus ignored herments as he said, "Look here, and you will see a bunny, Little Miss Noble."


    "Really!?" Yang Hua shot her face in his direction as she saw a tiny bunny made of Qi jumping around on the ground.


    "How did you do this??" She asked with a slightly entranced look on her face as she stared at the hopping bunny rabbit.


    "I learned how to do this not too long ago using a special trait of mine," Azmodeus responded, his fingers dancing around a little, causing the bunny rabbit to do a few rolls and flips.


    "For a big dum dum, you have cool tricks!" Yang Hua spoke with a radiant smile on her small, adorable face as she watched the bunny hop around her.


    She went to go and grab the rabbit; however, the moment she touched it, the Qi dispersed and the bunny disappeared.


    "T-The bunny..." She mumbled, tears once again forming in her pretty green eyes.


    "I-I killed the bunny, Azmodeus..."


    Yang Hua''s big round eyes looked up at the young ck-haired boy as she looked like she was about to break down right then and there.


    Azmodeus watched this silly girl sniffle in front of him while clenching her small fists. He lightly sighed before sticking a finger up and saying, "Look, it''s a miracle. The bunny came back from the dead."


    Yang Hua immediately shot her tear-filled eyes in the direction his finger was pointing at as she saw the bunnye back from the dead!


    "Az-Azmodeus, look, the bunny is back alive! I saved the bunny!" She beamed while going to grab the bunny for the second time.


    However, unlike thest time, she was able to lift the bunny up and coddle it with a goofy smile on her face.


    "..."


    <i>Using up 10,000 Evolution Essence to upgrade my Spirit Animal Trait just to appease a girl is enough to make a grown man cry...</i>


    Azmodeus would be crying tears right now if not for his excellent control over his emotions.


    <i>These pills better be worth all this trouble...</i>


    He let out what felt like the millionth sigh today as he waited for the girl to be happy enough to feel like walking back to the Yang Sect Leader''s Residence.


    -


    *Tap Tap*


    A young boy with an indifferent expression and a young girl with a bubbly disposition made their way through the elegantly carved corridors and bridges that made up the Yang Manor.


    "Hey, Azmodeus! Do you wanna be friends!? Because I think we should be friends!" Yang Hua said.


    "No-"


    "Yay! We''re friends now! Do you like tea parties!?" She interrupted Azmodeus with an effervescent look on her face,tching onto the left side of him.


    Azmodeus didn''t know how a simple ''bring girl back mission'' turned into this...


    In spite of his grievances, he continued moving through the Yang Manor, bringing the troublesome Yang Hua right along with him.


    A few minutes passed, and the two of them eventually made it to a point where they sat in the same room that the Sect Leader was in. However, unlike the seating arrangements the first time they were there, things were a little different...


    "Well, it looks like you two are getting along quite well," Yang Fa mused whilebing through a few books he grabbed from a nearby bookshelf.


    Azmodeus looked at the girl sitting dangerously close to him. After a moment ofmenting his fate, he turned his twitching face toward the middle-aged man lightlyughing behind a book he had in front of his face.


    <i>This new master of mine is really looking to have his entire treasure vault looted, isn''t he...?</i>


    His lips violently twitched for a second before he asked, "So what are you going to teach me as my new master? And I want those pills."


    "Hmm... Here you are," the Sect Leader responded while using one of his hands to toss a few pills in the young boy''s direction.


    "And on the topic of teaching you something, I think I will teach you how to be independent in your studies of the Dao," he added, his fingers flipping the page he was reading.


    "..."


    Azmodeus couldn''t believe this ''master'' of his, as he nearly coughed up blood right then and there!


    <i>I think this old man is looking to be part of my existence...</i>


    His eyes darkened for a moment before being abruptly taken out of his reverie by the giddy girl beside him...


    ......

 Chapter 33: A Delusional Girl...

    <h4>Chapter 33: A Delusional Girl...</h4>


    ......


    "Hey, stop taking Azmodeus''s attention away from me, father! He''s my friend, not yours!" Yang Hua eximed with a small pout on her face, her body snuggling even closer to the boy beside him.


    "...Hey, beloved disciple, are you already making moves on my daughter?" Yang Fa questioned with a raised eyebrow.


    "Screw you, old dude! I have made no such moves on anyone!" Azmodeus responded while pulling the girl away from him.


    However, when he saw the chipmunk-like girl tear up again, he furrowed his brows before letting hertch back onto his arm.


    "Ho?" The Sect Leader wore an amused expression as he chortled a little before saying, "Sure, sure, beloved disciple, just remember to take care of my daughter in the future."


    "I-I... Y-You old bastard..." Azmodeus was at a loss for words, as he had never met someone so annoying in his entire life.


    <i>It''s decided; this old fart will be a loot bag-</i>


    However, he was suddenly taken out of his thoughts by a thin yellow book with a cloud on the front being thrown in his direction.


    *Pat*


    As soon as he caught it, a wizened voice sounded out:


    "Take this andprehend. It should help you be even faster as long as you obtain enough insights into it," Yang Fa said while continuing to read his book.


    Azmodeus took one good look at the middle-aged man before turning his head down to the manual. He muttered, "The Cloud Chaser Steps..."


    For some reason, he felt like this technique was something far beyond his capabilities to understand.


    He also felt like they were equally beyond the capabilities of the Sect Leader, so how was he in possession of the technique?


    "I know what you''re thinking, but you will understand exactly what you wish to know the day that you''re able to fullyprehend the technique. But for now, let''s just say that I''m doing a favor for an old friend." Yang Fa interrupted his thoughts with an extremely ambiguous exnation.


    <i>An old friend...? What does he mean by that??</i>


    Azmodeus found everything this Sect Leader said to be something that only further deepened the mystery surrounding his past.


    <i>Why do I feel like something is attempting toe back in my memories, but before it can, it gets blocked by something that I can''t see...?</i>


    Even though he could feel the existence of something interfering with his memories, it felt like he was trying to understand what the essence of heaven was as a mere mortal.


    <i>Something is wrong with my memories, but what is it??</i>


    However, the moment this thought entered his mind, hepletely forgot what he was thinking about.


    Yang Hua turned her big, bright eyes up toward the ck-haired boy as she saw various emotions conflicting with each other inside that sharp gaze of his.


    <i>Is my new friend okay...?</i>


    She was beginning to get worried as she ced her hand on his forehead.


    "???" Azmodeus was surprised by the sudden coldness as he looked down at the anxious expression on an adorable girl''s face.


    "What are you doing?" He asked with his head tilted to the side a little.


    "I''m helping! My mother always used to do this for me when I looked like you just did, so I figured you could use it as well!" Yang Hua responded with a light, heavenly giggle.


    Azmodeus observed the cheerful girl as he shook his head a little before refocusing back on the Sect Leader.


    "Oh, please don''t mind me! Treat me as nothing more than thin air and continue!" Yang Fa spoke with a slightly mischievous look on his face, one of his hands covering his mouth while the other waved a little in front of him.


    *Tick!*


    "I swear I''ll leave you half naked with all your possessions in my pocket, old bastard!"


    Azmodeus''s perturbed voice echoed out as he was prepared to unleash all of his strength in order to knock some sense into this old dude!


    "Haha! Nheless, little guy, you will want to check out that technique soon, for it''s quite useful to the current you, and especially so for that little conundrum you found yourself in with the ck Tiger Family of Spirit River City." Yang Fa interrupted his growing anger with a slight chuckle and a serious tone toward the end.


    Azmodeus''s irritation calmed down at these words as he asked, "You aren''t going to help your disciple out when he''s in trouble?"


    "Why of course-... I won''t!" The Sect Leader replied with his serious facade breaking apart right then and there.


    <i>You know what? Screw this! I''m going to kill this master of mine!</i>


    Azmodeus was once again put on edge as a deadly aura erupted from his small frame, startling Yang Hua a little.


    But regardless of the scary aura, she felt that there was too much kindness in his eyes for him to be a bad guy. Hence, she snuggled even closer to him with a content look on her face.


    "..."


    Azmodeus realized he might''ve gone a little overboard as he reigned his aura back in before asking, "Why is it that you won''t help me, even though we both knew you possess the strength to?"


    Yang Fa watched the interactions between his daughter and his disciple as a slight smirk emerged on his expression. He said, "Of course I have the ability to assist you, and quite easily at that, but where''s the lesson in that? I mean, how else are you going to be able to be stronger? Or were you expecting me to bring the members of the ck Tiger Family to your doorstep and make you more powerful without any effort on your part?"


    "What do you mean by that?" Azmodeus questioned with a mildly dangerous tone.


    <i>He can''t possibly know about the system, so what exactly is he talking about?</i>


    He wasn''t one to jump to conclusions; however, the Sect Leader was being oddly mysterious with all these vague words.


    <i>It''s almost like he knows something about me from my past-</i>


    Before that thought could even enter his mind, it disappeared, leaving his train of thought where it was at previously...


    ......

 Chapter 34: Cloud Chaser’s Technique

    <h4>Chapter 34: Cloud Chaser''s Technique</h4>


    ......


    "..."


    Yang Fa noticed that same thing happening to Azmodeus again as he figured those ''two'' would do something like that.


    He let out an aged sigh at the thought of those two trouble-making geniuses as he said, "Although I don''t know what''s going on inside that head of yours, I can tell you for certain that you will never gain more strength if you only rely on me. And I''m sure you know that as well, so why don''t we speak about how you n to take out the ck Tiger Family with your own individual power-?"


    "Can we not help him a little teensie bit, Father? Pretty Pwease...?" Yang Hua interjected with a pleading tone, her big green eyes terrorizing her father.


    "T-This, my dear, you must understand that Azmodeus here needs to grow-"


    "Pwease...?" She interrupted with her lips curling up, about to break the cuteness barrier that restricted all beings.


    *Urgh...!* Yang Fa nearly had a heartache right then and there as he mumbled, "I guess I can give him a few more pills..."


    Yang Hua''s eyes brightened up at this response. She jumped up from her seat and wringed herself around her father''s neck while saying, "You''re the best, father! Thank you, thank you!"


    The Sect Leader would normally be happy after receiving such affection from his daughter, but when he saw the greedy expression the young ck-haired boy was making, he felt a spike go through his heart.


    <i>My money... All the wealth I have umted over the years... Why do I feel like I will need to weep tears of blood for my soon-to-be worth...?</i>


    Yang Fa grimaced a bit before looking toward the ck-eyed boy, only to see that he was no longer there and that a note was left in his ce.


    The note''s first part was for Yang Hua, telling her that he''d consider dropping by whenever he had time, while the second part said something like, ''You owe me pills, old man. I will be back to take them from your hands when I run out. Thanks for the technique, and try not to croak before I acquire my pills.''.


    The Sect Leader nearly died of anger when he saw what was written on the note. He thought, ''That little bastard is so much like him... And that is exactly what worries me when it concerns the future of the Fire Nation...''


    He sighed a sigh that disyed just how much he had witnessed over the years before he picked up the now-sleepy Yang Hua and brought her back to her room.


    After which, the Sect Leader returned to the chair that overlooked the rest of the Yang Sect from atop his nigh-insurmountable mountain.


    <i>I wonder if this boy''s path will coincide with his parents, or if he will end up somewhere entirely different...</i>


    ***


    Meanwhile, in a location a few dozen miles into the Yang Forest, inside a small shed that was barely holding itself together, Azmodeus had already gotten into a meditative position. He was aiming toprehend the profundities of the Cloud Chasers Technique.


    So far, he hadn''t learned much more than the fact that the Cloud Chasers Technique was split up into twelve different levels. Of those twelve levels, only the first one was capable of beingprehended by someone in the Body Refinement Realm.


    "Although the first level is supposed to be the easiest, I can''t seem to understand a single thing that I''m looking at..." Azmodeus mumbled with a discontented expression.


    Although hisprehension wasn''t the highest out there, with his improvements to his cultivation talent, hisprehension speed should''ve increased right along with it!


    And yet...


    <i>Why do I feel like even understanding the smallest section of the first level will take me at least half a day?</i>


    Half a day may not sound like much, but for him, it might as well have been tens of thousands of potential Evolution Essence flushed straight down the drain!


    <i>Should I focus on understanding the Cloud Chasers Technique, or should I go out and hunt some more Spiritual Beasts in the depths of the Yang Forest?</i>


    He contemted the matter for a moment before he ultimately decided to continueprehending the Cloud Chasers Technique.


    After all, in his mind, if it needed such great amounts of time toprehend, then it must surely be a technique that gives insane amounts of benefits!


    So that''s exactly what he did as time passed by like the passing of seasons...


    ...


    Half a dayter.


    A young boy with ck hair and eyes, with his bare, slightly muscr chest out in the open, was seen making abstruse foot movements outside of a small hut.


    He leaped to the left and skidded to the right.


    He dashed to the front and backtracked to where he was.


    A few repetitions of this, and something started to change in the way that the boy was moving.


    His speed was increasing!


    Not only that, but his feet almost seemed like they were capable of gliding above the ground through the use of some mystical technique.


    After improving his speed even further with the help of the Cloud Chaser Technique, Azmodeus was beginning to look like nothing more than a blur.


    A few minutester, he had sessfully reached the very first level of the Cloud Chasers Technique.


    Upon which, he immediately felt the power coursing through his veins. He didn''t know exactly how much faster he had be, but it was enough that his speed instantly became his strongest aspect of existence.


    In fact, if he were correct in his deductions, then his speed had already surpassed themon speed of someone in the 60% Tempering Marrow Stage!


    Even so, gaining this new level of speed only made Azmodeus even hungrier for power as he got right down to it and started cultivating.


    A few hours passed, and all of the pills that were given by the Sect Leader of the Yang Sext had been used up.


    Usually it would take weeks, if not months, to digest all of those pills, but for Azmodeus, with his cultivation talent, it took a mere fraction of that time!


    .......

 Chapter 35: A Week Later...

    <h4>Chapter 35: A Week Later...</h4>


    .......


    "It seems that just like my Traits, my stats also have their own hidden effects. Although the only noticeable ones right now are improvements to all aspects of my existence, who knows what sort of price I''ll have to payter on in my journey..." Azmodeus murmured with a conflicted expression.


    It was bing increasingly apparent that every ounce of power he obtained came with a price¡ªa price that no other cultivator would need to pay so early on in the journey to the peak.


    But unfortunately for him, he was given the crappiest rolls when it came to what he had in this lifetime...


    Even so, he was willing to pay every price necessary if it meant he never had to return to the life he had before obtaining the Infinite Evolution System!


    Even if it meant that he would slowly but surely lose all of his emotions and sense of self over time...


    But, even if something like that did happen, Azmodeus still believed that he would be able to retain his prime objective in this life.


    That objective being to survive...


    <i>I wonder if immortals exist, and if so, I wonder if I can one day be one...</i>


    Azmodeus thought on a slightly humorous note as the notion of bing an immortal was a nice one. But in the end, the peak of cultivation was the Mahayana Realm, so that''s what he would aim for.


    Nevertheless, that was a topic for a him far into the future. Right now, all he wanted to do was continue digesting the cultivation essence that he obtained from all the cultivation pills, excluding the Qi Condensation Breakthrough Pill.


    ...


    A few days passed as a young boy around 5''9 was seen jumping from tree to tree like a shadow.


    Over thest week or so, Azmodeus had been cultivating like a madman, going back to his master to acquire more cultivation resources before repeating the process over and over again.


    He had also spent some time with Yang Hua, as she was always asking him toe with her into Spirit River City to eat and shop.


    On a side note, he also made sure to spend an appropriate amount of time killing all the spiritual beasts that he found in the Yang Forest.


    It was through all of these actions that Azmodeus was able to reach the very peak of the 100% Tempering Marrow Realm and save up nearly 1.5 million Evolution Essence without spending a single point!


    It was also on this day that he looked over his system interface while out with the adorably innocent Yang Hua.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    <strong>{[Infinite Evolution System]} </strong>


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: 12/124]


    [Cultivation: Peak Stages of the 100% Tempering Marrow Minor Realm (Body Refinement Major Realm.)]


    [Overallbat power: Half-Step Qi Condensation Realm]


    [Level: 32]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 60,000]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 1,480,000]


    <strong>{[Stats:]}</strong>


    [Strength: 267 + 84 (351)]


    [Speed: 266 + 82 + 120 (468)]


    [Defense: 268 + 86 (354)]


    [Qi: 285]


    [Cultivation Talent: 225]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    <strong>{[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}</strong>


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Stealth - Level 5] (J Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000]


    [Mirror Mirage - Level 4] (I Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000]


    [Super Strength - Level 4] (I Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000]


    [Shadow Cleaver - Level 4] (I Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000]


    [Speedster - Level 4] (I Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000]


    [Fortress - Level 4] (I Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000]


    [Spirit Animal - Level 4] (I Rank)] --> [0/100,000]


    ¡ª------------


    Although Azmodeus was pleased with his system interface, in the end, he still wasn''t able to breach the gap between the Half-Step Qi Condensation and 1st Stage Qi Condensation Realms.


    "It looks like that old bastard will be beating my a*s once again..." He mumbled with a slightly vexed tone.


    He was truly getting annoyed by all the beatings that he willingly took from the Sect Leader when it was the time of day that they would begin the ''Daily Training''.


    Although Azmodeus constantly improved with each passing day, in the end, the Sect Leader would always win their fights in a special area of the Yang Mansion.


    And he would do so without even breaking a sweat!


    <i>The difference between the Body Refinement and Qi Condensation Realm will not be an easy one to cross. But as long as I continue practicing the Cloud Chaser Arts and advance it to level 2, then I would like to see how much more those frail bones of his can take...</i>


    Some oddly sinister thoughts swirled around inside his head as he was ready to give that old bastard a good whipping!


    However, there was still a girl that required constant attention, so he took himself out of his thoughts before being dragged along by a bright, green-eyed girl. Thereafter, she brought him into every single establishment that caught her eye.


    "Look, Azmodeus, do you see those chocte cakes!? Let''s go in and eat some!" She eximed, her small frame already darting into the sweets shop.


    "Does this girl not have an off switch...?" Azmodeus muttered.


    But despite his thoughts, a small smile formed on his lips as he looked fondly at the effervescent girl ordering everything on the shop''s menu.


    <i>I''m d that it isn''t my money that she''s blowing through like the end of the world ising...</i>


    He felt a little sympathetic for the Sect Leader, but when he recalled how merciless that old bastard was in his beatings, that sympathy vanished without a trace.


    "Could you get me a few things as well, Yang Hua?" Azmodeus asked with a slightly sinister smirk on his face.


    "Sure thing, Azzmodeus! Which ones do you wantch!?" Yang Hua responded with a mouth full as she pulled him into the lively sweets shop.


    <i>If that old bastard is so rich, then I wish to see just how much I and his precious daughter need to spend to burn through his bank ount...</i>


    Azmodeus wore an expression unbefitting of his status as the sole heir of the Yang Sect as he scanned through the menu items, his arm interlinked with the adorable girl beside him.


    After ordering three of everything, he and Yang Hua left the sweets shop with content expressions, although for two very different reasons...


    ......

 Chapter 36: 1st Stage Qi Condensation Realm

    <h4>Chapter 36: 1st Stage Qi Condensation Realm</h4>


    ......


    Two more days passed as the day finally came.


    The day when Azmodeus would attempt to breakthrough into the 1st Stage of Qi Condensation!


    Twenty-four hours ago, he sessfully tied with the old dude while still in the Half-Step Qi Condensation Realm. And although he was confident that he could narrowly defeat the Sect Leader, he wasn''t willing to settle for a narrow win.


    Azmodeus wanted to have an overwhelming victory! One in which that old dude would never be able to recover from!


    WAAA!


    A faint blue energy swirled around the figure of a young boy cultivating inside a small shed, as he had already reached the stage at which he could begin sensing Qi.


    Right now, he was trying to condense all of the Qi stored inside his Dantian and make it transform into something called a ''Qi Cyclone''.


    -----


    The Qi Condensation Major Realm and all twelve of its Minor Realms.


    To break through into the Qi Condensation Realm, one needed to absorb a sufficient amount of Qi into one''s Dantian until one reached a point where they could begin redirecting all that Qi into forming a Qi Cyclone.


    On the subject of Qi Cyclones, that was also the only indication for which one had to determine which stage they were at in the Qi Condensation Realm.


    There were a total of 12 Minor Realms in the Qi Condensation Realm, namely:


    1st Stage Qi Condensation Realm ¡ú [1 Cyclone sitting inside your Dantian Space and around your Dantian.]


    2nd Stage Qi Condensation Realm ¡ú [2 Cyclones sitting inside your Dantian Space and around your Dantian.]


    3rd Stage Qi Condensation Realm ¡ú [3 Cyclones sitting inside your Dantian Space and around your Dantian.]


    This trend followed until the Twelfth Qi Condensation Realm, which was:


    12th Stage Qi Condensation Realm ¡ú [12 Cyclones sitting inside your Dantian Space and around your Dantian.]


    -----


    WAAA!


    Immense blue energies continued swirling around inside the interior of a small hut in the depths of the Yang Forest. Inside that hut, a boy was on the precipice of aplishing something that less than a handful had achieved in Spirit River City!


    "I am close, but still not there just yet..." Azmodeus muttered with furrowed brows.


    He felt that his breakthrough was right in front of him, but at the same time, it felt so far away.


    However, there was something that he assumed would help him get through this bottleneck.


    Or rather, multiple things...


    BING! BING!


    Hundreds of Lowest and Low Quality Pills were dropped onto the ground through the use of a storage ring. After which, all of them started being slurped up by Azmodeus like victims to a human vacuum!


    ...


    A few minutes passed as the breakthrough finally made itself known!


    WAAA!


    The various Qi energies transformed into a maelstrom of elements as everything inside the small shed was being thrown all around!


    There was no end to the numerous elements hitting Azmodeus from all sides, taking both him and his Dantian Space through an extremely intense storm.


    It appeared as if at any moment, him along with the hut would be destroyed by the Qi. Which would allow him to achieve something truly spectacr!


    Just as one would assume that the shed would be destroyed, all of the Qi dispersed, and from within the Qi storm, a young boy emerged.


    His shirt was gone, and his skin was wless, as slight signs of a muscr physique were beginning to vividly show.


    "I just knew that consuming all my remaining pills would do the job just fine," Azmodeus murmured with a small, satisfied smile, his new divine sense scanning the inside of his Dantian Space.


    What he saw inside himself was arge, bluish gray sphere that should be his Dantian. Around that Dantian, there was a spiraling mass of condensed Qi orbiting in circr motion.


    "This should be the Dantian and Qi Cyclone, which means I have sessfully broken through into a stage considered a myth in Spirit River City..."


    He didn''t know how to feel about this information as he was clearly overjoyed. But for some odd reason, something was telling him it wasn''t good enough...


    <i>This is no time to becent, for this is just the beginning... If I be all excited over a small breakthrough like this, then I might as well open myself up for an enemy attack.</i>


    His gaze hardened as he got up from his lotus position and walked out his house door, heading for the nearby creek.


    Breaking through had caused a number of impurities to leave his body, resulting in a bunch of nasty and grimy substances covering him from head to toe.


    ...


    A few minutester.


    Azmodeus finished cleaning off all the grime and was now putting on his set of specially designed purple and gold robes.


    He didn''t want to wear such ostentatious clothing in the beginning. But after listening to the nagging of his master telling him about ''upkeeping face as the sole disciple of the Sect Leader'', he had no choice but to wear them.


    Though, at this point in time, they had growed on him quite a lot, enough so that he wore them even when his master wasn''t hounding him.


    Nevertheless, Azmodeus made his way through the Yang Forest, going in the direction of the highest point of the Yang Sect, the Yang Leader''s Residence.


    "..." "..." "..."


    Everyone whispered and conversed with each other as he passed by them with a debonair disposition. But he could hardly care about the opinions of those beneath him, so he continued on his way to his destination.


    He was aware of his growing pride due to the side effects of all his superior Traits. But in the end, it didn''t apply to anyone other than strangers, so it wasn''t even worth fretting over in his opinion.


    After all, Yang Hua was treated like a spoiled little princess by him, even though she was far weaker. Though she did bring home the bacon, so maybe that had something to do with his easygoing attitude when around her...


    Even so, this newfound ''pride'' seemed to only apply to strangers and those whom he already had low opinions of. Such as Yang Xiao and his father.


    Speaking of those two, they would sometimese by and try to apologize for their behavior. But nothing they said was even registered by Azmodeus''s ears as his rtionship with scum was immaterial for him.


    And then there was the ck Tiger Family. Who in the beginning, even after learning of his identity as the Sect Leader''s Disciple, still had the nerve to send out their strongest elders in an attempt to kill him in broad daylight!


    But of course, all their attempts were proven futile, as they didn''t evenst half a second before their heads slid off the shoulders and they became a part of Azmodues''s strength.


    The ck Tiger Lord was infuriated at these actions, but there was nothing he could do...


    After all, he was merely of the Peak 100% Tempering Marrow Stage, while the backer of the monstrous boy was in the 1st Stage of Qi Condensation.


    This was all to say that for thest couple days, everything had been rtively peaceful¡ªalmost too peaceful...


    In spite of that, today was a good day for Azmodeus, as he would be going back to shove his des in that old bastard''s face!


    Or, at least, that was how he originally envisioned the day going, but fate was oftentimes cruelest to those who deserved it the least...


    .....

 Chapter 37: The Attack of the Fire Nati-... Assassin’s!? Again!?

    <h4>Chapter 37: The Attack of the Fire Nati-... Assassin''s!? Again!?</h4>


    .....


    "Aahhh! Someone help me!"


    "There are attackers! The Yang Sect is being attacked by unknown men in ck cloaks! Aargh-!"


    "Not my sister! No, leave her alone-!"


    Various screams echoed throughout the Yang Sect, and it only seemed to start the moment Azmodeus made it back.


    -


    "???" Azmodeus looked around him and saw hundreds of masked men shing down every Yang Sect disciple they saw.


    <i>What the hell is going on here-?</i>


    SHING!


    A crisp sound reverberated through the area as a long saber blitzed straight toward his neck!


    "!!!" He quickly dodged out of the way, narrowly missing the razor-sharp de.


    The strike missed its target, but it didn''t look like it was nning to stop as it touched the cobblestoned ground of the Yang Sect!


    BOOOM!


    A loud explosion resounded as a wide chasm that stretched in a straight line for hundreds of meters was made in the center of the courtyard!


    <i>This power... It isn''t something that someone in the Body Refinement Realm should possess...</i>


    Azmodeus observed the damage for a moment before his dead eyes found their way toward a man with his gray hair in a bun and arge scar across his left eye.


    "Who are you? And why are you and your buddies attacking the Yang Sect?" He questioned, his body already getting into a fighting stance.


    "You wish to know why we''re attacking the Yang Sect?" The scarred man inquired with an amused tone. "...Well, isn''t it obvious? It''s because of you, Azmodeus!"


    Following the man''s cryptic words, he dashed forward before letting out another saber strike!


    "!!!" Azmodeus wasn''t able to dodge this one in time as he pulled out his sleek ck sword and attempted to deflect the saber.


    However, the amount of force the cloaked man put into his saber had already reached the Peak of the 2nd Second Stage of Qi Condensation!


    <i>How could these attackers be in the 2nd Stage of Qi Condensation?? It doesn''t make any sense...</i>


    He gritted his teeth and took on the full force of the strike, holding it back with everything he had!


    SHING! SHING!


    Their des violently pushed against each other, trying to determine the victor; however, after a few seconds of no clear winner being decided, both of them leaped back from their spots.


    SLICE! SLICE!


    Multiplerge and deep cuts were made in the surrounding area after they retreated away from each other, likely due to the damage resulting from their sh.


    Even so, the two of them didn''t seem to care one bit, as they once again lunged at each other, surpassing speeds of over one thousand meters per minute!


    "As for your question on who I am, or rather, who we are. Well, I think I''ll do a favor to the one who''s about to die and tell you that wee from a richer area in the Fire Nation, namely, Shadow''s Grove. We are the Twilight Assassins!"


    The scarred man''s cynical voice echoed out as he once more made contact with the young ck-haired boy''s de, resulting in massive amounts of damage being inflicted on the surroundings!


    However, neither of the two powerful figures ceaselessly fighting had the luxury to bother with damaging the Yang Sect. They honed in on each other before zipping at lightning-quick speeds, attempting to get the upper hand on the other!


    This repeated itself dozens of times, causing lightning streaks made of Qi to form in the vicinity.


    <i>He said they''re assassins from further into the Fire Nation...? But that doesn''t make any sense... Why would high-level assassins be after me?? Unless...</i>


    A sudden thought entered Azmodeus''s mind as he thwarted the advance of another terrifying saber strike.


    "The ck Tiger Lord..." He muttered.


    "Ding! Ding! Ding! You got it right, but unfortunately for you, I don''t n to spare your life because you''re a little smart!" The scarred man responded with a wide smirk stered on his face.


    <i>It''s quite clear that this assassin from the Twilight Assassins was someone who enjoyed the kill, and it''s highly unlikely he took on this job just for the money...</i>


    "So you wish to kill me? But what about the Yang Sect? Why are you going after them?" Azmodeus inquired, a few strands of hair cut off his head due to a swift strike from therge me-stained saber that the assassin was swinging around like a maniac.


    "Hmm... You ask a lot of questions, do you not?? And why should I simply answer anything that you ask of me??" The Assassin questioned.


    SLICE!


    "Because you...-"


    BOOOOM!


    "Because you don''t think you''ll lose this battle. That is why you''ll answer my questions." Azmodeus finished where he left off before being rudely interrupted by a saber aiming to cut off his head.


    "Haha!" The Assassin started tough like a pathologically insane man as he replied, "You are definitely the quick-witted one, aren''t you?? And you are right, so I will tell you why we came after the Yang Sect, for it''s quite simple..."


    He paused for a second before continuing, "We were offered to not only take your life but also the lives of all Yang Sect Disciples, the Sect Leader and... his daughter..."


    The scarred man''sughter only appeared to be more intense after saying this as he found this sh*t all too hrious!


    However, his conceit and underestimation of his opponent, but above all, saying two names in particr, would be his downfall...


    -


    "...I see..." Azmodeus mumbled with a voice bereft of emotion, his body freezing in ce.


    "Whaa!? Are you already giving up!? Come on now, at least squirm a little more before I gut you!"


    The Scarred Man''s sinisterments echoed throughout the war-torn courtyard before it simply disappeared...


    "Wha...? Why does it seem like the world is spinning a little bit?" The assassin asked with a confused tone.


    However, his queries wouldn''t go unanswered for long as an apathetic voice found its way right to his ears:


    "That''s because you''re already dead."


    "Whaa...!?"


    *Squirt!*


    A blood fountain gushed out from the spot where a neck used to be, as the Assassin fell to the ground with no trace of life left in his eyes.


    Following this unbelievable event, a couple illusory blue figures vanished without a trace. A few system notifications appeared not long after...


    .....

 Chapter 38 Battle of Godlike Figures

    Chapter 38 Battle of Godlike Figure''s


    .....


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed a cultivator at the Peak of the 3rd Stage of Qi Condensation!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 250,000 Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *Your Evolution Essence Bank has increased by arge margin!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to assimte stats or roll for the abilities of the cultivator you just killed?*


    Azmodeus clicked the assimte button as a few more pop-ups materialized in the air.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 120 Stat points in Strength, 118 in Speed, 121 in Defense, 135 in Qi, and 105 in Cultivation Talent.*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has tremendously improved!*


    -


    Following all of these system notifications, Azmodeus decided to move toward the sound of metal shing in the distance. He could feel the presence of multiple extremely powerful beings.


    A few seconds passed, and he found himself standing atop a hill overlooking the Yang Manor below.


    From this overhang, he saw the Sect Leader battling multiple figures in ck cloaks, and all of them were beyond the 3rd Stage Qi Condensation Realm in strength.


    In fact, they were so far above that stage that Azmodeus wasn''t even sure they were human¡­


    Just how strong are these ones¡­?


    Even he could barely stay standing after feeling their insurmountable pressure, so how exactly was his master holding up against them?


    Was Master hiding his power all along? But why?


    BOOOOM!


    However, his thoughts were quickly interrupted by the Sect Leader being kicked through the skies by arge, robust man.


    "Why don''t you just give up and die, you old coot?? Don''t you know when you should just call it quits??"


    A mocking voice resounded through the Yang Leader''s manor as a wide, broad-shouldered man¡ªwith long brown hair braided like a Viking¡ªmade his way toward the Sect Leader by¡­-


    -Flying!


    Are they able to fly?? Just what realm do you need to be in to do that??


    Azmodeusy in wake behind a few shrubbery atop his overlook, observing this battle in which he would likely immediately die if he interfered.


    Nheless, his astonishment over the fact that these attackers could fly was quickly overwhelmed by the fact that the Sect Leader could fly as well!


    What the zing hell!? You''re telling me that bastard master of mine is capable of flying??


    He didn''t even know how to show how shocked he was at all these revtions being presented to him.


    The only thing Azmodeus felt upon watching this battle go down was pure bewilderment¡­


    -


    "If you think you''ll kill me so easily, then you better think again. These bones of mine may be extremely old, but that doesn''t mean I can''t still knock some sense into some younglings!"


    The Sect Leader''s aged voice reverberated through the Yang Manor and even the entire Yang Sect as his aura spiked upwards!


    "Ho? We may have been no match for the mighty Renegade Raider back in the day, as who doesn''t know about the exploits of the one who took the entire Milky Desert by storm? But that day is no longer here, old man. And just like your old partner down at the library, you will be dying soon as well."


    This time, it wasn''t the robust man who spoke, as it was instead a sly-looking man with a long goatee and his hands behind his back.


    This man exhibited an inexplicable aura that, although overwhelming, was also mysterious beyondparison.


    Was he speaking of Elder Chong?? They wish to kill Elder Chong as well?? But why???


    Azmodeus became more and more confused with each thing that was discussed between the Sect Leader and the assants.


    However, the mystery would only get deeper from there, as the man with the goatee continued speaking:


    "Even after thousands of years, you still haven''t changed, Renegade Raider. But in the end, you were struck down by a high-level Spiritual Beast Emperor and lost most of your strength. So what can you do against us, who have already broken through into the Tribtion Transcendance Realm!?"


    "...You speak of me not changing, but neither of you have either¡­ Sneaking out of your regiment and ying as one of these low-rank Twilight Assassins just toe and kill me so you can take what''s mine! Do you have no shame!?"


    The Sect Leader practically erupted in fury as an aura that could envelop a country was unleashed from his figure!


    His eyes dimmed and his hair thinned, but it mattered not for him, as he nned to take the two of them down with him!


    "You will never obtain what I acquired that day. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever!!!" He bellowed, his blueish aura transforming into something far more terrifying.


    WAAAAA!


    Powerful figures all over the continent were alerted by this sudden release of power, as everyone dropped what they were doing and rushed in the direction of this all-too-familiar aura.


    Just as they assumed it would end with just one familiar aura, yet another one popped up from the Yang Sect''s Library!


    Azmodeus felt the soul-crushing pressures of two auras press down on him, as he was sure that his ribs had already started to crack.


    Even so, he watched three god-like figures battle it out in the skies, summoning lightning and fire storms from thin air as entire sections of the sky were razed to the ground!


    Furthermore, this wasn''t the only immensely powerful fight happening, as another figure was fighting what appeared to be Elder Chong in the distance.


    This level of strength is unbelievable¡­ And in their individual shes, 80% of the Yang Sect has already been destroyed¡­


    Even the Yang Forest itself is burning at a rapid rate, and before long, there will be no more Yang Sect or Yang Forest¡­


    Azmodeus could hardly believe it himself, but the fact that it was happening was undeniable.


    The Sect I grew up in¡­ The sect that I loathed for so many years of my life¡­


    He watched the vibrant red-tiled buildings and pagodas light on fire and crumble as anguished screams echoed throughout the Yang Sect and Spirit River City.


    Everything is falling apart, and loot bags are dying in the thousands, yet I can''t even get up off the ground¡­


    He felt helpless¡­ Even in his past life, he never felt so helpless¡­


    Azmodeus didn''t much care for other strangers or even the sect itself, but what about that adorable bundle of joy who was always bothering him¡­ The benefits she gave him...


    She would die¡­ Or even worse¡­


    And there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.


    ...¡­N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 39: Yang Hua is in Trouble...

    ...¡­


    "Ahhh! Let go of me! I-It hurts¡­!"


    A painful cry came from the confines of the Yang Manor as a young girl with bright green eyes was dragged through the sliding doors by two men in the 6th Stage of Qi Condensation.


    "Can''t you shut up, girl?? Unless you''re looking for us to dig into your right here and now, then I suggest you zip that mouth shut!" The first man shouted with an annoyed look on his face.


    "Hey, you don''t need to give the girl false hope, as she will be ravaged regardless, brother Mo," the second man remarked with a malicious andscivious grin on his face.


    Both he and the first man scanned over the still developing body of the pretty girl in their arms as they licked their lips.


    "Maybe we should do her right here and now. What do you think, brother Xing?" Mo asked, his hands already cing the wailing girl on the hard ground.


    "I agree! What''s even the point in waiting!?" Xing responded while taking his robes off.


    "N-No, Ge-Get away from me!" Yang Hua screamed, her legs kicking out in the air, attempting to get the two burly men off her.


    But no matter how much she struggled, nothing made even the slightest difference in their continued advance of taking off her frilly blue dress.


    Before long, all she had on were a pair of brown bear panties and a bra.


    "Pl-Please stop¡­ A-Azmodeus, I''m scared¡­" She sniffled, tears streaming down her once cheerful cheeks.


    However, it didn''t look like either of the sinister men cared a single bit about her snifelings, as it even seemed to get them more excited¡­


    "I like it when they squirm, don''t you, brother?" Mo asked with a wide, disgusting grin stered on his face.


    And just as he was about to tear away thest pieces of fabric from the young girl, he noticed that no response ever came from his brother.


    "Brother Xing-?" He turned around, trying to find out why no response was heard, but the moment his head made it halfway to the left, there was nothing but a face looking back at him.


    A face not belonging to his brother, but something that originated from a very sinister realm¡­


    "!!!" Mo tried to run after witnessing this face devoid of emotion; however, it was no use¡­


    "Die."


    An apathetic voice sounded out like the grating of a chalkboard as the big, burly man wasn''t even able to see what had happened before¡­


    *Spurt!*


    A head with a horrified expression on it slid off a pair of broad shoulders beforending on the hard, cold ground with a thud.


    "Az-Azmodeus, is that you¡­?"


    A soft and meek voice echoed not long after as a girl with a tear-stained face looked at the emotionless boy with long ck hair that stood before her.


    And it didn''t take long before she broke down right then and there, copsing to the ground with the waterworks show seemingly never ending¡­


    The moonlit night suddenly became a whole lot more cloudy, with a 100% chance of rain¡­


    "..."


    Azmodeus looked down at the doleful sightid out in front of him as his eyes softened considerably.


    After which, he went up to the girl and gently lifted her up, putting her watery face on his chest.


    "Let''s get out of here¡­" He muttered as his figure was already in the process of disappearing.


    Before long, there was nothing left in the Yang Manor Courtyard besides a couple headless corpses and a crumblingndscape¡­


    ***


    A couple of seconds prior, on top of a high, hanging cliff, a twelve-year-old boy struggled to get up with everything he had!


    However, no matter what he did, in the end, his body was too close to the ongoing sh of the gods in the heavens. This resulted in him being one of the only ones affected by the suffocating pressure above¡­


    "M-Move! Damn it!! Move!!" Azmodeus roared through bloodied teeth, using every ounce of his will in an attempt to get his muscles to respond.


    However, no matter what he tried, nothing worked, and he was left in a state ofplete and utter helplessness¡­


    I need to move! For the loot! Damn it! But I can''t¡­


    His thoughts were about to spiral when, out of nowhere, he had a sudden sh of realization.


    "M-My Evolution Essence¡­ Use it all¡­" He mumbled.


    Azmodeus couldn''t use his fingers, and although he had never tried conveying his intent to the Infinite Evolution System before, it was the only chance he had¡­


    And luckily, it seemed to work, as his Evolution Essence Bank was rapidly falling in value!


    Power¡­ I need more!


    He told the system what he yearned for as millions of his Evolution Essence was dumped went straight into levels!


    *Ding!* *You have leveled up!*


    *Ding!* *You have leveled up!*


    *Ding!* *You have leveled up!*


    *Ding!* *You have leveled up!*


    *Ding!...You have¡­*


    A plethora of system notifications sounded out inside Azmodeus''s head as he felt a wave of power rush over him.


    After acquiring this new level of strength, he attempted to get off the ground.


    THUD!


    His small frame immediately fell back down to the hard cliff surface, causing cracks to spread throughout.


    "I-I still can''t get up and walk, but I can crawl¡­ I just need to make it down from this cliff¡­"


    He gritted his bloody teeth and made his way down the high clifftop he found himself on.


    Blood leaked out of all seven of his offices, but he could hardly care, as the only thing on his mind was making it down to those bastards dragging Yang Hua around in such a barbaric manner.


    After all the loot she has given me, there''s no way in hell I''m letting you bastard''s do as you like with her!!


    Azmodeus predicted that he had less than half a minute to crawl down the mountain before something unforgivable happened to that innocent little loot-giving girl. He had no leeway to be taking his sweet time, so he busted his knee caps and rolled down the steep slope without a care for the burden on his physical form...


    ...¡­

 Chapter 40: 5th Stage Qi Condensation Realm

    ...¡­


    A few secondster, we make it back to the present period in time.


    FWIP!


    A young boy with long ck hair and sharp eyes was seen bouncing from tree to tree while carrying a crying girl in his arms.


    His legs were still healing up, but with a 4th Stage Qi Condensation Realm Cultivation Base, his regenerative speed had already reached a substantial level. It was enough that he was slowly but surely healing.


    Regardless of the sounds that his cracked bones were making, Azmodeus continued jumping from tree top to tree top. He tried to dodge the eyes of all the Twilight Assassins that were spread out in the area.


    He sent out all of his Mirror Mirages copies, taking out any Qi Condensation 2nd Stage and below cultivators. But anything beyond that level was basically impossible for the Mirror Mirages to beat in head-on confrontations.


    So, in the end, he and Yang Hua still had to be discreet in their movements as they escaped through the Yang Forest.


    He wanted to fight them for the goodies they kept inside their bodies, but there were just too many among them that were stronger than him to make fighting them to the death a viable option.


    That was especially the case when he had the sorrowful girl in his arms¡ªa girl who was still traumatized from what was about to happen to her not even a few seconds prior.


    For a thirteen-year-old girl who''s been spoiled all her life, I''m surprised she''s still holding up this well after such an experience¡­


    Azmodeus looked down at the tear-stained face of the girl who had already passed out in his arms. He sighed a little before speeding up,pletely overlooking the fact that he was no older than twelve himself¡­


    -


    Azmodeus made his way deeper into the Yang Forest, acquiring a few million Evolution Essence from all the cultivators he killed with his Mirror Mirages.


    He put 1 million of his Evolution into the Mirror Mirage Trait, getting it from Level 4 to Level 5 before dumping the rest into his Level.


    After a few minutes of escaping the pursuit of all the Assassins hot on his trail, he took a look at his system interface while taking a quick break inside a tree trunk hole.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: 12/295]


    [Cultivation: Early Stages of the 5th Stage Qi Condensation Realm.]


    [Overall Combat Power: Peak Stages of the 7th Stage Qi Condensation Realm]


    [Level: 43]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 700,000]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 580,000]


    {[Stats:]}


    [Strength: 765 + 280 (1045)]


    [Speed: 762 + 275 + 120 (1157)]


    [Defense: 761 + 278 (1039)]


    [Qi: 855]


    [Cultivation Talent: 610]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Stealth - Level 5] (J Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000]


    [Mirror Mirage - Level 5] (I Rank)] ¡ú [0/10,000,000]


    [Super Strength - Level 4] (I Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000]


    [Shadow Cleaver - Level 4] (I Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000]


    [Speedster - Level 4] (I Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000]


    [Fortress - Level 4] (I Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000]


    [Spirit Animal - Level 4] (I Rank)] --> [0/100,000]


    ¡ª------------


    Azmodeus looked over his system interface with a slightly pleased look on his face.


    He was quite happy with the unbelievable progress that has urred in his stats, overallbat power, and cultivation over thest period of time.


    However, he would need to solidify his cultivation base without the assistance of the system if he wished to have a sturdy foundation.


    Even so, that would have to wait until after he found a way to escape the eyes of all the shadows lurking inside the forest.


    On that note, there weren''t only the Twilight Assassins; there were also all the various Spiritual Beasts that called the innermost depths of the Yang Forest their home. All of which were more than a tad bit famished tonight...


    It feels like around every corner, there''s an enemy looking to jump out and take your throat¡­


    In spite of this, if he wished to make it out of this with Yang Hua and their lives intact, Azmodeus had no choice but to keep on trudging on the line between life and death


    -


    "If we can just make it toward the City of Yellowcreek, then we should be able to hide out until the chaos passes¡­" Azmodeus softly murmured underneath his breath, his eyes honed in on a certain direction to the east.


    It was a direction that would lead them directly to the City of Yellowcreek.


    However, there was just one issue that was presented before him¡­


    One¡­ two¡­ four¡­ eight¡­ twenty¡­ thirty-five¡­ eighty-nine¡­


    He counted a total of 108 Qi Condensation Realm assassins and a plethora of other Qi Condensation Realm Spiritual Beasts standing between him and the City of Yellowcreek.


    I just don''t understand how a mere ck Tiger Lord possesses such authority¡ªenough that he''s able to hire hundreds of Qi Condensation Realm Assassins¡­ It just doesn''t make any sense¡­


    Azmodeus was beginning to think that barely any of this actually had to do with the ck Tiger Lord himself, but rather what he gave the Twilight Assassins.


    I doubt he had anything of value that the Twilight Assassins would desire enough to send out so many forces¡­ And there is only one othermodity that could elicit such drastic actions from a Rank 1 Sect¡­


    "Information¡­" He muttered with a sudden look of realization.


    But what information was so valuable that they sent out so many of these guys¡­? Let''s recount the most recent events¡­


    He pondered the subject for a few seconds as he ultimately understood what it was that the Twilight Assassins were given as payment.


    They were given information about me, or rather, the fact that my master was in Spirit River City¡­ It must''ve slipped when the ck Tiger Lord was contracting a low-level Assassin¡­


    And it was due to this slip of the tongue that such forces were sent to raze the Yang Sect to the ground. They massacred all evidence that could lead back to whatever it was that those powerful god-like figures were aiming to acquire¡­


    Looking to acquire¡­ What could it be¡­?


    Azmodeus looked down at the crimson ck amulet on his neck as a sudden sh of realization passed by his ck eyes!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 41: A Few Days Later

    ...¡­


    If I''m correct in my deductions, then they were aiming to obtain this amulet¡­ But what I can''tprehend is why they would want something that the Master called a ''Hand me down''.


    Azmodeus thought the matter over again before letting out a soft sigh.


    I don''t own anything else as mysterious as the amulet, so it must be what they''re after. There''s just no way it could be anything else¡­


    Aftering to this conclusion, he moved his fierce gaze toward a few shadowy figures nearing his approximate location.


    "..." He immediately went as quiet as he could while controlling the breathing of the girl lying against his chest.


    The figures stayed around for a while before eventually giving up their search in this particr area as they moved onto the next stretch ofnd.


    Azmodeus let out a breath of relief after they left. He was sure that those Foundation Establishment Realm Assassins would''ve found him with their divine senses if it weren''t for his Stealth Trait.


    It was after understanding this that he turned his softened gaze down at the tear-stained girl. She seemed to be having a bad dream while sleeping against him with her dainty hands tightly clenching his robes.


    "This girl is special¡­ Another mystery, huh?" He mused with a slightly exasperated tone.


    Although Azmodeus had no clue how her existence was able to stay hidden even under the discerning eyes of Foundation Establishment Realm Assassins, he decided to spend the rest of the night in the tree trunk.


    After all, the only reason they hadn''t taken a stop yet was because he feared them being potentially discovered by the Assassins because of Yang Hua''sck of stealth attributes.


    But in the end, it looked like she had some sort of passive stealth ability, so they would take a short break until resuming their escape.


    And it was after this thought entered his mind that the fatigue that had been building up for a while now finally settled in.


    It didn''t take long before he fell asleep inside the tree trunk with a doleful girl in one hand and a sleek ck sword in the other.


    His chin quickly found itselfying atop the soft ck hair of Yang Hua as his body seemed to unconsciously find that spot as the mostfortable location to be¡­


    ...


    Three days passed like the passing of seasons as all of Spirit River City was thrown into pandemonium due to the recent upheaval of the Yang Sect.


    All of the sect''s direct disciples¡ªCore Disciples, Inner Disciples, Outer Disciples, and even the Entry Disciples¡ªwere cut down to the veryst person!


    Even the chickens and dogs of the Yang Sect weren''t spared from this brutal massacre conducted by an unknown organization in the dead of night!


    The City Lord and the rest of the city''s ruling forces were thrown into unrest after receiving this news. They feared that their respective sects and organizations would be next to be exterminated¡­


    That wasn''t to even mention the fact that multiple eyewitnesses had reported gods numbering in the dozens descending from the sky, seemingly looking for someone.


    However, after waiting a few days and witnessing no such gods and seeing no sign of the assants who destroyed the Yang Sect, life seemed to go back to the way it was for those who resided in Spirit River City.


    They simply passed off the oddities surrounding the Yang Sect as nothing more than a bad dream. While they considered the ''gods'' as little more than fantasies that they thought up in the midst of the tumultuous chaos.


    There were, of course, those immense auras that pressed down on all of them, and there were those lightning storms lighting up in the clouds from beyond the heavens. However, when people were confronted with unbelievable and unexinable things, they typically thought up every excuse to deny the authenticity of anything they couldn''tprehend¡­


    ***


    Meanwhile, in a far-off location a few hundred miles away, a young boy was leading a girl around his age through the streets of a far livelier shopping district than the one that was in Spirit River City.


    "Are you okay...?" Azmodeus asked with a raised brow, his gaze seemingly peering into the troubled girl beside him.


    "...I told you that I''m fine. You really don''t need to worry so much¡­" Yang Hua responded, her eyes appearing to have lost some of their previous shine.


    Azmodeus looked down at the mildly begrudged look on her adorable face as he sighed a little before saying, "Well, then, let''s head over to the Yellow Mellow Sect and apply to be Outer Disciples."


    He had already checked up on Yang Hua, and although she didn''t act like it, she was quite the genius when it came to cultivation. So the both of them should be able to make it into the Rank 2 Yellow Mellow Sect without much of an issue.


    Your fate may be out in the wind, master, but the least I can do to pay you back for the Cloud Chasers Technique and all your teachings is to look after your daughter until we figure out your vital status¡­


    Azmodeus may be many things in this life: cruel, psychopathic, merciless, emotionless, and oblivious to feelings. But the one thing he wasn''t was someone who didn''t know how to pay back his dues.


    Although that master of mine is an old bastard, he''s the old bastard who gave me a bunch of loot, and that''s enough for me to owe him a favor or two.


    He was a loot goblin by nature, and that hasn''t changed one single bit after the destruction of the Yang Sect¡­


    A few minutester, Azmodeus and Yang Hua were walking up torge red gates that had a sign that read ''Yellow Mellow'' in a bright yellow color on the front of them.


    There were a few mountains, hills, and rivers around this area, as the part of Yellowcreek City in which the Yellow Mellow Sect resided was known to be quite tranquil and vibrant.


    After witnessing all the lush and picturesque scenery in person, both of them couldn''t help but agree with the rumors¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 42: The Yellow Mellow Sect, Elder Xing Yi

    ...¡­


    "This is where my father told me to go if anything ever happened to him, but he never told me exactly why he wanted me to stay here¡­" Yang Hua mumbled, her big green eyes focused on therge sign and the countless colorful buildings that made up the Yellow Mellow Sect.


    "..."


    Azmodeus looked over at the mncholic aura permeating around her as he lightly sighed before saying, "Well, there is one thing I know, and that is that we have visitors."


    FWIP! FWIP!


    Following his promation, a few figures in flowing yellow robes materialized from thin air.


    There were a total of four of them; two were male and the other two were female, and all of them were at the very minimum in the 8th Stage of Qi Condensation.


    A Rank 2 Sect really is in a different league than a Rank 1 Sect like the Yang Sect¡­


    Azmodeus was sure that these unknown people weren''t even the highest-ranking members of the Yellow Mellow Sect, and yet they were already in the 8th Stage of Qi Condensation.


    He flipped his neutral gaze across all four of them before asking, "I''m assuming that you aren''t here to kick us out?"


    "..." "..."


    The four figures looked at each other for a second before they lightlyughed. One of them said, "You truly are a quick-witted one, aren''t you, Azmodeus? But you are correct, as we are not here to kick out the daughter of a man whom our ancestor owes a favor to."


    The one who spoke was a woman with her long ck hair braided and tied into a bun. She was wearing a ssic yellow and brown changseo with a rtively opulent design.


    Her body could be considered well rounded, as all her curves seemed to be molded in all the right ces, making for a tight and enticing fit when pressed up against her dress.


    *Pinch!*


    "Ow¡­ What was that for?" Azmodeus asked while looking down at the cute girl who was pinching his left side.


    *Humph!* Yang Hua let out a soft snort before murmuring, "You big dum dum!"


    After which, she turned her head away from him while lightly tapping the ground with puffed-out cheeks.


    Azmodeus watched the silly actions of the girl he promised himself to watch out for, as he felt a little exasperated.


    This girl might just be the death of me even before the Twilight Assassins get a hold of me¡­


    Nevertheless, he looked toward the approaching woman as he walked up to her and extended his hand while saying, "It''s very nice to meet you. It looks like you already know who we are, so I will keep introductions short and ask you if it''s alright if we can apply as Outer Disciples of the Yellow Mellow Sect?"


    "Hmm¡­ Just like the old man said, you truly don''t speak like your age," the woman mused with an unknown glint shing past her crystal blue eyes.


    "You know what? I''ll do you one better and have you both be my Direct Disciples; however, you will need to do something for me first," she added with a small smile.


    Azmodeus truly didn''t trust that look on her face, but he still responded, "We can do anything necessary, as long as it doesn''t go too overboard."


    *p!* Thedy pped her hands before she said, "Very well, then let us get right down to it! I need you both to take out a group of bandits that have been hiding out in a corner of Yellowcreek City. That old man has told me you possess quite the set of skills when ites to tracking, so this job should be easy!"


    "Oh! And by the way, my name is Xin Yi, but you can just call me sister Xin," she added with a light giggle.


    Isn''t she a little too old to be considered my sister-?


    WAAA!


    A dangerous aura was unleashed from that well-endowed figure of Xin Yi''s as the thought wasn''t even able to form inside Azmodeus''s head.


    "You wouldn''t happen to be thinking of anything that could sour our rtionship, would you?" She asked with a raised brow.


    "...Of course not; I was simply thinking how beautiful you were for your young age," Azmodeus replied, a few beads of sweat drizzling down his forehead.


    "Ho~? You are quite the smooth talker, aren''t you~? Although I hate to bring it to you, I''m not interested in young boys!" Xing Yi responded as her aura and expression were far more rxed than before.


    *Pinch!*


    "Again¡­?" Azmodeud muttered while looking over at the chipmunk-like cheeks of the girl ring at him.


    "I-d-i-o-t! Humph!" Yang Hua grumbled.


    It looks like this will be another exciting chapter in my story¡­


    ...


    A few days passed in the blink of an eye.


    A young boy in yellow/brownish robes was seen walking through a wide bog-like swamp with a low-hanging mist pervading the area for dozens of miles.


    "Xing Yi said the next group of bandits was somewhere around these parts, but I don''t see any sign of a bandit hideout being nearby¡­"


    Azmodeus turned his nonchnt expression in every which direction. However, he saw no indications of there even being human life out in the bogs of Yellowcreek.


    The only sign of intelligent life he could see were these giant lizards with six legs and pinkish-red skin that were leaping up into the air.


    They did this so as to gobble up these multi-colored sparkling butterflies that popted the bog in great numbers.


    "Hmm¡­ Nothing but ten-meter-long lizards and human-sized butterflies¡­ Nothing out of the norm, so where exactly is this hideout?"


    He continued his search for nearly half an hour before eventually giving up and heading back in the direction of the Yellow Mellow Sect. He prepared to take a different Sect Quest instead.


    However, just as he was about to cross the middle point of the bogs of Yellowcreek, a shiny metallic object was seen out of the corner of his eye.


    *Wssst~*


    A whistling sound followed not long after as an arrow head came spiraling in his direction!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 43: 8th Stage Qi Condensation Realm

    ...¡­


    "!!!" Azmodeus ducked his head as the razor-sharp arrow cut through a few strands of his hair. It took out a fewrge trees before eventually nting itself in a robust fifty-meter-long tree.


    "You know you could really hurt somebody with something like that," he murmured with an annoyed look on his face.


    That damn arrow cut up what is used to tie my hair up¡­


    He didn''t know who had the gall to attack him, but what he did know was that the person who did this was already considered dead in his eyes.


    *Rustle!*


    A rustling sounded out as a man with multiple scars on his face and a frame that could be analogous to a bulldozer popped out from behind a bush.


    "You havee to the wrong territory, little boy. And for this transgression, we shall take your life and everything you own," the man said with a malicious grin on his rough facial features.


    Following this man''s voice, a few more figures who looked just as rough appeared from all the nearby shrubbery.


    "One¡­ three¡­ ten¡­ twenty-five¡­ thirty-eight¡­ There are really thirty-eight of you guys grouping up on a harmless boy?" Azmodeus asked with a mocking tone.


    "You dare mock us, boy?? Are you looking to be tortured before you die?? You know what? Where is Brother Meng? I heard he likes them as young boy''s, so let''s send him out," the leading man remarked, his hands beckoning a man nearly twice his size.


    "I''m here, boss, and this one looks quite tasty, hehe!" The man, called Brother Meng,mented with a disgusting look on his face.


    "..."


    Azmodeus scrutinized all the various figures in front of him and got a basic understanding of all their strengths.


    Twenty in the 4th Stage of Qi Condensation, 10 in the 5th Stage, 5 in the 6th Stage, 2 in the 7th Stage, and 1 in the 8th Stage¡­


    Xing Yi must''ve had great confidence in my strength if she assumed I could take care of such an assortment of powerful bandits¡­


    Well, not that I can''t, but still¡­


    He discarded his train of thought before flipping his piercing gaze over all thirty-eight of his opponents.


    "Maybe I should practice my Shadow Cleaver and Mirror Mirage Traitbinations again¡­"


    "Hey, boy! What are you whispering to yourself over there!? Why don''t youe over here and serve our brother Meng?? He promises to treat you gently!"


    The deplorable voice of the leading bandit echoed out as Azmodeus was taken out of his reverie.


    "Very well."


    That was all he said before making his way toward the various bandits, who clearly had no good intentions in mind.


    "Ha! Finally you understand just what sort of situation you have found yourself in! Now hurry up and-" The leading man was interrupted by a pitch ck energy flying toward him from the left side.


    "Wha-!?" He eximed, attempting to thwart the advance of the dangerous energy leaking out of the iing de.


    SHING! SHING!


    The sound of two des shing reverberated as the air around this area of the bog suddenly heated up to insane degrees!


    And the result of this intense sh of metals was the bandit leader''s de being sliced into two and his body having the same fate!


    *Spurt!*


    Two evenly cut pieces of his body slid apart from each other as all of his internal organs and tendons were being separated like a stick of string cheese¡­


    "Boss!!" All of the bandits shouted as their eyes opened as wide as they could.


    They weren''t even able toprehend what had happened before their leader was already dead¡­


    However, it looked like they had more than that to worry about as multiple illusory blue child-like figures materialized from thin air with the same ck energy tendrils emanating from their des.


    SLASH! SLASH!


    Nearly a dozen of these Mirror Mirages sent out hundreds of consecutive sword strikes. This led to thousands upon thousands of ck Qi Arcs being unleashed in the middle of the Yellowcreek Bog!


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    A countless number of explosions reverberated as everything within a thousand-meter radius was sliced up and split into tens of thousands of different pieces!


    The trees, the earth below, and even the bodies of all the bandits!


    No matter what it was, everything ended up being cleaved into two and then into two again and again¡­


    Following the aftermath of such destruction, a young boy around twelve years old with a hardened gaze looked around at all the destruction he caused. To say the least, he was satisfied with his progress.


    "I am getting better at incorporating all of my Traits into my Mirror Mirage Trait, and if I keep on working at it, then I should be able to add in all my basic attribute-increasing Traits as well."


    Azmodeus had been in the Yellow Mellow Sect for the past week, and since then, his strength had made insane leaps!


    Furthermore, he predicted it wouldn''t be long until he broke through to the Foundation Establishment Realm!


    On that note, there was no need to worry about an unstable cultivation foundation, as with all the Sect Quests hepleted, a variety of Sect Contributions were allotted to him.


    He used all of the Sect Contributions to trade in for cultivation resources, as his cultivation base had already breached past the 8th Stage of Qi Condensation!


    However, the reason why he was able to take out all those high-ranking bandits even with his reduced power level Mirror Mirages was because he had startedbining a number of his Traits. He was attempting to create something truly extraordinary.


    It was thanks to this endeavor that he was able to get his overallbat strength into the 11th Stage of Qi Condensation!


    Furthermore, with the increased leveling of his Mirror Mirage Trait, including a rank up into Rank H, he was able to maintain a Mirror Mirage Strength of around the 8th Stage of Qi Condensation!


    Nevertheless, there were a few system notifications sounding out inside his head. They informed him of everything he gained from thirty eight Qi Condensation Realm Bandits¡­


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 44: Direct Disciple of Peak Elder Xing Yi

    ...¡­.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed thirty-eight cultivators in various stages of the Qi Condensation Realm!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 8,500,000 Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *Your Evolution Essence Bank has increased from 16,800,000 ¡ú 25,300,000.*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte the stats or roll for one of the abilities of the beings you killed?*


    *Beep!*


    Azmodeus clicked on the Assimte button after understanding that the majority of their traits would likely harm him more than they would help him.


    After which, a wave of power rushed over him, followed by a few pop-ups appearing.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 2,200 Stat points in Strength, 2195 points in Speed, 2230 points in Defense, 2350 points in Qi, and 1960 points in Cultivation Talent.*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has tremendously improved!*


    Following all of the system notifications, Azmodeus decided to open up his system interface while sitting atop arge boulder. It overlooked all the damage he caused to the bog of Yellowcreek.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: 12/265]


    [Cultivation: Late Stages of the 8th Stage Qi Condensation Realm.]


    [Overall Combat Power: Peak Stages of the 10th Stage Qi Condensation Realm]


    [Level: 48]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 5,800,000]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 25,300,000]


    {[Stats:]}


    [Strength: 5,800 + 620 (6,420)]


    [Speed: 5,750 + 615 + 950 (7,315)]


    [Defense: 5,760 + 610 (6,370)]


    [Qi: 6,100]


    [Cultivation Talent: 5,180]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Stealth - Level 5] (I Rank)] ¡ú [0/10,000,000]


    [Mirror Mirage - Level 1] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000,000]


    [Super Strength - Level 5] (I Rank)] ¡ú [0/10,000,000]


    [Shadow Cleaver - Level 5] (I Rank)] ¡ú [0/10,000,000]


    [Speedster - Level 5] (I Rank)] ¡ú [0/10,000,000]


    [Fortress - Level 5] (I Rank)] ¡ú [0/10,000,000]


    [Spirit Animal - Level 5] (I Rank)] --> [0/10,000,000]


    ¡ª------------


    After perusing his system interface for a few moments, Azmodeus called upon his Spirit Animal Trait, as arge Direwolf was conjured from thin air.


    It was a dark blue in color and could be considered quite majestic if one ignored the fact that there was no life present in its watermelon-sized eyes.


    Nheless, he got up on the beast using a quick Qi burst underneath his feet.


    After settling himself into the soft fur of the Direwolf, he decided he would take a quick nap while being brought back to the Yellow Mellow Sect.


    ...


    A quarter an hourter, Azmodeus was seen sleeping on top of a direwolf in the middle of the busiest section of the sect.


    Along with this tant disy of nonchntness, a plethora of disciples watched this boye into the sect like he owned the ce.


    "..." "..."


    All of the various Inner and Core Disciples weren''t even surprised by the frivolousness of the Direct Disciple of Peak Mountain Elder Xing Yi.


    "Have you heard of the recent aplishments of Direct Disciple Azmodeus?"


    "Yeah, I heard he exterminated an entire band of goblins with a 6th Stage Qi Condensation Realm High Goblin as the chieftain! However, even with such a high cultivation base, direct disciple Azmodeus took out the terrifying creature with a single stroke of his sword!"


    "You think that''s impressive?? I don''t think you''ve heard the rumor of him catching wind of a wyvern that descended from a real dragon passing by Yellowcreek!"


    "You''re not trying to say¡­"


    "Yes, I am, as Direct Disciple Azmodeus chased after this 9th Stage Qi Condensation Realm Spiritual Beast and cut it down with a posture no less than a fallen sword immortal!"


    "That''s unbelievable!"


    "Who are you guys talking about?" A third man interrupted the conversation between the two Inner Sect Disciples.


    "Have you not heard of the new direct disciple of Peak Leader Xing Yi?"


    "That little boy riding on top of the blue direwolf? How could he be a direct disciple??"


    "Are you a moron or something?? You haven''t heard of the unparalleled genius that Peak Leader Xing Yi found outside the sect gates??"


    "Next, you''re going to tell me that you haven''t heard of the new Sect Goddess, Yang Hua, who entered the sect as a Direct Disciple of Elder Xing at the same time as that monstrous freak!"


    "Sect Goddess, Yang Hua¡­? That little girl with the extraordinary appearance??"


    "At least you know that much! I was beginning to think that you have been living under a rock for thest week!"


    Conversations like this one were going on all around the Yellow Mellow Sect as the hottest topic around were the two kids who joined the Sect and took it by storm!


    The Monstrous Freak, Azmodeus, with his out-of-ce name and crazy talent,pleted dozens of high-rank Sect Quests within a mere week.


    He effectively surpassed the Sect Contribution Points that even those Core Disciples who have been in the sect for dozens of years had in their possession!


    And then there was the youngest Sect Goddess of the Yellow Mellow Sect. She was dubbed the third Sect Goddess, only behind the daughter of the Grand Elder and the daughter of the Sect Leader in terms of looks due to her young age.


    Even so, she was still considered the up-anding jewel of the sect, as it wasn''t only her looks that were superior but also her talent in cultivation!


    If it weren''t for the freak, Azmodeus, then she would surely be the strongest genius to be seen in thest thousand years of the Yellow Mellow Sect. After all, she possessed a cultivation base in 20% Tempering Marrow Realm!


    Just imagining a thirteen-year-old girl in the Tempering Marrow Realm was something utterly iprehensible...


    At least, it would be if not for the existence of ''The Anomaly''.


    Rumors of a twelve-year-old boy in the Upper Stages of the Qi Condensation Realm have already spread out from the Yellow Mellow Sect. It reached the ears of all nearby cities, sects, and well-renowned families.


    No one knew where this Azmodeus hade from, as all evidence of his past seemed to have been erased using some mysterious means. But what everyone was abundantly aware of was the fact that a new heavenly genius of Prometheus had sprouted up in their small corner of the Fire Nation!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 45: A Transmission...?

    ...¡­


    Azmodeus peacefully slept on top of his direwolf without a care in the world.


    At least, that was until he felt something heavy find its way on top of his back.


    "Yang Hua¡­" He murmured.


    "You''re going to bete for the Yellowcreek Auction if you keepzing around, Az, Az."


    A sweet and oddly melodic voice sounded out from atop his chest as it looked like a young, cheeky girl was in quite the good mood.


    "Mhmm¡­" Azmodeus responded with a light nod of his head before falling back asleep.


    Yang Hua looked down at the silly billy sleeping willy as she put her wless face up to his ears before whispering, "I''ll lick your ears if you keep on sleeping~"


    "!!!" Azmodeus immediately jumped up before leaping off the Direwolf with a spirited expression, seemingly ready for the day to begin!


    "Teehee~" Yang Hua giggled a little at this action before tagging right along behind him, linking arms with his, much to his dismay.


    Azmodeus didn''t even know how to quantify the surprise he felt after watching her gloomy mood do aplete 360.


    It all started a few days ago, when she hounded him, saying something about a voice transmission being sent to her from his master.


    He didn''t think much of it back then, summing it up as nothing more than the fanciful whims of a daddy''s girl. But after her cheeky personality came back in full swing, he was beginning to think contrary to his previous thoughts.


    Is that old fart really alive and well¡­? If so, then why hasn''t hee back yet?


    He pondered the matter for a second before understanding something¡­


    Master must be in trouble or stuck somewhere¡­ That is the only possible exnation¡­


    Furthermore, this would also mean that Yang Hua likely knows nothing about his precise predicament¡­


    After all, that daughter-con would never have his daughter worry over his potential death or indefinite period of capture¡­


    Azmodeus''s deductive skills had improved tremendously after leveling up all of his traits, and he was quite confident in his ability to understand the gist of a wide assortment of situations.


    Nheless, whatever may or may not have happened to his master, neither he nor Yang Hua were anywhere near the level of strength needed to alter his destiny.


    So in the end, he scratched the topic altogether and headed in the direction of arge red and gold building located at the center of Yellowcreek City.


    This was the Yellowcreek Auction, and it was also a ce where even cultivation resources capable of assisting Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivators would oftene in.


    "..." "..." "..."


    All of the various Sect Disciples watched the Anomaly pass by the Sect Exchange building with a beauty in his arms, seemingly on his way out of the sect.


    For some reason, watching a twelve-year-old boy walk out of the Sect Exchange Building with items worth millions of silver taels and a gorgeous girl in his arms made them all envious as hell.


    "We''re jealous of a kid¡­ What''s even the point of us living on anymore¡­? We''re failures¡­"


    "You''re right, that''s why I''m going to go back to my family home and be a sh*t farmer, hoping to find myself a pretty woman to make my mother proud!"


    "Ahhh, a sh*t farmer is quite a noble profession, while I, on the other hand, will be heading to the Royal Capital, aiming to be sessful as a male stripper in one of the most popr establishments-!"


    "All of you shut up and get back to cultivating!!"


    An elder''s voice interrupted the nonsensical talks of the Inner and Outer Disciples as everyone stood up straight before rushing to various locations of the Yellow Mellow Sect.


    ***


    Meanwhile, inside a luxurious reception area of the Yellowcreek Auction with fancy red tassels and bright red and yellownterns adorning the walls.


    It was within such a ce that a young boy and girl waited on the other side of a counter, arm in arm.


    Azmodeus had already given up on getting the clingy girl to allow him some breathing room. After all, she would always respond with something like, ''You so silly!'' or ''You dummy, dum dum! How would we be so close if we weren''t this close??''.


    All in all, he couldn''t even bother himself to do anything about her clinginess anymore¡­


    Nevertheless, he voiced his question to the male receptionist in front of him. "Can you get us two seats for the VIP section of the auction today?"


    "VIP seats?? For young children like yourselves, I think it would be more appropriate for you to go to a candy stall with your mommy''s money." The man scoffed before turning his head away from the two kids staring at him.


    Hepletely ignored their existence as he went back to reading a naughty, colored magazine that he had picked up from a friend of his.


    However, the receptionist was quickly taken out of his self-indulgent stupor by the sound of something hard nging against the counter.


    "These are our Direct Disciple Identity Tokens of the Yellow Mellow Sect; now, if you would, let us in through those doors before I take the doors off their hinges." Azmodeus spoke with a ''friendly'' look on his face, his small hands causing the counter to slightly cave in from the power he was inputting into them.


    "!!!" The receptionist looked over the identity tokens before bowing over faster than he has in his entire life.


    "I-I apologize for my rude behavior! If you would please forgive me as I lead you two distinguished guests into the number one VIP booth of the auction!"


    "Very well. Then get on with it," Azmodeus responded with a dry tone, his figure already leading Yang Hua past the man and behind the now-unlocked violet-colored door.


    Az, Az is so cool, hehe~


    Yang Hua tagged along beside him with an infatuated expression.


    *Drip! Drip!*


    Sweat beads fell to the wooden ground after the two of them left. The receptionist had never been so nervous in his entire life!


    After all, who hadn''t heard of the young monstrous boy who caused people to whisper wherever he went!?


    And of those who heard of him, who wasn''t aware of the cruelty that he disyed to all those who crossed his path!?


    The receptionist thanked the gods above for allowing him to live a little longer. Even so, that didn''t stop him from immediately running over to a transmission token and calling in the owner of the Yellowcreek Auction. He informed him of the VVIP guest that hade over to their auction.


    Upon hearing about the Supreme Genius himself visiting, it didn''t take long before a figure in the 12th Stage of Qi Condensation rushed over to the Auction House as fast as he could!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 46: Yellow Creek Auction

    ...¡­


    Inside the VIP booth that had the number one on the outside of its exterior, there was a boy with long ck hair and a girl with even longer hair sitting on top of hisp.


    Both of them possessed extraordinarily exquisite features. Which was mostly attributed to all the repeated cultivation breakthroughs and the washing of impurities.


    Because of these actions, Azmodeus''s previously average appearance had reached a level where he would be considered the golden boy of any modern-day television show!


    Nevertheless, in this boy''sp was a pretty girl who wore a giddy look on her face as she cupped her cheeks while creepilyughing.


    "Don''t you think this makes us look like a married couple, Az, Az~?" Yang Hua asked, her enamored expression turned upwards, looking at his chin.


    "...I wish you''d get off me and go to your own seat over there-"


    "I knew you loved me, Azmo! Don''t worry, we can get married as soon as Daddyes back from his vacation!" Yang Hua interjected, pink hearts floating around inside those dazzling greens of hers.


    Azmodeus ignored the silly girl on hisp as heid his chin on the top of her head before muttering, "Stop thinking nonsense and focus on the auction."


    "Mhmkay~!" She replied with a light head nod before snuggling even closer to him, her eyes glued to the wide podium below.


    Azmodeus gave up on persuading the girl to move over as he focused on the soon-to-start auction as well.


    ...


    A few minutes passed and all of the seats in the auction house were filled to the brim.


    After reaching this point, thedy who was hosting the auction in a crop top missing most of its top started to speak up:


    "Wee to the annual Yellowcreek Auction,dies and gentlemen! I am pleased to inform you all that we have quite an exotic assortment of items this time around! You are sure toe out here with not an ounce of disappointment!"


    HAAH!


    The crowd had extremely positive reactions to the pretty hostess, as who didn''t like a prettydy offering them things to bid over??


    However, all of thedies, belonging to the minority of the guest poption, had peeved-off looks on their faces. Watching all their husbands and boyfriends go crazy over that floozy with ack of fabric on her person was enough to put them all in bad moods.


    Of course, this included a certain girl in the number one VIP booth. Who, after looking down at her inferior breasts, turned her pouty expression up toward Azmodeus, about to knock the meany out of him!


    But the moment Yang Hua saw him, she paused in her tracks. After all, he was looking in theplete opposite direction of the podium stage.


    He was thinking ahead and predicted something like this would happen, so he simply watched every minute movement that she made. When the moment finally came, he timed his head turn to an almost perfectionist''s degree.


    *Humph!* Yang Hua softly harrumphed before watching the first item of the daye through a set of red curtains to the side.


    Azmodeus realized that his n worked. Thereafter, heid his chin back on her head, calming her down even further before awaiting the presentation of the first item.


    -


    "The first thing we have to show all of you prestigious guests today is something from the Royal Capital of the Fire Nation! Something called a Spiritual Stone!"


    Thedy hostess''s voice resounded as she bent over, getting all the angles right before extending her hands out. She beckoned for the two prettydies in simr attire to bring out a glowing blue stone on a metallic tter.


    "Although this Spiritual Stone is of the lowest rank, it''s still worth quite a substantial amount, so why don''t we start the bidding at 5,000 Silver Taels!"


    "....."


    The crowd went silent for a second before, all at once, they erupted with various bids. They aimed to acquire the item that would improve their cultivation by leaps and bounds!


    "6,000 Silver Taels! Give me some face as the young master of the Green Burrow Guild!"


    "6,500 Silver Taels! Screw your face and your green sh*t guild!"


    "7,500 Silver Taels! You dare to say those words to this young master!? Are You Courting Death!?"


    "9,000 Silver Taels! I couldn''t give two fu*ks about your death threats!! If you have half the money that your mouth has sh*t to say, then I''m sure you can outbid me!"


    "1 Gold Tael! F*ck you, a*shole! Just wait until I find out who you are, and then I''ll bury you a six-foot-deep grave ahead of time!"


    "2 Gold Taels! Sure, sure, big boy! If you have the balls, thene down to my Rising Dragons Sect and call for the name Sheng Long! I''lle out and beat your a*s any time of the day!"


    "S-Someone from the Rank 2 Rising Dragons Sect¡­"


    The original bidder''s face turned ashen as he realized that he might''ve made a grave mistake.


    "I-I apologize for my earlier words, esteemed young master! This one is truly unable to see Mt.Tai!"


    He got on the ground inside his VIP booth and bowed in the direction of VIP booth number two.


    "Haha! Don''t worry about it, for this young master is quite magnanimous when ites to those lower than myself. I will let you off the hook just this one time!"


    The haughty voice of the bidder from VIP Booth 2 echoed out as the bid continued.


    Not many were willing topete with someone from the Rising Dragons Sect, but towards the end of the biddings, a young boy''s voice sounded out from VIP Booth 1:


    "10 Gold Taels."


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    Everyone in the auction house went utterly silent upon hearing such an absurd number get announced from VIP booth number one.


    That was 10 Gold Taels, you know!


    It could be exchanged for 100,000 Silver Taels or for tens of millions of Copper Taels!


    Such an extravagant sum of money was enough for the average mortal household to livefortably for many generations. Yet the bidder from VIP booth 1 shot off such a number like it was no big deal¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 47: You Mie, Senior Sister

    ...¡­


    "Did you not hear that this young master from the Rising Dragons Sect is looking to acquire this Spiritual Stone??" The young man from VIP booth number two shouted.


    "I did." Azmodeus began with an apathetic tone.


    "Then you should-"


    "But I don''t care," Azmodeus interjected with a voice bereft of emotion as he waited for the hostess to announce the results.


    "3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­ And the distinguished guest from VIP booth 1 has obtained the Lowest-Ranked Spiritual Stone!" The hostess announced with an overjoyed expression.


    After all, she would obtain quite argemission from a purchase like this one!


    She was going to throw a slightly flirtatious and grateful look towards the boy in VIP booth number one, but when she saw the death re of the terrifying girl sitting beside him, she changed her mind and went right back to announcing the second item to be put on stage.


    "Hmm¡­?" Azmodeus raised an eyebrow as he slightly tilted his head while staring at the girl in hisp.


    "What was that?" He questioned.


    "Nothing, you big dummy Azmo; now continue watching the auction! I hear there are going to be some pretty thingsing up!" Yang Hua responded with a cherry voice.


    However, unbeknownst to Azmodeus, a dark look shed past her eyes for but a brief moment before returning to normal.


    Whatever¡­ Back to the auction it is¡­


    He discarded the peculiarities of the girl in hisp as he refocused his attention on the auction. Hepletely ignored the killing intent directed toward him by the young master in VIP booth 2.


    -


    "Find out who that bastard is and tell me if I can get my family to kill him," Sheng Longmanded an elusive figure that stood behind his chair.


    "Very well, Master," the figure behind his throne responded with a cordial tone before vanishing from sight.


    I will show you what happens to those who dare go against those who are affiliated with the Rising Dragons Sect¡­!


    Sinister thoughts swirled around inside his head as he went back to bidding in the auction.


    ¡­


    A few minutester.


    Azmodeus had sessfully bid for a total of fifteen items and took nearly everything of value from the Yellowcreek Auction House.


    Every other bidder was left with many grievances after his buying sprees, but in the end, there was nothing they could do.


    Not if they wished to keep their lives intact in front of the one deemed the most monstrous genius ever seen within thest ten thousand years of the Fire Nation¡­


    That''s right, all of the various VIP guests and even some in the regr stands had asked their people to discern the identity of the one in VIP booth number one. And it didn''t take long before all of them received the exact same answer¡­


    This revtion came as a great surprise to everyone, but there was one young master in particr who was left in a state of disarray when he learned the identity of the one he aimed to take revenge on.


    To say the least, he immediately scratched the idea of doing anything against ''The Anomaly''. After all, he was even personally told by his elders that if ever encountered ''Azmodeus the devil'' then he should upkeep friendly rtions no matter the cost.


    In fact, forgetting revenge, Sheng Long was thinking about how he should go about amending rtions with the monstrosity himself.


    At this very moment, he was calling upon his people, trying to amass all the valuable goods he could think of, all to give to Azmodeus as remuneration for his troubles.


    Furthermore, he wasn''t the only one doing something simr, as during the auction, nearly every haughty and conceited young master made sure to insult Azmodeus when he outbid them with absurd amounts of money.


    So at this point in time, instead of continuing with the auction, everyone was thinking about how to best appease the young boy, who also possessed the title of ''Young Master Crusher''.


    That title wasn''t an empty one either, as every high-ranking figure has heard of the Direct Disciple of Peak Leader Xing Yi stripping every young master that got in his way down to their underwear¡­


    The only things that any of them had left intact after encountering the Anomaly were their lives¡­


    Despite this, the anomaly himself was leisurely strolling outside of the VIP booths. Yang Hua walked right beside him, possessing clear affection in her gaze after bearing witness to his effortlessly domineering demeanor during the auction.


    -


    Meanwhile, in a certain discrete corner of the Yellowcreek Auction House, a girl around fifteen years old sat next to a window seal with a curious gleam in her violet-colored eyes. She focused on the receding figures of Azmodeus and Yang Hua.


    "So that is junior brother Azmodeus¡­ Elder Xing Yi has been hounding me about his existence for thest few days, but the rumors never measure up to the real-life thing, do they?"


    This girl''s name was You Mie, and she was known as the Second Eldest Goddess of the Yellow Mellow Sect.


    Furthermore, she was also the second-eldest direct disciple of Peak Leader Xing Yi and was widely known for not only her beauty but also her skills in alchemy and formations.


    She was usually immersed in secluded cultivation. But as ofte, she was taken out of her deep state of meditation by the recent rumors spreading around about the up-anding most talented genius in the Fire Nation.


    "I wonder where this boy''s immense talentes from¡­? There must be so many secrets hidden underneath that tight-knit veneer of his¡­" You Mie mused with an imperceptible glint shing past her seductive gaze.


    Even through the veil covering half her wless, jade-like face, one could still begin to see a small smile form on her luscious red lips.


    She appeared to enter a state of deep thought while entertaining the idea of asking her Eldest Senior Sister about everything she knew about this ''Azmodeus'' character at ater date.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 48: The Third Sect Goddess... is Yandere?

    ...¡­


    A few secondster, on Azmodeus and Yang Hua''s way out of the Auction House, they were abruptly interrupted by an old man with a wizened disposition.


    "Do you need something?" Azmodeus inquired with a raised brow, his neutral gaze focused on the slightly corpulent man wearing a monocle.


    "Y-Yes, Sir Azmodeus. I am known as Fu Pang and am also the owner of this humble establishment!"


    "And what do you want from me?"


    "I wish to know if you n to sell any of the items that you have acquired whilepleting various high-ranked Elder-ss missions for the Yellowcreek Sect," Fu Pang responded with a nervous countenance.


    "..."


    Azmodeus observed the earnest look on this businessman''s face as he figured that he wouldn''t be scammed due to the status that came along with his identity and talent. With this in mind, he replied, "I can sell what I have obtained, but you must give me fair prices. If not, then I might just¡­"


    "T-There''s no need for any of that, Young Master Azmodeus, as I will give you nothing but the fairest of prices!"


    The auction house owner responded as fast as he could! It horrified him just thinking about the next part of the young boy''s sentenceing to pass¡­


    "That is good, Mr. Pang." Azmodeus spoke with a friendly tone as he passed by the bewildered figure of Fu Pang.


    "I will send all of the items that neither I nor Yang Hua have use for some timeter tonight. Until then, I hope that you won''t disclose what I have told you here. You can do that, can you not, Mr. Pang¡­?"


    "Y-Yes of course I can, Sir Azmodeus! You have my word that not a single peep will leave my mouth! Thank you very much for this opportunity!"


    The Auction Owner bowed at an almost reverent angle. His anxiousness was apparent in his chubby features.


    "I hope for a healthy business rtionship, Mr. Pang."


    Azmodeus''s calm words resounded in the reception area of the Auction House before his figure disappeared along with Yang Hua''s.


    However, before he fully vanished from sight, he said one more thing:


    "Oh, and make sure to go to all the people who assumed they had offended me today. They will be offering various valuables aspensation for offending me. Take those valuables and put them on auction in my name."


    "Y-Yes, I will make sure to do that right away! Thank you for your guidance, Sir Azmodeus!" Fu Pang responded with a differential voice as he bowed once more before no longer feeling the presence of ''The Anomaly''.


    And without anyone knowing the better, one of the strongest masters of Yellowcreek City was subdued and thrown underneath the heel of a child not even a tenth of his age.


    That was just the power that the monstrous genius held with his various des¡­


    That and his naturally overwhelming and imperious personality.


    Concerning his personality, it was something that had been constantly altered because of all the Traits he had active at all times.


    On that note, it seemed like his Traits had once again shown one of their various applicable uses¡­


    -


    Meanwhile, a few miles away from the Yellowcreek Auction House, a young boy and girl traveled through Yellowcreek City. They made their way toward the wide assortment of buildings that stood atop a number of various mountain peaks.


    "No matter how many times I see the Yellow Mellow Sect, I never tire of the beautiful sight before us¡­" Yang Hua softly murmured while interlinking arms with a ck-haired boy who was quite a bit taller than her.


    Azmodeus looked down at the adorable girl beside him before staring at the Yellow Mellow Sect and then back at her again.


    After doing that a few times, he eventually said, "I guess it''s alright, but I think you are far more pleasing to the eyes than a few mountains and rivers."


    Following those nonchnt words, he escaped the grasp of Yang Hua and took slow steps under the giant red gates of the Yellow Mellow Sect.


    In his previous ce, he left a young, pretty girl with a deep red blush on her face, dying herplexion crimson.


    She bit her lips a little with her silky ck hair covering her face as she mumbled, "Shtupid¡­"


    A creepy smile nearly formed on her expression before it quickly disappeared.


    "!!!"


    Upon realizing how far away Azmodeus had gotten from her, she took herself out of her reverie.


    Yang Hua ultimately caught up to the stoic figure of his as she snuggled into his right arm with an even lovelier smile adorning those divine features of hers.


    "???" Azmodeus had no clue why she seemed oddly happier than before.


    He thought it over for a moment before lightly shrugging his shoulders and continuing his walk through the Yang Sect.


    ...


    A few minutes passed as the two rising stars of the Yellow Mellow Sect made their way to an extremely tall mountain called Plum Blossom Peak.


    It was also the mountain on which Peak Leader Xing Yi and all her disciples resided.


    In the Yellow Mellow Sect, there was the typical sect disciple ranking system. Namely, Trial Disciples, Entry Disciples, Outer Disciples, Inner Disciples, Core Disciples, and Direct Disciples.


    There were also Heir Disciples like what Azmodeus was in the Yang Sect. However, Sect disciples of that level were few and far between in the higher ranking Yellow Mellow Sect.


    Despite this, all of these disciples, no matter if they were Trial Disciples or Heir Disciples, would choose a mountain peak to live on as soon as they entered the sect.


    There were a total of thirty-nine Peak Mountains that made up the Yellow Mellow Sect. And on each of these mountains, there were tens of thousands of disciples ranging from the Viscera Training Small Sess Stage to the Peak Stages of the Qi Condensation Realm.


    The mountains themselves were tens of thousands of meters in diameter, leaving enough room for every disciple to livefortably in their own part of Plum Blossom Peak and the other peaks.


    Furthermore, on these mountain peaks, there were hundreds of Outer Deacons, Inner Deacons, Outer Elders, Inner Elders, and various other authoritative figures that watched over their own groups of sect disciples.


    And then there was, of course, the Peak Leader¡ªwhich in the case of Plum Blossom Peak¡ªwas the lovely Miss Xing Yi.


    She was someone known as the youngest Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator in the Yellow Mellow Sect!


    Being only 45 years old, she was able to achieve the Foundation Establishment Realm. And over thest few years, she has already started to near the Middle Foundation Establishment Realm, making her a supreme genius in her own rights!


    If not for the existence of You Mie, the daughter of the Sect Leader, and Lan Yue, the daughter of the Grand Elder, then Xing Yi would''ve been the most talented girl to ever be born in the Yellow Mellow Sect.


    In the case of You Mie and Lan Yue, they were both in the Early and Middle Stages of the Qi Condensation Realm while being only fifteen and seventeen years old.


    With aplishments like that, it was no wonder that both of them were known as the two goddesses of the Yellow Mellow Sect.


    A number that was just increased to three with the appearance of Yang Hua¡­


    In spite of all this, Azmodeus and the third goddess in question made their way up the wide and steep slopes of Plum Blossom Peak.


    They saw many plum blossom trees and colorful bushes on their way up; there were even a few exotic bird species that looped over every stretch of the vibrant mountain.


    However, they weren''t there to admire the scenery, as they nned to meet someone extremely high in status...


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 49: Talking to Peak Leader Xing Yi

    ...¡­.


    After a few minutes of hiking, both of the geniuses found themselves at the front of an enormous red and pink mansion¡ªa mansion that also served as the private quarters of the Peak Leader, Xing Yi.


    "Xing Yi, are you there?"


    Azmodeus''s nonchnt voice sounded out from the other side of tworge pink doors.


    After a moment of waiting, the doors creaked open as a woman with a figure to kill for came out with a slightly amused look on her face.


    "You really are quite brazen using the name of your Peak Leader in broad daylight right outside my home," Xing Yi said.


    "Is that so? Well, no matter. Will you let us in or not, ''Ms. Peak Leader''?" Azmodeus asked with an indifferent tone.


    The Peak Leader nkly stared at the audacious young boy, who never seemed to show even the slightest ounce of respect for her authority.


    "You know, if you keep on acting like this, then I might just have to throw you into a horde of Spiritual Beasts and see how far you go before you need my help," she remarked with a smug expression.


    "You would really do that for me?? How magnanimous of you," Azmodues replied with shining eyes, clearly overjoyed about such a notioning to pass.


    Xing Yi looked at that monstrous freak like she was looking at something not of this world. However, she was suddenly taken away from her train of thought by the young Sect Goddess, who had an aggrieved look on her face:


    "Can you stop talking to my Az, Az like that, you old witch! He''s mine, not yours!" She eximed with a possessive gleam shining through her eyes.


    "..." "..."


    Both Xing Yi and Azmodeus looked at the delusional girl for a few seconds before they sighed in unison.


    "Juste in already," the Peak Leader said.


    *Humph!* Yang Hua let out a harrumph from her cute nostrils before following behind Az, Az as they walked through therge pink doors.


    ...


    A few minutester, Azmodeus and Yang Hua were sitting on the other side of a table, talking with the Peak Leader while sipping on some herbal tea.


    "So, let me get this straight. You want me to participate in this battle that involves a monster horde at a level never before seen in Yellowcreek City? And you really believe my frail bones can withstand monster beasts at such a level?"


    Azmodeus''sposed voice echoed out inside the wide,vishly decorated room as he looked toward the Peak Leader for confirmation.


    A confirmation he received not long after, as Xing Yi responded, "You are correct, and don''t act like you''re some weakling. Anyone in the Foundation Establishment Realm can discern your true cultivation base¡ªa cultivation base that has somehow improved once again¡­"


    She had no clue how he always came back even stronger than he was not even a few hours ago. But she had heard that heavenly geniuses were built differently, so that was what she surmised his strength increases to be the cause of as well.


    Azmodeus expressionlessly stared at the busty woman in front of him before his smile widened. He muttered, "Heh, you truly are a perceptive woman of immense beauty, but you will need to say more than that if you wish to convince me to take on this task."


    Don''t get him wrong, he would take on the task either way; however, this Peak Leader was a richdy, and if he could acquire more benefits, then who was he to deny them??


    Xing Yi already knew what was going through that voracious brain of his as she let out an exasperated sigh before saying, "How about this? I will give you a Low Quality Foundation Establishment Building Pill that''s worth thousands of gold coins. And all you need to do to obtain it is give me your word that you will try your best to thwart the advances of this Beast Horde."


    "If you can do that for me, then this right here will be yours," she added while holding a dark red pill in her hand.


    Azmodeus took a whiff of the cultivation efficiency emanating off the pill as his smile turned into a sly smirk.


    He grabbed up the pill while saying, "I promise to try my best to assist my truly benevolent and gorgeous Peak Leader. Now if you''ll excuse us, we got somewhere to be."


    After making that promation, he disappeared along with Yang Hua, who had been pinching him in the sides the entire time during that conversation¡­


    "..."


    Xing Yi was left all alone inside that room as she got lost in her thoughts for a second.


    That boy truly has a way with his words¡­ It''s almost at an unnaturally natural level¡­


    She could already predict the future trouble that the unintentionally flirtatious boy would get himself into in the future¡­


    -


    Meanwhile, a few miles out from the Peak Leader''s Residence, a young boy and girl were walking hand in hand. One unwilling and one willing...


    Yang Hua was letting out all her grievances about Az, Az''s flirty words. And from what he could tell from the way she was speaking, it was quite obvious that she just wanted the same treatment.


    So from that day on, he startedplimenting her at the most opportune of times, catching her off guard on a daily basis.


    It was due to these actions of his that he finally obtained some respite from all that clinging she was doing.


    He was also to obtain the promise of her leading him to Yang Fa''s secret stash inside the ravished Yang Sect¡ªa stash that would bring him many benefits.


    But it wasn''t like that was his true motive for catering to the girl... for sure, for sure...


    On a side note, most of the time, Yang Hua was too embarrassed to get within two feet of him. This ultimately allowed him to be able to go out and do a variety of things that wouldn''t normally be possible with the yandere breathing over his neck.


    Azmodeus was a rtively perspicacious person because of all his traits. It was because of this personality quirk and the signs shown in clear view that he was able to understand that the young girl was most definitely in love with him¡­


    He wasn''t a dense rock¡­ well, not all of the time¡­


    But in the end, he wasn''t interested in a rtionship unless there were immense benefits involved. And even then, he would only be in the rtionship for the benefits and not the rtionship itself.


    All in all, this was to say that he wasn''t the least bit interested in a rtionship like that at this point in time!


    And that was where the next problem stemmed from. Namely, what would Azmodeus do about the girl that was all over him literally all the time...?


    After brooding over the subject for a while, he eventually decided that he would give the girl some space and see if her me naturally died out.


    Surely this tactic would work out in his favor... Right...?


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 50: A Month and a Half

    ...¡­


    Nearly two weeks had passed since the Annual Auction of Yellowcreek, and since then, Azmodeus had obtained all of the ''gifts'' from the Young Master''s of the auction.


    After acquiring the gifts, he sold them almost right away through the assistance of Fu Pang.


    Following the acquisition of a substantial amount of gold numbering in the thousands, he once again spent all of his money down to thest dime.


    It was because of this insane spending and the various passive benefits of his cultivation talent stat that he was able to breakthrough to the peak of the Half-Step Foundation Establishment Realm without much of an issue.


    Furthermore, his strength had already surpassed the Qi Condensation Realm with the help of all his upgraded H-Rank Traits!


    On a side note, he had obtained a number of Traits over thest couple weeks through the assistance of not only the various Twilight Assassins who were still hunting him, but also because of the Monster Wave after Monster Wave that came every day.


    There were thousands upon thousands of monsters and beasts, varying from the Strength Training Stage all the way up to the Early Foundation Establishment Realm. All of which rushed the city of Yellowcreek on a daily basis.


    And today, after nearly a month and a half since the Yellowcreek Auction, marked a particrly special day.


    It was the day in which a Middle Foundation Establishment Realm Behemoth made its way down the Great Seperado Forest...


    -----


    The Great Seperado Forest.


    It''s a forest that lies somewhere around the northwest side of the Fire Nation and stretches on for tens of thousands of miles. Hence, it makes for the perfect barrier to separate the Fire Nation from the Water Nation to the west.


    In the case of the Yellow Mellow Sect and various other Rank 1 and Rank 2 Sects thaty on the edge of the Great Seperado Forest, this expansive forest meant death for those who weren''t strong enough to resist the asional Monster Hordes.


    The Monster Hordes in question umted inside the forest over a period of time before suddenly deciding toe out of the forest and kill anything that entered their sight.


    -


    "..."


    A young boy with long ck hair and a fierce gaze was seen standing atop a wide and robust wall that extended in two different directions for dozens of miles.


    This boy looked to be around twelve years old and possessed thin, sword-like eyebrows and eyes like a mysterious maelstrom capable of sucking anything into its grasp.


    His nose was thin, and his features showed signs of bing a little chiseled with his growing age.


    Overall, it was his entire appearance that further entuated the domineering demeanor that he carried around with him like an inseparable scar.


    *ng!*


    Azmodeus''s dark red and ck armor nged a little as he looked toward a few approaching men in soldier''s attire.


    "Report," hemanded when they found themselves less than a few meters away from him.


    "Yes Sir!" They both responded with deferential dispositions before hitting the ground with their fists.


    "We have discovered that not only one Middle-Foundation Establishment Realm Arachnid Monster, but another four more in the same stage and twenty-seven monsters in the Early Foundation Establishment Realm Stage havee out of seclusion," the leading soldier responded with a slightly shaky voice.


    "Is that so¡­?" Azmodeus asked with an unconcerned tone, his gaze focused on all the trees being toppled in great numbers a few dozen miles out.


    "And Sir, deep within the Great Seperado Forest, we have also discovered signs of something beyond what our energy readers could detect¡­ Something that could even be nearing the Core Formation Realm¡­"


    The nervous voice of the same soldier leaked out once more, as one could almost feel the trepidation oozing out of his voice.


    Azmodeus turned his piercing gaze down at the kneeling soldiers, seemingly thinking about something important.


    After figuring out what he had to do, he said, "You may take your leave. I will deal with the big ones myself, but the assistance of the masses will be necessary in a battle at such arge scale."


    "This will be the toughest battle yet, and loss of life is almost inevitable, so go home and spend time with your families in what little time we may or may not have left," he added with a solemn expression.


    "W-We understand, Sir¡­" All of the soldiers responded before rushing away from the scene.


    However, before they fully disappeared from view, the leading soldier stammered while asking, "S-Sir, do you think you could lose¡­?"


    Azmodeus turned his head in the soldier''s direction. He said, "Nah, I''d win."


    After hearing this confident response from his general, the soldier''splexion appeared to lighten up a bit before he followed in the footsteps of the rest of the soldiers.


    They were preparing to get everything out of the way before nning to put their lives on the line for the sake of the general and their home!


    -


    Azmodeus was left as the only person on the top of a high-standing wall, overlooking the war-torn battlefield below.


    There were corpses with all the blood in their bodies dried up, scattered around the barren ground for dozens of miles.


    "If only I had obtained a higher military position right from the beginning, then none of these deaths would have been meaningless," he muttered, his indifferent gaze scanning over all the monster corpses as well.


    "After all, if I were allowed to do as I wished from the very beginning, then all of these potential Evolution Essence bags would''ve been mine¡­ But because of stupid rules, I am left with a mere Nine Hundred Million odd Evolution Essence after nearly two months of fighting on the front lines¡­"


    Azmodeus would''ve already started crying tears of blood if not for all the approaching soldiersing up the brickyered stairs of the Yellowcreek City wall''s interior side.


    And with the nearing of tens of thousands of soldiers¡ªsome from the various sects of Yellowcreek City and some who became soldiers from their originalmoner statuses¡ªa few rather conspicuous figures tagged along with them¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 51: Late Foundation Establishment Realm Monster

    ...¡­


    "You Mie and Lan Yue¡­" Azmodeus mumurmed, feeling a headache already on the way.


    Two gorgeous women, one with long braided ck hair that reached her butt, and the other with her hair pulled into an extravagantly decorated bun that sat atop her head. She also had a pen that put the whole style together.


    It was the daughter of the Grand Elder and the daughter of the Sect Leader that frolicked over to the intimidating 5''11 boy who stood a little taller than them even while being multiple years younger.


    After so many cultivation breakthroughs and due to the plethora of side effects that came with many different Traits, a number of alterations have been made to his physical form. This allowed for his appearance to improve far beyond what it should be.


    Even so, You Mie and Lan Yue approached the general of the Yellowcreek Monster Defense Force with ted looks on their wless faces.


    "Hey, Azmodeus. Do you need something to drink? Or are you hungry? Or perhaps you would like¡­ me..-?"


    "No thank you," Azmodeus interrupted You Mie with a dry tone, his sight never leaving the trees falling down in the distance.


    "Yeah, you should know when to back away, You Mie! Azmodeus clearly prefers someone older, such as myself! Isn''t that right, my dear~?" Lan Yue spoke in a flirtatious voice while inching ever closer to the general. Her alluring body made suspicious sounds as she moved.


    "No thank you," Azmodeus replied from the corner of his eye.


    His divine sense seemed to have picked up on something of unbelievable proportions originating from the depths of the Great Seperado Forest.


    Peak Middle Foundation Establishment Stage¡­


    Late Foundation Establishment Stage¡­


    Peak Stages of the Late Foundation Establishment Stage¡­


    Peak Foundation Establishment Stage¡­


    The aura he sensed was already approaching the peak of the Peak Foundation Establishment Stage, and it only seemed to be growing exponentially¡­


    Furthermore, there wasn''t merely one of these auras, as he could feel the presence of ten or so monsters infinitely approaching the Core Formation Realm.


    It looks like I will be fighting an uphill battle in the uing days¡­


    I would likely die up against these monsters if not for the new Traits that I''ve acquired over thest period of time¡­


    He pondered his chances for a second before being taken out of his thoughts by the soft punches of two young women with aggrieved looks on their faces.


    "That''s not what you''re supposed to say in response to the advances of a pretty girl, Azmodeus!" You Mie and Lan Yue grumbled in unison while pressing their slender arms against their breasts, turning their voluptuous figures away from him.


    "...Sure, sure, tell me all about what I''m supposed to sayter, but for now, could you two please-"


    *Wsssst~!*


    "-Move out of the way." Azmodeus finished his sentence while throwing both of them over his shoulders, their bodies narrowly dodging arge spike that came flying out of the Great Seperado Forest.


    "!!!" "!!!"


    You Mie and Lan Yue weren''t even able to see what had happened until they found themselves on top of a pair of broad shoulders. As this urred, a fifty meter-long ck spike shot past their heads, originating from the Great Seperado Forest.


    BOOOOOM!


    A loud, ear-deafening explosion reverberated not long after as the ck spike prated straight through the various protective barriers surrounding the city. They did so like they weren''t even there!


    After which, its path remained unimpeded as it eventually blew an entire watch tower to smithereens!


    "It looks like the big guys are getting rather impatient¡­" Azmodeus muttered afternding on top of an eighty-meter-tall watchtower just like the one that was destroyed.


    "Sir, Azmodeus! That mountain over there is beginning to move!"


    A soldier''s shout echoed out as everyone''s attention was brought to a five hundred-meter wide hill in the distance.


    RUMBLE!


    The ''hill'' started to shake and quake as two building-sized eyes appeared from the front side of the ''hill''.


    -


    "It looks like an Earth Giant was awakened from all the chaos¡­" Azmodeus analyzed the situation while gently setting down the two jade beauties.


    From the Frontier Booklets, an Earth Giant is a giant turtle-like beast thatys underneath the ground with extended lifespans. And with those naturally elongated lifespans, they''re able to sit around underneath the ground for substantial periods of time. This allowed for their bodies to have forest growth mature on top of them.


    From the aura this one is emitting, it should be in the Late Foundation Establishment Realm¡­


    "..." "..." "..."


    The various soldiers saw their general''s hardened gaze as they worried that he wouldn''t win against such a powerful beast.


    At least that was the case until Azmodeus turned his head up from deep thought and uttered, "This should allow for a good warmup before I fight those ten big guys in the back."


    After getting out these utterly ludicrous words, all twelve of his Qi cyclones swirled around. This was followed by a murky gray spherical object at the center of his existence emitting some form of overly condensed Qi.


    WAAA!


    An overwhelming aura was unleashed from the general''s frame as he levitated off the ground and used a variation of wind Qi to propel him forward!


    His figure quickly disappeared without a trace. In his ce, all of the guards were left stunned at their General''s ability to control himself with Air Qi in such a way, giving the illusion that he was capable of flying.


    However, there were two gorgeous women looking at the receding body of the crimson-ck General withpletely entranced looks on their faces.


    "Sister Lan Yue¡­"


    "Yes, Sister, You Mie?"


    "Why won''t he love us like we love him¡­?"


    The aura around the top of the wall became a little mncholic before the slightly older Lan Yue sighed a sigh that contained many unknown emotions. After which, she said, "People like him are meant for great things, and oftentimes, they just don''t know how to quantify anything other than the yearning for greater power¡­"


    "Is that so¡­? Then what must we do for him to notice us as women and not as friends¡­?" You Mie inquired with a tone of longing.


    "We just need to be stronger... Strong enough that we can confidently stand by his side without being seen as burdens," Lan Yue replied with a sense of determination bubbling up inside her.


    "But¡­ Isn''t that kind of impossible¡­?" You Mie asked with a perplexed voice.


    Lan Yue''s resolve was hit by multiple strikes after the release of You Mie''s words. She mumbled, "That may be the case, but what else can we do but try? Just look at youngest sister, Yang Hua. She''s already found herself a path in the Rank 4 Crystalom Sect. And I hear she''s even reached the Qi Condensation Realm, making a record in the Crystalom Sect!"


    "If we don''t work harder, then we will soon be surpassed by our youngest junior sister," she added, with that fire burning even brighter in her serene blue eyes.


    "I understand, Senior Sister! I will work even more on my cultivation from now on!"


    The same fire seemed to appear in You Mie''s dazzling purple eyes. She clenched her fists while looking at the bright red and ck light dance around the Earth Giant like an immortal in human form.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 52: 1 Billion+ Evolution Essence

    ...¡­


    Meanwhile, a few dozen miles away, in the fight with the Earth Giant, Azmodeus weaved in and out of the air using Wind Qi. While doing so, he manipted the elements of Fire and Lightning Qi in order to dish out the maximum amount of damage to the enormous beast''s robust outer shell.


    SHING! SHING!


    Sword sh after sword sh with the Fire and Lightning Elements incorporated into them were sent out in great amounts!


    In return, the Earth Giant released a wide array of gigantic spikes, taking outrge parts of the Great Seperado Forest!


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Giant tree after giant tree were going down like the cutting of weeds as everything within dozens of miles were being razed and shredded!


    "You really are a troublesome one, aren''t you?"


    Azmodeus''sposed voice echoed through the forest as he jumped up and dodged out of the way of a barrage of six or so colossal spikes.


    BOOOOM!


    A loud explosion reverberated as those spikes seemed to have some form of the Fire Element infused into their tips, analogous to that of overexaggerated cannon shots.


    SLASH! SLASH!


    He shed out at a few Qi Condensation Realm Monsters, making quick work of them before leaping off the top of a huge bear corpse, springing up like a broken coil!


    BOOM!


    A sonic boom resounded as he blitzed straight toward the center armor piece that covered the eyes of the Earth Giant.


    RAWRRGHH!!


    The beast roared before attempting to impede the advance of the ant trying to take down an elephant!


    Its tower-sized leg came plummeting down from above!


    "!!!"


    Azmodeus was forced to evade a strike capable of injuring someone in the Peak Foundation Establishment Realm if taken head on.


    Even so, he retained his momentum, rocketing toward the headpiece with unrelenting movements!


    SHING!


    It didn''t take long before a crisp, unsheathing sound was heard. After which, a sleek ck sword was seen out of its scabbard for but an instant!


    SLASH!


    *Spurt!*


    Green and purple blood gushed out the top of the Earth Giant''s head as its tough armored face piece was sliced in half!


    Furthermore, a corner of itsrge horned head was cleaved off. Subsequently, this resulted in everything within a few hundred-meter radius being dyed a nasty green color!


    "It looks like your defense is not all that impressive, huh?"


    A cold gleam shed past Azmodeus''s ck eyes as he dashed mid-air, resulting in a number of shockwaves shaking the topography!


    BOOM! BOOM!


    His stalwart figure zed toward the exposed head of the Earth Giant like an unstoppable force of nature!


    RAWRRGHH!!


    The beast bellowed out with resistance in its voice as it opened its only unscathed eye, only to see the small frame of a young boy in between its gaze.


    "!!!!!"


    The boy was looking at it like nothing more than a meal.


    It was in that precise moment that the mighty Earth Giant realized that it had met a true predator. However, it was far, far toote for it to understand this¡­


    SHING!


    *Spurt!*


    A hill-sized head was sliced off the neck of the colossal beast!


    A Late Foundation Establishment Realm Monster that likely ruled over a section of the Great Seperado Forest died as easily as that¡­


    "Your strength is now mine," Azmodeus said, his fierce gaze focused on the numerous pop-ups that appeared in his vision.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed a Monster in the Late Foundation Establishment Realm!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 35 Million Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *Your Evolution Essence Bank has crossed over the 1 Billion Mark!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte or roll for one of its Abilities?*


    He clicked on the Assimte option as a few more system notifications swarmed his sight.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 28,550 Stat points in Strength, 28,200 points in Speed, 28,150 points in Defense, 31,600 points in Qi, and 25,900 points in Cultivation Talent.*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has tremendously improved!*


    After all of these system notifications sounded out, Azmodeus looked toward the decapitated head of the Earth Giant.


    Not long after its abrupt departure into the afterlife, he watched the body of the beast kneel over to the ground.


    BAM!


    The forest shook for a second, scaring away a number of Spiritual Beasts before the truly powerful ones came onto the scene.


    They were looking to take advantage of the situation and get a bite out of the fallen Earth Giant in the hopes of evolving their existences!


    However, unfortunately for them, there was someone else who had a deeper yearning for evolution than all of the various monstersbined...


    SHING! SHING!


    A few ck and red Qi Arcs were unleashed from Azmodeus as every single Body Refinement, Qi Condensation, and Foundation Establishment Realm Beast was diced up into thousands of different pieces!


    Even so, he made sure to dart around the battlefield using his Level 4 Cloud Chaser''s Arts. He did this so as to clean up the rest of the Spiritual Beasts, including all of the Foundation Establishment Realm ones.


    Azmodeus was pretty sure he saw that enormous arachnid monster somewhere in the mix. Upon which, he cleaved off all its legs before dicing its wide body into meat chunks.


    From a bird''s-eye view or for all of the soldiers watching from the sidelines, this disy of power looked like nothing more than a bright light show of absolute destruction!


    Half of the outermostyer of the Great Seperado Forest was destroyed in this little ''clean up'' mission of their General; everything was either blown up, sliced, diced, or all of the above.


    Monster parts and organs flew through the skies.


    There were even a few intestines of a giant mantis monster thatnded right next to where the second officer inmand was standing on the wall with the rest of the soldiers.


    -


    "Uhmm¡­ Sir¡­ What the hell is going on here¡­?" A soldier inquired with a face that didn''t even know what emotion to express.


    He, just like all the other soldiers, was prepared to give his life for the cause. But in the end, none of the tens of thousands of soldiers had to move a step from their spots.


    "..."


    The second-inmand officer turned his dumbfounded expression in the direction of his lieutenant. He mumbled, "I think the young General is going off on one of his killing sprees again¡­"


    "But we did the whole ''y the part of the crestfallen soldiers'' just as the young Generalmanded, all in hopes of getting some fighting in today... Yesterday, he promised he would save us a few¡­"


    The Lieutenant felt like everything was for naught, as all the rehearsing they did under their General''s orders seemed so pointless now¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 53: Middle Foundation Establishment Realm

    ...¡­


    Everyone was beginning to think that things were far better before the young General came into power, as although they had some casualties back then, at least they had something to kill.


    Whereas right now, all of them might as well be taking naps in their armors as they watch their General take out thousands of high-level Monsters like he was simply trimming the weeds¡­


    "Maybe we should resign, sir."


    The Lieutenant spoke with a dejected tone as he saw thest of the current Monster Horde wave get wiped out in the blink of an eye.


    "..."


    The second-inmand officer looked at his subordinate while flipping his gaze toward his General and then back toward his Lieutenant. He muttered, "Maybe we should¡­"


    All of the soldiers were thinking simr things, as they spread out on top of the dark gray cobblestone wall, attempting to discern some form of use they had when someone like their General existed¡­


    On the other hand, two young women were watching the young General domineeringly strike down everything in sight with enamored looks on their faces.


    They were shing looks that indicated the overwhelming affection they felt while staring at the one they love disy his power in front of an entire city of powerhouses.


    "I want to be stronger right now, sister Lan Yue¡­" You Mie mumbled, faint hearts forming inside those enticing purple eyes of hers.


    "Same¡­" Lan Yue responded with a simr glean in her gaze. Her eyes never left the ck and red sh of light that seemed so far out of reach.


    It wasn''t even the distance between them that made not only Lan Yue feel this, but You Mie as well¡­


    There was just something that told them Azmodeus would always be so far out of their grasp, and that gap would only widen further and further over time.


    In their eyes, he was like a dazzling and resplendent star that shot through the night sky¡ªsomething forever out of touch for mere mortals¡­


    The star in question was speeding back to the city walls of Yellowcreek right at this very moment, seemingly lost in his own world like usual.


    The reason for this disillusioned appearance of his was because of the constantly ringing system notifications going off inside his head.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed twenty-five thousand Spiritual Beasts in the Body Refinement Realm, six hundred beasts in the Qi Condensation Realm, and thirty-two Spiritual Beasts in the Early and Middle Foundation Establishment Stages.*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 380 Million Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte or roll for the stats of all the beasts you''ve killed?*


    "Assimte for stats," Azmodeus replied with a soft voice.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 125,000 Stat Points in Strength, 123,000 points in Speed, 126,000 points in Defense, 131,000 points in Qi, and 115,000 points in Cultivation Talent.*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has exponentially improved!*


    Following all of the various pop-ups, he decided to check up on his system interface while conversing with the two passionate fangirls and the plethora of despondent and mildly depressed soldiers.


    He opted to take a quick break before those ten absurdly powerful auras fully awakened.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: 12/565]


    [Cultivation: Peak Stages of the Middle Foundation Establishment Realm.]


    [Overall Combat Power: Peak Stages of the Peak Foundation Establishment Realm]


    [Level: 52]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 22,000,000]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 1,402,000,000]


    {[Stats:]}


    [Strength: 238,500 + 142,000 (380,500)]


    [Speed: 237,000 + 134,000 + 165,000 (536,000)]


    [Defense: 235,900 + 136,000 (371,900)]


    [Qi: 256,000 + 135,000 (391,000)]


    [Cultivation Talent: 195,000]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Stealth - Level 1] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000,000]


    [Mirror Mirage - Level 1] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000,0000]


    [Super Strength - Level 1] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000,000]


    [Shadow Cleaver - Level 1] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000,000]


    [Speedster - Level 1] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000,000]


    [Fortress - Level 1] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000,000]


    [Spirit Animal - Level 1] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000,000]


    [Qi Storer - Level 1] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000,000]


    [Element Coalescer - Level 1] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/100,000,000] (Allows for easierbining of various elements derived from mortalws.)


    ¡ª------------


    Azmodeus perused his system interface for a few moments while realizing that he hadn''t really spent any Evolution Essence over thest period of time.


    He thought the matter over for a second and realized that he truly hadn''t spent much of anything besides when he got into a tight spot.


    Most of his cultivation came from the boons gained from making use of his Cultivation Talent Stat.


    Which was all to say that the amount of Evolution Essence he had in stock was enough to level up a multitude of times and still have enough left over to improve a few of his most used Traits.


    However, since he didn''t necessarily need to do something like that at this point in time, he figured he''d save it all for when he truly needed it.


    ...


    A few hours passed by in the blink of an eye.


    The absurdly powerful beasts in the depths of the Great Seperado Forest were beginning to awaken...


    They started moving around their enormous bodies, getting a good feel for their power. Before all of a sudden, every single one of their building-sized eyes locked in on a rapidly approaching sh of light in the distance.


    FWIP!


    A figure around 5''11 with a stern gaze and a hardened expression appeared before all of the enormous beast''s, locking eyes with thergest of the group.


    Thergest one was a giant gori-like monster with tower-sized ck spiraling horns on its head and two arms that contained a nigh endless number of ck and red spikes.


    This beast was, in every sense of the word, a ''monstrosity''.


    However, that wasn''t enough to deter Azmodeus, as he lifted his hands in the air before summoning forth an utterly ridiculous amount of Qi!


    "I know you have some modicum of intelligence. And it is with this knowledge that I ask you¡ª" He clenched his sword tighter than before. "¡ªAre you truly ready for what''s about to happen to you¡­?"


    His emotionless words resounded, entering the ears of the gori monster.


    "...."


    The beast looked down at the ant with its primitive gaze. It said, "Human¡­ Not wee here¡­ Go back from where you came¡­"


    It was clear that the gori wasn''t used to speaking thenguage of humans, as it spoke in short bursts, and in a tone that sounded almost alien.


    Azmodeus looked up at the farrger eyes of the beast before lightly shrugging his shoulders and responding, "I''m sorry, but I can''t do that."


    Following his words, his figure blurred as he appeared in front of the gori''s devilish face.


    "Human¡­ Wishes to fight¡­? Human will die¡­" The gori spoke with deadly intent oozing out of its voice.


    After which, it leaped up into the sky, narrowly dodging a ck and crimson de that was aimed at its throat.


    BOOOM!


    The ground cracked underneath its body weight, resulting in a spider web crater spreading out from its position for thousands of meters!


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 54: Battle Power in the Early Core Formation Realm

    ...¡­.


    "Human¡­ Die¡­" The gori uttered, its colossal arms already making their way back down to the earth with unrelenting force!


    "!!!"


    Azmodeus saw the disappearance of the gori, but the realization came a little toote, as two arms the size of bridges plummeted from the heavens, aiming to take out everything in the immediate vicinity!


    He instantly dashed in a different direction, attempting to escape the eventual st radius that would be released from all the fire Qi centered in the arms of the gori.


    Luckily, he made it out of the way just in time, as the moment he crossed over a nearby hill with the use of his wind Qi, everything in the area he was just in waspletely and utterly devastated!


    BOOOOOM!


    An ear-splitting explosion reverberated out as a good chunk of the Great Seperado Forest was split right down the center!


    Rocks and boulders, along with trees and sections ofnd, were thrown in every direction, causing immense amounts of damage to the topography!


    And within the epicenter of this unbelievable explosion, there was a small ck and red dot, namely, the horrifyingly powerful gori monster.


    -


    "You¡­ Quick one¡­" The gori spoke with a crackly tone as it looked up from the giant crater it sat within, its eyes honing in on the simrly colored human floating in the skies.


    "And you''re a strong one, aren''t you? That attack waspletely unnecessary," Azmodeus replied with a rxed expression.


    "You want to kill me¡­ So I kill you instead¡­" The gori muttered with a confused look on its face.


    "Who said I wanted to kill you?? I simply wanted to talk. Talk, not kill," Azmodeus responded.


    "You¡­" The gori couldn''t believe the shamelessness of this tiny human.


    And just as it was about to strike out once more, the human in question struck preemptively¡­


    SHING! SHING!


    A few crisp sword-shing sounds echoed out. Thereafter, a number of crimson ck Qi arcs over one hundred meters in length were sent flying in the direction of the other high-ranking spiritual beasts.


    "???" The gori looked around with a puzzled expression, as it didn''t understand why the human attacked the other monsters¡­


    Never in its wildest dreams would it entertain the idea that the human was attacking the other monsters in order to be stronger.


    After all, the gori monster was in the Middle Stages of the Core Formation Realm, and if Azmodeus wished to take it out without a hitch, then he needed to obtain some more loot!


    Even so, the other monsters were in the Early Core Formation, making them a substantial challenge for the current strength that he possessed.


    So after a few milliseconds of debating, he decided to upgrade all of his skills once before dumping the rest into his level.


    Following this decision, an immense power boost came his way as his strength soared!


    "Abat power in the Middle Stages of the Early Core Formation Realm¡­ Good enough, I guess¡­" Azmodeus muttered, his de already nearing the neck of a giant Core Formation Realm bear monster.


    "!!!!"


    The bear monster was still attempting to fend off the iing sword arcs when it suddenly felt something itchy and tingly touch its neck.


    However, it was already toote for it to notice the existence of the human¡­


    SLASH!


    *Spurt!*


    Arge gash was made in the thick and tough hide of the monster as it roared out in pain with an anguished look on its face!


    It was going to swipe out its paw in rage. But before it even got the chance, a few dozen more shes of the same intensity blitzed toward the same spot that the original cut was dug in!


    SLASH! SLASH!


    SPURT!


    The head of the bear monster waspletely lobbed off, and the look on its face depicted nothing but utter disbelief at what had just happened to it¡­


    WHAZOOM!


    The remnant energies of the sword arcs continued on their path, killing a few Body Refinement Realm and Qi Condensation Realm Beasts before allotting an appropriate number of Evolution Essence for Azmodeus.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed a number of Body Refinement and Qi Condensation Realm Spiritual Beasts!*


    *Ding!* *You have killed an Early Core Formation Realm Spiritual Beast!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 1.5 Billion Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *Your Evolution Essence Bank has passed the 2 Billion Mark.*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte or roll for one of the Abilities that the beasts you killed possessed?*


    Azmodeus clicked on the Assimte option as a few more pop-ups appeared in his vision.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 805,000 Stat Points in Strength, 810,000 points in Defense, 820,000 points in Speed, 840,000 points in Qi, and 755,000 points in Cultivation Talent.*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has tremendously improved!*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has increased from the ''Middle Stages of the Early Core Formation Realm'' to the ''Late Stages of the Early Core Formation Realm''.*


    Following all of the system notifications, Azmodeus wasted no time and went straight after the next Core Formation Realm Monster.


    He was looking to take out its heart and kill it before the gori realized what his objective was!


    However, it seemed like he underestimated the intelligence of the gori monster, as it knew that something fishy was going on and decided to phase toward the tiny human.


    It aimed to kill him before he finished whatever he was doing.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Multiple explosions sounded out as the gori traveled at a few times the speed of sound!


    "!!!"


    Azmodeus saw the barreling ball of ck and red nearing his location as he realized right then and there that he needed to move faster.


    System, dump 1.1 Billion Evolution Essence into my Speedster Skill.


    1.1 Billion Evolution Essence was deducted right away, as an insane boost was made to his overall speed, allowing his speed to be his most prominent basic attribute!


    "Faster¡­ Faster. I need to move Faster!" He shouted, his body seeming to blur beyond what the human eye could quantify.


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 55: Mass Leveling, Half-Step Core Formation Realm

    ...¡­.


    ZIP! ZIP!


    Azmodeus eventually reached a speed where he looked like nothing more than a sh of light as he blitzed toward a giant Core Formation Realm wolf!


    "!!!!!" The wolf wasn''t even able to see the blur of light before it was already right in between its eyes.


    And inside the hands of the tiny human were two sleek ck des.


    He shed out with both of those des at speeds approaching meteoric stardom!


    The wolf was only able to see the two thousandth strike before it understood that it had already died¡­


    SPURT!


    POP!


    After turning into a blood mist bomb, a few more system notifications rang out inside the head of the one who inflicted such insane damage in that split second.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed a Spiritual Beast in the Early Core Formation Realm!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 1 Billion Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *Your Evolution Essence Bank has once again been increased by a substantial amount!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte or roll for one of the beast''s Abilities?*


    "Assimte."


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 820,000 Stat Points in Strength, 815,000 points in Speed, 810,000 points in Defense, 930,000 points in Qi, and 740,000 points in Cultivation Talent.*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has moderately improved!*


    "Put all Evolution Essence into my level."


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have leveled up!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 1,200,000 Stat Points in each of your basic attributes.*


    *Ding!* *You have leveled up!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 2,200,000 Stat Points in all of your basic attributes.*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has tremendously improved!*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power is nearing the Middle Core Formation Realm!*


    After all of the various system notifications sounded, Azmodeus once again wasted not a second as he left the sight of the gori monster, disappearing into the lush green forest that surrounded them.


    "Where¡­ Human,e back¡­"


    The gori looked all around, attempting to find any trace of the human''s existence. However, no matter how hard and long it looked, it couldn''t find any signs of the human.


    "Human¡­ Vanish¡­? No¡­ No! Destroy!!!" The Gori bellowed, tremendous levels of energy building up within its body.


    WAAA!


    Its grandiose frame glowed a purplish red color as an untold degree of Qi bubbled up inside it!


    "Die!!!" It roared while unleashing all the energy from within its chest.


    |Death Beam|


    A silent enunciation followed, as everything within dozens of miles was vaporized by an absurdly powerful purple and red beam of energy!


    There was nothing left untouched by this lethal beam of energy, as it was nothing short of an attack made by a high-tier Kaiju!


    It possessed a level of heat that even a Middle Core Formation Realm Cultivator would find hard to withstand without taking damage!


    "!!!"


    Azmodeus, while in stealth mode, saw this extreme level of Qi melting everything in a circr direction as the gori was spinning around mid-air, razing all things without a care for the damage it was causing.


    It looks like this monkey is bing a little restless¡­ Enough that it''s even willing to put all its fellow Core Formation Realm Monsters in a state of near death¡­


    Azmodeus analyzed the situation and realized that he might be able to take advantage of the predicament he found himself in.


    FWIP!


    His figure vanished from where he once was, dodging the death beam within a hair''s breadth, as everything in the area where he just was had burned to ash!


    Nevertheless, he had a new goal¡­


    I will finish off the lives of all these Core Formation Realm Monsters¡­ I truly do thank you Gori for your assistance in speeding up the inevitable¡­


    Following these thoughts, his figure phased toward the next Core Formation Realm Monster before moving onto the next one¡­ and the next one¡­ and the next¡­


    -


    A young boy stood above the corpse of a colossal snake monster with red horns and a sinuous face.


    He looked at the shing blue and gold screens in front of him with a pleased look ying on his lips.


    OOOM!


    He utterly ignored the giant, zing fist that was mere nanoseconds away froming into contact with his face, as the system notifications seemed far more appealing to him...


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed 7 Spiritual Beasts in the Early Core Formation Realm!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 8.5 Billion Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *You have killed thousands of Spiritual Beasts in the Body Refinement, Qi Condensation, and Foundation Establishment Realm!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 6.5 Billion Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *Your Evolution Essence Bank has surpassed the 15 Billion Mark.*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte or roll for the stats of all the beings you killed?*


    "Assimte."


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 3.4 Million Stat Points in Strength, 3.35 Million points in Speed, 3.3 Million points in Defense, 3.6 Million points in Qi, and 3.1 Million points in Cultivation Talent.*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has improved by leaps and bounds!*


    After all of the system notifications finished ringing, Azmodeus decided to get in a quick nce at his system interface while taking on the full brunt force of an enraged gori.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 12/950]


    [Cultivation: Peak Stages of the Half-Step Core Formation Realm.]


    [Overall Combat Power: Early Stages of the Middle Core Formation Realm]


    [Level: 66]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 1,200,000,000]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 16,302,000,000]


    {[Stats:]}


    [Strength: 5.5 Million + 3.2 Million (8.7 Million)]


    [Speed: 5.4 Million + 6.15 Million + 7.2 Million (15.75 Million)]


    [Defense: 5.45 Million + 3.25 Million (8.7 Million)]


    [Qi: 5.7 Million + 3.6 Million (9.3 Million]


    [Cultivation Talent: 4.9 Million]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Stealth - Level 2] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000]


    [Mirror Mirage - Level 2] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000]


    [Super Strength - Level 2] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000]


    [Shadow Cleaver - Level 2] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000]


    [Speedster - Level 2] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000]


    [Fortress - Level 2] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000]


    [Spirit Animal - Level 2] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000]


    [Qi Storer - Level 2] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000]


    [Element Coalescer - Level 2] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000] (Allows for easierbining of various elements derived from mortalws.)


    ¡ª------------

 Chapter 56: Death Beam, Kidnapped??

    ...¡­..


    As he looked over his system interface, Azmodeus realized that he didn''t even need to acquire so much Evolution Essence. After all, the number of stat points he gained from mere assimtion was enough for his power to achieve a level simr to what the Giant Gori possessed.


    Speaking of the gori¡­


    "Die, Human!!!"


    A loud, thunderous roar reverberated, shaking the very foundation of the expansive valley that they found themselves in!


    Its powerful fists came flying down from above as it incorporated every ounce of power into those massive hands, aiming to destroy the entirety of the valley!


    It would not allow any ce to be made avable for the tiny human to hide behind!


    However, in the end, nothing it did seemed to make even the slightest difference, as both of its arms were chopped off in a matter of an instant.


    "!!!"


    It looked down at its arms and saw them both falling out of the sky; blood gushed out of two gruesome wounds where its arms used to be!


    The gori understood right then and there that the human had somehow be stronger than it was.


    And it was through this understanding that it decided that if it couldn''t win, then it would simply take everything down with it!


    "Monster!!! Die!!!" It bellowed.


    WAAAA!


    A level of energy capable of killing even a Late Core Formation Realm Expert was unleashed from the core of the beast!


    It was prepared to go Supernova if it meant that it could take out the monster in human skin as well!


    However¡­


    "Futile."


    Following the uttering of a voice bereft of emotion, a sword strike unlike any other was unleashed from the human''s tiny frame!


    SHING!


    The sword arc blitzed toward the gori, cleaving it right down the middle, which subsequently dispersed the buildup of purple Qi inside the core of the beast.


    SLASH!


    However, the Sword Arc didn''t stop with just that, as it found its way zing toward a mountain range in the distance, chopping off the tip of the tallest mountain before dissipating in thin air.


    -


    Meanwhile, at the bottom of the war-torn valley, in the midst of countless w scratches and sword marks, a young boy wearing dark red and ck armor watched the plethora of pop-ups appearing in front of him.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed a Spiritual Beast in the Middle Core Formation Realm!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 5 Billion Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *Your Evolution Essence Bank has surpassed the 21 Billion Mark.*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte or roll for one of the Abilities of the being you just killed?*


    "Roll for one of its abilities."


    Azmodeus opted to change things up for once, as there was one particr Trait that he wished to obtain from the Gori.


    Luckily for him, at the end of the spinning of a wheel with over fifteen different options, he acquired the Trait he was looking for.


    Namely, it was the ''Death Beam'' Trait that the gori used to vaporize dozens of miles of the Great Seperado Forest.


    Furthermore, the best part of it all was the fact that he obtained this Trait on his first try!


    He was prepared to burn through billions of Evolution Essence in order to acquire it, but in the end, he got it on the first roll!


    On a side note, he was prepared to touch the gori and obtain the Death Beam Trait that way, but after looking at the 40 Billion Evolution Essence price tag, that idea was thrown out the window as fast as that¡­


    Nevertheless, it was time for him to head back to the Frontier Gates of Yellowcreek City, as everyone there was likely freaking out at the sudden disappearance of their General.


    Azmodeus predicted that to be especially the case for the two young women who, not even a few minutes ago, were shoving food in his mouth within a cute little cafe.


    They''re definitely going to give me quite the earful after I return, huh¡­?


    Following these thoughts, he prepared to pack his things up and go back to the city. However, out of nowhere, a figure in long ck robes, wearing an expressionless white mask, materialized from thin air.


    "So you are the one¡­ Very well, you will being back with me."


    The raspy voice of the mysterious man resounded as he phased in front of Azmodeus at a speed that had already surpassed human limits!


    "!!!"


    Azmodeus tried to resist the abrupt movements of the mysterious man, but just like a gnat resisting the gravity of a, he didn''tst even half a second before being knocked out cold.


    "This boy will make for good pill material, and after torturing the information out of the Twilight Assassins Leader, I was able to learn of such a prime existence," the unknown man said with a content aura leaking from him.


    After hundreds of years searching for something that could be used to make his Heaven-Defying Dan Pill¡ªall so he could increase his talent and breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Realm¡ªhe finally found something perfect!


    "I should really go and thank the leader of the Twilight Assassinster."


    Flowing these rxed words, he put the armored boy on his shoulder like a bag of potatoes before darting in the direction of a far-off location like a shooting star.


    ...


    A few hours passed since the moment that the General was abruptly kidnapped by an unknown man in a ck robe.


    Inside a dark space with arge sigil in the center of the room, a boy awakened like a sword stabbed into the ground.


    "..."


    Azmodeus wore a calm andposed expression as he calmly scrutinized his surroundings, attempting to discern where he was.


    He couldn''t see any visible walls, and there didn''t appear to be anything other than him and indecipherable markings in the shape of sigils, all of which were located in the middle of the impermeable material that he found himself standing on top of.


    Just as he was about to switch up his way ofprehending the situation he found himself in, a deep and raspy voice sounded out from the confines of this mysterious space:


    "Do not fret, boy, for your suffering will onlyst for a few days, as although the searing heat from my pill me will be painful, you won''t even notice it due to the swift cutting off of your pain receptors."


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 57: Early Core Formation Realm, Fire God Refining Physique

    ...¡­.


    "!?"


    Azmodeus looked all around him but saw no one.


    After which, he used his divine sense but once again failed to find the existence of anyone.


    In fact, his divine sense wasn''t even able to extend past the three-meter radius mark due to some esoteric restrictions put on this space¡­


    So in the end, he decided to voice his question to whoever may be lurking in the shadows.


    "Who are you?? And why did you bring me here??" He questioned.


    "Ha! I will do you a favor just this once, boy. After all, you will be dying soon, and the pills oftentimes have more impurities if the materials die with too many grievances," the voice responded with a mocking tone.


    After a moment, he stoppedughing and said, "You have been taken into my pill cauldron and will be used as pill material for my Heaven-Defying Dan Pill. But fret not, for your death will go toward a good cause¡­ My cause!"


    The voice started cackling again, as he was most definitelyughing his a*s off outside the pill cauldron.


    Azmodeus knew this as well, but his expression never morphed into anything other than the unamused look that was stered on it.


    "Nevertheless, you don''t need to worry about leaving any unfinished business in the world of the living, as I will be going back to that tiny city you came from and have all the people there be a part of my soul g!"


    The voice continued its speech, as it was quite obvious that this man belonged to the cruelest group of cultivators in Prometheus.


    Namely, he was an Evil Cultivator!


    Furthermore, it didn''t seem like he was your average Evil Cultivator, as from what Azmodeus could tell, he should be in the Peak Stages of the Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm!


    A Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator¡­ Someone like that would be rare even if one scoured every inch of the Fire Nation¡­


    Azmodeus was unsure of why such a powerful evil cultivator would be aiming for his life, but it wasn''t like it really mattered.


    After all, this person hade after his life, and if there was one thing he hated most, then it was people who thought they could take something that was his.


    I still have a system to repay for all its help, so I''m sorry to ruin your fun, but I will find a way out of this thing, and when I do, I will have your strength be my own¡­


    His thoughts swirled around inside his head as he looked toward every inch of the inside of this ''Pill Cauldron'', attempting to find something¡ªanything¡­


    However, after a few minutes of getting nowhere in his search and feeling the heat within the space increase by a massive amount, he was about to dump all of his Evolution Essence into his level and break out by force.


    But before he made such a drastic decision that may not even work, he saw therge, glowing sigil out of the corner of his eye.


    After looking at it for a good second, a sudden sh of inspiration came to him as he rushed over to the sigil before touching it.


    And just as he expected¡­


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte a Trait of the ''Poison Pill Refining Furnace (High Mortal Rank)''?*


    "Yes, show me the Traits that would allow me to resist extreme amounts of heat."


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *ording to your specifications, the following Traits are presented before you.*


    [Fire-Poison Resistance], [Fire Oblivion], [Extreme Fire Resistance], [Fire Control], [Fire God Refining Physique (Partial Descension from the genuine article)]


    *Ding!* *Which one would you like to purchase? You can only choose to buy one.*


    Azmodeus thought the matter over for a second before deciding to purchase the Fire God Refining Physique. After all, it was not only the cheapest out of the bunch, but it was also because the full version of the Physique was able to be obtained through the spending of Evolution Essence.


    Although the exact cost of the full physique was utterly ludicrous, it still left the option for further improvement in the future.


    Furthermore, in addition to all of this, the Fire God Refining Physique was capable of giving the user unbelievable levels of control over the use of pill mes.


    In other words, the physique could allow him to one day be an alchemist, even though he previously possessed not even the smallest amount of talent in Alchemy!


    All in all, the choice of which Trait he wanted was a simple one, and after spending 8 Billion Evolution Essence, an unknown energy washed over his body.


    It elicited a plethora of mysterious effects inside his faintly developed Core!


    WAAA!


    Azmodeus''s ''Core'', in which all of the various Qi cyclones orbited around, started to throb and vibrate as something appeared to be changing within the very essence of his existence!


    After a few seconds of the ''Core'' inside his body spinning around and gathering Qi from the ten meter-wide Qi cyclones, it ultimately started to solidify.


    This resulted in a genuine ''Core'' forming inside his Dantian Space!


    Which was all to say that he sessfully broke through from the Foundation Establishment Realm into the Core Formation Realm!


    Nevertheless, that was only a side benefit of acquiring the Fire God Refining Physique, as the real boons were the ability to control a unique pill me called ''Fire God''s Essence'' and the subsequent ability to start concocting pills!


    But for the meantime, the most beneficial boon was the ''Tremendous Improvement to All Fire Resistance'' that came as a passive ability with the Fire God Refining Physique assimting in his existence.


    After breaking through and obtaining all the benefits, Azmodeus decided to check up on his system interface to see what had changed.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: 12/1350]


    [Cultivation: Initial Stages of the Early Core Formation Realm.]


    [Overall Combat Power: Peak Stages of the Late Core Formation Realm]


    [Level: 66]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 1,200,000,000]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 13,302,000,000]


    {[Stats:]}


    [Strength: 28 Million + 18 Million (46 Million)]


    [Speed: 29 Million + 19 Million + 36 Million (84 Million)]


    [Defense: 29 Million + 17 Million (46 Million)]


    [Qi: 35 Million + 23 Million (58 Million)]


    [Cultivation Talent: 22 Million (Early -HeavenRank)]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Stealth - Level 2] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000]


    [Mirror Mirage - Level 2] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,0000]


    [Super Strength - Level 2] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000]


    [Shadow Cleaver - Level 2] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000]


    [Speedster - Level 2] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000]


    [Fortress - Level 2] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000]


    [Spirit Animal - Level 2] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000]


    [Qi Storer - Level 2] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000]


    [Element Coalescer - Level 2] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000] (Allows for easierbining of various elements derived from mortalws.)


    [Death Beam - Level 1] (G Rank)] ¡ú [0/100 Trillion]


    {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters]}


    [Fire God Refining Physique (Partial - 0/10 upgrades)] ¡ú [0/100 Trillion]


    [Reminder: All obtained Traits can start at varying ranks, and thus, you don''t have to spend the necessary amount of Evolution Essence in order to use them. (All further Trait Level ups and Rank Ups remain the same.)]


    ¡ª------------

 Chapter 58: Late Core Formation Realm, The Passing of Time

    ...¡­.


    After perusing his system interface, Azmodeus figured that he''d be in here for quite a while, so he sat down in a cross-legged position and started to meditate.


    Cultivation is always good to do when under immense pressure¡­ And in this case, the pressure wille from this zing heat pervading the air around me¡­


    He understood that this was as good a time as any to make the best of this normally unfortunate quagmire.


    After all, due to all the Qi that the Evil Cultivator was inputting into the pill cauldron, the quality of Qi inside the cauldron outssed anything that could be felt in Yellowcreek City.


    Most would think this was a fortuitous encounter!


    And that would indeed be the case if it weren''t for the fact that 99% of all people below the Golden Core Realm would be signing a death contract if they were brazen enough to cultivate inside a pill cauldron controlled by a Golden Core Formation Realm Cultivator¡­


    However, in a certain young boy''s case, this was the perfect ce to circte fiery red Qi inside his Dantian, allowing his Dantian to take on the attribute of fire.


    ...


    A few dayster, Azmodeus was still cultivating inside the pill cauldron, as his Core had already been dyed a deep crimson hue, while his hair had faint red streaks in between each individual strand.


    Furthermore, his pupils were starting to show signs of fluctuating between a pitch ck color and a dark red shade.


    However, other than his appearance, there were also the most substantial change that urred within him. Namely, it was the fact that his cultivation had improved from the Initial Stages of the Early Core Formation Realm to the Peak Stages of the Early Core Formation Realm!


    He had effectively achieved the peak of the stage he just broke into within a short three days!


    And it didn''t look like he was nning to stop with just that, as even though the Evil Cultivator was suspicious of the fact that the boy had not yet turned into a pill liquid. In the end, he just summed it up to him possessing a robust frame and decided to keep going at his alchemy.


    At the very minimum, he would give it a good month and a half until fretting over the peculiarities centered around the boy.


    The reason for the month-and-a half deadline was because the Mortal Rank Flying Boat that he was riding on would be arriving in the Royal Capital of the Fire Nation by that point in time.


    Until that moment came to pass, he would need to spend every waking moment preparing for the gathering of the prominent Evil Cultivators on the Western side of the capital.


    In truth, the matter concerning the kidnapping and pill conversion of the young general of Yellowcreek City was just a side mission for him. After all, even if he was able to sessfully concoct a Heaven-Defying Dan Pill, there would be no immediate benefits until far into the future.


    But since the boy was located in a ce on his way to the Royal Capital, he figured that it wouldn''t harm him any to make a little pit stop.


    Little did he know that this ''pit stop'' would alter the course of his life forever¡­


    -


    A few weeks passed by like the passing of seasons, as a young man who appeared to be around 17 years old sat in a lotus position while absorbing all the Qi inside the pill cauldron with fervent passion.


    His hair had already been dyed a deep crimson red and ckish color, while his eyes morphed into something akin to ck rubies.


    On the other hand, his height had surpassed the 6-foot mark, and his cultivation had improved to the Peak Stages of the Core Formation Realm!


    -----


    The Foundation Establishment and Core Formation Realms.


    3. Foundation Establishment Realm:


    Split up into the Early, Middle, Late, Peak, and Half-Step Stages.


    You need to advance through this realm by working to cycle spiritual energy through your entire body. In doing so, the spiritual energy washes the body clean and refines it so that it bes more suited for cultivation. This is what is called "forming/building a foundation" for the Foundation Establishment Stage.


    4. Core Formation Realm:


    To break through into the Core Formation Realm, you need to have the Qi from your twelve Qi cyclones infuse their essence into the very center of your Dantian Space, which is where your ''Core'' will eventually form.


    The ''Core'' is a higher form of energy storage container as opposed to the Qi cyclones, but at the same time, they have far more applicable options for improving every aspect of your existence than the Qi cyclones do.


    Even so, those uses are for realms far beyond what the average Core Formation Realm cultivator could hope to achieve, so the ''Core'' is typically known as a ''Larger Qi Cyclone''.


    To progress through the Core Formation Realm, you need to improve not only the quality of the Qi inside your Core, but also the size of the core.


    The exact parameters to breakthrough each of the five minor realms of the Core Formation Realm go like:


    Early Core Formation Realm ¡ú [100 Meter Core with a murky gray color.]


    Middle Core Formation Realm ¡ú [300 Meter Core with a less murky gray color.]


    Late Core Formation Realm ¡ú [1,500 Meter Core with a dark gray color.]


    Peak Core Formation Realm ¡ú [5,000 Meter Core with a neutral gray color.]


    Half-Step Golden Core Realm ¡ú [10,000 Meter Core with a light gray color. (Nearing a state where gold almost begins to shine through.)]


    -----


    Azmodeus was encroaching upon the Half-Step Golden Core Formation Realm with a neutral gray-colored Core around 9,900 Meters in Diameter.


    However, he would hold off on breaking through to the Peak Core Formation Realm for now. After all, he had another objective in mind that he wished to get done while under such optimal pill refining conditions.


    That''s right! He was looking to begin the art of pill refining!


    But how would he do such a thing, one might ask?


    Well, to understand what he was about to do, one must understand what was needed to be an Alchemist.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 59: An Alchemist, Alchemys Essence

    ...¡­


    An Alchemist.


    To be an alchemist in Prometheus was to be a raremodity, and also amodity that held one of the highest authorities in the entirety of the!


    However, to acquire such respect and reverence from all the people of Prometheus, one needed to first have the talent to grasp it.


    In this case, it meant that one needed a natural affinity for Alchemy¡ªan external method that gives one the appropriate amount of talent, or a natural-born physique that allots one said talent.


    Furthermore, on top of fulfilling one or all three of these conditions, one also needed a Pill me. This will be used to best harness this talent in Alchemy.


    On top of acquiring a Pill me that suits your nature, one will also need to have the appropriate alchemy manual or technique that will help oneprehend the essence of Alchemy at a faster pace than without any prior guidance.


    On the topic of guidance, one can also look to Alchemy seniors in hopes of obtaining some modicum of assistance when ites toprehending the mystical and abstruse aspects of Alchemy.


    And then there was, of course, the unlikely situation where one fulfilled all of these things to perfection, and it was only then that a true Alchemist could be born in the world of Prometheus!


    -


    "I managed to acquire that Alchemy Technique from that unusual stall a while back in Yellowcreek City, but I never got the chance to use it until now¡­"


    Azmodeus looked inside his storage ring and saw a decrepit ck book around two inches in thickness.


    In hindsight, there was nothing special about this book. However, if one looked closer and really delved into the profundities contained within those few simple words that read ''Alchemy''s Essence'', then one would begin to see things not seen by those who simply nced at the ordinary name and passed off the book as nothing but a sham.


    I never figured out what it was about this book that interested me so greatly, but something beyond my understanding is definitely hidden within the crumbling pages of this frail thing¡­


    He sat in a lotus position, attempting toprehend anything he could from the cover before opening up the book and perusing the brittle ck pages.


    On them, he saw depictions of some sort of alchemist''s silhouette, conducting some unorthodox way of processing and concocting multiple pills.


    ...


    A few dayster, a young crimson-haired man with extraordinarily handsome facial features sat on the ground with a hardened expression, seemingly deep in concentration.


    He was trying to understand the entirety of the book known as ''Alchemy''s Essence''.


    Over thest few days, Azmodeus had managed to delve into the very fundamental essence of Alchemy, acquiring the knowledge he needed to begin his journey as an alchemist.


    However, before he started refining pills himself, he felt that there was something truly beyond basic alchemy hidden within the confines of those brittle pages.


    Azmodeus felt that all he needed to do was spend more time understanding what exactly it was that attracted his existence so greatly.


    -


    Nearly two weeks have passed since Azmodeus started progressing on his path of alchemy, which meant that over a month since being kidnapped had gone by in a sh!


    It was on this particrly auspicious day that he finallyprehended what it was that he had been trying to understand this entire time. Namely, it was the ability to use anything in existence as a pill cultivation material.


    Whether that be a herb, a rock, or even a human, nothing was out of bounds for Alchemy''s Essence!


    Everything would be concocted into a pill if the manual was followed to the letter!


    This manual truly is something especially extraordinary¡ªsomething that could potentially change everything that''smonly known about the art of Alchemy¡­


    Following this thought, he wasted no time and started utilizing this alchemy technique with the help of his Fire God''s Pill me and a Common Rank Pill Cauldron.


    The cauldron was something he picked up from the Yellowcreek Auction House.


    WAAA!


    Azmodeus tried circting the technique in conjunction with his Core and his Pill me, attempting to melt a plethora of herbs inside arge brown and ck pill cauldron.


    ording to Alchemy''s Essence, all I need to do to concoct a basic Strength Refining Pill used by those in the Strength Refining Realm is to put this moon grass, yang fruit, yin grass, and a few stalks of waterdragon grass in here, and then¡­


    WAAA!


    The air within the Evil Cultivators Pill cauldron started fluctuating a little as bright purple and red energies were swirling around with great intensity.


    They embodied the essence of not only Azmodeus''s existence but also the existence of the Fire God''s Pill me.


    After a few minutes passed by, in the midst of a maelstrom of elements inside a rtively ordinary Pill Cauldron, something appeared to have changed within it as some form of blueish gray pill was spat out from the pill cauldron!


    The pill started to levitate as Azmodeus forced it to float in mid-air while getting a good look at the first pill he ever created.


    Although the color was a little dull and the pill could be a bitrger and rounder, overall, it was a result beyond excellent for someone who just started to refine pills!


    Even so, it was far from good enough for a boy who aimed to reach as far as he could go...!


    "This one is fine, but I want more¡­ I wish to see just how far I can take the art of Alchemy before that Evil Cultivator arrives wherever it is that he''s going."


    He wanted to continue and improve, so that''s exactly what he did.


    -


    A few hourster, Azmodeus managed to obtain better control over his pill me, and along with that control came far better oues when it involved the sess or failure of any potential pills.


    Furthermore, he had also managed to increase the quantity of each pill batch to over six!


    All in all, he possessed a sess rate of around 60% with a brighter shade for each individual pill and, subsequently, a far increased quality as opposed to what it was previously.


    In addition, it wasn''t only basic pills like Strength Refining and Flesh Refining pills that seeded, as there were even a few sesses among the Qi Condensation Pill recipes that came from ''Alchemy''s Essence''.


    Although the sess rate for such high-ranking pills was extremely low and didn''t even pass the 5% mark. With the ability to turn everything into the necessary pill material required, Azmodeus managed to use all of the misceneous materials inside his storage ring in order to concoct all these various pills in repeated session!


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 60: Sky-Rank Alchemist, The Path of Alchemy

    ...¡­.


    A few days passed since Azmodeus started venturing into the path of Alchemy, and since then, he managed to obtain a multitude ofprehensions when it came to truly understanding the art of Alchemy.


    Of which included increased batch quantity, now numbering over twelve pills per batch, and a far better sess rate, as even Foundation Establishment Realm Pills had a sess rate of around 35%!


    If anyone in Prometheus had heard of such improvements being made in such short amounts of time, then even the strongest of Hegemony''s would rush in this genius''s direction, aiming to crack his skull open and see whaty inside!


    Nevertheless, the genius in question was currently working on refining a Middle Foundation Establishment Realm Pill called the ''Spirit Refining Pill''.


    It was a rtively straightforward pill, as its main purpose was to increase the overall amount of Condensed Qi within a Foundation Establishment Realm Master''s Qi Cyclones.


    However, it was giving Azmodeus quite some trouble as it required one to hold extreme levels of concentration while properly organizing a various number of herbs.


    For a few of the rarer herbs, he supplemented them with a few monster materials that he kept inside his Peak-Mortal Rank Spiritual Ring.


    In spite of that information, after a few minutes of intense struggle with the stubborn pill materials, he ultimately managed toe out on top with a sessfully concocted Spirit Refining Pill!


    A bright orange and red pill with blue streaks along the sides of its three-centimeter-sized frame emerged from within the pill cauldron, releasing a heavenly fragrance along with it.


    -


    "This was a major improvement," Azmodeus softly murmured while holding onto the pill with a face exuding wonder.


    Over such a short period of time, he had already managed to progress his alchemy skills above the Common Rank, sessfully bing a Low-Mortal Rank Alchemy Master!


    If I keep progressing at this rate, then I might just be able to be a Late-Mortal Rank Alchemy Master by the time this Evil Cultivator arrives at his destination¡­


    Maybe even longer if this ''destination'' is a little further away than where I predict it to be.


    Even so, if I can be a High-Mortal Rank Alchemy Master and sessfully concoct Core Formation-level pills, then I will be able to tremendously improve my cultivation until eventually breaking through into the Golden Core Formation Realm.


    After reaching this part, his gaze glossed over as he thought about everything that happened within thest few months in retrospect.


    He had soared through the ranks of the Yang Sect before being forced to flee away from the gods fighting with his master in the skies.


    After which, he progressed through the ranks of the Yellow Mellow Sect in a manner just as fast. Eventually, he became the General of the Frontier''s Defense after nearly two months of trudging through the lower-ranking military positions.


    And now he found himself inside the dirty ws of an Evil Cultivator, simply awaiting the day that he returned the favor to the one who dared to kidnap the one known as the Anomaly.


    Azmodeus would make sure to give back one hundred fold to the one who had the audacity to take him away from what he was doing.


    Even so, it was not the time to be brooding over such things, as he still had an Alchemy path to progress further in.


    ...


    A few more days passed in the blink of an eye.


    Azmodeus had managed to achieve the High-Mortal Alchemy Rank ahead of schedule!


    This was due to not only his increasedprehensions of the Essence of Alchemy, but also because of his limation to due process.


    Namely, he had be better adjusted to doing everything in a specific order, expecting the next series of steps to ur after performing the ones that came before.


    It was also due to this limation that he was able to tremendously improve his pill batch time for Foundation Establishment Realm Pills from nearly five minutes to half a minute!


    On the other hand, his time per batch for Qi Condensation and Body Refinement Realm Pills had reached a speed where it took less than a few seconds to sessfully concoct batches of over a dozen different pills!


    Now, when it came to Core Formation Realm Pills such as the Sanctifying Pill, the Iron Physique Pill, or the Talent Increasing Pill, it still took him around 5¨C10 minutes to sessfully concoct a batch.


    However, that was still a far cry from what it would normally be for an Alchemy Master with the status of a ruler of arge city.


    After all, Alchemy was not as easy as Azmodeus made it out to be and usually required many hours, if not days, and months in order to aplish the same feats as he achieved them...


    But in the end, nothing ever seemed to be good enough for the supreme genius, as he never took breaks and never stopped looking for ways to improve.


    Even with blood drizzling down his ears due to the amount of stress he was putting on his mind and body, he never stopped trying to improve his understanding of the Essence of Alchemy.


    It was this mindset that, after nearly two weeks since he began his path down the road of alchemy, he understood what it truly meant to be an Alchemist¡ªto be someone who not only inherently defied the heavens by being a cultivator but also someone who went above and beyond.


    Someone who warped the very basis of cultivation in order to improve faster than everyone else¡ªthis was what he became!


    -


    "This is what I have been looking for¡­ Improvement¡­ To put everything I have into improving¡ªto be better¡ªto be stronger."


    Azmodeus seemed to understand something in the very moment that he broke through into bing a Sky Rank Alchemy Master¡ªsomething that would forever change his outlook on the Essence of Alchemy and what it truly meant to be an Alchemist¡­


    "This will be my path¡­ The path of an alchemist¡ªthe path of someone trying to be better than they were the day before."


    After uttering these words, a splendiferous light erupted from the area around him!


    BLING!


    The catalyst of this light was everything inside the Alchemy Cauldron being lit up by the ''something'' that had changed within him.


    Following the release of this blue and golden light, the pill cauldron that Azmodeus was using to concoct pills suddenly exploded!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 61: Middle Golden Core Formation Realm, Deducing Secrets

    ...¡­


    After the smoke from the dazzling pill furnace explosion subsided, a pill that looked like nothing short of a mesmerizing piece of gold shot out into the hands of a young man.


    "So this is a Golden Core Formation Rank Pill¡ªsomething that''s even capable of assisting those in the Golden Core Formation Realm."


    Azmodeus was put into a trance while staring down at the pill.


    He eventually snapping out of it and muttered, "This pill in particr is a Gold Core Conjuring Pill¡ªa pill that will help me advance straight into the Early Golden Core Formation Realm with a perfect cultivation foundation."


    He had noticed something peculiar while refining pills, and that was the fact that no matter the quality or shine of the pill, there were never any impurities in the pills.


    It was almost as if it were impossible for there to be imperfections on something created by him¡­


    He didn''t understand it himself, but after pondering the matter for a while and receiving no mention of this happening to anyone in the Alchemy''s Essence manual, he ultimately discarded the matter altogether.


    Even so, the formation of this Golden Core Formation Pill meant great things for him. After all, he not only became a Low-Sky Rank Alchemy Master, but he also be something akin to an anomaly or an aberration when it came to Alchemy as well as cultivation!


    Speaking of cultivation, he managed to progress his own cultivation into the Peak Stages of the Half-Step Golden Core Formation Realm after nearly two months inside the Pill Cauldron of the Evil Cultivator.


    On a side note, Azmodeus expected them to have already reached their destination by now. But for some reason, it seemed like they had stopped somewhere.


    He had not an inkling of an idea why they had abruptly paused in their tracks, and the Evil Cultivator stopped talking a while ago, so he truly was left in the dark¡­


    However, it wasn''t all so bad, as he had plenty of time to cultivate and hone his mastery over Alchemy without interruption.


    But he would soon realize that not everything goes as nned in life¡­


    ...


    Two monthster, a young man who looked to be around 18 years old with chiseled facial features and an aura oozing of regality¡ªpossessing a body to match¡ªcultivated inside a dimly lit space with nothing but a pill cauldron in front of him and sweat beads raining down his face.


    Over thesest two months, Azmodeus''s cultivation base had progressed into the Middle Golden Core Formation Realm, while his skill in Alchemy had reached the Middle-Sky Rank. In other words, it essentially meant that he could confidently concoct Middle and Late Golden Core Realm Pills!


    Despite his achievements, after such a long period of time inside the Evil Cultivator''s pill cauldron, he was beginning to think something was up.


    Furthermore, his spection wasn''t based on nothing, as there had not been the slightest vibration happening in and around the pill cauldron since the moment he broke through to the Golden Core Formation Realm.


    Azmodeus had no clue what was going on outside the pill cauldron. However, at this point, he was confident that he could contend with the Evil Cultivator, so that''s exactly what he nned to do.


    -


    WAAA!


    A divine sense was emitted from the confines of the Sky Rank Pill Cauldron as Azmodeus attempted to discern what was happening outside of said Pill Cauldron.


    However, the moment his divine sense touched the outeryer of the cauldron, it was unable to go even an inch further.


    "Hmm¡­?"


    He wore a confused look on his face, as his power should''ve definitely been great enough to aplish such a thing.


    After getting up off his spot and touching the now visible edges of the cauldron''s interior, he immediately understood where the problemy.


    "Some form of sealing formation¡­ But why would there be a sealing formation on an active cauldron??"


    He could still feel the zing heat even with his fire resistance passive, so the cauldron was undoubtedly still active.


    So what exactly is going on here¡­? Did something happen to the Evil Cultivator? Something that would cause him to seal his own cauldron with an active heating process using his Qi¡­


    What could it be¡­? What caused him to leave behind his pill cauldron and the ''pill material'' that he needed for his Heaven-Defying Dan Pill??


    No matter how Azmodeus thought about it, he just couldn''t understand what could cause a Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator to flee.


    At least, that was until he recalled a particr rumor that spread around Yellowcreek City and the Frontier like wildfire.


    "The righteous faction," Azmodeus muttered, a sh of realization passing through his fiery red eyes.


    He, along with most people in the Fire Nation, had heard of the battles constantly urring between the Righteous Faction, the Evil Faction, and all of their affiliated organizations, sects, and ces of notice.


    For as long as anybody in the Fire Nation could remember, there had been a never-ending blood feud between those on the ''Righteous'' side of things and those on the ''Evil''.


    This was the brittle cohabitation that prevailed for all who lived in this war torn country.


    It were these two very different factions that battled each other in the dark and in the light. Of course, they had their own selfish goals in mind, as those deemed ''Evil'' were sometimes kinder than those who thought of themselves as ''Righteous'' and vice versa.


    Furthermore, there were hundreds of millions of people involved in this ''Ever War'', as the bloodshed had never once ceased. Thus, leaving all themoners and low-level cultivators as the only true losers of these pointless exchanges of d*ck sizes.


    However, it wasn''t like themoners had an opinion to voice in this evesting war...


    If they resisted the will of the strong, just like ants, they would be subjected to the whims of any unexpected foot that maye crashing down on their world at any given moment.


    This was all to say that the Evil Faction and the Righteous Faction were absurdly powerful and possessed forces that were even said to extend beyond the Fire Nation.


    But did that matter for Azmodeus Crimson...? Nah, not in the slightest bit.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 62: Half a Year, The Evil Cultivator...?

    ...¡­


    The reason that Azmodeus spected on the involvement of the Righteous Faction in this little quagmire of his was because they were known to often conduct manhunts on those belonging to the Evil Faction.


    Certainly! Here''s the corrected version:


    In addition, if the cultivation level of the Evil Cultivator who kidnapped him was any indication, then the probability of him being a prime example of one of the ''Hunted'' was extremely high.


    For most in Azmodeus''s situation, this would usually be a good thing, as they wouldn''t have to deal with a Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator and would simply need to wait things out until someone or something found the discarded pill cauldron.


    However, for him, who had already obtained the maximum amount of benefits he could acquire from the residue aura left in the Pill Cauldron, it was nothing but a hindrance¡ªa hindrance that would need to be moved out of the way...


    -


    "I was originally going to kill your owner and take you for myself. But since you have been forced to lock me in here with no way to destroy just the formation, I will have to take you both out-...wait¡­"


    Azmodeus suddenly stopped his words and the buildup of a crimson-colored energy bubbling to his side, realizing that there might actually be something else to gain from this.


    Formations¡­ I have be an Alchemist, so why not be a Formations Master as well¡­?


    And from what I can tell, there are runes incorporated into this high-level Formation, so bing a Runes Master is an additional option¡­


    He pondered the matter for a few moments, eventually leaning upon the set of choices centered around whether or not he should focus on bing a Runes Master or Formations Master.


    At least, that was until he understood something essential about himself. Thus, he looked up at the slightly glowing Formation that encapsted the entirety of the Cauldron.


    "Why should I choose between the two of them when I can just go for both paths?? The Infinite Evolution System chose me for a reason¡ªa reason that I may not know the intricacies of, but what I do know is that it wants me to evolve.


    And can I truly say that I''m infinitely evolving if I''m forced to choose between two different professions¡­?"


    It was through this revtion that Azmodeus inched a little further toward understanding the essence of ''Infinite Evolution''.


    It was also because of this understanding that he figured out something that he had no concrete evidence to prove¡­


    "There are no limits¡­ No end to cultivation¡­ The Mahayana Realm is not even close to the end¡­"


    He didn''t know what made him believe that, but it felt like something within his very being was telling him toe to the natural conclusion that there was no limit to anything.


    There was no limit to his cultivation, his Alchemy, or even the two professions that he was about to delve into¡­


    -


    Two monthster.


    WAAAA!


    "..."


    Immense levels of Qi swirled around inside the Evil Cultivators Pill Cauldron. And while it steadily increased in intensity, Azmodeus sat in his usual cross-legged position, contemting the profundities of the essence of Formations and Runes.


    It was in this deep state of pondering that he realized that there was absolutely no way that the Evil Cultivator could put up such aplex and intricate rune formation.


    To begin with, even the most talented of heavenly geniuses who put hundreds of years of effort intoprehending the two professions would find themselves hard pressed to even reach the Low-Sky Rank in both of the two very different professions.


    However, this formation was definitely of the Peak-Sky Rank, if not infinitely close to the Earth Rank. And Azmodeus was one hundred percent sure that the Evil Cultivator was no Heavenly Genius and had likely acquired all of his cultivation through the evil actions that hemitted over the years.


    This was all veering toward the notion that this Formation was likely not even set up by the Evil Cultivator and was, in actuality, the result of him using some form of Formation Scroll or Rune Tablet.


    Furthermore, considering that it had both Formations and Runes incorporated into it, there was a high chance that it was an extremely rare and sought after Rune Formation Stele!


    Additionally, when you include the fact that it was at the very minimum of the Peak-Sky Rank, it was extremely probable that this particr Rune Formation Stele wasparable to the value of a high-level Qi Gathering formation array!


    A Qi Gathering formation array was what one who was proficient in the arts of Formations and Arrays could make as long as theirprehensions were high enough.


    However, that wasn''t the point of it being mentioned; it was instead because, just like Rune Formation Stele''s, Formation Arrays of decent quality were absurdly expensive!


    In fact, they were so expensive that even the king of the Fire Nation would find himself and his kingdom in deep sh*t if he one day decided to splurge on one¡­


    -


    Azmodeus continued hisprehensions of the Formations and Runes that enveloped the Pill Cauldron.


    Although he acquired enough understanding of the profundities of both abstruse concepts, he still wished to fully solidify not only his cultivation foundation and his Alchemy Foundation, but also his foundational understanding of both Formations and Runes.


    To recount, it was on the half-year mark since his being trapped in the Pill Cauldron that he reached a state of perfect coalescence¡ªa state that was hard to achieve even for the most talented of Heavenly Geniuses!


    It was through this state ofplete bnce and perfection¡ªsimr to enlightenment¡ªthat he decided to put all of his effort into progressing hisprehensions of the Formation and Rune Master Professions.


    On a side note, the main reason why it took so long for him to begin achieving some modicum of progression in the Formation and Rune Professions was because hecked a mysterious book like ''Alchemy''s Essence'' for both of them.


    The only thing he had relevant to the two profound professions were a few Low-Mortal Rank manuals, both of which cost him thousands of gold coins even with their low ranks being considered in the price¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 63: Two Years, Nascent Soul Realm

    ...¡­


    Every profession in Prometheus came with extremely lucrative ways of life.


    It was because of this immense potential for vast returns that anything rted to any profession costed a fortune, even for the low-levelmodities!


    This was all to say that Azmodeus did not have many options when it came to having a general guide for the way of Formations and Runes. Thus, he would mostly be relying on his own ability toprehend ''something from little to nothing'' and the supplementary effects from his understanding in ''Alchemy''s Essence''.


    These supplements from Alchemy''s Essence were extremely abstruse and typically ambiguous. However, if he put his all into improving the quality of the basic Formation and Rune manuals that he had, then he was capable of edging ever closer to a state of bnce between all three professions.


    This was one of the main reasons why it took 4 months just to achieve a state of perfection and bnce. In return, the foundations of all three professions and his cultivation could work in conjunction with each other, all while constantly improving themselves.


    Of course, this was all to solidify and consolidate the foundations. In a way, it was just another form of filling holes, or any potential holes that may appear in the present or future.


    Once again, this went even further toward articting the point that juggling two, let alone three professions, was a nigh impossible task for any average cultivator.


    Furthermore, it put immense levels of pressure on anyone insane enough to attempt such an impossibility¡ªenough that even the most iron-willed of heavenly geniuses would be wailing on the ground like babies if they were fortunate enough to make it to the coalescing process.


    Speaking of the coalescence of a cultivator''s existence¡­


    -


    Well damn¡­ This isn''t good in the slightest, huh¡­?


    Azmodeus was currently being burned by an immensely powerful Qi that originated from within himself.


    The outermostyer of his skin, including the skin on his face, had already been seared beyond recognition.


    He didn''t even look like a human¡­


    Despite the extreme amount of excruciating pain he was experiencing, the nonchnt expression on his burnt face never left him.


    His level of aloofness had already reached a degree beyond anything possessed by your average Golden Core Formation Realm Cultivator. After all, the various Traits that he had assimted into his existence had significantly reduced the amount of damage he could take.


    Furthermore, it also increased his pain resistance to an almost inhuman degree!


    However, this was one of the better side effects, as it meant that he could take on just about anything thrown at him without so much as making a single peep.


    But it wasn''t like everything was all puppies and flowers, as along with these boons came the plethora of diminishers that were added to his already inexpressive personality.


    Slowly but surely, this caused the past him to dissapear...


    A new version of himself seemed to appear every single day. And as the Traits within his existence constantly evolved with his increased cultivation, a young man ready to take on the vicissitudes of time emerged from his adolescent shell.


    Nevertheless, like the passing of the seasons or the shedding of a cicada''s outer self, the minutes turned into hours; the hours turned into days, and the days rolled over onto weeks and months¡­


    ...


    Two yearster¡­


    "I see¡­"


    A voice unlike the childish one from before came out of the mouth of a young man.


    Possessing an otherworldly appearance with red streaks staining his raven ck hair, he observered the surroundings that he felt like he hadn''t seen in ages.


    After two years of Azmodeus staying inside the Pill Cauldron of the Evil Cultivator, he improved his cultivation to the Early Nascent Soul Realm!


    Furthermore, he had also gotten his Alchemy, Formation, and Rune Master Ranks to the Early-Earth Rank, allowing his profession ranks to far outweigh the value of his cultivation...!


    On top of that, over thisst period of time, he had his light gray Core transform into something superior¡ªinto a genuine Golden Core!


    -----


    The Golden Core and Nascent Soul Realms.


    5. Golden Core Formation Realm:


    In this realm, you will need topress your core and expand it an appropriate number of times to progress.


    It is the same process as the Core Formation Realm, meaning that you will also need to improve the quality of your ''Core'' from its original ''murky gold'' color to a ''bright gold'' color.


    This will be the first initiation of a genuine ''golden core''.


    The Golden Core Formation Realm is split up into five minor realms, with each minor realm indicating another milestone that your Golden Core has achieved.


    Namely, those minor realms are:


    Early Golden Core Formation Realm ¡ú [1 Meter Condensed Golden Core (Murky Gold Color)]


    Middle Golden Core Formation Realm ¡ú [20 Meter Condensed Golden Core (Less Murky Gold Color)]


    Late Golden Core Formation Realm ¡ú [100 Meter Condensed Golden Core (Mild Gold Color)]


    Peak Golden Core Formation Realm ¡ú [1,000 Meter Condensed Golden Core (Almost Shiny Gold Color)]


    Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm ¡ú [10,000 Meter Condensed Golden Core (Resplendently Shining Gold Color)]


    6. Nascent Soul Realm:


    To break through to the Nascent Soul Realm, you will need to reach the absolute peak of the Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm. After reaching this stage in your cultivation, you can begin to form a miniature version of yourself inside your Dantian space¡ªa miniature version that will start out as a baby and sit atop your Dantian.


    To advance through the Nascent Soul Realm, you will need to develop the ''phases'' of your Nascent Soul from ''Infant'' to ''Limit of Adulthood''.


    Those specific realm breakthroughs are as follows:


    Early Nascent Soul - ''Infant Development Phase''


    Middle Nascent Soul - ''Child Development Phase''


    Late Nascent Soul - ''Teenage Development Phase''


    Peak Nascent Soul - ''Adult Development Phase''


    Half-Step Soul Transformation Realm - ''Absolute Adult Development Phase''


    -----


    Azmodeus being in the Early Nascent Soul Realm meant that he not only possessed a resplendently shining golden core, but he also had his very own Nascent soul, which sat atop his Dantian Space.


    However, that was just the subsequent result of an eventuality that came along with the level of Cultivation Talent he possessed.


    The real progress came from his Alchemy, Formation, and Rune Master Professions.


    Of which, every single one of them had reached a point where the authority he could gain from revealing any single one of them would beparable to what a Peak Soul Transformation Realm Expert had on Prometheus!


    After all, Sky Rank proficiency profession masters on this were capable of assisting even those who were half a step into the Void Refining Realm!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 64: Formations Essence and Runes Essence

    ...¡­


    Half a step into the Void Refining Realm¡­


    Just imagining such a far-off notion was enough to have any number of cultivators drooling, as such a level of power was enough for one to rule over a mid-rank Kingdom!


    Even the King of the Fire Nation only possessed a cultivation base in the Half-Step Soul Transformation Realm, which meant that in terms of status, Azmodeus, who was capable of assisting Half-Step Void Refining Realm Experts, had already surpassed the king of the very kingdom he resided in¡­


    And that was with just one of his professions, for if all three of them were thrown into the mix, then let''s just say that he would acquire a status sorge that the entire world would be after his head, aiming to obtain his talent by force.


    However, that was an eventuality that would never happen, as the stealth Trait had ingrained a certain level of caution into the very atoms that made up his existence.


    Which was to say that he would keep his ludicrous des to himself, at least until he was confident enough to protect his life from all those who wanted to take it away from him.


    Nheless, even with all of this being said, he was looking to make his achievements reach above and beyond, as inside the core of what he had discerned to be a Peak-Earth Rank Formation Rune, there was another iid area of notice.


    That area was inside ayer of space thaty over the top of the Formation¡ªa Space Array to be exact.


    And with this new discovery, the absolute rank of this formation was once again thrown into the air, as there was no way an Earth-Rank Formation Rune Stele would possess the ability to conjure up an additional exterioryer of space, utilizing the functions of an extremely high-level Heaven-Ranked Array.


    This was all to say that the overall rank of this Formation Rune Array had already surpassed what each individual aspect could dictate.


    Azmodeus had no clue what the exact rank of this convolution of elements was, but what he did know was that it was made by an expert who might very well be at the absolute peak of the world''s power hierarchy.


    And it was on this note that he became even more confused about how the Evil Cultivator had obtained such an unbelievably mysterious thing...


    Was I wrong in my original spections¡­? Was the Evil Cultivator not the one who set up this Formation Rune Array¡­?


    He brooded over the subject for a few minutes before realizing that there was another usible reason for the Alchemy furnace being sealed from the outside.


    "The Evil Cultivator is already dead¡­ And not only that, but someone¡­ or something got a hold of the Cultivation Furnace¡­"


    After understanding this, even more mysteries popped up in his mind.


    Was it the Righteous Faction¡­? Or maybe it was some other force that had enmity with the Evil Cultivator¡­?


    It could also very well be some unknown and unrted person who saw the Evil Cultivator pass by and took it upon himself to take his possessions after killing him.


    But that just doesn''t make any sense¡­ If the Evil Cultivator was killed and his items looted, then why would the Pill Cauldron be sealed¡­?


    Every question only brought up ten more, as nothing was making any sense. And as much as he wanted to head out there and check what was going on for himself, the reason why he stayed here for such a long period of time dyed that option froming to pass.


    After all, a couple years ago, he had tried to break out of the Alchemy Furnace by force, but such rash actions got him absolutely nowhere, as this Formation Rune Array was beyond sturdy!


    Not a single ripple passed through it even with his full power attacks directed toward the formation...


    And although his strength had increased by leaps and bounds since that point, he doubted whether it would make a single difference in the face of the impable defense of the Formation Rune Array.


    Furthermore, every single time that he thought he could make it through all the various aspects closing off the outside world from him, yet another barrier seemingly appeared out of thin air, stopping him from ever hoping to make it outside of the Pill Cauldron¡­


    First it was the Formation, then it was the rune, and then the Array¡­


    He didn''t know how many obstacles would appear in his way, but in the end, it was only working to hone his skill, as he could now conjure up formation scrolls from misceneous materials using hisprehensions in Alchemy''s Essence with ease.


    At this point in time, he had even started to develop his very own techniques called ''Formation''s Essence'' and ''Rune''s Essence'', which were just different applicable uses of the principals that were used to make up ''Alchemy''s Essence''.


    And the best part of all three of these techniques was that all materials used in the process of concocting pills, rolling Formation Scrolls, and engraving Rune Stones could be reused an almost unlimited number of times!


    This wasn''t normally possible in the beginning, when he was just using Alchemy''s Essence, but when he developed the Formation''s Essence and Rune''s Essence Techniques as well, he was able to apply a loophole that allowed him to use each of the techniques in rotation.


    To put it in a different way, he was recycling materials from one recycling station before bringing said recycled materials to a different recycling station and repeating that process indefinitely.


    This way of doing things was not all good, as every sessfully created project was immediately recycled into another form, but it wasn''t like Azmodeus had any use for anything that he could currently obtain from most Formations and Runes, while only the high-level pills he concocted were able to give him anything of value inside the Evil Cultivator''s pill cauldron.


    Said pills were also one of the only ways he had to increase his Cultivation, while the other way was the Qi Gathering Formation that he had set up on the edge of the cauldron''s interior over a year ago.


    It was through this Qi Gathering Formation that he was able to obtain a constant supply of Qi from a slight w in the Formation''s diagram.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 65: Middle Nascent Soul Realm, 6 Years

    ...¡­.


    The w in the pill cauldron''s formation wasn''t big enough to allow Azmodeus to take advantage of it by using brute force to shatter it, but it was just enough to allow natural Qi particles of heaven and earth to gather inside the pill cauldron from the outside world.


    This and the Nascent Soul Realm Qi Pills were the only things that allowed his cultivation realm to constantly see improvements.


    Although it wasn''t anywhere near where it would be if he were murdering Spiritual Beasts and cultivators in Prometheus, it was still enough to allow for a perfect cultivation foundation.


    In fact, his foundation was so sturdy that it was on the verge of bing wless, with not a single blemish in sight!


    Even his Golden Core and Nascent Soul were a lot brighter than they would normally be if he relied purely on the assistance of the system.


    This was all to say that not everything was so bad while being trapped inside an impermeable and impregnable Alchemy Furnace in the middle of who knew where.


    Nevertheless, everything came to an end, and Azmodeus had a gut feeling that after heprehended the Array, along with the other two profession-rted products, he should be able to find a way outside of the Alchemy Furnace once and for all!


    However, with everything in life, all thingse with a price¡­ And in this case, the price was time¡­


    -


    Like the falling of leaves in autumn and the moon''s rotation around earth, 4 years passed in the blink of an eye¡­


    It was on the day that Azmodeus reached the age of 18 that he also achieved the Middle-Earth Rank in not only his Alchemy, Formation, and Rune Professions, but also in his newest Array Profession.


    Furthermore, it was also on this auspicious day that he achieved the Middle Nascent Soul Realm!


    WAAAA!


    After an eruption of crimson-colored Qi died out, a man who looked like nothing short of a fallen sword immortal stood up from his mediation position with a sleek ck de bent over one hand, wearing a pair of ck gold robes that only further entuated the level of eloquence that he possessed after achieving the Middle-Nascent Soul Realm at such a young age.


    "It looks like everything has been put in ce perfectly¡­" He muttered as his aloof gaze scanned over the far easier-to-understand Formation Rune Array.


    Inparison to the jumble of chaotic elements that used to be how the Formation Rune Array appeared to him, now everything looked like billions of tiny energy strings that were on the precipice of being fully unraveled.


    "However, now that I have reached this point, there appears to be one moreyer to thisplex puzzle that was set before me."


    He looked at an extremely toughyer of an unknown metal that encased the outermostyer of the Cauldron itself.


    "It looks like the mysterious someone who put this whole thing together has decided to put one more obstacle in my way¡­"


    Azmodeus knew, as if on instinct, that if he tried to punch that metal, the rebound force would shred every ounce of his physical body¡­


    Well, I was missing the Spirit cksmith Profession, so this works out as well¡­


    A wry chuckle nearly escaped his mouth before it was restrained by his aloofness, resulting in his expression morphing into one ofplete neutrality, as he blurred over to the nearest wall, trying toprehend even the slightest bit of what he was dealing with.


    ¡­


    Two yearster.


    OOOM!


    An unusual swirling of energy was being emitted from the aura of a young man with crimson ck hair, as he sat with a resolute look on his face, holding what appeared to have been a sword of sorts.


    However, unlike the other swords in Azmodeus''s possession, this sword looked as if it had been just recently forged.


    Furthermore, it appeared to be of far higher quality than the Common and Mortal Rank weapons that he typically carried around with him.


    "A Middle-Earth Rank Sword. This will do quite nicely in increasing my overallbat power," he muttered, his hands gripping the intensely vibrating sword.


    WAAAA!


    The energy tendrilsing off the unbelievably sharp edge of the de seemed to be capable of slicing entire countries in half!


    "You''re a feisty one, aren''t you?" He mused, his hands sping the sword even tighter than before, causing its aura to be reeled in without any hope of resistance.


    "It''s good that you''re as vivacious as you are, but don''t get too carried away."


    His apathetic voice resounded, as he looked down at the lively de with an indecipherable gleam passing through his eyes.


    "..."


    The sword stopped vibrating right then and there, as even though it wasn''t self-aware, it knew that it would be melted back down into materials the moment it decided to act up.


    "Anyway, you will help me progress further in understanding the essence of Spirit cksmithing. Oh, and you will also assist me in taking down that wall over there," Azmodeus said with a nonchnt tone, his finger outstretched, pointing toward the robust walls of the pill cauldron''s interior.


    The sword never responded or even moved, but he knew, as if on instinct, that the sword agreed to this ''proposal''.


    Nheless, it was the time of day in which he was supposed to be practicing his Alchemy, so that''s exactly what he did as he took out a pill cauldron that he forged himself.


    It was of the Low-Earth Rank, making it a higher level pill cauldron than the one he was trapped in; however, the Evil Cultivator''s pill cauldron was not as simple as what was shown at face value.


    At least, that was the case after the sudden disappearance of the Evil Cultivator, as before that point, everything was as it should''ve been in the Pill Cauldron.


    Even at this very moment in time, Azmodeus had not the slightest inkling of an idea about the matter revolving around the disappearance of the Evil Cultivator and subsequent ''trials'' set up after such an event urred.


    He called them ''trials'' out of convenience. After all, they were essentially tests or trials conjured up in order to keep the Alchemy Furnace sealed, or, in this case, to keep him sealed...


    ...¡­

 Chapter 66: Emerging From The Pill Cauldron!

    ...¡­


    It had been nearly 8 years since the young general was trapped inside the pill cauldron¡­


    8 years of no one but himself and the evesting path of cultivation and all its various branches¡­


    A normal person would''ve already gone insane by now... but he was no ordinary person.


    In fact, if he were being honest, this ''unfortunate event'' had given him nothing but benefits.


    However, at this point in time, he was beginning to wonder what You Mie, Lan Yue, and Yang Hua were up to.


    He didn''t have any way tomunicate with them, as although he had a few voice transmission tokens, they didn''t work due to some interference caused by the various obstacles set up in the Pill Cauldron.


    Nheless, his slight sense of longing was swiftly overwhelmed by the never-ending pursuit of the peak of everything.


    So far, he reached the Middle Stages of the Middle Nascent Soul Realm and the Later Stages of Middle-Earth Rank in every single one of his professions.


    This may not seem like much of an improvement as opposed to where he was two years ago, but in terms of cultivation, it only got harder to progress the further you went along your path .


    On the other hand, for professions, two years to achieve the Late Stages of the Middle-Earth Rank in Spirit cksmithing was already an achievement that would put any number of supreme geniuses to shame!


    Furthermore, although he was still in the Middle-Earth Rank, he had progressed quite a bit into the rank.


    It likely wouldn''t take any longer than two to three years for him to achieve the Absolute Peak-Earth Rank in all his professions!


    Though that wouldn''t be necessary, because the only thing he wanted to do right now was figure out where the optimal melting point for the pill cauldron was located.


    After all, his Spirit cksmithing profession had progressed to a point where he could discern the weakest spots of just about anything below the Peak Heaven Rank.


    And now, the only thing he had to do was figure out where exactly that wa-...


    "Ahh, there you are."


    Azmodeus pulled out his recently forged sword and aimed it at a spot of the pill cauldron with a light shimmer on the surface of it.


    "It has been fun, and I thank you for allowing me this chance, but this is the end of our rtionship¡­"


    Following these words, he pulled back his sword and got into an unusual stance before lunging forward with everything he had!


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    A countless number of sonic booms reverberated as the very fabric of the space inside the pill cauldron began to quake and crumble!


    "Melt."


    That was all Azmodeus said before plunging his sword into the side of the robust metal surface, resulting in an eruption of intense searing heat sting outward from the surface of the de!


    WAAA!


    Something seemed to change concerning the sturdiness of the pill Cauldron, and as if it all happened at once, at the exact moment that the sword prated the metal, everything shattered!


    BOOOOOOM!


    The entire Pill Cauldron exploded in a bright sh of effulgent red and ck light, causing everything within thousands of meters of the cauldron to evaporate due to the sheer magnitude of the explosion!


    From within the sut and dust clouds that eventually dispersed into the cool spring breeze of the outside world, a man with an otherworldly disposition emerged.


    Emitting an aura beyond anything that could possibly be produced by a human, he looked like nothing less than an immortal!


    Furthermore, his aura was not only extremely powerful, but it was also mysterious¡ªso mysterious that one could not even begin toprehend just how many secrets lie within the confines of that chiseled body of his.


    -


    "It seems like it was a sess," Azmodeus softly murmured, his crimson ck hair blowing in the wind as he took a good whiff of the air of a world not enclosed inside a tight space.


    "It truly is better¡­"


    After a few moments of taking in the atmosphere of Prometheus, feeling all the various elements of nature collide against his form, and watching all the animals dance around on top of the charredndscape, he ultimately decided to begin walking.


    He took one step, and then another, and another¡­


    Azmodeus eventually reached a point where his speed allowed him to zip away from the explosion sight, resulting in a number of sonic booms following right behind him.


    He had no clue where he was going, but what he did know was that it was good to feel the wind blowing against his face again.


    It was hard to describe what it was like toe out into the vast world outside after nearly a dozen years of being alone inside a dimly lit space.


    Nevertheless, he decided to enjoy what he could while he had the chance.


    After all, there were a number of figures speeding toward his location from all directions, and not a single one of them was below the Nascent Soul Realm in strength¡­


    It looks like I have quite the weing party, huh? However, why are there so many Nascent Soul Realm Experts in this part of the Fire Nation¡­?


    Azmodeus couldn''t understand why there would be so many powerful experts in the small Fire Nation.


    That was until he realized something¡­


    I''m not in the Fire Nation???


    But how could that be¡­?


    Everything was bing extremelyplicated, as although he wasn''t sure where exactly he was, he knew that it was a ce far higher in level than the Fire Nation.


    That point was especially solidified when the aura of multiple Soul Transformation Realm Experts emerged from seven different directions on this vast plot ofnd.


    Seven Soul Transformation Realm Experts¡­ Every single one of them is substantially stronger than the king of the Fire Nation¡­


    He had no clue where he had been dropped off, but there were undoubtedly an untold number of dangers lying around every corner¡­


    Although Azmodeus was running at levels over dozens of times the speed of sound, they were quickly gaining distance on him¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 67: Two Soul Transformation Realm... Enemys...

    ...¡­


    It was only a matter of time before the mysterious figures caught up, and Azmodeus was not the least bit confident in dealing with seven Soul Transformation Realm Experts.


    Maybe if it were just one, then he could find a way to ovee the odds. However, taking on seven of them all at once was verging on the level of impossible!


    After all, Soul Transformation Realm Experts could be the leaders of Rank 4 Sects, Rank 2 Kingdoms like the Fire Nation, or even the elders of extremely powerful Rank 5 Sects!


    It was no surprise that Azmodeus was shocked over finding out what was after him, because it would normally be impossible to find a single Soul Transformation Realm Expert even if one scoured thends for tens of thousands of miles!


    And yet there were seven of them right on his tail, and their intentions looked far from good!


    -


    "I need to find a way to divert their focus¡­ But how¡­?"


    Azmodeus thought the matter over for a few seconds before ultimately deciding to y a little trick on them.


    |Mirror Mirage|


    After calling out this skill, nearly a dozen of himself with a blue''ish skin tone materialized in thin air before dashing in nine different directions.


    This should work to distract the majority of them, but I doubt all of them will fall for it¡­


    Just as Azmodeus expected, the two Soul Transformation Realm Experts in the front, along with a dozen Nascent Soul Realm and over a hundred Golden Core Formation Realm Cultivators made their way toward his main body.


    It looks like these Soul Transformation Realm Masters are using some form of secret technique in order to keep the rest of those weaker them at their speeds¡­


    But why? Why do something so useless when they could simply leave them all behind and take me out by themselves¡­?


    Azmodeus pondered the matter while blitzing through the expansive forest around him.


    There were a countless number of hundred meter-wide trees surrounding him on all sides, so there was plenty of cover to be taken advantage of.


    Not that it made much of a difference in the face of Soul Transformation Realm Divine Senses¡­


    Although he had his stealth skill negate the ability to discern his exact location, it wasn''t at a high enough level topletely ignore the divine sense scans of Soul Transformation Realm Master''s.


    After a few moments of brooding over the reasoning of the Soul Transformation Realm Experts, he realized something¡­


    They are ying around with me¡­ They''re not even taking me seriously¡­


    This is likely some sort of Sect or organization outing, and all the Nascent Soul and Golden Core Realm Cultivators are simply the disciples of the Soul Transformation Realm Experts¡­


    After understanding this, Azmodeus suddenly realized that he was thrown into an area so high in level that his original predictions were way off¡­


    "Just where have I found myself transported to¡­?" He softly murmured underneath his breath while looking for a location that he could use for this uing battle.


    After catching sight of arge valley to the east, Azmodeus turned directions and dashed straight into the lush green valley, awaiting the eventual arrival of all these mysterious cultivators.


    -


    A few secondster, nearly one hundred and fifty cultivators of varying cultivations materialized from thin air.


    The majority of them were looking around with excited expressions, while the few strongest and oldest of them scrutinized their surroundings with staid dispositions.


    "Where is the little weasel¡­? The one who dared to blow up our ancestor''s artifact using some mysterious means."


    The antiquated voice of one of the two Soul Transformation Realm Experts sounded out as he walked around the valley, trying to find the ''brazen one''.


    However, even after searching for a few seconds, he found no trace of the weasel''s existence anywhere.


    "Did he disappear?? Or maybe¡­"


    "Yes, it''s some form of Stealth Skill," the other elder Soul Transformation Realm Expert chided in as he appeared right next to the first elder.


    "So what should we do? Take out the whole valley?" The first elder questioned.


    "We could-" The second elder was going to agree with the first one. However, before he could, he was suddenly interrupted by the shrill cries of the disciples they had left behind.


    "Aahhh!! Help, Deacon''s! He''s killing us!"


    "Watch out! Take this, you bastard!! Aahhh!! It h-hurts!! help, help-"


    "You think you can juste over here and do as you wish in front of us Nascent Soul Realm Senior Bothers!? Take this-"


    Screams and shouts like this echoed out from every location in the deep valley as the spread-out disciples were being killed one by one through the skills of a stealthy shadow.


    "That weasel actually dares to kill our disciples right in front of our faces!?" The first elder roared, his aura erupting with explosive force as a bright blue aura nearly enveloped the entirety of the valley.


    "Do you know who you''re messing with, Weasel?!" The second elder bellowed as an equally massive aura was unleashed from him as well.


    "..."


    The shadow looked at this scene with a neutral expression.


    He stared at them for a moment before continuing his ughter of all the Golden Core and Nascent Soul Realm Experts.


    "!!!" "!!!"


    The two Soul Transformation Realm Masters were utterly furious at this clear defiance of their authority. Thus, they immediately unleashed some of their strongest attacks in the direction of the shadow!


    |Dragon''s Billowing!|


    |Earth Moon Fist!|


    Both of their attacks erupted with an insane level of blue energy as a giant illusory fist and the breath of a dragon sted outward!


    The attack aimed straugth for a shadow who was currently taking away the throats of three cultivators in the Nascent Soul Realm.


    Just as it was expected that the attacks would hit their mark, the shadowpletely vanished from sight, leaving only a few Golden Core Formation Realm Experts to take on the brunt force of these devastating attacks!


    "Aahhh!! Deacons!! What are you doing!?"


    All the remaining Golden Core Formation Realm Experts in that general area screamed out as they saw the sun get blotted out by two terrifying attacks that were hundreds of meters in diameter!


    "!?" "!?"


    The two Soul Transformation Realm Master''s were going to pull back their attacks. However, it was already far toote to rescind them¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 68: Killing Two Soul Transformation Realm Elders

    ...¡­


    BOOOOOOOM!


    An ear-splitting explosion reverberated, and arge mushroom cloud sprouted up from where the two elders'' attacksnded, causing everything to go up in a pit of smoke!


    "..." "..." "..."


    All of the remaining disciples watched dozens of their own die as easily as that with dumbfounded looks on their faces.


    "!!!" "!!!"


    The Soul Transformation Realm Elders were absolutely livid at this bait and flee tactic performed by the weasel, as they were about to enter into a rampaged state.


    At least, that was until a shadowy figure appeared right behind them with a cold gleam in his fiery red and ck eyes.


    "This is the end."


    "!?" "!?"


    The two Soul Transformation Realm Experts tried to turn their heads around in time; however, it was already far toote¡­


    SHING!


    A crisp, unsheathing sound echoed, and both of their heads were sliced clean off!


    "!!!" "!!!"


    Their Essence Souls attempted to flee from the scene, but it was no use, as they fell to the same fate as their physical forms¡­


    -


    After cleaning up the rest of the Golden Core Formation and Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, Azmodeus received a wide number of system notifications.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed over a hundred Golden Core Formation and Nascent Soul Realm Cultivators!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 500 Billion Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *You have killed two Outer Deacon''s of the Rank 7 River Serpent Sect.*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 1.2 Trillion Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *Your Evolution Essence Bank has surpassed the 2 Trillion Mark.*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte or roll for the abilities of all the beings you killed?*


    "Assimte all of them besides the first Soul Transformation Realm Deacon."


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have gained 1.2 Billion Stat Points in Strength, 1.1 Billion points in Speed, 1.3 Billion points in Defense, 1.5 Billion points in Qi, and enough Cultivation Talent points to max out your cultivation talent for the lower-level area of the Mortal Realm.*


    *Ding!* *Your Cultivation Talent has reached the ''Peak-Heaven Rank'' with its number being capped at 1 Billion.*


    *Ding!* *From now on, your Cultivation Talent stat will no longer have numbers until you surpass the limits of your current realm of existence.*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has tremendously improved!*


    *Ding!* *The Trait Wheel for the Soul Transformation Realm Deacon has been spun!*


    DING! DING! DING!


    *Ding!* *You havended on the ''Body Refinement Physique'' Trait. Would you like to Assimte the trait or spend ten times more and roll again?*


    "Assimte."


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have obtained the ''Body Refinement Physique (Early-Sky Rank Physique).*


    *Ding!* *You have gained the ability to refine your body with spiritual herbs in order to increase your overall physical prowess. Furthermore, after achieving a certain number of herbs absorbed, you will be able to rank up your physique using Evolution Essence.*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has tremendously improved!*


    Following all of these pop-ups, Azmodeus decided to check up on his system interface as well.


    A bright blue and gold light shed.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: 20/2535]


    [Cultivation: Middle Nascent Soul Realm (Peak)]


    [Overall Combat Power: Early Soul Transformation Realm (Initial)]


    [Level: 75]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 65,900,000,000]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 2,050,000,000,000]


    {[Stats:]}


    [Strength: 1.5 Billion + 1.1 Billion + 2.4 Billion (5 Billion)]


    [Speed: 1.4 Billion + 1.1 Billion + 3.5 Billion (6 Billion)]


    [Defense: 1.4 Billion + 1 Billion (2.5 Billion)]


    [Qi: 1.6 Billion + 1.2 Billion (2.8 Billion)]


    [Cultivation Talent: Absolute Peak-Heaven Rank (Maxed)]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Stealth - Level 2] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000]


    [Mirror Mirage - Level 2] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000]


    [Super Strength - Level 2] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000]


    [Shadow Cleaver - Level 2] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000]


    [Speedster - Level 2] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000]


    [Fortress - Level 2] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000]


    [Spirit Animal - Level 2] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000]


    [Qi Storer - Level 2] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000]


    [Element Coalescer - Level 2] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000] (Allows for easierbining of various elements derived from mortalws.)


    [Death Beam - Level 1] (G Rank)] ¡ú [0/100 Trillion]


    {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters]}


    [Fire God Refining Physique (Partial - 0/10 upgrades)] ¡ú [0/100 Billion]


    [Body Refinement Physique (Early-Sky Rank] ¡ú [0/10 Trillion]


    ¡ª------------


    After getting a good look at his system interface, Azmodeus decided to spend some of his Evolution Essence.


    He dumped the majority of it into his Traits and Physiques while saving the rest for his level for when he needed to use it most.


    Nevertheless, after spending a crap ton of Evolution Essence, a new system interface appeared in front of him.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: 20/2535]


    [Cultivation: Middle Nascent Soul Realm (Peak)]


    [Overall Combat Power: Early Soul Transformation Realm (Initial)]


    [Level: 75]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 65,900,000,000]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 950,000,000,000]


    {[Stats:]}


    [Strength: 1.5 Billion + 1.4 Billion + 3.2 Billion (6.1 Billion)]


    [Speed: 1.4 Billion + 1.4 Billion + 3.5 Billion (6.3 Billion)]


    [Defense: 1.4 Billion + 1.3 Billion (2.8 Billion)]


    [Qi: 1.6 Billion + 1.6 Billion (3.2 Billion)]


    [Cultivation Talent: Absolute Peak-Heaven Rank]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Stealth - Level 5] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000,000]


    [Mirror Mirage - Level 5] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000,000]


    [Super Strength - Level 5] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000,000]


    [Shadow Cleaver - Level 5] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000,000]


    [Speedster - Level 5] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000,000]


    [Fortress - Level 5] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000,000]


    [Spirit Animal - Level 5] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000,000]


    [Qi Storer - Level 5] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000,000]


    [Element Coalescer - Level 5] (H Rank)] ¡ú [0/1,000,000,000,000] (Allows for easierbining of various elements derived from mortalws.)


    [Death Beam - Level 1] (G Rank)] ¡ú [0/100 Trillion]


    {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters]}


    [Fire God Refining Physique (Partial - 1/10 upgrades)] ¡ú [0/1 Quadrillion]


    [Body Refinement Physique (Middle-Sky Rank] ¡ú [0/10 Trillion]


    ¡ª------------


    Following the allotment of around 1.1 trillion Evolution Essence, Azmodeus opted to save the rest.


    Thereafter, he worked on what he was nning to do after this part of his n seeded.


    "Time to go hunting."


    After the release of a voice devoid of emotion, his immortal-like figure blurred from sight. After which, he headed in the direction of where all of his Mirror Mirages were being killed one after the other.


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 69: Middle Soul Transformation Realm Battle Power

    ...¡­.


    A few secondster, a man akin to an aloof immortal stood atop thousands of corpses belonging to cultivators ranging from the Golden Core Formation Realm to the Soul Transformation Realm.


    Every single one of them died with grievances, as the faces they were making were a good indication of that point.


    Nevertheless, Azmodeus sat atop them all while watching the plethora of system notifications bombarding his vision.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed thousands of cultivators from the River Serpent Sect in the Golden Core Formation and Nascent Soul Realm!*


    *Ding!* *You have killed five Outer Deacons of the River Serpents Sect! Four were in the Early Soul Transformation Realm, while thest one was in the Middle Soul Transformation Realm!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 12 Trillion Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte or roll for the abilities of all the River Serpent Sect Disciple that you killed?*


    There was nothing that he truly wanted from the abilities that were disyed by the cultivators, so he replied, "Assimte."


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 7.8 Billion Stat Points in Strength, 7.6 Billion points in Defense, 7.5 Billion points in Defense, and 8.2 points in Qi.*


    *Ding!* All Cultivation Talent acquisition rates have been automatically converted and split evenly across all of your other basic attributes. It will stay this way until you ascend past the limits of your world.*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has Tremendously Improved!*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has increased from the ''Early Stages of the Middle Soul Transformation Realm'' to the ''Late Stages of the Middle Soul Transformation Realm''*


    Following all the most recent system notifications, Azmodeus gazed down at the small hill of bodies beneath him.


    He felt like it would be a waste to leave so many valuable modities'' to rot away.


    I don''t have any form of corpse devouring technique, but I should still be able to use them as materials to concoct some pills or roll some formation scrolls.


    Azmodeus had already looted them of all their belongings using telekinesis, and he wasn''t one to leave a te with food still left on it...


    Like the responsible person he was, all of the corpses would henceforth be used as materials to make pills!


    "This is the right thing to do," he muttered while using all his ''relinquished'' storage rings to carry their bodies inside.


    After putting away all his cultivation materials, Azmodeus took all the storage rings and threw them inside a storage bag, essentially making a doubleyered space pocket.


    This was what he did with multiple different low-level storage rings while inside the Evil Cultivators Pill Cauldron.


    It was also the reason why he had so many misceneous materials sitting around, just waiting to be used and recycled infinitely¡­


    Nevertheless, that was a thing of the past, as he had a storage bag now!


    That meant he could keep all his ''borrowed'' storage rings inside the storage bag!


    The amount of space that was made avable to him with this neat little trick that nobody seemed to know about had already surpassed an incalcble amount!


    This was all to say that the potential for more loot and benefits had surpassed an insanely high degree...


    "Loot is good¡­"


    No matter how many times Azmodeus acquired more loot and had alterations made to his personality, there was one thing that always stayed the same.


    It was his inseparable yearning for all the valuables that the world had to offer!


    Whether those valuables were material or not didn''t matter, for as long as there were benefits to be had, he would be there to swoop them up!


    At the very core of his being, Azmodeus was a loot goblin of the highest degree!


    He was a loot goblin who wanted anything and everything that had even the slightest chance of improving any aspect of his existence!


    Just when he was beginning to long for more loot, a few powerful auras in the Middle and Late Soul Transformation Realm emerged from a few hundred miles away¡­


    It looks like there are more of those Outer Deacons¡­ But why are they so close by? Is there something I''m missing here¡­?


    Azmodeus didn''t understand how these River Serpent Disciples always seemed to be right around every corner.


    Wait¡­ Could it be¡­?


    A sudden sh of realization came to him, as he might''ve just discovered something that changed everything¡­


    "This entire area is some sort of outer section of this River Serpent Sect, isn''t it¡­?


    Furthermore, if my deductions are correct and based on those Deacons calling the Pill Cauldron the ''Ancestors Artifact'', then everything I spected before waspletely wrong¡­


    This isn''t a blood feud between an Evil Cultivator and the Righteous Faction, it''s the thievery of an Evil Cultivator who was somehow affiliated with this River Serpent Sect.


    The Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator must''ve stolen the ''Ancestors Artifact'' at one point in time. And after stealing it, he decided to run away to the Fire Nation and never look back.


    However, somewhere along the way, this ''Ancestor'' found the Evil Cultivator and killed him before taking the artifact back into his possession.


    Either that, or these Outer Sect members found the Evil Cultivator and decided to kill him, subsequently acquiring the artifact in hopes of obtaining the favor of the Ancestor.


    Thetter option is likely the correct one, as it wouldn''t make much sense that such an Artifact belonging to an Ancestor would be in the hands of the Outer Sect."


    Everything seemed to being together for Azmodeus, as he was almost positive that this was what had happened during the time that he was stuck inside the Pill Cauldron.


    However, there was a point of notice that was quite jarring for him¡­


    If all of those ''trials'' were simply coincidences, then why would the rank of the Pill Cauldron be so low whenpared to the rank of the Formation Rune Array and the metal used to make up the outeryer of the cauldron¡­?


    ...¡­

 Chapter 70: Peak Nascent Soul Realm, Murder Fest

    ...¡­


    Nothing makes any sense¡­


    What exactly is going on here??


    No matter how Azmodeus thought about it, there were a few things that just didn''t make even the slightest bit of sense¡­


    After a few moments of deep thought, he decided that thinking any further from that point onward would only veer his thinking process in the wrong direction.


    Sigh¡­


    "Whatever, I will just ask this ''Ancestor'' myself when I get the chance."


    Following this thought, Azmodeus turned his apathetic gaze up to the approaching figures.


    The loot bags had decided to offer themselves up on a golden tter!


    ...


    Three monthster, in the depths of the Outer Section of the enormous territory that made up the River Serpent Sect.


    "This is where the Elder said that Weasel was, so why do I not see him anywhere in sight??"


    An ancient, raspy voice resounded, as an old man with long gray hair, wearing a bright set of purple and golden robes, scanned the vibrant scenery around him with his divine sense.


    This old man was well into the Peak Soul Transformation Realm, and he, along with three others in the same stage, had been hunting the intruder that blew up their Ancestor''s Artifact for the past half a month.


    However, every time they thought they had the slimy eel, he seemed topletely vanish from all radars!


    At this point, it was bing beyond annoying, as hundreds of Soul Transformation Realm Experts and thousands of Nascent Soul Realm Master''s were feeling immense frustration at the man who always happened to get away from them.


    Moreover, the weasel managed to escape while killing many of their own on his way to another segment of the Outer Sect!


    However, today would be the day¡ªit would be the day they finally caught the weasel!


    With over fifty Soul Transformation Realm Deacons working in conjunction, they should be able to seed without a hitch.


    At least, that was what they originally thought¡­


    -


    Two dayster, in the middle of a wide field on the Western side of the River Serpent''s Outer Sect.


    "I truly thought that you guys would put up more of a fight, but in the end, you all were worth no more than walking loot bags."


    An apathetic voice resounded.


    The owner of this voice was man with long, crimson ck hair. Holding a sleek ck and gold de to his side, and wearing a simrly colored set of robes, he looked down at the fifty or so Soul Transformation Realm Experts.


    He watched as they gasped for air on the cold, hard ground.


    "Y-You bastard! Just wait until an Outer Elderes out from seclusion! You shall understand just what sort of grave mistake you have made today!!" The leading Soul Transformation Realm Deacon roared out with an unwilling voice.


    "Is that so¡­?" Azmodeus questioned with his fierce gaze locked onto this Deacon''s figure.


    "!!!" The Deacon realized something was up; however, it was already toote¡­


    SHING!


    A crimson-colored sword arc norger than a centimeter in width was unleashed from a ck de.


    The sword arc traveled at a speed that couldn''t even be quantified by the various Soul Transformation Realm Elders, and before anybody knew the better, their leading Deacon was cleaved down the middle.


    *Spurt!*


    Blood gushed from both sides of his bisected body as all his internal organs spilled out onto the ground, leaving the entire group of Deacons in a state of utter shock.


    "D-Do you know what you have just done!?" One of the Deacons eximed with a fearless demeanor.


    However, just like the first Deacon that spoke up¡­


    SHING!


    *Spurt!*


    Another split body and another life was reaped by The Anomaly.


    "Is there anyone else who wishes to speak up against their fates¡­? If so, then please voice your concerns right away," Azmodeus said with a cordial tone.


    "..." "..." "..."


    Considering that they would be dying either way, the rest of the Outer Deacons wanted to speak up against the unknown man. However, that look in his dazzling eyes steered them far away from that notion.


    "Can you spare our lives-?" All of them asked in unison.


    But before they even got out the rest of their question, a tiny sword tendril was unleashed. After which, it weaved in and out of the crowd a countless number of times.


    After repeating this process for a few dozen cycles, the group of nearly fifty Soul Transformation Realm Experts turned into blood-mist puddles.


    "I thought you all would be quiet, but since you all insisted on speaking, I was forced to cut you down and have your strength be my own."


    After getting out these nonsensical words, Azmodeus walked away from the scene, but not before collecting all the Sky-Rank Storage Rings that he decided to ''borrow''.


    "Thanks for the gifts; I will make sure to put them to good use as I work on bing strong enough to take out every loot bag in your River Serpent Sect."


    After all this time hiding out in the outer rims of the Sect, Azmodeus figured it was just about time that he headed deeper in.


    And while he was doing just that, a number of system notifications rang out inside his head, informing him of all the delicious loot he had acquired from this murder fest.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed over 5000 Golden Core Formation Realm Cultivators, 400 Nascent Soul Realm Cultivators, and 50 Soul Transformation Realm Cultivators from the River Serpent Sect.*


    *Ding!* *Calcting Evolution Essence Acquisition.*


    *Ding!* *Calctionplete! You have obtained 130 Trillion Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *Your Evolution Essence Bank has surpassed the 300 Trillion Mark!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte or roll for the abilities of the cultivators you just killed?*


    "Assimte."


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 24 Billion Stat Points in Strength, 23 Billion in Speed, 25 Billion in Defense, and 28 Billion in Qi.*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has improved by leaps and bounds!*


    Following all of the system notifications, Azmodeus felt an immense wave of power rush over him!


    Thereafter, his cultivation was increased past the Peak Nascent Soul Realm, while his overallbat power had started to near the Half-Step Void Refining Realm!


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 71: Heaven Exploding Cave Abode, Increased Mirror Mirage Intelligence

    ...¡­.


    This power boost is quite a nice one¡­ But I feel like I can gain even more at an even faster rate as long as I can obtain some form of automation for my Mirror Mirage''s.


    Azmodeus looked over his system interface and saw how much he needed to increase his Mirror Mirage Trait into G-Rank.


    Without hesitation, he burned through enormous amounts of Evolution Essence in order to increase the Rank of one of his most used Traits.


    With this Rank Up came a fundamental change to his Mirror Mirage Skill.


    Unlike all the previous level ups, which simply increased the amount of the main body''s power they could hold, this rank up allowed the Mirror Mirages to begin thinking for themselves.


    The limit to this newfound intelligence was at the level of a farm animal. Still, it was still enough for him to give simplemands such as ''kill'' or ''chase'' without needing to externally control all of his Mirror Mirage using his mind.


    Which mind you, put an extreme amount of pressure on the mind¡ªan amount that would have already killed one with a lower mental fortitude.


    Even Azmodeus himself was beginning to have trouble controlling 10 versions of himself, all with power in the Soul Transformation Realm.


    But now, with this new Rank Up, his Mirror Mirages could be effectively used to acquire insane amounts of Evolution Essence!


    -


    "With my new Mirror Mirages, I can sit back and solidify my rapidly growing cultivation while still having them head out and clean up any Deacons and below thate to interrupt me."


    Azmodeus''s rxed words resounded as he summoned all of his Mirror Mirage''s before putting a few basic attribute-increasing runes on their bodies.


    He also made sure to give them a few Mid-Earth Rank Formation Array Scrolls that should assist them if they ever got into a pickle with a Void Refining Realm Expert.


    It was a little troublesome to get them to understand how to use the Formation Array''s. But in the end, he was able to get his point across as he instructed them to head to the north, which was where the deeper segments of the River Serpent Sect lie.


    He also informed them of the possibility of their being cities and such after passing a certain point, through which he told them not to kill anyone that didn''t attack first.


    But if they were attacked or were the first ones to be provoked, then well¡­


    "Kill them all."


    That was all he said before sending them off into the more popted parts of the River Serpent Sect.


    After sending off all of the Mirror Mirages with a few of his Mid-Earth Ranked weapons as well, Azmodeus started to set up a High-Earth Rank Qi Gathering Array inside one of the Cave Abodes that was left behind by a Soul Transformation Realm Deacon.


    The ce was quite spacious and had a few stctites here and there, with very minimalistic value exhibited from the way it was decorated.


    There were a few hundred mats and arge throne on one side of the cave, which should''ve been where the Deacon gave his lectures and Dao Discussions to all his disciples.


    "This ce is quite to my liking; it will do just fine for what I wish to use it for," Amodeus muttered.


    Thereafter, his hands danced around in the air, rearranging the cave abode to his liking.


    After moving all the mats and the throne out of the way, an extremelyrge Array Formation was set down in their ce.


    It was big enough to cover up the entire mountain, and the instant it was fullyid out, a few diagrams and sigils sparked with a brilliant golden blue light.


    BLING!


    Following this eruption of light, the density of Qi within and around the Cave Abode increased a hundredfold!


    It was far superior to the Sky-Rank Qi Gathering Formation Array that was in the cave prior to Azmodeus''s ''renovations''.


    Nevertheless, everything was as Azmodeus wanted it to be inside the cave abode, and it was at this point that he sat down in a lotus position.


    He prepared himself to begin absorbing the abundant Spiritual Qi that now permeated the cave.


    However, before Azmodeus entered a deep state of cultivation, he recalled something that was quite important to truly making this cave abodee together.


    BING!


    Something dropped out of his storage bag.


    After a few wood carving sounds sounded out, arge golden red and ck sign with the bold letters ''Heaven Exploding Cave Abode'' were engraved into the front.


    "Perfect."


    Following this content promation, the sign was transmitted outside of the Cave Abode and mysteriously appeared atop the cave''s entrance.


    "Now that the naming of my new home is out of the way, I think it''s about time I start my cultivation solidification session."


    WAAA!


    An extreme level of Qi started swirling around inside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode as Azmodeus worked on consolidating his cultivation base.


    He didn''t n to stop until he reached a point where his foundation could only be described as perfect!


    ¡­


    Four monthster.


    The memories that Azmodeus had of the people he met since his rebirth have already be distant thoughts.


    The only thing on his mind was acquiring greater improvements to all aspects of his existence!


    "I have broken through to the Half-Step Soul Transformation Realm with a perfect foundation. Furthermore, my various professions are approaching the Late-Earth Rank ahead of schedule due to my increased Cultivation Talent stat.


    On the other hand, many of my Mirror Mirages have died due to the interference of Void Refining Realm Outer Elder''s. But, before they died, they were able to obtain absurd levels of Evolution Essence through the killing of a multitude of River Serpent Disciples."


    Even though there were some losses, Azmodeus was still satisfied with everything he had gained over thest few months.


    However, it was the topic of disciples that brought up something else for him¡­


    Maybe I should get some disciples at some point as well¡­?


    He pondered the matter for a few minutes before deciding to leave the topic for a him that was a few hundred years older.


    For now, the only thing he wanted to be thinking about was increasing his cultivation even further.


    The peak of Infinity waited for no man!


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 72: Sword Aura, Absolute Peak Heaven Rank Cultivation Talent

    ...¡­.


    Time passed by like swift rapids, carrying moments away in its relentless current, as one year forever disappeared from the river of time.


    OOOM!


    The Qi within the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode became active for a moment before returning to its passive state.


    It repeated this process a number of times while washing over the body of a man who could only be described as someone who came out of a painting.


    Over the years, Azmodeus''s aura had gone through many qualitative changes.


    These changes extended not only in the amount of power contained within it but also in the attributes that were infused into the very energy that embodied the essence of what made his aura unique.


    One of the main ''attributes'' was based on the level of aloofness that surrounded his existence.


    At this point in time, it was practically one of his dominant traits. After all, not only had he acquired a level of nonchntness bordering onplete passiveness, but there was also this dangerous intent oozing out of this aura.


    It was hard to describe, but it almost felt like countless small swords were pervading the air around him, just waiting for somebody to defy him and incur their wrath.


    Any seasoned warrior worth half their stuff would be able to tell you that this ''dangerous and deadly sword aura'' was in fact the genuine article!


    That''s correct; Azmodeus was beginning to obtainprehensions over the ''Way of the Sword'' without even actively trying toprehend it!


    That was just the absurdities that were contained within one who had an Absolute Peak-Heaven Rank Cultivation Talent¡ªsomething that may be impossible to find even if one scoured all of Prometheus!


    Nevertheless, his Sword Aura was only in its embryonic stages and still needed time to develop and be a full-fledged Common-Rank Sword Aura.


    The rank may not sound like much, but for most avid sword cultivators, they may not be able to reach that stage even if they activelyprehended the sword for their entire lives!


    And yet Azmodeus had done it passively, and only because he kept his sword on his person at all times.


    He truly deserved the title of ''Anomaly'', and it was highly likely that any number of sword cultivators would be violently coughing up blood if they ever caught wind of such ludicrous notions.


    However, for the freak himself, he simply treated it as another day and continued his cultivation, inching ever closer to the Soul Transformation Realm.


    If his predictions were correct, then he should be able to reach the Early Soul Transformation Realm by the time he turns 22.


    A twenty-two-year-old Soul Transformation Realm Expert¡­


    Such an insane idea was beyond the understanding of any cultivator of Prometheus.


    They wouldn''t even be able to wrap their heads around something like a twenty-two-year-old kid bing a Soul Transformation Realm Master...


    It may sound like nearly a third of a lifetime for mortals; however, the average lifespan of someone in the Nascent Soul Realm was over three thousand years!


    To reach the maximum limit of your realm in less than a hundredth of your total lifespan was something unbelievable¡­


    Moreover, this was all without Azmodeus using his Evolution Essence to upgrade his realm by force.


    After all, if he ever decided to use everything he had gained over the years, then let''s just say that his realm would be extraordinarily high¡­


    But don''t get him wrong, he nned on using the Evolution Essence. However, the year he spent cultivating was all to solidify his cultivation and acquire a wless foundation.


    Furthermore, he had not only barred himself from using Evolution Essence but also pills.


    The only thing he was relying on was the Qi Gathering Formation Array and his own talent and efforts.


    And even then, he wasn''t utilizing the full potential of the Qi Gathering Array due to the flow of Qi needing to be incredibly steady to obtain an equally steady foundation.


    However, all inhibitions would be thrown out the window the moment he broke through into the Soul Transformation Realm!


    However, by that point, let''s just say that the number of Evolution Essence he would have avable to spend would be absolutely absurd!


    Speaking of Azmodeus''s acquisition of Evolution Essence, his Mirror Mirages had been hard at work for thest two years.


    They took everything to the next level when it came to hunting down every Evil Cultivator that dared to so much as look their way.


    They had utterly embodied the essence of Young Master Peng''s, bullying any and all Evil Cultivator''s, no matter if it cost them their lives!


    After all, Azmodeus could always make more¡­


    It was because of his actions that the Outer Elders of the River Serpent Sect were beginning to make big waves in response to this abrupt attack on the low-level areas of their sect.


    It was for this reason that they sent out a plethora of Early Void Refining Experts that worked directly under them.


    These Void Refining Realm Master''s gave the Mirror Mirages a ton of trouble.


    Even with the constant upgrades to Traits and increases to overallbat power, in the end, no number of Mirror Mirages were any match for the Experts who had already started to delve into ''Laws''.


    Laws were something that only those in the Void Refining Realm and above could delve into. And it was with thesews that a single Void Refining Realm Expert could confidently beat hundreds of thousands of Soul Transformation Realm Cultivators without breaking a sweat.


    This was the reason why the Mirror Mirages were essentially helpless in the face of such absolute power...


    However, the worst part of it all was that the Void Refining Realm Master''s would always take the items on the bodies of the Mirror Mirage''s.


    The loot they obtained was likely one of the reasons why no one ever reported this matter to any cultivators higher than the Void Refining Realm.


    After all, every time they headed out to dispatch of a rampaging Mirror Mirage, they would immediately obtain not only a weapon in the Late-Earth Rank, but also a formation and rune of the same rank!


    Even to Void Refining Realm Experts, such powerful things would be beyond anything they could normally afford¡­


    On the other hand, for the Late-Earth Rank Profession Master Azmodeus, these sorts of items were nothing more thanmonce.


    He could quite literally concoct them from a few random materials...


    That was just the power that was held within the various ''Essence'' techniques. All of which essentially gave him the ability to transmogrify anything in existence and convert it into whatever best suited his needs.


    Which was to say that he was ridiculously overpowered... Overpowered to the degree that even the term ''Walking Cheat'' wasn''t enough to describe the level of cheat that he was¡­


    However, for the cheat himself, it looked like the number of cheats he had weren''t enough.


    "Time to test my luck."


    Azmodeus aimed to try and focus on a particr profession that had been on his mind ever since picking up a unique physique and matching manual from a Peak Transformation Realm Deacon.


    Namely, it was the ''Spirit Animal Physique'' and the ''Spiritual Beast Taming Manual''.


    He was looking to apply his knowledge of the essence of different ''Essence-rted Techniques'' to the profession that was directly rted to the two aforementioned things above. Namely, it was the Spiritual Beast Taming Profession!


    This, along with the essence of the sword, would be his next point of focus.


    Azmodeus was hoping that by the time he achieved the Early Soul Transformation Realm, he would also be at a decent level in both his sword arts and the art of Spiritual Beast Taming!


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 73: Drake, 4 Months Prior

    ...¡­.


    Half a yearter, on the day that a certain immortal-like man turned 22, a particr phenomenon urred inside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode.


    WAAA!


    The energies being released from Azmodeus''s body would typically be enough to alert all those within a thousand-mile radius. However, luckily for him and his peaceful life in a cave, he had set up a number of Late-Earth Rank Formation Arrays all around the Cave Abode.


    They actively worked in not only gathering Qi but also concealing everything that happened within from the outside world.


    In addition to the Aura Concealing Arrays, he had also obtained the assistance of an Early Void Refining Realm Drake that he had met and befriended while taking a stroll outside his cave abode.


    This Drake was enormous, but through the use of a few size-reducing Runes, it was quickly brought down to the size of a household pet.


    And the best part was that it had the special, innate ability to shroud everything within its immediate vicinity!


    Azmodeus had, of course, taken the ability for himself after touching the Drakes body and rolling a roulette a few times. But it was a Trait that could only be used while not cultivating, so the assistance of the Drake was still necessary.


    On a side note, this Void Refining Beast was also the first Spiritual Beast to be contracted by him using his newfound Late-Earth Rank Spiritual Beast Profession and ''Beast Taming Essence'' technique.


    Normally, one would need to use exorbitant amounts of high-level herbs in order to attempt to tame a Spiritual Beast, and they needed to be of a specific type. However, with this ''Beast Taming Essence'' technique, all of the specifics were no longer necessary¡­


    Then again, not everything was good about Beast Taming. After all, the Beast Tamer contracted a beast, that beast would thus gain the ability to directlymunicate with their master and partner.


    And in the case of a previously lonely female dragon, it meant nothing but trouble for the man who just wished to peacefully cultivate¡­


    Speaking of the devil¡­


    "Azmodeus¡­ Hungry¡­ Eat¡­"


    "..."


    Azmodeus looked in the direction of a short dragon girl as he responded, "Then go out and eat something."


    "No," she replied while swinging her ck-scaled tail behind her.


    Those big, bright, purplish obsidian-colored eyes stared up at the cultivating immortal-like man. Whileying over his left thigh, she said, "You me, eat."


    "I''m cultivating right now-"


    "Here''s food¡­ Let''s eat," she interrupted him while bringing out a pic basket from thin air.


    "I can''t-"


    "We eat¡­ Here."


    She tossed a b of raw animal meat in his direction before sittingfortably in hisp, taking advantage of the moment when he wasn''t paying attention.


    *Pat*


    Azmodeus caught the piece of bloody meat. After which, be nkly looked at the girl who had somehow made her way into hisp.


    "What''re you doing, Nao Long?"


    Nao Long looked up at her master before responding, "Eating¡­ Here, you eat too."


    *Stuff*


    She put a b of bloody meat in his mouth with an adorably innocent look on her face.


    "..."


    Azmodeus didn''t even have the words to describe his disgruntlement. Therefore, he simply sighed before taking the meat out of his mouth and continuing his cultivation with the dragon girl munching away on hisp.


    -


    Four months prior to this point in time, outside arge den oozing of a mysterious and terrifyingly domineering aura.


    "Hmm¡­ I feel like there''s something quite powerful in here¡ªsomething that is somehow rted to the dragon species," Azmodeus mused.


    He stared up at the entrance to a cave over one thousand meters in height.


    "There must surely be something special inside this ce¡ªsomething that is even capable of hiding away from my divine sense."


    Following these words, he leisurely walked into the massive cave entrance before finding himself inside an evenrger and more expansive series of tunnels.


    "Now¡­ Which way do I go¡­?"


    He looked left, and he looked right.


    After repeating that a few times, he decided to go in blind as he put his finger up to the air and let it choose his fate.


    Thereafter, Azmodeus started walking down the middle path¡ªa path that had some form of steam blowing through the tunnels.


    "Is this some form of mist? Or maybe¡­"


    RAWRRGHH!!


    He was interrupted by the thundering roar of a beast that sounded unlike anything he had ever heard before!


    Ahhh¡­ So this is a monster''sir, and it appears to be their of something extraordinarily powerful.


    Azmodeus couldn''t discern the exact strength of this unknown monster, but he knew that it was at least in the Early Void Refining Realm. Which, even for him, would make for a troublesome foe.


    Hmm¡­ Should I go further in, or should I head back now and call it a day¡­?


    He pondered the matter for a second before ultimately deciding to venture deeper into the dimly lit cavern, hoping to find out exactly what possessed such a soul-wrenching roar.


    If I can hunt a dragon, then I should be able to obtain an absurd amount of Evolution Essence, which will do nicely when ites to stacking my wealth.


    One would normally think that he''d have some grand purpose for going into dangerous situations head-first, such as acquiring materials to save his grandma or risking his life for his race!


    But nah¡­ Azmodeus was just being a loot goblin¡­


    Nevertheless, a few minutes passed. During which, he made it a few miles deep into the middle path of the cavern.


    And it was at this moment that he realized¡­


    "I''m lost¡­"


    "Was it this way¡­? Or should I go back the way I came and hope to find a different path?"


    Azmodeus looked around the jagged rocks that surrounded him on all sides with the exact same shapes.


    Understanding that this ce was some sort of test, his eyes brightened up!


    "It must surely be a test¡­ A test of the mind¡­ But how should I go about oveing such a challenging trial¡­?"


    He appeared to have be delusional after spending such an extended period of time cultivating inside a cave. As a result, he even began to believe the notion that something he got himself into was some form of ''test''.


    But regardless of his delusional tendencies, Azmodeus continued down the path he was originally trotting on, heading deeper into the cavern, feeling the ''mist'' in even greater quantities.


    ...¡­..

 Chapter 74: Nao Long

    ...¡­..


    After a few minutes more of walking inside the deep caverns of a mysterious beastir, Azmodeus found himself next to a colossal hill.


    Sitting in the middle of a group of dripping stctites, they drizzled droplets of water onto the hill from the roof.


    There was a single ray of light shining down from a hole in the roof that seemed to stretch all the way to the outside world.


    This ray of light was focused on the very top of the vast hill that sat beneath the stctites, seemingly absorbing the water that drizzled down constantly.


    "Hmm¡­"


    Azmodeus looked around him and saw no more tunnels besides the one he just came out of. Thus, it was pretty clear that this was where the beast was, but why didn''t he see anything even remotely beast-like?


    Am I missing something here¡­? Maybe some sort of cloaking monster??


    He scrutinized his surroundings with a sharp gaze, attempting to find any signs of arge monster or spiritual beast.


    And that was when¡­


    RUMBLE!!


    The hill in the middle of the room started to tremble, causing rocks to fall from the roof.


    And after a few seconds of this quaking, in the ce where the hill used to be, there was an enormous, four-legged dragon-like creature with both of its bridge-sized eyes. Staring down at the tiny creature who invaded its home, it looked ready to pounce.


    "Oh¡­ So the hill was a¡­ Yeah, that makes sense. But why couldn''t I feel your presence even while I was using a divine sense that only someone in the Middle Void Refining Realm would possess?"


    Azmodeus had already understood what was going on here, but he was still a little perplexed by the fact that even when the beast was right next to him, he couldn''t feel the slightest bit of its existence¡­


    It was like the beast existed, yet it didn''t at the same time.


    "...."


    The dragon-like beast had its sinuous gaze focused on the small human; it wondered how someone was capable ofing down to the depths of its home.


    "Hurrghhh¡­" It grumbled with a far less intimidating growl.


    "???" Azmodeus looked into the sinuous eyes of the beast and realized that it was trying to say something.


    "What is it? Are you lost too?"


    "..."


    The Drake already realized that this was going to be troublesome to exin without speaking the samenguage.


    And it was correct, as after a few minutes of getting nowhere in their conversation, Azmodeus decided to switch things up as he took out a sigil tablet he created earlier that day.


    The sigil was a light blue and green color and had a mysterious jumble of symbols on the center of its four-inch-long body.


    Above the symbols and hieroglyphics were a series of words in cursive that read ''Beast Taming Contract'' in the humannguage.


    "This is a Beast Taming Contract. But don''t worry, for it is just a temporary 50/50 contract and will die off the moment we both agree that we don''t want to use it anymore," he exined with a small smile.


    "..."


    The Drake didn''t understand what the human was saying, but it didn''t sense any bad intentions in his voice. So, in the end, it decided to go along with whatever the human was talking about.


    Azmodeus got his confirmation. Therefore, he immediately walked up to the bent-down head of the beast and uttered a few indecipherable words in anguage that was used very rarely among those living in Prometheus.


    After getting out a few incantations, a bright blue and gold light shed as the sigil that he was holding exploded before dispersing and bing some sort of blue particle mass. After which, all of it swarmed toward both his body and the body of the dragon-like creature.


    Following this phenomenon, an equally dazzling light was emitted from both of their figures. Thereafter, the Drake''srge ck and purple scales shimmered a little, resulting in a resplendant disy of brilliant lights and colors!


    It took a few seconds for the light to die out, but once it did, everything appeared to be clearer for both users of the contract.


    They looked at each other and seemed to be able to see the ''essence''s'' emitting from them.


    "This is¡­" The Drake murmured with an oddly feminine voice, her mouth agape as she gawked at the essence of the human in front of her.


    Big was an understatement for what she was seeing, as it wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that he had the biggest she had ever seen!


    Dragons and some of their purer-blooded descendants were usually able to see the essences of other beings of the same race. However, never in the thousands of years that she had been walking the had she ever seen an essence so big!


    "What are you¡­" She muttered while watching the sun-like figure approach her head.


    "!!!"


    She became nervous and backed up a little, but it made no difference for Azmodeus.


    FWIP!


    He phased in front of her and extended out his terrifying hand.


    "P-Please don''t kill me-!"


    Nao Long tried to plead for her life. However, she was swiftly interrupted by the hand making contact with her lower lip.


    She expected to die right then and there!


    But contrary to her expectations¡­


    *Pat Pat*


    "It''s nice to meet you, Nao Long. You received the same information as I did, so you should be familiar with my name as well, right?"


    Azmodeus''s firm hand touched down on her lip as he started tenderly caressing her.


    "?????" Nao Long was beyond confused, as she could''ve sworn that she was within an inch of death after taking on the brunt force of his suffocating essence pressure-


    "Wait! Where has your Essence gone to??" She suddenly eximed, her eyes focused on an aura that was no longer there.


    Azmodeus looked up at the jittery Drake as he chuckled a little for the first time in ages. Then, he said, "You made it seem like my essence was scaring you, so I decided to conceal it for now."


    "...."


    Nao Long gazed into that slightly yful gaze of his. Sweat dripped down her giant forehead before she stuttered, "Y-Yesh, well, I knew that already! As expected of me, a dragon!"


    "Sure, sure." He agreed with a slight head nod before asking, "And aren''t you a Drake?"


    "Uhn uh! I''m a dragon! Just look at these wings of mine!"


    She pulled out her tworge wings with their beautiful shades of ck and purple, wearing a smug look on her face.


    "I see¡­"


    That was all Azmodeus had to say in response to the narcissistic and mildly delulu personality of this Drake.


    "Anywho, are you looking to get out of this ce?" He questioned.


    Hearing the human''s question made Nao Long realize what she originally wanted to ask him. Thus, she said, "Hungry!"


    "Hungry¡­?"


    "Yesh! I want some good food!"


    Nao Long''s wings fluttered around a little, while her tail swung around behind her with a mind of its own.


    She''s sort of like a puppy¡­


    Azmodeus couldn''t help butpare the funny Drake to a household pet, as he decided to take out a few size-reducing runes.


    After this point, we make it back to the present day.


    It was a point in time in which the troublesome dragon had already be exceedinglyfortable with the hardworking, immortal-like man who cultivated almost 99% of the time¡­


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 75: Late Soul Transformation Realm

    ...¡­.


    "Azmodeus¡­?"


    A sweet and melodic voice resounded inside the Heaven Exploding Cave.


    A short dragon girl with curves that werepletely disproportionate to her small frame was seen leaning over the back of a man with long, crimson ck hair.


    "..."


    Azmodeus ignored the soft sensation pressing against the top of his head as he asked, "Yes¡­?"


    Nao Long''s ear perked up at his response as she responded, "Wanna go for a walk!?"


    "No." His response was instantaneous.


    Her unruly tail stopped moving around after hearing his words as she asked, "Why not?"


    "I''m cultivating right now-"


    "You don''t love me¡­?"


    "You''re correct, I don''t-"


    "Yay! I knew you loved me! Let''s go right now, Az, Az!"


    After having a conversation with herself, she pulled the unwilling man away from his cultivation mat and walked outside the Heaven Exploding Cave with a giddy expression on her face.


    -


    The minutes turned into hours, and the hours turned into months, as another 8 months passed by in the blink of an eye.


    Azmodeus had already broken through to the Early Soul Transformation Realm, and thanks to his excellent foundation, his Essence Soul came out as an even higher quality than what it would have normally been if he broke through only using the Infinite Evolution System.


    His fully developed Nascent Soul, mirroring his real body to a picture-perfect degree, now had a set of domineering body armor with red and ck spiked edges on top of it.


    This armor was the form his Essence Soul had taken upon being materialized and sessfully achieving the Infant Development Phase.


    His Essence Soul could transform back into its baby form at any given moment. However, for the multitude of applicable uses avable when set up in this manner, Azmodeus decided to attach his Essence Soul to his Nascent Soul and improve the quality of his soul value as a whole.


    On a side note, Nao Long had managed to progress quite a bit into the Early Void Refining Realm thanks to the assistance of all the condensed Qi that permeated the area around the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode.


    She wasn''t as much of an industrious one when it came to cultivating like the Azmodeus was, but she still found some time in between her snacking and fun to cultivate.


    And since she was already pretty close to the Middle Void Refining Realm when Azmodeus found her, it should take no longer than a few years for her to breakthrough.


    Nevertheless, today was a special day for the crimson-eyed man. After all, he was nning to use up all the Evolution Essence he had stored up over the years!


    The only thing he was waiting for was the moment he felt that his Foundation had be absolutely wless.


    And through the use of a number of High-Earth Rank Pills normally only used by those in the Void Refining Realm, he was able to increase this solidification process to an unbelievable degree!


    Just as his cultivation foundation''s full consolidation was about to happe-


    WAaaa¡­!


    The crimson-colored aura exuding from his body reached an absolute zenith before dying down and dispersing evenly across his entire body, indicating perfect bnce.


    -


    After a few seconds of reveling in the feeling of newfound controlled strength coursing through his body, Azmodeus decided to open up his system interface and begin his spending spree.


    Upon seeing over ten quadrillion Evolution Essence inside his Evolution Essence Bank, he realized that he may have definitely gone a tad bit overboard when it came to killing arge number of Outer Deacons and below in the River Serpent Sect.


    In fact, he had even managed to kill six Void Refining Realm Outer Elders who became a little too nosy and started to snoop around his cave abode.


    However, it seemed that no matter how many Azmodeus killed, the higher-ups of this Evil Sect paid no mind.


    It was almost like everything below a certain point was merely expendable for them¡­


    Either that, or all the greedy Outer Deacons and Outer Elders were still hoping to obtain all the benefits from his Mirror Mirages for themselves¡­


    In spite of that information, after perusing his system interface, Azmodeus decided to use up all of his Evolution Essence in one go!


    After which, a bright blue and gold light shed.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: 22/6500]


    [Cultivation: Peak Stages of the Late Soul Transformation Realm.]


    [Overall Combat Power: Peak Stages of the Middle Void Refining Realm]


    [Level: 91]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 3.5 Quadrillion]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 290 Trillion]


    {[Stats:]}


    [Strength: 320 Billion + 580 Billion + 950 Billion (1.85 Trillion)]


    [Speed: 340 Billion + 930 Billion + 1.6 Trillion (2.87 Trillion)]


    [Defense: 380 Billion + 720 Billion (1.1 Trillion)]


    [Qi: 520 Billion + 670 Billion (1.19 Trillion)]


    [Cultivation Talent: Absolute Peak-Heaven Rank]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Stealth - Level 2] (G Rank)] ¡ú [0/1 Quadrillion]


    [Mirror Mirage - Level 2] (G Rank)] ¡ú [0/1 Quadrillion]


    [Super Strength - Level 2] (G Rank)] ¡ú [0/1 Quadrillion]


    [Shadow Cleaver - Level 2] (G Rank)] ¡ú [0/1 Quadrillion]


    [Speedster - Level 2] (G Rank)] ¡ú [0/1 Quadrillion]


    [Fortress - Level 2] (G Rank)] ¡ú [0/1 Quadrillion]


    [Spirit Animal - Level 2] (G Rank)] ¡ú [0/1 Quadrillion]


    [Qi Storer - Level 2] (G Rank)] ¡ú [0/1 Quadrillion]


    [Element Coalescer - Level 2] (G Rank)] ¡ú [0/1 Quadrillion] (Allows for easierbining of various elements derived from mortalws.)


    [Death Beam - Level 2] (G Rank)] ¡ú [0/1 Quadrillion]


    [Cloud Shroud - Level 2] (G Rank)] ¡ú [0/1 Quadrillion]


    [Various other Traits] ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [Overall Attribute Boost: G Rank]


    {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters]}


    [Fire God Refining Physique (Partial - 2/10 upgrades)] ¡ú [0/100 Quadrillion]


    [Body Refinement Physique (Peak-Sky Rank)] ¡ú [0/10 Quadrillion]


    [Spirit Animal Physique (Peak-Sky Rank)] ¡ú [0/10 Quadrillion]


    ¡ª------------


    After looking over his stats and various Traits and Physiques, Azmodeus understood that he had be ridiculously overpowered!


    He had be so overpowered that the shadow of himself from over a dozen years ago could no longer be seen¡­


    Just as that thought passed through his mind, a wave of power rushed over him. After which, everything he just dumped into his level and Traits finally gave their boosts!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 76: Third Ice Goddess of the Ice Goddess Sect

    ...¡­


    WAAAA!


    The level of energy being unleashed from Azmodeus''s aura nearly overwhelmed everything within a ten thousand-mile radius,ing close to alerting the stronger experts of the River Serpent Sect.


    However, before it reached that point, he used his Stealth and Cloud Shroud Traits.


    WAaaa¡­


    The immense aura was instantly cloaked underneath a deep veil that no one below the Unity Form Synthesis Realm could hope to see through.


    And luckily for him, nobody of that level was located near the outeryers of the Sect.


    -


    "..."


    Azmodeus looked down at his fists and immediately realized just how much power he held within them.


    However, his thoughts were soon interrupted by the curious voice of the beautiful Nao Long, who was currently sitting over the top of his head.


    "What was dat¡­? Some sort of power up?" She inquired with her head at a slight tilt, question marks going off around her head.


    Azmodeus looked up at the confused girl and responded, "It was just your imagination."


    "Really¡­?"


    "Yes."


    "But that doesn''t make any sense-"


    "You want some sushi?"


    "Yesh! I wants it!"


    Diversion tactic seeded.


    Can''t have her going off and bbering about what I do to all the friends she''s made out there.


    Little did he know that the voluptuous dragon girl had no friends¡­


    Well, at least she didn''t before meeting him.


    ¡­


    A few years passed since Azmodeus''s repeated breakthroughs within the Soul Transformation Realm.


    After consolidating his cultivation base, along with the fermentation of a new and improved Essence Soul over the top of his Nascent Soul, he sessfully solidified his cultivation to an eptable degree.


    Although it would still require a while before he reached a point where it was okay to keep progressing his cultivation, it was good enough to begin focusing on the advancements of his various professions.


    Of which, he had begun delving into the art of being a Spirit Chef!


    Although Azmodeus had only achieved the Late-Sky Rank after months of practicing the chef techniques depicted inside a Spirit Chef Manual, it was still at a level where he could startprehending the essence of the progression.


    And after a few more months, he was able to create his fifth iteration of the ''Essence Series''.


    It was on this particr day, when Nao Long waszing around like usual while pestering Azmodeus, that a new visitor appeared in the Outer Sect area of the River Serpent Sect.


    Furthermore, this person in particr was someone quite familiar with the younger version of Azmodeus.


    Namely, it was one of the Three Ice Goddesses of the Ice Goddess Sect, Yang Hua!


    She was here on order of her sect to get the Grand Elder of the River Serpent Sect onto the side of the Ice Goddess Sect.


    Even though she was affiliated with a Righteous sect and would normally be opposed to teaming up with an Evil Sect like the River Serpent Sect, they were in the midst of an intense battle with another Rank 7 Sect from the Iron Devourer Nation.


    Located to the North of the Fire Nation but still part of the Northern Spirit Continent, the Iron Devourer Nation made up around a tenth of the known surface area of Prometheus.


    -----


    The Northern Spirit Continent.


    The Northern Spirit Continent contained quadrillions upon quadrillions of Cultivators and countless normal mortals, with all of them looking to the advice of the strongest Sects and Kingdoms on the continent, which were the Rank 5 Kingdoms and Rank 7 Sects.


    There were only a handful of such organizations on the continent, and all of them almost always seemed to be in a blood feud with the others in one way or another.


    In particr, the Ice Goddess Sect and the Judoka Sect were in the middle of a very intense war¡ªa war that had been ongoing for thest five thousand years, resulting in countless lives being lost in the process.


    There were even records of entire countries being wiped off the face of the when the powerhouses of both factions duked it out a few centuries ago!


    However, today in particr, one of the Three Ice Goddesses of the Ice Goddess Sect¡ªa woman who obtained this position after being scouted from her previous Rank 4 Sect¡ªarrived with the intention of obtaining some assistance from the elusive Grand Elder of the River Serpent Sect.


    On a side note, due to her awakened Heaven-Rank Cultivation Talent, she was immediately jolted up to the very top authoritative positions in the Ice Goddess Sect, making her the third woman to be dubbed an Ice Goddess in thest ten thousand years!


    One might think this was a bit of an exaggeration for being found out to have a secret Heaven-Ranked Talent, and they would be right.


    After all, she merely possessed the lowest level of Heaven-Ranked Cultivation Talent, but there was something else that had been awakened due to her talent being unveiled.


    That thing being a physique, or to be more specific, it was the ''Frostbound Physique'', a High-Heaven Ranked Physique!


    It was only two levels beneath the absolute peak of what you could hope to be born with in Prometheus!


    And it was this exact reason that allowed Yang Hua to be the direct disciple of the Ice Goddess Sect''s Sect Leader, and also the reason why she was able to be the Third Ice Goddess of the Sect!


    ¡­


    "Mdy, I will stay in your shadow while you handle all negotiation matters."


    The voice of a woman with a cultivation beyond the Void Refining Realm resounded. After which, she slightly bowed to the magnificent girl in front of her.


    "..."


    Yang Hua turned her icy gaze in the direction of her main bodyguard. Then, with a neutral expression, she lightly nodded her head before continuing to glide across the outer area of the River Serpent Sect in elegant fashion.


    After passing by a particrly inconspicuous mountain range, for some reason, she felt a sense of familiarity with something residing in the area.


    What is this unusual sensation¡­? It''s almost like¡­


    She felt something that she hadn''t in an extremely long time, as she darted in the direction of the mountain range with a racing heart.


    There was nothing to base her spections on, but as if on instinct, she could feel the presence of the one she had left behind all those years ago.


    It was supposed to be temporary¡­ We nned to meet up shortly after I acquired my sect identity token¡­


    But by the time that I found my way back to the Yellow Mellow Sect, ready to show off my new identity, he was gone¡­


    The aura around the Ice Goddess became a little mncholic as she remembered resenting Azmodeus when she found out about his disappearance.


    After all, she loved him more than anything in the world!


    And yet he left her behind without so much as a goodbye¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 77: Yang Hua Returns...

    ...¡­


    To say the least, Yang Hua was heartbroken after Azmodeus''s disappearance, but after climbing her way up thedder of the Crystalom Sect and eventually being scouted by the Ice Goddess Sect, she got over the resentment she felt all those years ago.


    In fact, most of her emotions were reced with a never-ending chilling feeling that pervaded her entire existence.


    At least, that was until today, when she felt something¡­


    She felt something for the first time in years, and besides her resolve to be strong enough to find out where her father truly was, there was only one other thing that could make that ice sheet of hers melt away...


    And when she made it through the entrance of a cave abode that said ''Heaven Exploding Cave Abode'', only to see the otherworldly handsome man sitting atop a mat with a hand to his chin and a friendly look on his face, those feelings came back all at once.


    *Thud!*


    She fell to the ground with tears streaming down her face.


    "..."


    Upon looking at the world-toppling beauty bawling her eyes out at the entrance to his Cave Abode, Azmodeus let out a soft sigh before getting up off his mat.


    He took swift and calcted steps toward the crying woman, utterly ignoring the menacing res he was getting from a few unknown figures looming in her shadow.


    *Pat*


    A quick lift, and the gorgeous girl was inside his firm arms as he walked back to his meditation spot and sat down with her in hisp.


    *Pat Pat*


    Azmodeus tenderly caressed her soft bed of ck hair as he looked down at those teary green eyes of hers. He said, "So you going to tell me what happened over thest few years? The suspense is killing me, hah..."


    A soft chuckle escaped his mouth, ultimately bing the key that snapped the doleful woman out of her reverie.


    "!!!"


    And that was when she realized that she had somehow found her way on top of hisp.


    She tried to struggle out of his grasp on her. However, no matter what she did, nothing seemed to work.


    So in the end, she stuttered, "L-Let me go¡­! I-I am the Youngest Ice Goddess of the Ice Goddess Sect, and I-"


    "You what?" Azmodeus interrupted her while tickling her sides a little.


    "Haha~!"


    A soft, heavenly giggle escaped the Ice Beauty''s pretty red lips as she melted into his embrace, trying to swat away those sneaky hands of his.


    However, she had nowhere near the amount of strength required to do something like that. So, in the end, she simply took all of the tickles while letting loose augh that marked the first one she had in over a dozen years.


    She stoppedughing and doing much of anything besides cultivating since Az left her. And he realized this as well, which was why he decided to loosen her up a little.


    But it looked like a few pesky figures were aiming to intrude in on this moment of theirs¡­


    "You dare-!?" An elderlydy eximed.


    "Be quiet." Azmodeus interrupted the bodyguard who spoke from Yang Hua''s shadow.


    "!!!"


    His voice was so cold and chilling that the Elderly woman wouldn''t be surprised if he practiced an ice-attribute-rted art of the highest level!


    She was stunned for a second before she eventually snapped out of it and continued by saying, "You cannot do that to our youngdy! Do you have any idea what her status represents, boy!?"


    "Did you not hear me the first time¡­?"


    Azmodeus''s face darkened as he turned his crimson-red eyes behind him and asked, "Do you need me to repeat what I just said¡­?"


    WAAAA!


    "!!!"


    The level of killing intent being emitted from his piercing gaze was enough to cause even the Early Unity Form Synthesis Realm Bodyguard to back up a few steps from fear.


    That was until she realized what she had done. After which, her expression morphed into one of anger as she shouted, "How dare you, boy-!?"


    She was about to conjure up all the power she could wield in the Unity Form Synthesis Realm. However, before she could, the young woman in the mysterious man''s arms squirmed a little. Poking her head out over the top of his right shoulder, she said, "Stop it, Wei Ling."


    "But, myd-"


    "That is an order," Yang Huamanded before sneaking her way back into Azmodeus''s embrace.


    "..."


    The elderlydy''s expression became a little irritated after listening to herdy side with the man. But, in the end, she was a servant, so she backed down before returning to herdy''s shadow.


    After the head bodyguard disappeared, Azmodeus turned his gaze down to the cheeky woman sitting on hisp. Then, he said, "It looks like you''ve acquired yourself quite the lofty status, huh?"


    Yang Hua''s expression became a little conceited. After which, she responded, "Well, of course I have. After all, how else am I to take care of my defenseless Junior Brother when we get married?"


    "..." "..." "..."


    Not only Azmodeus, but even the guards in her shadow were left in a state of dumbfoundment...


    They had never heard such nonsense in their entire lives!


    Azmodeus was the first to snap out of his stupor. He asked, "Can you repeat that again¡­?"


    "Ha! You are so interested in me, aren''t you!?" Yang Hua replied with a haughty giggle as she snuggled even further into hisp. "But since I am feeling quite generous today, I think I will bestow upon you my words!


    What I said was that I will be protecting you after we get married on a beautiful mountaintop with exotic birds and royal musicians ying in the background-"


    "That''s enough¡­" Azmodeus interjected, his expression oozing even more confusion than it did before her boration.


    Thereafter, he said, "I think you''ve been drinking a little too much beforeing to visit me, so why don''t you go back to your sect and be sober?"


    "What are you talking about, Az, Az!? I will have you marry me, you know! You won''t be able to escape me this time!"


    Obsessive, pulsating hearts materialized inside her dazzling greens as she clung to his chiseled body with a possessiveness that was almost overwhelming for the loot goblin...


    ...¡­

 Chapter 78: Yanderes...

    ...¡­


    "..."


    Azmodeus observed the look Yang Hua was making and immediately understood that he might''ve gone a little overboard in loosening her up.


    Is this really the same icy girl that came into my Cave Abode not even a few minutes ago?? I see no signs of anything remotely emotionlessing off of her¡­


    He looked toward the people in her shadow, but they were still in a state of bafflement from the first thing that theirdy had said about marriage.


    It looks like I have to do everything myself¡­


    He sighed a little before swiftly knocking out the mildly insane yandere. After which, he lifted her up and set her outside his Cave Abode.


    "Tell her toe back when she isn''t so¡­" He paused for a moment before saying, "So horny¡­"


    After getting out those words, he walked back into his Cave Abode while drying off the suspicious liquids that were left on his robes by that crazy girl...


    Following this little event, he sat back down on his cultivation mat.


    Thinking about the unusual girl who somehow found him in a location so far from where they met all those years ago, lights swirled around inside his eyes.


    "It looks like she hasn''t changed at all, even after all this time¡­"


    A small, imperceptible smile formed on Azmodeus''s face. Then, with a rxed posture, he watched the elderly female guards snap out of their stupors and carry their youngdy away.


    However, before they left, they threw a few res in the direction of the receding cave abode¡ªan elusive location that housed a man that not a single one of them could discern a single thing about.


    -


    A few hourster, a young, pretty girl with long ck hair and purple eyes, possessing a set of cute spiraling horns and an equally adorable set of wings, walked up the steep slope that led to the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode.


    Atop her hands, she was effortlessly carrying around a Spiritual Beast corpse over two thousand meters in length!


    It quite literally looked like an ant lifting up an elephant¡­


    This girl walked up the mountain with a goofy smile on her face.


    She was imaginung the face that her master would make upon seeing the delicious meal that she had brought back for the two of them!


    ¡­


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    "..."


    Azmodeus heard the thunderous steps from miles away, as he already knew who it was¡­


    Yet another troublesome woman¡­


    He let out what felt like the billionth sigh today. After which, he made sure to get rid of any evidence that would lead the crazy dragon girl to the assumption that another woman was here with him.


    However, the moment he walked out to the sight of a small, busty girl carrying around the corpse of a Void Refining Realm Monster, he instantly regretted going out so soon¡­


    "Another woman''s scent¡­" Nao Long mumbled with a dangerous look in her eyes.


    It was a look far scarier than what Azmodeus exhibited with the guards earlier....


    "Let me exin-"


    Azmodeus tried to get out his words with a nervous expression. But before he could, he was interrupted by the corpse of a giant snake being hurled in his direction!


    BOOOOOOM!


    With the reverberation of a loud explosion, his mountain had a huge hole drilled through the top of it!


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    A few more mountains in the distance ended up with the same fate, as it was unknown where the snake corpse wound upnding¡­


    "..." Azmodeus looked up at the sight of his crumbling mountain.


    He had no clue how she was so perceptive...


    He made sure to conceal everything that could''ve left a single hint of there having been another woman in his home. But in the end, it was all for naught as her sniffer was just too overpowered¡­


    However, when he saw the girl start to tear up, he understood that her throwing of the monster was not to harm him¡­


    A sigh once again leaked out of his mouth as he had another girl to attend to today¡­


    -


    A few hours and head patster, a pretty dragon girl was seen sitting on thep of an otherworldly handsome man.


    Her mouth nibbled on his neck with a pouty look on her face.


    "Can you stop biting me now? I already told you that nothing happened between me and another woman."


    "Uhn uh! Mine!"


    After getting out this response, she bit even harder into his neck, leaving a mark that would be troublesome to heal even with his insane speed of regeneration.


    "Was that really necessary¡­?" Azmodeus questioned with an exasperated tone, his hands attempting to take the girl off his chest.


    *Humph!*


    Nao Long harrumphed a little as she resisted his tugging, unwilling to leave his side, lest he meet up with another floozy while she was away!


    "..."


    He looked into the eyes of this stubborn girl, and after seeing the resolve in her gaze, he knew that she wouldn''t be leaving his side anytime soon.


    So instead of bothering himself with the clingy woman, he decided to continue his cultivation while treating her like something akin to a sloth essory.


    I was originally nning to practice the art of being a Spirit Chef, but it looks like I should just normally cultivate until this girl learns about personal space¡­


    Following this thought, his mind was focused entirely on cultivation as hepletely zoned out the light nibbles that were asionally felt on his neck and ears.


    ¡­


    A few days passed since the moment that Yang Hua paid an unexpected visit to Azmodeus. And once again, she appeared on his front door step with no prior notice.


    "Can you get off me¡­?" Azmodeus asked with a twitching smile.


    "Hmm, let me think about it¡­ No."


    Yang Hua used absolutely no time to think about it as she snuggled even closer to his body, rubbing those sensual curves up and down every part of his figure.


    "..."


    At this point, Azmodeus didn''t even care anymore. However, he was more than a little worried about the dangerous aura permeating the air around them, originating from a certain dragon girl in a particr corner of the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode.


    Her cheeks were puffed out to the point that she was beginning to resemble a hamster, all while she red at the one-sided cuddling session.


    Azmodeus thought over the options he had in this little predicament of his. Ultimately, he decided to simply let things take their course while focusing on his cultivation.


    And this ''letting things take their course'' went on for an extremely long period of time¡­


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 79: Half-Step Void Refining Realm, Women from the Past...

    ...¡­.


    Time passed like the falling of the sakura blossoms, as four years went by in the blink of an eye.


    As Azmodeus''s cultivation entered the Half-Step Void Refining Realm with a perfect foundation, he received another visitor from the same ce that Yang Hua originated from.


    Or rather, he received both guests¡­


    "You Mie and Lan Yue¡­" He muttered while looking at two women who looked far more mature and refined than how they appeared thest time he saw them.


    "Az¡­" They both mumbled with strained voices.


    After all the time they spent searching for him following his abrupt disappearance, they never thought they would ever catch sight of the man they fell in love with all those years ago in a ce like this.


    However, not everyone was as dedicated to a boy they knew for so little time over a dozen years ago.


    In fact, both of them had already fallen in love with members of the Yang Sun Sect¡­


    It was this piece of information that left them in an inexplicable state after observing the perfect facial features of Azmodeus¡ªan appearance that slightly resembled the boy who ruled over the army of Yellowcreek City with an iron fist...


    -


    The aura within the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode became oddly mncholic, as the two women thought about what could''ve been.


    But it didn''t take long before they remembered their husbands, who were faithfully awaiting their return from the Ice Goddess Sect''s outing¡ªan outing that celebrated the sessful partnership of the Grand Elder of the River Serpent Sect and their own sect.


    "It looks like you two have found your own paths in this life."


    Azmodeus''s calming voice snapped them out of their reveries as warm smiles formed on their beautiful faces. After which, they responded, "En."


    "That''s good¡­ I''m happy that you two found your happiness."


    After hearing the trulypassionate words spoken by him, the smiles on both of their faces only seemed to grow.


    Thereafter, they walked over to the esoteric man and sat down next to him,ughing and conversing while catching up with each other.


    ¡­


    A few hours passed, and Azmodeus bid farewell to the two women before he went back into his Cave Abode and saw the peacefully chatting Yang Hua and Nao Long.


    They were ying against each other in poker, talking about all sorts of things¡ªthings that pertained to just about every embarrassing moment they had witnessed their ''man'' do over the years¡­


    "..."


    Silly...


    Azmodeus ignored their topic focus as he passed by them. Eventually, he reached a part of the cave containing an extremelyrge kitchen area with shiny metal appliances scattered all over the ce.


    This was where he typically practiced his Spirit Chef Skills, and it was also the location that allowed him to breakthrough into bing a Peak-Earth-Rank Spirit Chef!


    "Today, I think I will try to make a special dessert called ''Austere Cake''."


    He took out a few bowls and pans before throwing dozens of different items onto the nearest marble counter from his storage ring.


    "Let''s see¡­ We got the Spirit Spider Grass, the Orange Grong Fruits, a few Unicorn Feces pieces, and this¡­"


    Azmodeus went on to call out a long list of ingredients. After which, he wasted no time and cut up the most colorful of the ingredients before throwing them into thergest of the bowls.


    Following the gathering of all the colorful ingredients, he moved onto the grayer of them and did the same thing as he did with the colorful ingredients.


    The only difference was that he threw all of these into a different bowl of equal size to the first one.


    And his reason for doing this was simple¡­


    "I don''t like how they look when put together during the preparation part of the cooking process... So this is always my go-to in order to separate theponents of my dishes without interrupting the harmony of the hues."


    To say the least, his reasoning was very¡­ weird¡­


    Even so, it got the job done.


    So, without further ado, he got straight to work and began his whipping of the duller variety of ingredients before moving onto the smashing of the colorful assortment.


    After getting everything to a point where it looked like a professional chef just got done with his work, all the ingredients started to float in the air and dart in a multitude of different directions in the enormous kitchen.


    Some went to spiritual Qi-powered ovens, while others flew into blenders and appliances that almost looked like microwaves.


    This was done because all of the ingredients belonged to some very rare animals before transmogrification and required ''unique'' ways of cooking them or prepping them before the main segment of the cooking process began.


    *Sizzle! Sizzle!*


    After a few minutes of listening to a plethora of popping and sizzling sounds going off in the kitchen, all of the ingredients reached a sufficient degree of tenderness. Thus, Azmodeus was allowed to begin concocting something truly spectacr.


    And that was exactly what happened, as he brought all of the materials back to him before waving his hand and calling forth his pill me.


    As one could guess, this was not the way that a Spirit Chef would prepare a dish like this one. But he had identally released his Pill me while cooking a few months back, and the result was something quite dazzling.


    The reason that was said was because when many different types of rare animal ingredients went through simr prepping before being put under unique pressure, they¡­


    POP!


    Exploded!


    That''s right, Azmodeus was purposefully using this unique aspect that the beasts had before they died in order to cause an effulgent explosion of ingredients!


    This was an extremely unorthodox way to go about applying the abilities of a Spirit Chef, and one would usually see no purpose in wasting so many precious materials.


    That was not to even mention theplete mess that appeared after using such a chaotic way of cooking!


    It was a method of cooking that would normally require one to move from cutting to slicing to mixing, etc...


    But that was where most just weren''t thinking hard or creative enough, as although it was a weird way to go about prepping, when all of the dessertponents exploded in such close proximity to each other, theybined and coalesced!


    This was to say that all of the ingredients would perfectly blend together and transform into somethingpletely inexplicable!


    That was, of course, as long as one was able to control the different elements contained within the ingredients themselves.


    It was essentially a way of applying pill refining to cooking, and if it was done sessfully, then¡­


    *Whif~!*


    After having its top opened by Azmodeus, an enticing aroma erupted from arge pot.


    And inside that pot was a cake with white and blue icing decorating it in the shape of a 2D monster dolphin!


    It was unknown how this was made from thebining of different elements of ingredients without going through the typical steps of cooking. However, the result was beyond exceptional, as the appearance alone was worthy of praise, let alone the smell¡­


    The fragrance it emitted was exuded in a way that was capable of immediately attracting the attention of two women ying chess in a corner of the cave...


    ...¡­

 Chapter 80: Cooking Some Spiritual Dishes, The Food Goblins

    ...¡­


    "!!!" "!!!"


    Both Yang Hua and Nao Long looked toward the three-foot-wide cake floating out of a pot, as they immediately jumped up and rushed to the counter that sat along the side of the marble kitchen edges.


    They took their seats on a couple of swiveling chairs before awaiting the cake to be split up and given to them.


    And they didn''t have to wait long, as Azmodeus smiled a little before using his crimson-colored Qi to slice up the cake into two evenly-sized pieces, leaving a small sliver for himself.


    After which, he teleported the cake pieces over to their tes before saying, "Dig in-"


    However, he wasn''t even allowed to finish his sentence, as the two voracious women were already munching away with euphoric looks on their faces.


    "...You don''t have to eat so fast¡­ I can always transmogrify some more monster materials and make another cake for you¡­" He muttered with an awkward expression.


    "Isshh~ shooo good~!" Both of them eximed while holding their cheeks, utterly ignoring his words.


    Well, whatever¡­ As long as they''re happy, then everything is fine¡­


    Following that thought, Azmodeus decided to whip up a little meat dish for himself.


    Of which, he once again received the smallest portion of his favorite steak dish, which also just so happened to be the ''favorite'' meal of both those food goblins as well¡­


    He eventually gave up on trying to get something for himself, as he headed in the direction of the room where alchemy was conducted.


    This was one of the many rooms that he had chiseled out from his Cave Abode, and although there was nothing particrly special about the rooms themselves, they each had Peak-Earth Rank Formation Rune Array''s set down to increase all relevant attributes of each room.


    For example, the ''Alchemy Room'' was infused with an ''Alchemy Array Heaven Transformation Formation Array''.


    This was put up to speed up the process of using ''Array Alchemy'' when concocting pills.


    The reason for the ''Array'' part of the phrase was because Azmodeus had adapted the act of incorporating Arrays when making pills.


    This was done not only to improve the overall quality of the pills through unique Array usages, but it was also done to increase the number of pills that could be concocted in each batch!


    Normally, an Alchemist would be limited to a couple dozen pills in one batch due to the restrictions on their mind¡ªrestrictions that inhibited one from focusing on so many pills and all their unique statuses while inside the confines of a pill Cauldron.


    However, with a few Sky-Rank ''Impede'' Arrays applied to a stone, simr to how a rune would work, all of that changed, as after attaching this ''Semi-Array Rune'' to the bottom of a pill cauldron, the time dtion within the insides of the cauldron could be altered to whatever Azmodeus wished it to be.


    This was all to say that he could fix the ws in one pill while impeding the continued refining of other pills!


    And it was through this repeated action that hundreds of pills could be made from one batch using a tenth the normal amount of time needed!


    All in all, yet another unprecedented achievement had been added to the wall of all the impossible things the Anomaly had ever done.


    ¡­


    Time passed by like a dream, surreal and fleeting, as four years quickly vanished from the long river of time.


    It was a day just like any other inside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode that Azmodeus began his breakthrough into the Void Refining Realm!


    His foundation was beyond impable, and after amassing a sufficient level of condensed Qi, he was ready to take another step on the infinitely stretching path of cultivation!


    WAAAA!


    Crimson-colored energies swirled around the cave, enveloping everything in sight until reaching a point where only Qi could be seen within a thousand miles of the mountain that stood above the cave abode.


    It was a wondrous phenomenon that would normally only be possible when one was breaking through into the Unity Form Synthesis Realm, and yet it was urring for someone merely breaking through into the Void Refining Realm!


    And in the midst of this chaotic maelstrom of elements, two women with bodies beyondpare were watching the immortal-like figure get covered in a thick nket of Qi.


    Their expressions were pretty rxed, as it wasn''t the first time they had first-ss tickets to bear witness to the freakish things that he did inside and outside the Cave Abode.


    They remembered it just like it was yesterday¡ªthe day when he was cornered by eight Outer Elders of the River Serpent Sect.


    All of them were in the Middle and Late Void Refining Realm, and they came after him with great numbers!


    And yet¡­


    He simply turned his gaze up from his cultivation state and took a cursory nce at the thousands of cultivators who decided to ambush him in his own home.


    After which, a crisp, unsheathing sound unlike anything the two beautiful women had ever heard was unleashed from his nonchnt body.


    Following this sword strike that indicated he was well into the Sky-Rank of Sword Aura, everything within a ten thousand-mile fan shape vanished from the face of the earth!


    However, even with thismotion happening within their own territory, not a single Inner Deacon or Inner Elder felt the need to move¡­


    After all, when you had tens of thousands of Outer Elders spread across the tens of billions of miles that made up the Outer Sect, it didn''t really matter all that much if a few died due to their own greed.


    And of course, they were merely Middle and Late Void Refining Realm Cultivators, which wasn''t even enough to qualify them to participate in the higher-level battles of their war with the Razgod Empire to the east.


    Nevertheless, all of that was besides the point, as there was still an ongoing breakthrough into the Void Refining Realm going on inside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode...


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 81: Early Void Refining Realm

    ...¡­.


    OOOM!


    The crimson-colored energies inside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode eventually died down, but not before bombarding the stalwart figure of Azmodeus once more, causing a bit of blood to spit out of his mouth.


    However, all blood loss was regenerated faster than it could be drained, so he effectively came out of his breakthrough without a scratch on his body.


    Furthermore, he had already visited the Void Realm with his Nascent Soul and Essence Soul, so he didn''t need to worry about that part of the breakthrough process either.


    -


    The Soul Transformation and Void-Refining Realms.


    7. Soul Transformation Realm:


    During this stage, you will need to evolve your Nascent Soul from a ''non-corporeal'' state to a ''corporeal'' state. This is one of the prerequisites you need to fulfill before you can break through to the Soul Transformation Realm.


    Once you have reached such a point that you can take your Nascent Soul out of your body and move it around remotely, you have reached the Early Soul Transformation Realm.


    To progress through the stages of the Soul Transformation Realm, you will need to condense your ''cultivation base'', ''Core'', ''Dantian'', and ''Nascent Soul - now an intermittent ''Essence Soul''''


    The Nascent Soul and Essence Soul are two different things, but also one and the same. You can think of the ''Essence Soul'' as another yer'' of the ''Nascent Soul''. Itys atop the Nascent Soul like a thin fment¡ªalmost like an outeryer of clothing¡ªclothing that you can take outside of your body.


    Here are the progression marks to advance through the Soul Transformation Realm ¡ú


    Early Soul Transformation Realm - ''Infant Development Phase''


    Middle Soul Transformation Realm - ''Child Development Phase''


    Late Soul Transformation Realm - ''Teenage Development Phase''


    Peak Soul Transformation Realm - ''Adult Development Phase''


    Half-Step Void Refining Realm - ''Absolute Adult Development Phase''


    The ''Development Phases'' rte to the development of the 2nd yer'' that sits atop the Nascent Soul, otherwise known as the ''Essence Soul''. These development phases also rte to the development of the ''Nascent Soul'' as well.


    It is a very intricate and convoluted subject¡­


    8. Void-Refining Realm:


    The Void Refining Realm is a realm where one must take their Essence Soul and Nascent Soul outside of the Corporeal Realm and invite them into a subdimension called the ''Void Realm''.


    The Void Realm acts as a subdomain or ayer of space that lies and encapstes most Mortal Realms with few exceptions.


    A cultivator in the Void Refining Realm must let their Nascent Soul and Essence Soul wander throughout this ''Void Realm'' for an extended period of time.


    What the Nascent Soul and Essence Soul of a cultivator do in the ''Void Realm'' is to begin to discern the ''Law of Void'', notprehend, but discern.


    This implies that the purpose of such exposure is so the Cultivator who begins to near the peak of the basic mortal realms can start to understand whates next.


    The Cultivator will be exposed to enough of the Void energy in the Void Realm that they will begin to see a qualitative change happen within their Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Essence Soul.


    This change will eventually reach a point where the cultivator can start their breakthrough into the Early Stages of the Void Refining Realm¡ªthe stage dubbed ''The Void of Inquiry''.


    The Void Refinement Realm is split into five stages. Those stages are ¡ú


    Early Void Refinement: Void Strength (One Must Understand the ''Void Inquiry'' (aspect) of the Void Realm)


    Middle Void Refinement: Void Pierce (One Must Understand the ''Void Pration'' (aspect) of the Void Realm)


    Late Void Refinement: Void Qi (One Must Understand the ''Void Destruction'' (aspect) of the Void Realm)


    Peak Void Refinement: Void Body (One Must Understand the ''Void Supreme'' (aspect) of the Void Realm)


    Half Step Unity Form Synthesis: Void Fragmentation (One Must Understand the ''Void Dispersion'' (aspect) of the Void Realm)


    ¡­


    This was all to say that Azmodeus had sessfully begun his path down the way of ''Laws''.


    It waspletely unbelievable to believe that a young man less than 35 years old was able to achieve the Void Refining Realm and start hisprehension of thews, but that was just the sort of aberration that he was¡­


    Nheless, after sessfully breaking through to the Void Strength Stage of the Void Refining Realm, along with understanding the aspect of ''Void Inquiry'', he decided to make use of his new cultivation functions right away.


    Which was to say that he went right toprehending thews that made up Prometheus!


    He originally wanted to tryprehending the Void Law, but there was a reason that all cultivators only needed to discern its existence instead ofprehending it in order to breakthrough¡­


    Even with his Absolute Peak-Heaven Rank Cultivation Talent, it would take him thousands upon thousands of years to begin understanding even the most basic aspect of the Void Law.


    And it was this fact that immediately steered him away from the Void Law and instead brought him to the more basic mortal worldws, such as the Fire Law, Water Law, Chemical Law, Hydrogen Law, Aerospace Law, etc¡­


    It took a few seconds for him to decide which one he wanted to start with, but once he did, he startedprehending the profundities of his chosenw right away!


    -


    After a few minutes, Azmodeus had officially begun his journey down theprehension ofws, as he felt around for the essence of the ''Sword Law''.


    And after feeling something pervade the air around him at all times, hetched onto that feeling and started seeing the world in an entirely different light!


    Instead of various colors and material objects, all he saw were the ''swords'' that were part of every aspect of existence.


    It was hard to describe, but it was like the essence of the sword wasn''t only limited to swords and was capable of enveloping everything in existence.


    Of course, this was all relevant to thew itself and not the ''reality'' of it all.


    Laws were extremely abstruse andplex topics that were nearly impossible to describe in words and even harder to beginprehending from scratch.


    This was one of the main reasons that those with insufficient talent in the Void Refining Realm ultimately gave up on the idea ofprehendingws altogether, instead focusing on their cultivation base progression.


    And this was a viable option used by the majority of Void Refining Cultivators. After all, it wasn''t a requirement that you needed to understandws in order to improve your cultivation inside the Void Refining Realm.


    Of course, if one did sessfullyprehendws, then theirbat power would be leaps and bounds above what those who ignored the subject altogether possessed.


    But in the end, not many had the sufficient degree of talent to aplish such a thing¡­


    And even if they did have the talent necessary, the likelihood of them impeding the development of their own cultivation in order to increase theirbat power by marginal amounts was unlikely.


    But, like everything in life, there were always going to be exceptions¡­


    And one of those exceptions just so happened to be a certain freak with a dragon woman and Ice Goddess fawning over him, all while smothering their bountiful bodies on his¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 82: 8th Level Cloud Chaser Steps, 1% In All Laws

    ...¡­


    "..." Azmodeus looked down at the two touchy girls, as they were once again getting a little carried away with their hand cements.


    "Can you both back up a little? The Sword Law is a rtively vtilew, and I don''t think either of you can take on thew''s attacks without my assistance."


    "Hmm¡­" They both turned their cute faces up to his before entering a deep state of pondering.


    After which, they adamantly responded, "Uhn, uh. This spot is the best spot."


    "..." He expressionlessly gazed at the two of them before sighing and conjuring up a few Formation Rune Array''s of the Peak-Earth Rank.


    WAAAA!


    A wave of energy washed over both of them, resulting in a shimmering fment appearing around their curvaceous bodies.


    "???" "???"


    They didn''t know what had happened to them, so they asked, "What is this, Azmo?"


    "It''s a Formation Rune Array that I just created a few seconds ago. It should do well in keeping you both safe from any damage below the Unity Form Synthesis Realm. After all, I don''t want blood stters on my walls," Azmodeus responded with a in tone before getting back toprehending the elusive Sword Law.


    "..." "..."


    Yang Hua and Nao Long looked up at him with expressions emitting nothing but extreme affection, as their grips on his body only became tighter.


    "Just say you want to protect your favorite first wife, Azmo~" Yang Hua seductively whispered, followed by a light giggle escaping her mouth.


    "What do you mean by you being the ''First Wife''!? I am clearly the first wife!" Nao Long retorted with puffed-out cheeks, her slender arms wrapping around Azmo''s neck while getting ready to go in for a kiss.


    However, before she could, a dainty hand stopped her in her tracks!


    "Hey! Don''t put your hand in front of my lips, you meanie!" Nao Long eximed while pushing Yang Hua''s hand out of the way, ready to go in for another smooch.


    But once again¡­


    *Pat*


    She kissed a hand.


    "No Azmo for you. He is mine," Yang Hua stated, as a dangerous aura leaked from her expression.


    "Uhn uh! Azmo is mine, Sister Yang Hua!" Nao Long rebuked.


    "Incorrect."


    "No! I''m right!"


    "Unfactual."


    "..."


    "..."


    The both of them looked at each other with deathly res in their eyes, as Azmodeus could''ve sworn that he saw the sparks flying in the air.


    Well¡­ It''s not my problem¡­


    He had been dealing with their shenanigans for many years now, and at this point, he just treated it as a daily routine.


    After all, both of them were beyond delusional and seemed to think that they were already married to him.


    He tried telling them that they didn''t have that sort of rtionship a countless number of times, but the concept of them not being his lovers just didn''t seem topute inside those hard heads of theirs.


    Furthermore, these troublesome dynamics led to quite the quagmire with the Sect Leader of the Ice Goddess Sect, as a couple years ago, he was paid a visit by this absurdly powerful Sect Leader, and let''s just say that it wasn''t a very friendly conversation¡­


    In fact, it basically ended with her threatening him with his ''younger brother''s'' health if he ever so much as held hands with the youngest Ice Goddess, who also just so happened to be her beloved disciple.


    The Ice Goddess Sect''s Sect Leader had already tried everything she could to make her disciple forget about her ''husband'', but no matter what she said, nothing ever got through to the girl¡­


    She tried informing her of the fact that no wielder of the ''Frostbound Physique'' was allowed to have s*xual rtions with anyone and that if such a scenario did ur, all her efforts in cultivation would''ve been for naught, as her own physique would shoot her in the foot.


    But regardless of how many times this point was articted, that silly girl would get distracted and start talking about all the babies she would have with ''her man''.


    And after many years of this back and forth between the two of them, the Sect Leader of the Ice Goddess Sect ultimately ended up epting the reality that she could neither kill the man known as ''My Husband'' nor hope to make her disciple forget about him using conventional means...


    All in all, it seemed like it wasn''t only Azmodeus who was helpless, as he found arade in the Ice Goddess Sect''s Sect Leader.


    Nevertheless, time once again passed inside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode¡­


    ¡­


    Six yearster.


    Azmodeus was sitting in a cross-legged position with two girls napping on hisp, both of whom had peaceful looks on their wless faces.


    Over the years, his Cloud Chaser Steps had already achieved the 8th level, subsequently giving immense boosts to his overall speed.


    In addition, his Sword Aura had progressed to the Peak of the Sky Rank, and his Sword Law, Fire Law, Water Law, Earth Law, Wind Law, Nature Law, Lava Law, Magma Law, Dust Law, and various otherws had sessfully achieved a 1%prehension rate.


    It may not have sounded like much, but 1%prehension of such arge number ofws was already considered quite exceptional.


    And that wasn''t to even mention the fact that he hadn''t only been focused onprehendingws and practicing his techniques, as along with the continued progression of his cultivation, nearing the Middle Void Refining Realm, he had also made sure to improve his various professions.


    At this point in time, he was beginning to encroach upon the Heaven Rank for all his professions, which was somethingpletely unbelievable for someone so young!


    Nheless, those weren''t the only things that had been increasing over the years, as the amount of Evolution Essence he had in storage after a dozen years of murdering and barely any expenditures left him with an astronomical number!


    And after such a long time of killing and saving, today, with the appearance of an Inner Deacon of the River Serpent Sect, it would likely mark the day he spent it all in one go¡­


    -


    "Do you know why I''m here, boy?"


    A voice that sounded like it originated from the Archaic era reverberated out from an area a few miles away from the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode.


    Azmodeus, along with the girls, sent out their divine senses and saw the old man in flowing green and purple robes levitating a few dozen miles above the Cave Abode.


    He wore a conceited countenance with a goatee that just didn''t match his style in the slightest, and his facial essories were too gaudy and horrendous to even be ssified as ''essorization''.


    "...Should I inform him of my identity, Azmo?" Yang Hua asked with a neutral voice while sitting on top of hisp, ying cards with the dragon girl who sat opposite her.


    "..."


    Azmodeus thought the matter over for a second before responding, "Don''t bother yourself with it. I was looking for a good fight anyway."


    After letting out those words, he got up off the ground with both beauties in his arms before gently setting them down in the lounge area that he set up a few years back.


    Following this set of actions, his figure blurred, and it didn''t take long before he reappeared in the skies directly adjacent to the Inner Deacon.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 83: Killing The Inner Deacons Clone

    ...¡­


    "How long do you think this one willst against Azmo, Sister Yang Hua?"


    An adorable voice resounded inside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode, as a cute dragon girl with purplish ck eyes and hair of a simr color looked to a woman wearing a frilly blue and white dress, possessing a demeanor fitting of one deemed the ''Coldest Ice Beauty to ever grace the Ice Goddess Sect''.


    On that note, there were rumors going around that all males who even so much as breathed in her direction were castrasized right then and there¡­


    She wasn''t always like this, but after meeting up with Azmodeus a dozen years ago, she just couldn''t stand the sight of other men, which eventually led to her killing anyone that wasn''t pleasing to her eye.


    Of which included a multitude of women, as there were times when she imagined her husband with certain women doing ''naughty things'' like holding hands and kissing, so naturally, she killed them all without remorse.


    And because of her status, which peaked at the top of the Ice Goddess Sect, nobody cared a single bit about what she did to those weaker than she was.


    After all, it was survival of the fittest, and there were countless cultivators on the Northern Spirit Continent, so even if a few trillion died, no one would bat an eye.


    In fact, most would even be looking for ways to take advantage of such a situation, as although they weren''t as merciless as Azmodeus when it came to killing and looting, they would still do their utmost to gain more from something so as to live a little bit longer¡­


    Nheless, at the end of the day, all lives came to an end when they opposed the ''Secluded Immortal'' who lived in the Outer Segments of the River Serpent Sect.


    Rumors of the existence of someone who was capable of cloning himself thousands of times and causing genocides wherever he went had already been spread around like wildfire for billions of miles; namely, these rumors were referring to the ''Secluded Immortal''.


    And along with these rumors came the interest of the Inner Deacons of the Sect, all of whom were in the Half-Step Unity Form Synthesis Realm and above!


    -


    "I thought you would be stronger¡­" Azmodeus muttered, his piercing gaze scanning over the strength of the Inner Deacon in front of him.


    He was hoping to use the Quintillions of Evolution Essence that he had amassed over the years; however, it seemed a tad bit pointless if the opponents were so weak¡­


    "Are you looking down on me, boy!? Do you know what position I hold within the River Serpent Sect!? I know you do, which is why I demand you hand over all the treasures in your possession! And on top of that, you will need to tell me what sort of wizardry you used to acquire all the treasures that your clones possess!"


    The Inner Deacon floated a little higher than the otherworldly handsome man in front of him, as he felt like he needed to get the high ground in order to assert his dominance!


    "..." Azmodeus stared up at the mentally handicapped Deacon as he asked, "Are you an idiot??"


    "!!!" The Inner Deacon practically erupted in fury right then and there as he fully unleashed an aura well into the Half-Step Unity Form Synthesis Realm!


    "You Are Truly Courting Death, Boy!!!"


    Following this ear-splitting shout, an energy ball was seen building up inside his hands, as it reached a size over a few feet in diameter, upon which he had to lift his hands into the sky and continue his amassing of goldish blue Qi.


    "Let''s see how cocky you are after I destroy everything within a million-mile radius!!!" He roared


    After a few minutes of allowing the energy to build up to a level where it looked like a sun was looking over the earth below, Azmodeus opened his eyes as an inexplicable sword gleam shed past his crimson pupils.


    "Bring back something stronger the next time youe. Oh, and use your main body because this is just cowardly of you."


    An apathetic voice echoed out, as a sword sh beyond anything that the Inner Deacon could''ve predicted was unleashed in his direction.


    "!!!"


    It was unknown in which direction the sword sh originated, as it could''vee from any number of areas and yet from a singr location all at the same time!


    However, it wasn''t like the Inner Deacon was given the time to think the matter over, as thest thought he had before the zing sun above his hands and his clone disappeared was, ''The Sword Law¡­''


    After which, the sun vanished from the skies, as the clouds cleared up for millions of miles in a fan-like shape.


    "Truly disappointing¡­" Azmodeus softly murmured before returning to his cave abode while receiving a multitude of different system notifications.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed the Essence Soul Clone of an Early Unity Form Synthesis Realm Inner Deacon of the River Serpent Sect!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 200 Quadrillion Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *Your Evolution Essence Bank has once again grown exponentially!*


    *Ding!* *If you allow your Evolution Essence Bank to cross the 1 Quintillion threshold, then you can begin to use Evolution Essence in order to progress yourprehension over the ''Laws''.*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte or roll for one of the Abilities of the Inner Deacon Clone?*


    "Assimte."


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 1.5 Quadrillion Stat Points in Strength, 1.4 Quadrillion Points in Speed, 1.6 Quadrillion Points in Defense, and 1.8 Quadrillion Points in Qi.*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat strength has drastically improved!*


    -


    Following all of the system notifications, Azmodeus entered his Cave Abode before heading over to Yang Hua and Nao Long, as he nced at their loving expressions with a small smile on his face.


    He didn''t know what it was, but whenever he saw those two, his emotionless side always seemed to break and crack a bit.


    It was unknown what was causing the passive side effects of his Traits to be negated like that, but it wasn''t like he hated it¡­


    Nevertheless, he walked past the two lovely women before heading to the kitchen, preparing to whip something up for the three of them.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 84: Rudimentary Time Rune, Finishing Off The Inner Deacon

    Meanwhile, inside a secluded location of the Inner Segments of the River Serpent Sect, a man with a wizened countenance who appeared to be in a deep state of meditation was abruptly woken with fury evident in his gaze.


    "How dare that little bastard defy me in such a way!?" He bellowed out while firing beams of light in every direction.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    His Cave Abode, along with a few million mountains, evaporated from existence, as the old man emerged from the rubble with an absolutely livid look on his face.


    "I swear I''ll kill you, boy! But before I do that, I''ll make sure to have some fun with those two women you attempted to hide away from me-!"


    His expression morphed into a disgustinglyscivious one, but before he could even finish his sentence, a razor-sharp, thin-de fment emerged from ayer of space beside his figure.


    "!!!" He didn''t even receive the time to notice this disturbance as his physical form was sliced up into a billion different pieces, subsequently turning him into a blood firework!


    "You should''ve just kept your mouth shut. If you did that, then you could''ve stayed alive a little bit longer."


    A voice that sounded like it originated from the depths of hell echoed out as a blue, illusory man with a disposition that seemed out of this world materialized from a small pocket dimension.


    "You think I didn''t know about your identity? Did you, Hong Go? If you thought you could invade my home and escape the discernment of my eyes, then you''re nothing more than a fool."


    Azmodeus made sure to set up a ''Divine Secrets Discernment'' Formation Rune Array in the area outside his home.


    He never thought he would have a reason to use this particr Formation Rune Array, but this Inner Deacon gave him the reason he needed.


    "Please, Sir! I didn''t realize you were such a great one! This one is incapable of seeing Mt. Tai and promises to kowtow before a statue of you from this day onward!"


    The Inner Deacon started to beg in his Nascent Soul form as he bashed his fists against the air with fervent passion.


    However, it looked like it made no difference for the merciless, fallen immortal-like man as he grabbed the Nascent Soul before squishing it.


    "NOoOo¡­!"


    A painful scream sounded before eventually dying out as the Inner Deacon''s life force dissipated.


    After which, Azmodeus absorbed the soul dust that was formed from the dispersal of the Inner Deacon''s Nascent Soul.


    Following the assimtion of a soul that used to belong to an Early Unity Form Synthesis Realm Cultivator, his main body not only received a plethora of system notifications but also a tremendous increase in overall soul quality!


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed an Early Unity Form Synthesis Realm Inner Deacon of the River Serpent Sect!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 10 Quintillion Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *Your Evolution Essence Bank has had its total value increased by a substantial margin!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte or roll for one of the Abilities of the being you just killed?*


    "Assimte."


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have gained 12 Quadrillion Stat Points in Strength, 11 Quadrillion points in Speed, 10 Quadrillion points in Defense, and 16 Quadrillion points in Qi.*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat strength has spiked up!*


    -


    Following all of the various system notifications, Azmodeus decided to use hisprehension of the Laws of Nature and Earth to remodel some of the evaporated mountains back to what they were before the Inner Deacon appeared.


    After a few shing green and brown lights erupted in the surroundings, he made his way back to his Cave Abode like an immortal descending from the heavens.


    If any mortals were around the area, then they would surely begin bowing while waiting for the teachings of the mysterious crimson-haired Sun Sword God!


    Nevertheless, this ''Sword God'' was weed with the sight of two voluptuous women giving him flirtatious nces as he passed them by before sitting back down on his cultivation mat.


    He didn''t really want to bother himself with the desires of a few pent-up girls.


    At least not at this point in time¡­


    Whether or not those values would change over the next period of time was unknown, as spending countless years in secluded cultivation could have any number of effects on someone.


    Even so, that was a topic for another, far older version of himself, as right now, the only thing he wanted to do was figure out how to better understand the ''Time Rune'', ''Space Rune'', and the ''Space-Time Rune''.


    He found a secret manual inside an Outer Elder''s storage ring a few months ago, and since then, he has been trying toprehend the profundities of the first few scribbles that were recorded in the ''Log of the Timeless Immortal''.


    However, no matter how much he scanned through the script, attempting to discern the dialect of anguage long forgotten, he couldn''t figure out a single thing besides how to create the stone that holds the rune.


    Of which, he had to kill hundreds of Void-Refining Realm Beasts just to acquire the most basic substitute materials for the ''Absolute Newbie Time Rune''.


    Furthermore, every single one of the Void Refining Realm Beasts possessedbat strengths above their cultivation base, making them extraordinarily hard to find even with hundreds of clones constantly scouring the Outer Segments of the River Serpent Sect.


    Nheless, after months of searching, he amassed enough materials to begin going through trial and error while transmogrifying them over and over again.


    On a side note, if it wasn''t mentioned before, then let it be known that transmogrifying was not omnipotent, and for it to create something especially high level, it needed at least the smallest ''essence'' contained within what you were using to transmogrify.


    In other words, you had to have a matching ''essence'' between what you were using as transmogrifying materials and what you were trying to turn them into.


    And in the case of the ''Time Rune'', all the ''essence'' required was essentially impossible to find with the typical trash and junk that Azmodeus kept within his storage bag.


    Even the higher-end stuff he possessed only contained a few of the special elements that were required as ''essence'' to make the Time Rune.


    It all went to show just how rare andplicated something that touched upon the concept of time was!


    And that was just to obtain the lowest level stone to hold the actual Time Rune¡­


    In addition, those were just the requirements for materials, not the actual secrets that needed to beprehended in order to inscribe the contents of the Time Rune on the stone.


    Which led to Azmodeus''s current quagmire, as he had been trying toprehend theplexities of the Time Rune for nearly a year, and yet he felt no closer to being able to effectively utilize the rune in order to affect time.


    He thought of himself as a genius to a degree, and that was true for most things.


    That was until now¡­


    Something was finally able to stump him, and unless he improved his Cultivation Talent even further, it was highly unlikely that he would be able to use even the lowest level Time Rune within the next century.


    And that wasn''t to mention the btedprehensions of the Space Rune and Time-Space Rune that were included in the ''Introductory Section'' of the Logs of the Timeless Immortal, both of which were left on backlog...


    ...¡­

 Chapter 85: The Crazy Yanderes, A Change

    ...¡­


    Azmodeus had tried looking past the Introductory Section of the Timeless Immortal''s Logs; however, whenever he tried to do that, he always cked out, leaving Yang Hua and Nao Long quite worried every time he did it.


    He inferred that this was likely caused by an information overload, and it was probably this phenomenon that interested the Outer Elder enough to keep this seemingly indecipherable booklet inside his personal storage ring.


    However, this particr phenomenon was one thing that was eventually made clear for the Anomaly, as after looking at the jumbled words on the book''s pages for long enough, they ultimately ended up organizing themselves without him even doing anything.


    It was unknown how this peculiar urrence worked, but it only benefited him, so he put it to the back of his mind and refocused onprehending the book.


    After a few hours of getting nowhere further with the Time Rune Comprehensions, he opted to work on improving his Professions instead.


    -


    A few hours were once again expended as he concocted various Peak-Earth Rank Pills, Formations, Arrays, weapons, and, of course, a few meals, which he had to relinquish to Yang Hua and Nao Long because he was a ''big dumb meanie for ignoring us!''.


    Those were their words, and considering their moods when they were cranky, he had no choice but to give up the Spirit Food¡­


    What was that saying again¡­?


    Ahh, yes, it was ''happy wife, happy life''.


    He thought the matter over for a second before realizing that he fell for their marriage brainwashing, as he lightly shook his head before diverting his attention to cultivation.


    The aforementioned series of events above was usually how he went about his days in the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode.


    Of course, that was excluding his outings with Yang Hua and Nao Long in the more popted areas of the Outer Sect.


    They would asionally drag him away from his cultivation after finishing their own cultivation sessions, as they would speak about ''breaks (dates) being good every once in a while.''


    He would always reluctantlyply before spending a few days doing everything that he was forced to do by his ''wives''.


    All three of them would receive stares from most people on the roads, leading to some rather troublesome situations with young masters,scivious old men, and even crazy women who imed Azmodeus as their own.


    They acted simr to how the twodies with him acted, but unfortunately for them, the OG crazies were far stronger and far, far crazier¡­


    Most of these ''outings'' typically ended with bloodbaths and massacres of both the male and female demographic, which was good for Evolution Essence acquisition but absolutely terrible for their reputation in every part of the Outer Sect¡­


    In fact, everyone besides the Ice Goddess of the Ice Goddess Sect obtained dangerously high bounties on their heads.


    Azmodeus and Nao Long had checked theirs a few months ago, and the rewards were well into the tens of thousands of Low-Rank Spiritual Stones for anybody who brought back their heads!


    For reference, a million gold coins were worth a single Lowest-Ranked Spiritual Stone, while Low-Rank Spiritual Stones were equal to the value of around 100 thousand Lowest-Ranked Spiritual Stones.


    Which was to say that the bounties on their heads were utterly astronomical and could likelyst a royal family of Rank 3 Kingdoms and above for many generations!


    For example, if the king of the Fire Nation were to acquire such a sum, then it was highly probable that he could hire enough Soul Transformation Realm Experts to immediately obtain a rank-up for their kingdom into Rank 3!


    Nheless, this all went toward the point that countless millions of cultivators were after the heads of the ''Crimson Devil God'' and the ''Nightmare Dragon Lord''.


    Azmodeus didn''t really like his name, but Nao Long could never seem to get enough when women screamed out her name with terror-stricken faces.


    Now that I think about it¡­ These two are beyond a little bit crazy, aren''t they?


    He looked toward the innocent-looking dragon girl giggling away while chatting with the Ice Goddess, as he couldn''t imagine her to be anything evil.


    But then again, he wasn''t some saint either, so it was hard for him to be unbiased when it came to the subject of knowing whether someone was ''good'' or ''evil''.


    Does it really matter all that much if you are evil or not¡­? I mean, everyone is working toward the same goal of bing the strongest, and it seems impossible that someonepletely pure is able to surpass all those around them and reach for an apex that doesn''t exist¡­


    No one in this world realizes that there is no limit to cultivation¡­ Which seems to make them believe that they should decide whether they are ''Evil'' or ''Good'' and stick with that path until they reach the ''Top''.


    Now that he started pondering the matter, everything that everyone did to decide where they stood on the karma scale seemed ridiculous.


    Why go through so much mental strain in order to abide by principles that lead to a goal that makes no sense to begin with¡­


    Something appeared to have fundamentally changed within him at that very moment¡ªsomething that had been looking to break free, unfettered, for a very long time.


    After this self-enlightenment, although he wouldn''t go on senseless genocides for no reason and for minimal benefits, he honestly couldn''t find himself caring if it happened by ident or in a fight.


    In the end, life and death were two sides of the same coin, and it was only natural that those who lived without gaining sufficient strength should be content with dying.


    It was hypocritical of him to say this after struggling to keep his life inside the Yang Sect all those years ago, but with time, things changed¡ªpeople changed¡­ Morals changed¡­


    He may have had inhibitions about killing people who were in the way when he was in the Yang Sect; however, after more than two dozen years since that point, his way of thinking had changed.


    He had be more aloof and distant than he was back then...


    There had always been a lone wolf aura that permeated around him since the moment he realized he was alone in life. But it was only after understanding the essence of exponentially progressive cultivation and the side effects of his Traits that he truly understood what it meant to acquire genuine passiveness.


    It was highly likely that if a vige was burning down right beside him, he would immediately bat an eye unless there were benefits to be had.


    And it was after this understanding of himself that he was able to enter a deep state of cultivation that could provide boons unlike anything he could''ve hoped to obtain with his previous mentality.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 86: Middle Void Refining Realm

    ...¡­


    With the passing of time and the changing of seasons, 7 years went by in a sh.


    Azmodeus had broken through to the Middle Void Refining Realm a few years ago and has since made great progress within the realm, as he predicted another breakthrough in the next dozen or so years.


    And if all went ording to n, then he should be able to break through into the Half-Step Unity Form Synthesis Realm by the time he turned 50!


    That may seem like half the lifetime for a mortal; however, for those who walked the path of limitless cultivation, 50 years was less than a nap for the true powerhouses.


    And for the aloof Anomaly himself, he had already be ustomed to the passing of time, and even if another fifty years passed him by, no change would ur in his temperament.


    Over the years, the only thing he truly yearned for was greater power.


    He did not yet know his reason for wanting more power; however, that was a topic that could be delved into over time.


    "Hey, Azmo!"


    "..."


    He was taken out of his loner reverie by the chirpy voice of a certain dragon girl, as she came in through the entrance of the cave abode before leaping in his direction with a giddy smile on her face.


    Too bright¡­


    There was just too much going on inside that pretty little head of hers, causing Azmodeus to put a hand in front of his face due to all the radiance being emitted from the short, overly well-endowed dragon beauty¡­


    Nheless, he let out a soft sigh before looking down at the girl rubbing her cheeks against his own as he asked, "Another killing spree¡­?"


    He could smell the iron from miles away, and Nao Long didn''t carry around any sort of weapon on her person¡­


    "..." Her eyes flickered erratically at his question as she stuttered while replying, "N-No¡­ Ho-How could you think such a thing about someone as cute as me¡­?"


    Azmodeus observed that guilty countenance of her''s before petting her head and asking, "The number¡­?"


    "...4¡­"


    "4-?"


    "4 billion¡­"


    "..."


    Azmodeus stared expressionlessly at the anxious woman before sighing and saying, "How did you manage to kill 4 billion people on a shopping trip? You were just meant to go get a few pairs of clothes¡­"


    "W-Well, there was this woman! And she had the gall to say that the ''Reclusive Immortal'' wasn''t as handsome as the rumors described him to be, so I-"


    "So you what?"


    "So I identally let loose an energy beam¡­ And then, well, boom¡­"


    "Boom?"


    "Yeah, the whole country disappeared¡­ Bu-But not everything is so bad, as there''s this cool crater that was left in its ce! We can go snowboarding sometime and make it a date!"


    Nao Long seemed topletely forget what she was talking about as she clung to his chest while smothering her breasts against his body, rambling on about all the things they could do with arge pit in the ground¡­


    *Sigh¡­* Azmodeus let out his third sigh for the day, as he figured it was time to call it quits and get back to cultivating.


    And just like that, time once again passed inside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode, and along with it were the two permanent residents and one resident who came by whenever she wasn''t busy with her sect duties.


    ...


    9 yearster.


    Azmodeus was beginning to see results from hisprehensions of the Time Rune, but not enough to write home about.


    On the other hand, all his aspects of existence had taken leap after leap, achieving speeds of progression that would''ve been impossible before increasing his innateprehension levels with the help of the profound concepts contained inside the ''Logs of the Timeless Immortal''.


    His Spirit Chef Profession was the first to make the leap into the Half-Step Heaven Rank, while his Alchemist Profession was the next to follow.


    And it didn''t take long before the rest of his professions made that jump into the Half-Step Heaven Rank as well.


    On a side note, his cultivation was infinitely close to breaching into the Late Void Refining Realm, while his Sword Aura had already progressed into the Low-Earth Rank, allowing him to summon a near-indefinite number of swords!


    Furthermore, with his currentprehensions of the Sword Law, on top of his Sword Aura, he could confidently take on someone in the Early Unity Form Synthesis Realm even without his additional boosts to basic attributes!


    Nevertheless, more improvements have been made than just that, as he was also able to increase dozens of low-mortal-levelws to the 10%prehension rate using Quintillions of his Evolution Essence!


    It cost a pretty penny, but the tradeoff was far worth it in his opinion.


    And while he was taking a quick second to go over his recent cultivation gains, he decided to check on his system interface, aiming to see all the changes that had been made over the years.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 55/6500]


    [Cultivation: Late Stages of the Middle Void Refining Realm.]


    [Overall Combat Power: Peak Stages of the Middle Unity Form Synthesis Realm]


    [Level: 95]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 110 Quadrillion]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 42 Quintillion]


    {[Stats:]}


    [Strength: 1.2 Quintillion]


    [Speed: 1.4 Quintillion]


    [Defense: 1.3 Quintillion]


    [Qi: 1.7 Quintillion]


    [Cultivation Talent: Absolute Peak-Heaven Rank]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Stealth - Level 5] (G Rank)] ¡ú [0/1 Quintillion]


    [Mirror Mirage - Level 5] (G Rank)] ¡ú [0/1 Quintillion]


    [Various other Traits] ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [Overall Attribute Boost: G Rank - (Level 5)]


    {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters]}


    [Fire God Refining Physique (Partial - 3/10 upgrades)] ¡ú [0/10 Quintillion]


    [Body Refinement Physique (Middle-Earth Rank)] ¡ú [0/10 Quintillion]


    [Spirit Animal Physique (Middle-Earth Rank)] ¡ú [0/10 Quintillion]


    [Reminder: All Basic Attributes have had too many boosts applied to them, ultimately ending up with the boosters being skewed, so all separate ''terms'' for boosters will be automatically included in the total stat unit.]


    [Reminder #2: Too many Traits have been added to the Trait section, and for the host''s discretion, a very small number of Traits will be shown. These Traits will be the highest level and Ranked Traits you possess ¨C Subject to change.]


    ¡ª------------

 Chapter 87: Pang Sheng Village, The Passing Of Time

    ...¡­


    After perusing the system interface, Azmodeus got a good gist of what had happened to it over thest period of time.


    And honestly, it came as quite a pleasant surprise to him. After all, the system interface was beginning to look rather cluttered.


    He just hoped this trend would extend to his physique''s when he amassed more than three of them¡­


    But for now, everything seemed to be progressing quite smoothly, as his Evolution Essence had already reached the Quintillions.


    And then there were Traits, of which he had around 65!


    Every single one of them could go for a rank up into E-Rank, but considering that he didn''t have enough Evolution Essence for such splurging, he decided to focus on the few that would give him the most immediate benefits.


    Following this decision, 20 Quintillion Evolution Essence was deducted from his Evolution Essence Bank, leaving him with around 22 Quintillion left.


    Well, there went all that saving I did¡­


    Hemented his bank ount essentially splitting in half for a few seconds before he looked at all his E-Rank Traits and saw all the various boons that came with this mass rank-up.


    In particr, his Mirror Mirage, Stealth, and Cloud Shroud Traits had all spiked up in overall effectiveness, as Mirror Mirage could now summon 10,000+ Mirror Mirage''s, all with increased strength margins and intelligence.


    Furthermore, his Stealth Trait was now capable of keeping him hidden from the sights of someone in the Half-Step Tribtion Transcendance Realm!


    And then there was his Cloud Shroud Trait, which had gained the ability to keep the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode underneath a deep veneer even without Nao Long being present.


    This would mean that something like what happened with the Inner Deacon would not happen again unless Azmodeus allowed it, or if the strength of the intruder surpassed the Unity Form Synthesis Realm.


    He doubted someone of that level woulde to his humble abode, but it was hard to say for sure, especially when considering that the River Serpent Sect was bing a little on edge with the continued advancements made by the Razgod Empire.


    The war between the two Apex Factions had already reached a point where only one of them would being out of the conflict in one piece.


    And when you put all the various hegemonies of both factions into the mix, it was hard to say if the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode would somehow find itself caught up in the tumultuous chaos.


    It was for this reason and many others that Azmodeus constantly worked on improving his cultivation, and he wasn''t nning to stop his industrious mindset any time soon¡­


    ¡­


    Time once again passed inside the cave abode of the ''Secluded Immortal'', as so many years flew by that mortals were beginning to make a new vige on the side of the mountain where Azmodeus resided.


    And on one particr day, a few of these mortals hiked up the mountain, looking to find the home of the one deemed the ''Crimson Devil God''.


    One would think that they would be scared about the idea of meeting a man with a name like that, and they would be correct¡­


    But the vigers had no choice¡­


    If they weren''t able to acquire the assistance of an immortal, then there would be no hope for their vige to be able to escape the cmity that had found itself at their doorsteps!


    -


    "Is this really the ce, Vige Chief?"


    The voice of a man wearing your averagemoner clothes resounded, as he looked toward a decrepit old man holding onto a walking cane while approaching the area underneath a sign that said ''Heaven Exploding Cave Abode''.


    There was nothing especially noticeable about this sign; however, every mortal looking up at it couldn''t help but revere the mere meaning implied behind such a domineering name.


    "..." The Vige Chief looked back at the man who spoke as he replied, "It was said that the immortal made a meteor fall down from the heavens a few dozen years ago, and the result of that meteor plummeting down was that hole in the top of this mountain."


    His finger was outstretched, pointing in the direction of a gaping hole that had a diameter of around three thousand meters.


    Azmodeus had forgotten to fix up the ''little'' hole that Nao Long made all those years ago, so in the end, stories started to spread among themon folk, depicting how meteors or battles among the gods urred in the area¡ªbattles that were said to have happened before most of them were even born.


    Nheless, it was precisely these types of rumors that led to the Secluded Immortal''s infamy being spread far and wide among those who lived in the surrounding areas.


    In fact, people imed that they had even seen a full-grown dragon pping its wings through the skies before abruptly transforming into a small girl.


    This girl would always walk up the ''Fallen Immortal''s Mountain'', seemingly going to meet the Secluded Immortal.


    She had been around for dozens of years, and even for the elders of the vige, they couldn''t recall a time in which she wasn''t part of the living myths of Pang Sheng Vige.


    And today in particr, the vigers of said vige made their way up the mountain, following the same path that the young dragon girl did, aiming to head straight into the tiger''s mouth of their own volition¡­


    -


    "Excuse me, Sir Immortal! We havee here from the nearby vige of Pang Sheng, looking for your guidance on a matter that could affect your peaceful life on Fallen Immortal Mountain!"


    The voice of the Vige Chief echoed out as he looked into the dimly lit cave in front of him¡ªa cave that held untold mysteries and a dangerous aura permeating the air around the entrance.


    However, after waiting a few minutes for a response and receiving none, the Vige Chief was about to go a little closer to the cave when suddenly, a voice that sounded like it came from ten different eras in time reverberated within the Cave Abode:


    "The only thing disturbing my peace is you all. But I shall hear you out just this once, so tell me what it is that has happened."


    "Y-Yes, Sir!" The Vige Chief responded while talking a few steps back in reverence before kneeling and continuing, "A few months ago, when the kids and younglings were ying around in the fields, a sudden phenomenon urred-"


    "A phenomenon?"


    "Ye-Yes, Sir Immortal. Following a sh of light that lit up the whole sky, a meteorite came flying down from the heavens!


    A few of us were injured when the meteorite fell, but we were lucky enough toe out of the encounter with no casualties-"


    "Get to the point," Azmodeus interjected with a tone that allowed no refusal.


    "O-Of course, Esteemed Sir!" The Vige Chief replied with sweat raining down his wrinkled face before he continued, "After this meteorite fell, it crashnded on a certain cliff, and since that moment, an indescribable glow has been emitted from the meteorite!


    And the weirdest thing of all was that the meteorite was incapable of being broken into pieces! In fact, we couldn''t chip off even the smallest of chunks, even after months of going at it with our strongest men¡­"


    ...¡­

 Chapter 88: A Mysterious Stone

    ...¡­


    "So what does this rock from the sky have anything to do with the status of my ''Peaceful Life''?"


    Azmodeus''s raspy voice came out in a dangerous way, oozing of killing intent, causing the Vige Chief of Pang Sheng Vige to kowtow on the ground while banging his head on the rocks until blood drew.


    And along with him, the rest of the vigers, including his son, followed right behind their Chief as over a dozen blood stains appeared on the area outside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode.


    "W-We don''t mean to offend you, Lord Sir! It''s just that this meteorite is not as simple as it seems! Ever since its appearance, there has been nothing but disease and death in the vige!


    Furthermore, some unknown energy has been leaking out from the meteorite, resulting in a good majority of our livestock going berserk and attacking us with no prior warning!


    In addition to all that, the meteorite has also negatively affected the weather and nature of all beings in the surrounding forest''s...


    I-If we don''t do something about this soon, Lord Sir, then it is highly likely that the entire ecosystem will morph into one of utter disarray and chaos, with no hope of returning to the way that life once was in our humble homes¡­


    That is why we havee here to beg you to help our people and the vige of Pang Sheng¡­"


    The Vige Chief was unable to bow any lower as he awaited the response of the elusive immortal with baited breath.


    And he wasn''t the only one in such a state of trepidation, as the rest of the vigers were acting the same way, with both fear, excitement, terror, and expectancy written on their faces.


    -


    "..." Azmodeus thought the matter over for a few moments while sitting on his cultivation mat with Yang Hua leaning against one side of his chest and Nao Long snuggling into the other side.


    "What do you girls think?" He asked the two sleeping beauties.


    "Mhmm¡­~" Nao Long woke up with a drowsy expression as she rubbed her big, beautiful eyes in an adorable way before responding, "Just kill them and sleep with me¡­ Mhmm¡­~"


    After getting out those psychopathic words, she rolled over before going back to sleep with a content look on her face.


    Azmodeus nkly stared at this scene as he realized that he would acquire nothing useful from that crazy woman as he looked toward the other crazy person, expecting a different answer.


    However, in the end, his expectations were set too high, as she mumbled, "Just kill them and be done with it¡­"


    Following her insane words, she made herselffortable in hisp and wrapped her slender arms around his waist before quickly falling back to sleep.


    Azmodeus figured he would obtain nothing useful from those two megalomaniacs, but he didn''t think it would be so bad¡­


    Maybe I should just kill the viger''s as they suggested¡­?


    At this thought, he quickly shook his head before throwing aside the homicidal tendencies and moving onto a different train of thought.


    This ''Meteorite'' is clearly something that came from beyond theyer of space above us, and based on the description of the viger''s, it should be capable of exuding so much Qi that it is even capable of giving mortals with no resistance to overabundant Qi levels a disease called ''Qi Spores''.


    It''s a disease that leads to a very painful death, which, more often than not, happens to subsequently cause beasts to enter an enraged state aftering into contact with such a death.


    And it''s also highly likely that the level ofpressed Qiing off of the meteorite is so high that it''s capable of affecting the topography and overall weather in the surrounding area.


    Following these discerning thoughts, he decided to follow these vigers with one of his Mirror Mirage''s, all of whom had reached a sufficient level of intelligence to be capable of using a basic dialect¡ªa dialect that allowed one to converse with lower life forms like humans.


    FWIP!


    A blue illusory man of impable beauty materialized outside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode as it looked toward the kneeling vigers beforemanding, "Get up and lead me to this ''meteorite''. I wish to know why something that''s able to emit so much Qi has found its way into your small vige to the north."


    "!!!" The Vige Chief and the rest of the viger''s turned their heads up to the man who seemed to be in this reality and yet somewhere else entirely, as they shouted, "We are beyond ted to be graced with the presence of the mighty immortal! Please forgive us for not already having the appropriate amodations for someone as great as you are!"


    "Forget the pleasantries and lead my clone to the crash site," Azmodeus responded with a dry tone before walking past the still-kneeling vigers.


    ''A clone¡­?'' The vigers thought in unison before snapping out of their reveries and rushing over to the Secluded Immortal.


    ¡­


    After a few minutes of sucking up to the Immortal, the vigers ultimately led him up a hill on the outskirts of Pang Sheng Vige.


    And as soon as they approached this location, they bore witness to the sight of arge granite stone that had cracks spreading throughout its twenty-meter-long body.


    These cracks were emitting a deep blue and purple glow, as this was a clear sign of their being an overload of absurd amounts of Qi.


    To have so much Qi that it has even started to take on a liquid form¡­ Just what is it that I''m looking at here¡­?


    Azmodeus had never seen anything quite like it, as although the ridges and crevices of the meteorite were like any other rock out there, the energy and molecr makeup of this thing were beyond anything that should be possible!


    However, with his status as a Half-Step Heaven Ranked Profession Master of six different professions, he could tell that this stone was something extraordinary with just a nce.


    But what he didn''t know was what exactly made it so extraordinary¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 89: Rou Tian, A Disciple

    ...¡­


    Is it some form of giant spiritual stone, or maybe some sort of treasure piece?


    Azmodeus pondered the matter of therge stone in front of him as all the vigers waited for the Secluded Immortal to speak.


    And when he finally did, they were both surprised and overjoyed, as he announced, "I will be taking this stone back with me. And all the weird oddities surrounding its existence should shortly disappear not long after."


    "!!!" The Vige Chief was ecstatic at this promation, but when he recalled what happened when they tried to take the meteorite away from its spot, he said, "S-Sir Immortal, the weight of this thing is extremely high, and even with your superb strength, I doubt-"


    *Pi-Pang!*


    Azmodeus had the stone on one of his hands as he turned toward the astonished old man and asked, "What was that?"


    The Vige Chief quickly snapped out of it as he replied, "N-Nothing at all, Good Sir! Just the ramblings of an old man who wishes to bid you farewell on your journey back to Fallen Immortal Mountain!"


    Azmodeus observed the old man''s facial expressions for a second before he saw a young girl around 8 years old pop her head out from behind the friendly old man.


    "Is that your daughter?" He inquired with a curious gleam in his eyes.


    There''s something special about that kid¡­


    "Yes, she is, Esteemed Sir! Her name is Rou Tian, and she is my only granddaughter, born to my youngest daughter.


    Don''t be rude, Rou Tian. Go and introduce yourself to the kind immortal."


    Following the old man''s words, a girl with a face that was as cute as a button slowly moved away from her grandpa with a shy expression.


    "M-My name is Rou Tian¡­ It-It''s very nice to meet youu-..."


    *Thud!*


    She tripped a little on her long, frilly pink dress as shended on her buttocks with a difited countenance.


    "..." "..." "..."


    All the vigers looked at this scene with their eyes wide open, as they never would''ve expected the young girl to be so clumsy while in the presence of an immortal!


    And just as they were about to scold the girl for her rude behavior, a lightughter escaped the mouth of the blue, illusory man as he looked at this scene with an amused expression.


    "Say, girl, would you like toe and pursue the infinite path of cultivation with me?"


    His question resounded as it took the stunned vigers out of their reveries.


    "???" Rou Tian wore an embarrassed look on her face as she always made mistakes like this when talking to new people, but when she heard the question voiced by the mysterious, handsome immortal, she turned her slightly frazzled appearance upward before looking into those gentle eyes of his.


    They were blood red like a rich apple''s outeryer, as she didn''t know how to speak after gazing into his pupils¡­


    However, after a few seconds of staring at him, she eventually snapped out of it as she said, "An Immortal¡­ I can be one¡­? Someone pretty like you...?"


    "Hah¡­" Azmodeus chuckled a little at this childish and innocent question before he replied, "You can have everything I have and more. All you need to do is say that you will be my disciple."


    A sparkle passed by Rou Tian''s big, brown eyes as she lightly nodded her head before turning her cute face in her grandfather''s direction and asked, "Can I go¡­?"


    The Vige Chief was still reeling in from all the shocking events, but he still retained the necessary lucidity to respond, "Before your mother passed away, she asked me to guarantee your safety at all times, and from what these old eyes of mine can discern, there is no safer ce for you than beside the Esteemed Immortal, so if that is what you wish, make your own choice."


    A warm and elderly smile was stered on his face as he petted the cheerful girl''s bed of soft brown hair before getting up off the ground.


    After which, he headed back toward where the other stunned vigers were standing¡ªall of whom had their mouths agape.


    And nobody could me them for their astonishment, as there was a real-life immortal asking if young Rou could be his disciple!


    Not a single one of them wasn''t jealous, but more than that, they were happy that one of their own was able to acquire the favor of the immortal.


    Nevertheless, the girl in question had her long brown pigtails swing a little in the air as her big, adorable eyes practically oozed excitement, her gaze focused on the otherworldly man.


    And after looking into those mesmerizing eyes of his once again, she said, "I want toe with you¡­ I want to have pretty eyes like yours!"


    "..." "..." "..."


    Her reasoning left all her fellow vigers in a state of bafflement, as they just knew that girl would say something ridiculous like that¡­


    However, it seemed like a certain immortal found her quite funny, as hisrge handnded on her head, soft rubsing not long after, as he said, "It''s nice to meet you, Rou Tian. My name is Azmodeus, and from this day onwards, I will be your master."


    "!!!" Rou Tian''s eyes practically had stars materialize inside them as she responded, "En! It''s nice to meet the pretty immortal as well! So when will I have eyes like yours!?"


    "..."


    She seems to adapt quite well, huh¡­?


    It was this thought that made Azmodeus think she would make a perfect fit for his personality, and it was through this thought that he turned toward all the vigers and said, "I will be taking Rou Tian away for now, and after I pass on enough of my teachings, she will be allowed toe back down Fallen Immortal Mountain. That is fine with all of you, is it not?"


    "W-Why of course it''s fine, Esteemed Immortal! This is truly the blessing of ten generations of luck for the girl!"


    After receiving the Vige Chief''s confirmation, Azmodeus carefully picked up the giddy girl¡ªa girl whose eyes never seemed to leave his own.


    Following the lifting up of the girl, his figure vanished, and along with it, both the colossal meteorite and Rou Tian disappeared.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 90: First Disciple Becomes Accustomed

    ...¡­


    A few millisecondster, inside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode, a blue illusory man formed from thin air, along with a curious young girl and a stone that nearly reached the roof of the cave.


    "Who''s that¡­?" Yang Hua questioned with a dangerous glint in her eyes.


    It seemed like she and Nao Long were immediately woken up when Azmodeus''s Mirror Mirage appeared with a stone and, of greater concern, with a girl¡­


    "Who''s this floozy, Azmo¡­?" Nao Long inquired with a tone just as deadly as the Ice Goddess''s.


    *Pitter patter*


    Rou Tian was frightened by the res she was receiving as she backed away in fright, hiding behind Azmodeus''s back while clutching onto his robes.


    She was still trying to figure out where the pretty, red-eyed man had taken her, and then those scarydies appeared¡­


    "Stop scaring the girl, you two. She''s just a kid, and she''s also my first disciple, so be nice to her from now on."


    Azmodeus''s voice interrupted the deadly thoughts of the two busty women as they harrumphed before walking over to his body in elegant fashion.


    "You better not get any ideas about my man!" They both spoke in unison while wrapping their bountiful, milky white breasts around his arms, their tongues sticking out in the young girl''s direction.


    Rou Tian didn''t know what was happening, but she still had the courage to respond, "I don''t know who you two prettydies are, b-but the red eyed man is my master, so-"


    "Wait." Both Yang Hua and Nao Long interrupted her words as they asked, "You think we''re pretty? Really??"


    "Yes¡­ Prettydies¡­" Rou Tian replied in a meek tone.


    "..." "..."


    At this response, both of the two crazy women became overly bashful as they murmured, "You don''t need to butter me up like that!"


    After which, Nao Long said, "And from now on, you can just call me Eldest Mother instead of dy'', Kay?"


    "What do you mean by you being the Eldest Sister?? Your brain cells must surely have been going toward making your fat bags bigger, because it''s abundantly clear that I''m the Eldest Mother!"


    Yang Hue voiced her opinion with her arms crossed under her equally voluptuous breasts, as she looked toward the irritated expression on the dragon girl''s face.


    "Are you looking to fight, you dumb cow??" Nao Long asked with furrowed brows, her violent, purplish-colored aura fluctuating a little around her.


    "Ha!?" The Ice Goddess wore a look resembling that of a gangster, her aura reaching levels just as intense as the dragon''s.


    And just as their shing of auras was about to reach its apex, Azmodeus interrupted them with a couple karate chops to the head as he said, "Calm down, and stop scaring my disciple."


    "..." "..."


    Both of them turned their heads up to the immortal-like man as they scoffed a little at each other before heading toward the girl¡ªa girl who was beginning to resemble a young doe.


    And after a few minutes of silently quarreling about who would be the Eldest Mother and subsequently the First Wife of Azmodeus, they ultimately decided to y rock, paper, scissors!


    After a fierce battle of the hands, the rock paper scissor gods chose Yang Hua as the Eldest Wife!


    Which meant that Nao Long was left with the position of the Second Wife!


    She was extremely salty about this oue, but in the end, she thought the dumb bimbo would forget about this slight victory at some point, and after that point came, they would be able to call for a retry!


    However, the best part about the whole situation was that neither of them were married to Azmodeus¡­ Which meant that they were ying house with no one but themselves¡­


    ¡­


    After a few hours of getting Rou Tian some food and catching her up to speed with the most basic of Body Refinement Realm secret manuals he possessed, he was pleasantly surprised to find out that the girl was quite gifted when it came to cultivation.


    Well, ''quite'' was an understatement in this scenario, as from the perspective of the less monstrous geniuses, Nao Long and Yang Hua, her talent was even above their own¡­


    In fact, her talent in cultivation was so high that they wouldn''t doubt it if she revealed that she was actually an old monster who decided to restart her cultivation from the very beginning!


    However, for the Anomaly, her talent was only ''slightly above average''.


    This evaluation left the two ''wives'' in aplicated state, as they suddenly realized that they needed to work a whole lot harder in cultivation if they wished to keep up with their man!


    After all, even after all this time, Nao Long''s cultivation had only reached the Later Stages of the Middle Void Refining Realm, while Yang Hua was merely in the Peak Soul Transformation Realm¡­


    And that progress was only made possible with all the high-rank pills, arrays, formations, runes, and spiritual stones that their ''husband'' gave them on a daily basis.


    At this point, they might as well have been moochers who slouched around all day,ying their lewd bodies sprawled out for their ''husband''s'' enjoyment¡­


    Now that they thought about it, they had more than paid their dues with just their presence''s!


    Yeah, yeah! He should be more than pleased after looking at me all day! Ha! It''s time to get back to snacking!


    In spite of the thoughts of the two narcissistic bums, Azmodeus was currently meditating in front of the girl who had already entered the Strength Training Stage.


    He was speaking of all hisprehensions in the Dao, and although she found it hard to keep up with everything he said, she still managed to gain a substantial amount of boons just from listening to him speak.


    None of this was very useful in the Body Refinement Realm, but it would definitely help to solidify her cultivation base to a good enough level for future reference.


    Nevertheless, the days passed by inside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode as Rou Tian progressed further in her cultivation with each hour that went by.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 91: A Cat!?

    ...¡­


    In the blink of an eye, 10 years had passed.


    Today marked the day that the Crimson Devil God''s youngest disciple reached her 18th birthday, and it was also the day in which she would venture into the outside world and find her own path.


    Or at least, that was how it was supposed to go¡­


    But when Azmodeus asked her if she was ready to head out and explore, she replied, "No, thank you. I would prefer to stay here and cultivate with you, Master."


    "Is there a reason?" He questioned with a raised eyebrow.


    "Are there any ces out there with as nice a benefit package as this one?" Rou Tian asked.


    "Probably not, but don''t you want to-"


    "Then no, I wish to stay here with you, Eldest Mother, and Second Mother."


    Following this response, she closed her eyes and went back to cultivating, attempting to breakthrough from the Golden Core Realm into the Nascent Soul Realm.


    *Sigh¡­*


    Azmodeus let out an exasperated sigh before giving up on the disciple that was way too simr to himself, as he walked away from the country-toppling beauty and made his way toward the other two troublesome, all the more beautiful women.


    They never seem to age¡­ In fact, why do they always appear more beautiful every time I see them¡­?


    As his thoughts veered in a certain direction while conversing with both of them, some big movements were being made between the conflicts of the Razgod Empire, the River Serpent Sect, the Ice Goddess Sect, and the Judoka Sect.


    All of which were absolute Apex forces of the Northern Spirits Continent, and all of whom were constantly going at each other''s throats!


    A few weeks ago, one of the Grand Elders of the River Serpent Sect personally acted, and when he did, trillions of miles ofnd forever disappeared from the territory of the Judoka Sect¡­


    This caused rtions between the two opposing factions to sour even further, eliciting the Judoka Sect to make a big decision and call for an alliance with the Razgod Empire.


    Such an alliance would eventually lead to an all out war of never-ending bloodshed¡­


    And to think that it all developed into this because a Young Master of the Judoka Sect decided that he fancied one of the granddaughters of the River Serpent Sect''s Fourth Grand Elder.


    The Young Master in question had kidnapped and r*ped the Grand Elder''s daughter a few months ago.


    After the Grand Elder learned of this travesty done to his favorite granddaughter, he rushed over to the Judoka Sect in a flying rage, and in that rage, a decent chunk of the Judoka Sect had evaporated!


    Although the wounds done to the earth could heal with the assistance of a few powerful Tribtion Transcendance Realm Cultivators, the damage done to millions of affiliate sects and kingdoms could never be undone¡­


    And there was, of course, the fact that the Young Master of the Judoka Sect, someone hailed as a once-in-a-million-year genius, was killed slowly and cruelly by the River Serpent Sect''s Grand Elder.


    It was this event, among many others, that led to the burning of all bridges between the two factions and subsequently between the Ice Goddess Sect and Razgod Empire as well.


    All of this was to say that many sinister ns were being concocted in the shadows of plots ofnd that stretched on for quadrillions of miles of lush earth¡­


    However, for a certain Crimson Devil God cultivating his life away inside his Cave Abode, the only thing on his mind was whether or not he should try cracking open the meteorite he found a dozen years ago.


    -


    "It has been so long, and I still can''t figure out what exactly it is that''s so special about thisrge stone¡­"


    With an intrigued gleam in his eyes, Azmodeus gazed at the twenty-meter-long meteorite that looked exactly the same as it did ten years ago.


    Even after such a long period of time, the amount of energy contained within the stone had not diminished in the slightest. In fact, it appears to have grown to a substantial degree.


    He continued his scrutiny of the stone, his body taking swift steps around it using his ''sh Step'' technique.


    It was a technique that he personally developed, and it was also something meant to make the most use of his extraordinarily fast speed.


    Although it was only of the Late-Earth Rank, it was still capable of being ranked up, and even with its rtively low rank, it was able to increase his overall instantaneous speed far beyond what it was without it.


    Nevertheless, he used this technique to take a few circles around the meteorite, attempting to locate something that might lead to him understanding exactly what it was that was producing all the overly condensed Qi.


    And after a few seconds of ncing at every inch of the stone, a hint finally presented itself before him!


    "Is that a hole?" He asked, his eyes focused on a slight keyhole in the shape of something that closely resembled the bookmark he found in the Logs of the Timeless Immortal.


    After locating this key hole, he took out an esoteric bookmark from his storage ring, looking over the mysterious symbols inscribed all over it before walking to the key hole and inserting it inside.


    Following the cement of this bookmark, he waited for something to happen, and it didn''t take long as the bookmark vanished from thin air before phasing its essence into the keyhole, resulting in a bright sh of purple light erupting from the meteorite!


    BLING!


    It blinded everything in the vicinity with its overwhelming sheen before eventually dying out, as something truly unexinable was left in its ce¡­


    "Is that a cat¡­?"


    Azmodeus was looking at a small cat that seemed to be no older than a few weeks; its fur was as white as freshlyid snow, while its eyes were clearer than the vast, boundless sky that nketed the world.


    This cat slowly got up from its curled-up ball position as it turned its cute face in the direction of the immortal-like man before the craziest thing happened¡­


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 92: Limitless World Beyond

    ...¡­.


    "Did I find myself in the Heavenly Realm?"


    The cat spoke!


    Not only that, but it spoke more fluently than most who were natives of thenguage!


    "!!!" Azmodeus was more than a little surprised by the abrupt voice of the kitty, as he raised an eyebrow before muttering, "A talking cat from a space rock? And what did it mean by the ''Heavenly Realm''?"


    His thoughts leaked a little, resulting in the white kitty focusing its slitted eyes on the immortal.


    "Which Immortal Faction are you from? I wish to contact your direct superior, Heavenly Seraph, and get my ascension process brought back to the front of the line."


    The cat spoke in a refined and elegant fashion, and based on her tone, it should be a she.


    "..." Azmodeus observed the kitty give orders like it owned the ce as it made its way throughout his Cave Abode with the disposition of a queen.


    "So you''re not going to tell me who you are and why you came from a stone?" He inquired.


    The frolicking cat swiveled her head back in his direction before responding, "Why would I do that? Upon seeing my form, you should be able to immediately tell what my identity is-


    Wait¡­


    Where is my- No¡­ This can''t be!


    Why am I not in my Spirit God Form!? And where''s my nuclear essence, my Eternal Life Force, even my God Seed¡­


    For God''s sake, what happened to my Divine Samsara Crown!?"


    The cat was beginning to freak out as it was making weird movements while leaping around the alchemy room of the cave abode.


    "Furthermore, why are the Qi levels so abysmally low in this ce!? Hold up¡­ Are those faint signs of Starry Qi and Dimensional ne Qi¡­ Don''t tell me¡­


    Are we on a Mortal ne!? And on one of the lowest of the lowest levels!? In addition, its location is on the Cosmic Board¡­ How is that possible¡­? Something like this shouldn''t exist in the third dimension!"


    The kitty''splexion suddenly became a lot paler as it turned its distraught expression back up to the immortal before asking in an urgent tone, "Where is your Piece Ruler!? I need to see him right away!"


    "Cosmic Board? Third Dimension? Piece Ruler? I have no clue what you''re talking about¡­" Azmodeus replied with a bewildered look on his face.


    Every single term this odd cat uses is somethingpletely beyond the scope of my knowledge¡­


    He didn''t know if the alien cat was just ying tricks on him, but there was definitely something fishy going on here.


    However, he was quickly taken out of his thoughts by the frantic voice of the cat as she gazed through his crimson pupils, attempting to understand everything she wanted to know.


    But as soon as she tried doing something like that, her mind split apart into countless small pieces before spreading out across all of reality!


    "NOoOoo¡­! Even my Divine Soul is working against me!? The backfire is taking away my memories, but this can''t be¡­ My power¡­"


    A fire of resistance suddenly lit up inside the cat''s ocean blue eyes as she made a drastic decision right then and there!


    "I must give it all up¡­ But my memories¡­ I refuse to give them up! They are mine! Even if you Lord over your own Transcendent Divine Boundary, do you think I''ll bend over and take it without fighting back!?"


    She turned her piercing gaze up to the sky above, her sight traveling countless realities and endlessly stretching spaces that infinitely transcended the ones that came before.


    Her vision left the scope ofyers of fiction and the border of everything in existence before finding herself on the streets of a called Earth, and after watching people go about their days with varying looks on their faces, her incorporeal form vanished from sight as it passed through countless infinitely stretching dimensions.


    And after a period of time that couldn''t be measured as ''time passed'', she made her way to a bright sh of light in an infinitely expanding boundless dimension¡ªa dimension that was stacked on top of countless other splendiferous dimensions of untold proportions, all of which transcended the one that came prior in an indefinitely stretching spiraling staircase of resplendence!


    After reaching this point, her vision zoomed out even more as the infinitely stretching, infinitely stacked dimensions vanished from view.


    She ultimately found herself staring at something that almost looked like a tick from the Earth; however, the very essence that made up the tick had long since transcended theposition of a tick from the earth as we know of it.


    Her vision once again left that area of the boundlessly stretching Cosmoverse as she saw the tick shrink to the size of a small dot on a carpeted staircase.


    After which, her sight found itself leaving another infinitely stretching piece of a Cosmic Construct, ultimately leading her to what appeared to be an elephant of unfathomable proportions floating in some form of cubed container in the infinitely Expansive Void.


    Following this zoom out was onest expanding session, finally leading her to a space that transcended space¡ªand above this space was the faint silhouette of a tree¡ªa tree so dazzling that no amount of words would be sufficient enough to describe its immensity!


    After this zooming out, countless other concepts and constructs of varying degrees, all bigger than thest, faded out of view as well.


    So many mysterious blots of light, containing levels of the unknown beyond anything fathomable, appeared and vanished in quick session, leaving even greater concepts of existence in their ce.


    After an infinite amount of time, yet no time at all having passed, the white cat caught sight of what it was looking for!


    "No matter whichyer of the Boundless Verse you hide your Divine Boundary in, do you think I''ll simply leave you to your own devices!? For stripping away my rules of existence, I will take everything from you!"


    "You Dare-!?"


    A voice that would instantly cause the death of even the highest-ranked immortals and gods nearly reverberated, which would''ve caused entireyers of transcended reality to implode, including the one in which Azmodeus''s Mortal Realm resided in, but before it could¡­


    "Just disappear."


    Following the release of a voice that sounded like it originated from a different era on an entirely different scale of sound measurement, the indescribable blot of light in the sky copsed in on itself!


    The cosmic construct crushed against other parts of itself, as an uncountable number of dimensions possessing an infinite amount of life forms¡ªsuch a construct was crushed in on its weight!


    "You Damn Spirit God!!! Your kind will burn, and you will pay dearly for this one when the Penultimate God Kinges out from his venturing of the Quantum nk Realm! I guarantee your death!!"


    The rage-filled and anguished shouts of the mysterious being echoed as the blot of congregated light ultimatelypressed to the size of something infinitely small before instantly exploding out and expanding to a size that couldn''t be measured by any known measurements!


    "This will be your penance, and I hope you live out your eternity in despair, while knowing that your misery was born from the hatred of the one you have been wishing to die since the day I came to be."


    The cat''s sardonic voice echoed out in the Boundless-verse, as she watched the destruction of something that even the strongest of the Cosmo Gods could only hope to bear witness to first-hand!


    During this utter, indescribable chaos, her gaze honed in on the effulgent light¡ªa light that enveloped everything and yet nothing at the same time.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 93: The White Cat Awakens

    ...¡­


    After watching this light reach a sufficient degree, a small smirk emerged on the cat''s feline features as she watched itpress back down to the size of an infinitesimally small particle before it repeated that process again¡­


    And again¡­ and again¡­ and again¡­ and again¡­


    It happened so many times that the light itself was beginning to meld into the very foundation of the fabric of existence that enveloped everything.


    The light achieved a level of perfect equilibrium with something beyond the understanding of anything in existence. And it was only after it reached this point that the cat left the space that embodied the word ''Boundless'', but not before noticing the appearance of beings with halos that covered their heads and their bodies yet never left their heads at the same time.


    These existences were impossible to describe, as dazzling lights encroaching upon Transcendanced Transcendance were being emitted from their boundless figures, which only added to what one could glimpse of their appearance''s¡ªappearances that would look nothing more than intangible pieces of abstract art to gods, possessing body dimensions that shouldn''t even exist¡­


    They were concepts and ideas, and yet they were the embodiments of things as well as living and dead beings all at the same time¡­


    However, no matter how they appeared in the eyes of lower existence''s, to the smirking cat, they were nothing more than clowns chasing the tail of something that would grow its fangs and devour them whole if they weren''t careful!


    "I will be back for you all, so make sure to have your Transcendent Divine Boundaries ready on a golden tter for me!"


    Following the fearless, cryptic words of the unfathomable cat, her figure vanished from the sights of the countless divine beings, all of whom felt an inexplicable shiver crawl down their very essence of existence.


    -


    The white kitty made her way through the various fabrics of the Boundless Reality, as she zoomed past countless exponentially shrinking-sized constructs belonging to different time periods and different degrees of existence.


    After an infinite amount of intermittent time passed, she stopped in her tracks before erupting with a radiant sh of radiance bordering on Quintessential Regality!


    "This should be enough to divert their attention to this corner of the Boundless-verse¡­"


    She took one good look at the vibrant and dazzling multi-colored cosmic constructs that surrounded her on all sides before sighing and letting loose her true form.


    WAAAA!


    It was unknown what the exact specifics of this form of hers were, but there was no doubt in the minds of any Paradigm Hegemony that the level of power she possessed was still far beyond anything capable of being withstood¡­


    And it sufficed to say that all borderingyers of existence perished the moment her form was unleashed upon the Boundless-verse!


    Fiction Layer after Fiction Layer was shattered one after the other in infinitely quick session!


    Thismotion was enough to attract the attention of all the Divine Beings, as an infinite number of auras on the precipice of something unknown approached her location at speeds that had already surpassed the term ''speed''.


    "This is the end of all that I''ve worked for¡­ But with my memories, that is everything I need to make my way back to the top, and when I do¡­"


    The obscure being''s face seemed to morph into something utterly terrifying, as a few Omniverses vanishing from the Boundless-verse were the result of this fluctuation in emotions.


    However, such intensity didn''tst long, as she was out of time, and her only option was to expend every remaining ounce of her strength in order to seal the parts of her memories that would be harmful to the version of her that would be starting at the very beginning once again.


    "This is the end¡­ Goodbye, and do treat me well once I make my return¡­"


    Following these cryptic words, an explosion of colors that transcended everything in existence erupted from her unfathomable figure, resulting in a countless number of nearby Divine Beings and infi-dimensions meeting their untimely demise.


    Something akin to a supernova raised to the power of infinity, stacked on top of infinity more infinities, made itself known within the Boundless Boundless verse, holding unfathomable levels of destruction...


    ***


    Meanwhile, inside a cave abode of the River Serpent Sect, a man akin to an immortal was looking at the small body of a gorgeous white cat, which appeared to have¡­ died¡­


    "Why did you suddenly die in the middle of freaking out¡­?" Azmodeus asked the corpse a question as he once again checked all its vital signs, only to end up with the same diagnosis as before.


    However, abruptly and out of nowhere, the cat''s corpse jolted back to life before finding itselftched onto a stone roof with its razor-sharp ws dug extremely deeply into the stone.


    "What are you doing up there?"


    Azmodeus''s nonchnt voice echoed out, as he figured that the cat wasn''t dead to begin with.


    "...Human¡­ You''re a human variation, are you not?" The cat questioned from on top of the roof.


    "Yes, I am, but why does that matter? And are you going to tell me what you were talking about earlier?"


    "...A human¡­ I see¡­ So a Great Cataclysm has urred¡­ But in this backwater location of all ces¡­"


    The cat spoke in a cryptic tone as she leaped off the wall beforending on all four of her paws withplete elegance.


    "You do not need to know who I am, and you don''t need to know anything about what I was speaking of. I only have one question for you."


    "And what would that be?" Azmodeus inquired with an amused voice.


    He would normally not answer anything if it wasn''t done the same for him, but he was just too curious about the oddities surrounding this cat to do something like that.


    And just as he expected, the cat''s question was quite an intriguing one¡­


    "What level of reality are you aware of? And what cultivation realms can you see up towards?"


    The white cat took step after step in his direction. After which, it leaped up onto his shoulder before awaiting his answer with an expectant gleam in her eyes.


    "..." Azmodeus found the question to imply many different things, and from that alone, he could infer a number of special things about this cat.


    Nheless, he still responded, "I don''t know what you mean by ''level of reality'', but the current known limit of cultivation is the Mahayana Realm. Although I believe that there is something beyond this realm."


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 94: Jue Mei

    ...¡­.


    "...You don''t even have an awareness of a low level Reality Scale?? And the Mahayana Realm¡­ That is so low¡­ How could I be sent down to such a lower ne of existence¡­?"


    The cat seemed to be a little despondent as she looked up at the skyless sky with a dull color to her gaze.


    "How could I have fallen so low¡­? I wasn''t even able to start out in the higher nes of a Mortal Realm¡­"


    She eventually turned her slitted eyes back down toward the human as she asked, "And what is your cultivation?"


    "You''re not going to ask my name first?"


    "Your name is irrelevant, but since you are so insistent on pleasantries, I ask you, what is your name?"


    "Mhmm, better. My name is Azmodeus. What is yours?"


    He stared into those dazzling blues of hers, as he could feel something inexplicable swirling around inside them.


    Nevertheless, he waited for an answer, which he got after she thought the matter over for a second:


    "My name is something that you wouldn''t be able to pronounce."


    "Try me," Azmodeus said.


    "...Very well¡­ ?&$+*;"!?]|¡Ì¦Ð€£¤~¡ì"


    "How much of that could you understand?" She inquired with a slight grin.


    Azmodeus looked at the smirking kitty as he sighed and asked, "Do you have anything that I can call you by? Something simpler¡­"


    "I do, but based on the unusualness of your name, I don''t think it really fits the current civilization," she responded while licking at her dangerously sharp ws.


    "Oh, well, you don''t need to worry about that, for my name is an outlier and doesn''t represent the world norm."


    "An outlier, huh¡­"


    The cat seemed to show a little more emotion after hearing that term, as her eyes glossed over for a moment before she said, "My name is Jue Mei, and I am also known as the Supreme Ruler of the Seven Astral Divines."


    "The seven what?" Azmodeus questioned with a perplexed tone.


    He tried pronouncing the full name inside his head; however, in less than an instant, hepletely forgot what he was thinking about.


    "Don''t bother yourself with the matter that you don''t remember anymore. I forgot about the restrictions on lowest-level existence''s, so just tell me what it is that you do here," Jue Mei said.


    Azmodeus looked at the kitty on his shoulder with a confused expression before eventually snapping out of it as he muttered, "Jue Mei is quite the conceited name, is it not¡­"


    "What was that?"


    "Nothing. As for your question, all I do is cultivate and a little pest control here and there," he replied with his gaze focused on a far-offnd¡ªand where his Mirror Mirage''s were currently cornering an Inner Deacon that had the gall to attack them in broad daylight.


    Death Beams were being set off in quick session, as the quakes caused by the massive explosions could even be felt from the Heaven Exploding Cabe Abode.


    Jue Mei followed his gaze; however, without any of her strength, she was utterly helpless in well¡­ everything...


    This fact annoyed her a little bit as she used her paws to cup the human''s cheeks before saying, "Stop looking away from me. I don''t like being ignored."


    "...I see¡­ So are you really not going to tell me anything about yourself?" Azmodeus asked after a moment of looking into those serene yet deadly eyes of hers.


    "I would tell you, but your head would likely explode, and I would prefer not to be dirtied with blood this early on," Jue Mei responded with an apathetic tone as she spoke withplete seriousness.


    "Is that so¡­"


    Azmodeus was beginning to think that he was being yed the fool by a talking alien cat, but in the end, he decided to leave the matter aside for now as he walked in the direction of his cultivation mat.


    "I assume you have no problem with the passing of time, Miss Supreme Beauty?" He asked with an amused expression as he sat down in a lotus position, preparing to begin his cultivation session.


    "..." Jue Mei heard the question and couldn''t help but recall herprehensions of the concept of time.


    After a few milliseconds of thinking, she found out that she was left with an empty mind on the subject of time.


    Nheless, she answered his question with a voice that seemed to contain the profundities of cosmicws beyond description, as she said, "You have no idea what I know of the passing of time."


    "You could''ve just said yes, but this works as well, for I prefer to cultivate in peace for extended periods, and if you wish to, there is a spare cultivation mat over there that should help in improving your non-existent cultivation base."


    Azmodeus had his finger pointed toward a mat with ancient tapestries hanging off the side of it.


    This was the mat that was left as a spare for the two other residents of his cave abode, but now it had a new potential user.


    And just as he expected, the white cat leaped off his shoulder before finding her way to thefy cultivation mat.


    After which, she curled up into a snuggly ball and began a unique cultivation session that Azmodeus wasn''t familiar with.


    "How are you able to cultivate while lying down and with your mind somewhere else entirely?" He asked with a puzzled tone.


    Not once in his life had he ever seen someone cultivate in such a way. And if it weren''t for the Qi swarming toward her in massive amounts, then he would''ve doubted whether or not she was even cultivating to begin with¡­


    However, his queries would soon be answered, as Jue Mei turned her lethargic gaze upward before waiting a few hours to answer¡ªa few hours where she simply stared at him while constantly gathering Qi, and after the energy around her body reached a sufficient point, it all dispersed at once, resulting in her breaking through into the Qi Condensation Realm.


    Following this ridiculously fast breakthrough speed, she conjured up a booklet from thin air using her memory of something profound, as she tossed the book in the human''s direction before saying, "Here, this contains the intricacies of a technique I used when I was still on the Orthodox path of existence.


    It should assist you in whatever it is you n on doing in your short-lived and inconsequential life."


    ...¡­..

 Chapter 95: Early Unity Form Synthesis Realm, Disciples Progress

    ...¡­..


    "It''s called ''The Path of a Paradigm'', and you can think of it as a form of payment for letting me stay in this cave abode for the rest of my time here.


    Of course, after you die from old age, I will likely still be here to look over this ce¡ªa ce that suits my tastes quite a lot, I might add."


    After getting out her words filled with a plethora of different meanings, the mysterious alien cat focused back on what she was doing, while Azmodeus looked down at the pitch ck booklet in his hands.


    On the book cover, there was anguage that didn''t seem to belong to thisyer of reality, but regardless of theplexities of thenguage, he could still figure out the name¡­


    "The Path of a Paradigm¡­" He muttered, feeling some sort of energy resonate from within his very essence of being.


    Following this unexinable feeling, he opened up a page of the book, and the first thing he saw was the description of a technique that should be what Jue Mei was using to cultivate without actively focusing on cultivation.


    "Elusive Ascension¡­" He softly murmured the name of the technique before attempting to understand theplexities thaty within.


    ¡­


    Like the flowing of a deep stream or the migration of flocks of birds, time once again passed inside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode.


    14 yearster.


    Rou Tian was still cultivating without respite, as Azmodeus had given her many profound techniques toprehend over the years.


    And after such a long period of time, she seemed to have figured out which attribute she felt the most affinity for.


    That affinity being focused on the ''Gravity Element''!


    It was unknown what made her feel such a close connection with such a niche element, but in the end, this element, along with the proper techniques¡ªall of which her master looted from Inner Deacons¡ªmade it possible for her to increase her overallbat power into the Early Void Refining Realm!


    And considering that she was only in the Peak Soul Transformation Realm, this was an amazing achievement!


    On a side note, both Nao Long and Yang Hua had progressed their cultivations into the Late Void Refining Realm.


    Their talents were not equal to each other, but with the constant cultivation resources that they received from their ''supplier'', it was only natural that their cultivation had improved by leaps and bounds at the same rate.


    On the other hand, the Anomaly had managed toprehend the ''Elusive Ascension'' technique and was able to cultivate even while working on improving all his Laws and Professions.


    And on a particr day within the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode, the day when he approached the zenith of the bottleneck between the Half-Step Unity Form Synthesis Realm and the Early Unity Form Synthesis Realm had finallye along.


    In addition, the breakthrough into the Heaven Rank of all his Professions had also made itself known!


    If he yed this right, then he expected to be in not only the Unity Form Synthesis Realm but also a multi-Heaven Rank Profession Master by the end of the month!


    ...


    Nearly four weekster, after an intense Qi storm overwhelmed everything inside a certain section of the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode, a man with long, crimson ck hair and eyes, possessing a physique beyondpare, stood up from his cross-legged position.


    Blood drizzled down his lips, and his face was scorched to an inhuman degree, but he didn''t even seem to quantify the pain as he walked out of his private cultivation room, passing by countless cracked protectiveyers on his way.


    There were millions of Heavenly Veneer Formation Rune Array''s set up as well, which were put there in order to keep his breakthrough hidden from the Inner Elders, all of whom were hunting him down like it was apetition to see who would end up being the one to take his head.


    Nevertheless, the most infamous person in both the Outer Sect and Inner Sect of the River Serpent Sect seemed to have his mind in apletely different direction of focus¡­


    I managed to understand all aspects of the Void and subsequently achieved all the various Void realms before reaching for perfect Unity.


    Namely, Iprehended the aspects of ''Void Inquiry'', ''Void Pration'', ''Void Destruction'', ''Void Supreme'', and ''Void Dispersion''.


    And after achieving a state of perfect unity with all aspects of my existence, along with washing my body in the Void Law, I was sessfully able to break through into the Early Unity Form Synthesis Realm.


    -


    The Unity Form Synthesis Realm.


    The Unity Form Synthesis Realm is split up into 4 Minor Realms


    Early Unity Form Synthesis: Minor Unity


    Middle Unity Form Synthesis: Greater Unity


    Late Unity Form Synthesis: Major Unity


    Peak Unity Form Synthesis: Complete Unity


    Half-Step Tribtion Transcendence: Overflowing Unity


    To breakthrough into the Unity Form Synthesis Realm, you must glean into your understanding of the Void Law before you wash your body with the Void Law to a certain point before you''re able to break through.


    To progress through the Unity Form Synthesis Realm, you must acquire a modicum of ''Unity'' between all your 5+ aspects of existence.


    -


    Azmodeus had sessfully broken through to the Early Unity Form Synthesis Realm, meaning that he had achieved Minor Unity in all aspects of his existence.


    This was to say that he was slowly but surely reaching a state of perfect equilibrium, and if he kept treading along this path as he has, then it would take no time at all for him to obtain something called ''Overflowing Unity''.


    However, that was for a him a few dozen years from now, as the only thing on his mind at the moment was figuring out how to further improve his overallbat power.


    Although he possessed abat power that was roughly a single Major Realm above his own before breaking through, after reaching the Unity Form Synthesis Realm, hisbat power was unable to cross the threshold between the Unity Form Synthesis Realm and the Tribtion Transcendence Realm.


    That just went to show the exponential discrepancies between Major Realms the further you progressed.


    It was this fact that led to him deciding to work on improving hisbat power, and with the saving up of an utterly insane amount of Evolution Essence numbering in the Sextillions, he knew exactly what he would be spending a good sum of it on¡­


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 98: True World of Prometheus, Starry Expanse

    ...¡­.


    After a few minutes of walking, You Mei and Li Na found themselves at the entrance to a wide and vast cave, which they naturally assumed to be the Secluded Immortal''s Cave Abode.


    "Can wee in?"


    Li Na''s frosty voice echoed out as she looked toward the cave abode''s depths, expecting an answer from someone inside.


    And she didn''t need to wait long, as a deep and raspy voice that contained many profundities reverberated through the surroundings:


    "So you two are the senior sister''s that Yang Hua has been speaking about, huh-?"


    "It''s Wifey, not Yang Hua!"


    A different voice interrupted the voice transmission before Azmodues spoke once more and said, "Don''t spout nonsense and get back to cultivating, Yang Hua."


    He seemed to be pushing away a clingy woman on the other side of the voice transmission before continuing his words by saying, "You have clearlye here for me, but why-?"


    "Don''t listen to that bimbo, for it''s quite obvious that I''m the wifey of the two of us!" Another feminine voice interjected.


    "???" "???"


    You Mei and Li Na were confused about what was going on inside the cave abode, as they definitely heard what sounded like their youngest junior sister.


    Nheless, Azmodeus pushed away the second woman just the same as the first one before saying, "You too maye in. Just try not to destroy anything, okay?"


    Following those words, the voice transmission cut off, and it was obvious that he had allowed them entry.


    "Should we go in?" You Mei inquired with a perplexed tone.


    "Of course we should; now hurry up and get in there."


    Li Na''s response was instantaneous, as she had already started her approach into the cave abode.


    Mei Ling''s footsteps weren''t too far behind, as she and her Elder Sister traveled into the Tiger''s Den.


    -


    A few secondster, the two jade beauties found themselves in the presence of a man whose physical appearance was beyond words.


    He was so divinely beautiful that they could guarantee that they had never seen anyone even half as attractive!


    No wonder the youngest junior sister is so obsessed with this man¡­


    Their thoughts seemed to align with each other before they were taken out of their reveries by the voice of the immortal-like man sitting down before them:


    "So what is it that you two want from me?"


    "..." Li Na regained herposure, as the iceyer encasing her heart was still as impermeable as ever.


    After which, she responded, "As you likely already know, we are the two eldest Ice Goddesses of the Ice Goddess Sect."


    "I do seem to recall that fact, but what does that have to do with your visit today?" Azmodeus questioned with a raised brow.


    "Well¡­ The truth is that we wish to ask for your assistance in providing Heaven Rank Pills for the Ice Goddess Sect," Li Na replied with a mildly embarrassed voice.


    It was quite shameful to go to a stranger, requesting something for a sect as big and epassing as their own, and Azmodeus knew this as well, which was why he asked, "What is it that you need these pills so urgently for? I''m aware of the pride that top sect''s have, and I also know that not a single one of you would request anything unless it was absolutely necessary."


    A discerning gleam shed past his deep crimson-colored eyes, as he seemed to have figured out something quite important from what she had told him so far.


    Li Na realized she had been caught red-handed, as she had heard of the perceptiveness of the Crimson Devil Lord, but she never would''ve expected him to be able to figure out everything so soon.


    And considering that she was the one asking for something in this situation, she just went ahead and outright requested, "We need your skills over Alchemy in order to help us ovee our enemies in the war with the Judoka Sect."


    "Figured as much, but you aren''t telling me the whole truth, are you?" Azmodeus spoke with a suspicious voice.


    Li Na was about to let out a sigh of relief, but after hearing his question, she immediately knew that things wouldn''t end so easily when dealing with this man.


    "I was told not to inform you of this part, but the truth is that the true reason we so desperately need these Heaven Rank Pills is because we are attempting to break the barrier that separates us from the Starry Expanse and also what lies between us and the true world of Prometheus."


    "The True World of Prometheus? I thought we were in Prometheus already?"


    Azmodeus voiced his question with an interested glint in his gaze as he leaned his hand up to his cheek, further entuating his chiseled facial features.


    "..." "..."


    Li Na and You Mei were left a little bit awestruck by this new pose of his, as it took them a second to snap out of it.


    After which, Li Na refocused her eyes on his before she said, "What you know about Prometheus is that the Northern Spirit Continent is thergestnd mass in the world and is often referred to as the ''Maind'' by the natives of the smallernd massesnd masses that we refer to as the Boundless Archipgo. This is correct, right?"


    "...Yes, it is, but this rtes to our conversation how?"


    "Well, the truth is that although the Ocean that surrounds the Maind is truly boundless with no end in sight, and though we do not know how far the Boundless Archipgo stretches on, what we do know is that there is something more, not beside us but above us¡­"


    Li Na stuck a finger into the air before an inexplicable sh of light passed through her eyes.


    "What you''re saying is that¡­"


    "Yes, there is a whole new world up past our own¡ªa world that is called the ''Starry Expanse''"


    Li Na finished his words for him before continuing, "However, not everything is as simple as it seems, for if one wishes to breach past Prometheus and into the Starry Expanse, one needs to amass enough strength to shatter the world barrier. But to do that with one person''s strength is¡­"


    "Impossible." Azmodeus finished her sentence this time around, as it wasn''t hard to infer how much strength was required to shatter something like a world barrier.


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 99: Late Unity Form Synthesis Realm, Resistance Training

    ...¡­.


    "So you need the Heaven Rank Pills to gather up enough strength in numbers in hopes of overwhelming the barrier with the unique essences of what I assume to be Mahayana Realm Cultivators," Azmodeus said with furrowed brows, seemingly thinking about something.


    "!?" Li Na was extremely surprised by his discernment skills, as he kept on giving her one surprise after another.


    And for some reason, such a capable man caused the icyyer around her heart to crack a little.


    On the other hand, in the case of the Second Eldest Ice Goddess, she was already wet¡­


    You Mei rubbed her sensual legs together with a crimson red blush on her wless face; however, she was swiftly taken out of her flushed, lusty state by the res of two particr women who were watching this whole interaction go down.


    *Shiver!*


    She shuddered a little bit at their deadly stares before discarding the horrified thoughts as she harrumphed and softly murmured underneath her breath, "You can''t control who I do or don''t go after."


    After which, she joined in on the conversation with her Eldest Senior Sister, attempting to get her own input in, which included the loosening of her robes to the point where more of her sweaty cleavage could be better seen.


    She also threw a few seductive nces in his direction while biting her lower lip in an alluring way.


    Azmodeus was not oblivious to her advances, but then again, he didn''t really care, so after talking to them for a few hours, he served them some tea before bidding farewell to the two jade beauties.


    He had, of course, given them the pills they requested. In fact, he gave them ten times what they asked for at the same cost, with the only condition being that they bring him all the spare materials they could find.


    Neither of them understood his reasoning, but after a moment of thought, they figured there were no possible disadvantages in this arrangement, so they agreed right away and went on their merry way''s.


    After they left, Azmodeus wore a small grin on his face, as he had not only acquired some extremely interesting information, but he had also managed to obtain a constant scrap supplier on top of what his Mirror Mirage''s brought back from their murder spree''s!


    This would most definitely lead to faster recycling rates and subsequent faster cultivation speeds for not only himself but also for those two couch potatoes mooching off of him.


    Speaking of those two she-devils, they were currently looking at him with deathly stares, which contrasted greatly with those cute pouts on their faces.


    "What is it?" He asked, his head tilted at an angle and one of his brows raised.


    "You big dumb meanie! There is no way you are getting away from us after all that flirting you did with those traitorous senior sisters of mine!"


    Yang Hua''s exmation echoed out inside the cave abode as she was the first to attack him with her full-power punches!


    "Yeah, you shtupid cheater! How could you be so flirtatious right in front of us!?"


    Nao Long wasn''t too far behind in the beating fest, as the Crimson Devil Lord eventually ended up with two soft and bouncy women using his body to let out their frustrations...


    This is just another form of training... Resistance Training...


    -


    The days continued to pass by inside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode as the two Ice Goddesses made their way back to the Ice Goddess Sect, and along with them were tens of thousands of Heaven-Ranked Pills¡ªall of which could fetch a price well into the hundreds of thousands of High-Rank Spiritual Stones.


    And every single one of them now belonged to the Ice Goddess Sect, which would surely aid them greatly in their war with the Judoka Sect.


    One might wonder why they were so surprised by this, considering that they did ask for thousands of pills to begin with, but the truth was that rhey were only asking for thousands of Heaven Rank Pills to gauge where it was that the Crimson Devil Lord stood on the Alchemist Scale.


    In reality, they were expecting maybe a handful of Heaven Rank Pills¡­


    After all, concocting Heaven Rank Pills was something nearly impossible and required even the greatest of Grandmaster Alchemist''s a few months to concoct a single one.


    And yet there was really a young man no older than 150 who was capable of concocting tens of thousands of them!


    Furthermore, from the report made by Li Na and You Mei, it didn''t even seem like that was his limit...


    This news led to the immediate interest of the Ice Goddess Sect''s Sect Leader, as she had already decided to do whatever was necessary in order to acquire the permanent friendship of the Crimson Devil Lord.


    However, not everyone was thinking like her, as a few high-ranking elders of the sect had different intentions upon hearing of this information¡ªfar more sinister intentions¡­


    ¡­


    Time was fleeting and often evanescent, as 30 years passed by in the blink of an eye for those in the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode.


    After all this time, Azmodeus had long since broken through to the Late Unity Form Synthesis Realm, achieving Major Unity over all aspects of his existence.


    Furthermore, if his calctions were urate, then he was only a couple dozen years away from breaking through to the Peak Unity Form Synthesis Realm!


    After achieving the Peak Unity Form Synthesis Realm, the Half-Step Tribtion Transcendance Realm, and the 1st Stage Tribtion Transcendance Realm, he would finally be able to use his Evolution Essence without any inhibitions!


    Of course, he could use it right now if he wished to, but it would be such a hassle to only focus on perfecting his cultivation base after that point, so unless it was absolutely necessary, he preferred not to go splurging all willy-nilly.


    Additionally, he was a hoarder by nature, and the one thing that he hated most of all was using up his treasures!


    Not unless he absolutely had to, that was¡­


    And with the new visitors on one day in particr, he might end up being forced to burn through his stash after all¡­


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 98: True World of Prometheus, Starry Expanse

    ...¡­.


    After a few minutes of walking, You Mei and Li Na found themselves at the entrance to a wide and vast cave, which they naturally assumed to be the Secluded Immortal''s Cave Abode.


    "Can wee in?"


    Li Na''s frosty voice echoed out as she looked toward the cave abode''s depths, expecting an answer from someone inside.


    And she didn''t need to wait long, as a deep and raspy voice that contained many profundities reverberated through the surroundings:


    "So you two are the senior sister''s that Yang Hua has been speaking about, huh-?"


    "It''s Wifey, not Yang Hua!"


    A different voice interrupted the voice transmission before Azmodues spoke once more and said, "Don''t spout nonsense and get back to cultivating, Yang Hua."


    He seemed to be pushing away a clingy woman on the other side of the voice transmission before continuing his words by saying, "You have clearlye here for me, but why-?"


    "Don''t listen to that bimbo, for it''s quite obvious that I''m the wifey of the two of us!" Another feminine voice interjected.


    "???" "???"


    You Mei and Li Na were confused about what was going on inside the cave abode, as they definitely heard what sounded like their youngest junior sister.


    Nheless, Azmodeus pushed away the second woman just the same as the first one before saying, "You too maye in. Just try not to destroy anything, okay?"


    Following those words, the voice transmission cut off, and it was obvious that he had allowed them entry.


    "Should we go in?" You Mei inquired with a perplexed tone.


    "Of course we should; now hurry up and get in there."


    Li Na''s response was instantaneous, as she had already started her approach into the cave abode.


    Mei Ling''s footsteps weren''t too far behind, as she and her Elder Sister traveled into the Tiger''s Den.


    -


    A few secondster, the two jade beauties found themselves in the presence of a man whose physical appearance was beyond words.


    He was so divinely beautiful that they could guarantee that they had never seen anyone even half as attractive!


    No wonder the youngest junior sister is so obsessed with this man¡­


    Their thoughts seemed to align with each other before they were taken out of their reveries by the voice of the immortal-like man sitting down before them:


    "So what is it that you two want from me?"


    "..." Li Na regained herposure, as the iceyer encasing her heart was still as impermeable as ever.


    After which, she responded, "As you likely already know, we are the two eldest Ice Goddesses of the Ice Goddess Sect."


    "I do seem to recall that fact, but what does that have to do with your visit today?" Azmodeus questioned with a raised brow.


    "Well¡­ The truth is that we wish to ask for your assistance in providing Heaven Rank Pills for the Ice Goddess Sect," Li Na replied with a mildly embarrassed voice.


    It was quite shameful to go to a stranger, requesting something for a sect as big and epassing as their own, and Azmodeus knew this as well, which was why he asked, "What is it that you need these pills so urgently for? I''m aware of the pride that top sect''s have, and I also know that not a single one of you would request anything unless it was absolutely necessary."


    A discerning gleam shed past his deep crimson-colored eyes, as he seemed to have figured out something quite important from what she had told him so far.


    Li Na realized she had been caught red-handed, as she had heard of the perceptiveness of the Crimson Devil Lord, but she never would''ve expected him to be able to figure out everything so soon.


    And considering that she was the one asking for something in this situation, she just went ahead and outright requested, "We need your skills over Alchemy in order to help us ovee our enemies in the war with the Judoka Sect."


    "Figured as much, but you aren''t telling me the whole truth, are you?" Azmodeus spoke with a suspicious voice.


    Li Na was about to let out a sigh of relief, but after hearing his question, she immediately knew that things wouldn''t end so easily when dealing with this man.


    "I was told not to inform you of this part, but the truth is that the true reason we so desperately need these Heaven Rank Pills is because we are attempting to break the barrier that separates us from the Starry Expanse and also what lies between us and the true world of Prometheus."


    "The True World of Prometheus? I thought we were in Prometheus already?"


    Azmodeus voiced his question with an interested glint in his gaze as he leaned his hand up to his cheek, further entuating his chiseled facial features.


    "..." "..."


    Li Na and You Mei were left a little bit awestruck by this new pose of his, as it took them a second to snap out of it.


    After which, Li Na refocused her eyes on his before she said, "What you know about Prometheus is that the Northern Spirit Continent is thergestnd mass in the world and is often referred to as the ''Maind'' by the natives of the smallernd massesnd masses that we refer to as the Boundless Archipgo. This is correct, right?"


    "...Yes, it is, but this rtes to our conversation how?"


    "Well, the truth is that although the Ocean that surrounds the Maind is truly boundless with no end in sight, and though we do not know how far the Boundless Archipgo stretches on, what we do know is that there is something more, not beside us but above us¡­"


    Li Na stuck a finger into the air before an inexplicable sh of light passed through her eyes.


    "What you''re saying is that¡­"


    "Yes, there is a whole new world up past our own¡ªa world that is called the ''Starry Expanse''"


    Li Na finished his words for him before continuing, "However, not everything is as simple as it seems, for if one wishes to breach past Prometheus and into the Starry Expanse, one needs to amass enough strength to shatter the world barrier. But to do that with one person''s strength is¡­"


    "Impossible." Azmodeus finished her sentence this time around, as it wasn''t hard to infer how much strength was required to shatter something like a world barrier.


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 99: Late Unity Form Synthesis Realm, Resistance Training

    ...¡­.


    "So you need the Heaven Rank Pills to gather up enough strength in numbers in hopes of overwhelming the barrier with the unique essences of what I assume to be Mahayana Realm Cultivators," Azmodeus said with furrowed brows, seemingly thinking about something.


    "!?" Li Na was extremely surprised by his discernment skills, as he kept on giving her one surprise after another.


    And for some reason, such a capable man caused the icyyer around her heart to crack a little.


    On the other hand, in the case of the Second Eldest Ice Goddess, she was already wet¡­


    You Mei rubbed her sensual legs together with a crimson red blush on her wless face; however, she was swiftly taken out of her flushed, lusty state by the res of two particr women who were watching this whole interaction go down.


    *Shiver!*


    She shuddered a little bit at their deadly stares before discarding the horrified thoughts as she harrumphed and softly murmured underneath her breath, "You can''t control who I do or don''t go after."


    After which, she joined in on the conversation with her Eldest Senior Sister, attempting to get her own input in, which included the loosening of her robes to the point where more of her sweaty cleavage could be better seen.


    She also threw a few seductive nces in his direction while biting her lower lip in an alluring way.


    Azmodeus was not oblivious to her advances, but then again, he didn''t really care, so after talking to them for a few hours, he served them some tea before bidding farewell to the two jade beauties.


    He had, of course, given them the pills they requested. In fact, he gave them ten times what they asked for at the same cost, with the only condition being that they bring him all the spare materials they could find.


    Neither of them understood his reasoning, but after a moment of thought, they figured there were no possible disadvantages in this arrangement, so they agreed right away and went on their merry way''s.


    After they left, Azmodeus wore a small grin on his face, as he had not only acquired some extremely interesting information, but he had also managed to obtain a constant scrap supplier on top of what his Mirror Mirage''s brought back from their murder spree''s!


    This would most definitely lead to faster recycling rates and subsequent faster cultivation speeds for not only himself but also for those two couch potatoes mooching off of him.


    Speaking of those two she-devils, they were currently looking at him with deathly stares, which contrasted greatly with those cute pouts on their faces.


    "What is it?" He asked, his head tilted at an angle and one of his brows raised.


    "You big dumb meanie! There is no way you are getting away from us after all that flirting you did with those traitorous senior sisters of mine!"


    Yang Hua''s exmation echoed out inside the cave abode as she was the first to attack him with her full-power punches!


    "Yeah, you shtupid cheater! How could you be so flirtatious right in front of us!?"


    Nao Long wasn''t too far behind in the beating fest, as the Crimson Devil Lord eventually ended up with two soft and bouncy women using his body to let out their frustrations...


    This is just another form of training... Resistance Training...


    -


    The days continued to pass by inside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode as the two Ice Goddesses made their way back to the Ice Goddess Sect, and along with them were tens of thousands of Heaven-Ranked Pills¡ªall of which could fetch a price well into the hundreds of thousands of High-Rank Spiritual Stones.


    And every single one of them now belonged to the Ice Goddess Sect, which would surely aid them greatly in their war with the Judoka Sect.


    One might wonder why they were so surprised by this, considering that they did ask for thousands of pills to begin with, but the truth was that rhey were only asking for thousands of Heaven Rank Pills to gauge where it was that the Crimson Devil Lord stood on the Alchemist Scale.


    In reality, they were expecting maybe a handful of Heaven Rank Pills¡­


    After all, concocting Heaven Rank Pills was something nearly impossible and required even the greatest of Grandmaster Alchemist''s a few months to concoct a single one.


    And yet there was really a young man no older than 150 who was capable of concocting tens of thousands of them!


    Furthermore, from the report made by Li Na and You Mei, it didn''t even seem like that was his limit...


    This news led to the immediate interest of the Ice Goddess Sect''s Sect Leader, as she had already decided to do whatever was necessary in order to acquire the permanent friendship of the Crimson Devil Lord.


    However, not everyone was thinking like her, as a few high-ranking elders of the sect had different intentions upon hearing of this information¡ªfar more sinister intentions¡­


    ¡­


    Time was fleeting and often evanescent, as 30 years passed by in the blink of an eye for those in the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode.


    After all this time, Azmodeus had long since broken through to the Late Unity Form Synthesis Realm, achieving Major Unity over all aspects of his existence.


    Furthermore, if his calctions were urate, then he was only a couple dozen years away from breaking through to the Peak Unity Form Synthesis Realm!


    After achieving the Peak Unity Form Synthesis Realm, the Half-Step Tribtion Transcendance Realm, and the 1st Stage Tribtion Transcendance Realm, he would finally be able to use his Evolution Essence without any inhibitions!


    Of course, he could use it right now if he wished to, but it would be such a hassle to only focus on perfecting his cultivation base after that point, so unless it was absolutely necessary, he preferred not to go splurging all willy-nilly.


    Additionally, he was a hoarder by nature, and the one thing that he hated most of all was using up his treasures!


    Not unless he absolutely had to, that was¡­


    And with the new visitors on one day in particr, he might end up being forced to burn through his stash after all¡­


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 100: The Seven Reapers, Testing Battle Power

    ...¡­.


    "So, who are those shadows waiting outside the cave abode, Azmo?"


    The pretty voice of a voluptuous dragon woman resounded as she looked to the cultivating man for answers.


    "..." Azmodeus slightly opened up one of his eyes, only to see the dragon girl in an extremely lewd position, as her shirt might as well not have been there with how far back she was leaning on a nearby leather couch.


    Nheless, he decided to teach her a lesson about decencyter, as right now, those stalking figures were approaching the cave''s entrance with no concern about whether their presence''s were made known.


    Are they not Assassin''s¡­?


    But if they aren''t Assassins and they know of my approximate strength, then that must mean they''re quite confident in their chances, huh?


    He analyzed the situation with a discerning glint in his eyes as he got up from his lotus position and walked in the direction of the entrance.


    After making it a few steps outside, he was greeted with the sight of eight figures, all of whom tried not the slightest bit to keep themselves hidden.


    "You all are¡­?"


    *Thud! Thud!*


    Thergest of the cloaked figures walked out of the group, carrying some form of ck hammer-axe that was nearly three times his already enormous size!


    "I am the Iron Death Reaper of the Eight Reapers that hunt in the daylight, and we havee here to take your life on orders of the Ice Goddess Sect''s Sixth Grand Elder, Second Grand Elder, and Third Grand Elder!"


    Azmodeus stared nkly at the man who gave away quite literally everything.


    "Are you stupid or something?" He questioned with a disdainful look on his face.


    "What did you say, boy!? You think I''m stupid for telling you what I did, don''t you!? But what you don''t know is that I haveplete confidence in killing you the moment you act up!"


    The Iron Death Reaper took a step back as he unleashed his full strength, resulting in his shirt being sted into another universe!


    And along with it was everything in a one hundred trillion-mile radius!


    Or at least, that was what should''ve happened, but the moment he tried something like that, Azmodeus tapped his de handle a little bit.


    SHING!


    A crisp, unsheathing sound echoed out as only the strongest of the cloaked figures could see what had happened, but even then, it was already far toote to save their rash junior brother.


    "H-How can this be¡­?"


    The voice of the Iron Death Reaper sounded out in a disbelieving murmur as he saw his own body get sliced up into a countless number of pieces.


    However, he wasn''t even allowed the time to figure out what exactly had happened, as his head followed not long after¡­


    Furthermore, his Nascent Soul and Essence Soul were not left out of the fun, as they too vanished from the face of the!


    After thoroughly killing the Iron Death Reaper, a number of system notifications swarmed Azmodeus''s vision.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed an 8th Stage Tribtion Transcendance Realm Cultivator from the Ice Goddess Sect.*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 20 Septillion Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte the stats or roll for one of the Abilities of the cultivator you just killed?*


    "Assimte."


    BLING!


    *Ding!*


    *You have obtained 21 Septillion Stat Points in Strength, 23 Septillion Stat Points in Speed, 20 Septillion Stat Points in Defense, and 28 Septillion Stat Points in Qi.*


    *Ding!*


    *Your overallbat power has tremendously improved!*


    -


    After all the system notifications finished sounding out, Azmodeus looked toward the rest of the cloaked figures.


    "So, who''s next?"


    "..." "..." "..."


    The seven men and women in the Tribtion Transcendance Realm expressionlessly stared at the brazen man before them as one of them stepped forth.


    He was a tall man with a goatee, wearing some sort of funny-looking top hat, and he was in the 9th Stage of the Tribtion Transcendance Realm.


    "Why is it only one of you? I feel like it would be wiser if you all fought me at the same time," Azmodeus said.


    "There is no need for all that. After all, I am not like the Iron Death Reaper and am ranked within the top 4 of the Reaper Brigade, and my name is the Darkened Reaper!"


    BOOM!


    Following the words of the cloaked man, he jumped forward with all his strength, resulting in a corner of the mountain copsing in on itself!


    Azmodeus had to stop the force that was released by the Reaper''s feet from spreading, as he used hisprehensions of the Time Rune in order to slow the damage down a bit.


    After which, he muttered, "Can you not destroy my home so carelessly?"


    "What need do you have for a home when you''re about to die¡­?"


    The Darkened Reaper''s voice reached the Crimson Devil Lord''s ears as he phased right next to his body at utterly insane speeds!


    A malicious glow shed past his eyes as his face blurred, putting all his momentum into a sideways spinning kick capable of toppling entire Sr Systems!


    Azmodeus swiveled his apathetic gaze in the direction of the iing kick as he simply¡­


    Backed up a little.


    "!!!" The Darkened Reaper wasn''t able to stop his own attack, as his legs were already in the middle of a devastating move.


    So in response to this plight of the Darkened Reaper, Azmodeus grabbed his flying kick and swung him around in circles a countless number of times before throwing him up to the stars!


    SHING!


    He touched his sword a little as an insanely deadly sword arc was unleashed from the sharp edge of a de that couldn''t be seen with the naked eye!


    WHIZZ!


    The Sword Arc blitzed through the skies at speeds bordering on meteoric stardom as it rapidly approached the shooting star-like figure of the Darkened Reaper!


    "NOoOoo¡­!!!"


    His screams echoed across the vast blue nket above as countless clouds were sliced and diced up in quick session before, just like them, his body was dispersed from the world of the living¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 101: You Dumb NPCs

    ...¡­


    Down on the earth, millions of miles below, a multitude of pop-ups were appearing in front of a man more aloof than even the gods above.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed a 9th Stage Tribtion Transcendance Realm cultivator.*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 89 Septillion Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *Your Evolution Essence Bank has once again had its total value spike upward!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte the Stats or roll for one of the Abilities of the being you just killed?*


    "Hmm¡­" Azmodeus thought this one over for a second, as he had in fact seen the Darkened guy start to activate a Physique of sorts.


    And after a tough decision, he ultimately decided to go with¡­


    "Roll for one of the Abilities."


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You havended on the trash-rank ''Diarrhea Inducing'' Racial Trait.*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to re-roll-?*


    "Re-roll, re-roll¡­"


    Azmodeus practically begged for a re-roll, as he rolled a few more times before eventually obtaining¡­


    *Ding!* *You havended on the Low-Heaven Rank Sky Devourer Physique (Allows the user to devour clouds and airspace in order to improve strength.)*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has moderately increased!*


    -


    Following the acquisition of this Low-Heaven Rank Physique, Azmodeus immediately upgraded it to the Middle-Heaven Rank, as yet another increase in strength washed over him.


    After which, he turned his gaze up from the blue and gold screens as he saw the vividly stunned looks on the faces of all the Reaper''s.


    "You all don''t need to stand there with your mouths agape. After all, we still have a few bouts to conclude." He spoke with an indifferent voice as he moved ever closer to the six remaining cloaked figures.


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    He may have been walking at a steady pace with the disposition of a man who had already transcended it all, but from the perspective of the Reaper''s, he looked like nothing short of a devil incarnate looming over all of existence!


    "Stay back, you monster!" A Reaper woman shouted while taking a few steps back.


    However¡­


    *Spurt!*


    A sword prated her stomach, stirring up her insides!


    "!?!?" As blood drizzled down her mouth, she looked behind her and saw the otherworldly face of the man they were meant to torture, rob, and eventually kill.


    "Ho-How could you be so strong¡­? From our sources, not even a few dozen years ago, you were supposed to be capable of unleashing strength in the Mid-Tribtion Stages on a high estimate¡­ So how!? How can you be so strong!?"


    Azmodeus''s slight grin went back to itsplete neutrality as he responded, "It''s because you based my current strength off of what it was a few years ago."


    "What are you saying!? Are you trying to tell us that you were capable of increasing your strength so drastically in a mere 30 years!?"


    "Yes, that is exactly what I''m saying; now just disappear and be my strength already."


    Azmodeus''s response was followed by him absorbing the very essence of her existence using a Devouring Technique.


    After so many years of hoarding, he was able to amass quite a collection of techniques, and of those, more than a few were devour-rted techniques.


    They typically incorporated the ''Law of Devouring'' and were extremely useful for obtaining a bit more strength from all killed beings on top of what he gained with the Infinite Evolution System.


    "Aahhh¡­!!!"


    The shrill, painful cry''s of the Reaper woman resounded as her body visibly shriveled up!


    And before long, there was no longer anything more to suck out of her, as Azmodeus took his sleek ck and golden de back to its scabbard before turning his predatory gaze to the six cloaked figures that were left standing.


    When his eyes passed by one of the Reaper''s in particr, an amused gleam shed past his gaze as he uttered, "An Early-Mahayana Realm Cultivator in disguise, huh?"


    "!!!" The cloaked man he was talking about had his expression change to one of extreme shock, as he never would''ve expected to be found out so easily.


    Even so, he lightly shook his head before asking, "What gave it away?"


    "It was the look in your eyes," Azmodeus replied with a finger pointing at the two pitch-ck marbles in his eye sockets.


    "My eyes¡­? Ahh, you could see immense power through my gaze¡­"


    The cloaked man''s expression morphed into a smiling one, as out of all possible things he could''ve been found out by, it was really his eyes that gave it away.


    "???" "???" "???"


    The rest of the Reapers turned their wide-eyed faces in the direction of their Fifth Youngest Brother, as they had no clue that he was actually a Mahayana Realm Cultivator in disguise!


    A Mahayana Realm Cultivator¡­ Someone like that could make quadrillions of miles ofnd vanish in the blink of an eye!


    And one was actually right beneath their nose for thousands of years!


    "Why did you never tell us, brother sixth?"


    The voice of a woman in the Half-Step Mahayana Realm sounded as she looked toward him with a tinge of pain in her heart.


    She thought she knew him¡­ She thought they would be together forever and tell each other everything¡­


    The Mahayana Realm man looked at the woman he had intimate rtions with for the past couple thousand years as he clicked his tongue before snarling, "You really thought I cared for one of the NPC''s?? I was just enjoying that body of yours while I became stronger; nothing more, nothing less."


    *Spurt!*


    Blood spurted out of the woman''s mouth as she kneeled over with an ashen expression.


    "Th-This isn''t real¡­ How could this be real¡­? My Brother Sixth loves me more than anything¡­"


    After getting out his disdainful words, the Mahayana Realm cultivator turned his gaze back to the immortal-like man before saying, "I know you''re just an npc, but there is something special about you, and I wish to obtain whatever it is that you have on your person, so hurry up and hand it over."


    Azmodeus looked at this ridiculous man spouting an unfamiliar term for the second time as he asked, "What is an npc?"


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 102: The Main Character, Mass Leveling

    ...¡­..


    "Ha¡­ Just like all the other NPC''s, you are as clueless about your own insignificant life! Well, I don''t normally do this for those who are about to die, but I''ll inform you of your inconsequential existence and how me, the far superior main character, has been sent here from earth in order to guide you fools as your king!"


    What is this guy talking about¡­? Has he gone insane or something??


    Azmodeus was beginning to think that there were a few screws loose in the man''s head as he wore a slightly sympathetic look on his face before saying, "It''s okay that you''re crazy. Say, how about this? I don''t normally spare the loot bags, especially one''s asrge and juicy as yourself, but this one time, I will give you the opportunity to back away from my home with your life intact."


    "..." The Mahayana Realm Cultivator stared at the NPC like he was staring at an idiot as he responded, "And why would I run away from an exp bag? Also, why are you using terms like ''loot bag''? Are you from Earth as well??"


    "Earth?? Is that some country I''m not familiar with?"


    "...You don''t know of Earth¡­ That must mean that you''re an NPC¡­ Are you just a bug in the system or something¡­?"


    The Mahayana Realm Cultivator entered a deep state of contemtion as he put his hand to his chin and thought about the man in front of him.


    However, he was abruptly taken out of his thoughts by the voice of the man in question:


    "Did you just say System?? Do you have a system as well??"


    "Are you saying you have a system too!? But how could an NPC have a system that is only meant for MC''s like me!?" The MC eximed.


    "..." "..." "..."


    All of the remaining Reaper''s were watching this interaction go down with bewildered looks on their faces.


    They were expecting this to be a rtively simple job; however, what part of any of this was simple!?


    Nevertheless, Azmodeus was currently exchanging words with the man who called himself the ''MC'', as the more he listened, the more he found it all too ridiculous to believe!


    Why is this guy speaking as if he doesn''t originate from this world??? And why does it sound like his system is so much worse than mine¡­?


    He had heard the MC go over his system in great detail, and from what he could tell, it was clear that his system was a million times better!


    Does this guy really have a system, or has he made all this up in order to y a prank on people like me¡­?


    He just couldn''t figure out whether the Mahayana Cultivator was telling the truth or not; however, it looked like it was toote to be brooding over things like that, as the Mahayana Realm man muttered, "Alright, I have been talking to the NPC for far too long, and although I don''t know how you obtained a system, my system has a feature that allows me to evolve the system through the devouring of other systems.


    And although I have no clue about the rank of your system, it should work quite well in increasing my system''s overall rank!"


    Following the crazy man''s words, his smirk grew exponentially as he blurred from sight before reappearing a few billion miles above the mountain.


    "You are a named NPC and likely some sort of mini-boss, so for someone like you, I will use my strongest technique right from the get-go!"


    WAAAA!


    An immense level of blue and gold energy erupted from his body as it quickly enveloped the skies, alerting a few top forces to his presence; however, it didn''t look like he cared the slightest bit about something like that.


    After all, his realm may have been in the Early Mahayana Realm, but hisbat strength was in a different league altogether!


    The Peak of the Early Mahayana Realm¡­ The Middle Mahayana Realm¡­ The Late Mahayana Realm¡­ The Peak-Mahayana Realm¡­


    His strength eventually capped at the Peak Stages of the Peak-Mahayana Realm!


    After which, he roared, "This is my power!! This is the power of the MC! Now die for this daddy and be my exp!!!"


    OOOM!


    He conjured up what appeared to be a golden javelin over two billion miles in length!


    CRACKLE!!


    Electricity capable of wiping outrge sr systems sparkled around the javelin''s body as it pulsated while releasing a countless number of Qi tendrils!


    After reaching this point, it started to swirl around in circles before the sparkling javelin started to look like the beam of aser gun suspended in mid-air.


    "I have been waiting three thousand years for this point toe! And after killing my tenth system user, I will finally be able to leave this tiny and go unleash the full potential of my MC status!"


    The MC shouted like a lunatic as his voice reverberated throughout all of Prometheus for but a moment!


    And then all hell broke loose, as the javelin was sent plummeting down to the lonesome Fallen Immortal''s Mountain that it trumped in size a billion to one!


    "..." Azmodeus watched the sky be consumed by an overwhelming level of lightning elements, as he sighed a little before clenching his teeth and making a drastic decision.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *Are you sure you would like to spend 99% of all your Evolution Essence?*


    "Y-Yes¡­"


    *Ding!* *You have leveled up!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 1.5 Septillion Stat Points in all of your basic attributes!*


    *Ding!* *You have leveled up!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 38 Septillion Stat Points in all of your basic attributes!*


    *Ding!* *You have leveled up!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 460 Septillion Stat Points in all of your basic attributes!*


    *Ding!* *You have leveled up!*


    Ding!* *You have obtained 3.7 Octillion Stat Points in all of your basic attributes!*


    *Ding!...You have¡­*


    After arge number of level-up notifications sounded, a plethora of Trait and Physique rank-ups echoed out not long after.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have leveled up all of your Traits to Level 5 of E-Rank.*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Rank Up your Traits to D-Rank?*


    "Yes."


    *Ding!* *All of your Traits have been ranked up to Level 1 of D-Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has tremendously improved!*


    *Ding!* *All 137 of your Physique''s have been Ranked up to Late-Heaven Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has drastically improved!*


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 103: Half-Step Lunar Ascendancy Realm Combat Power, The MC Died...

    ...¡­.


    WAAAA!


    Following the sounding of all the system notifications, a wave of power unlike anything he ever felt was enveloping Azmodeus''s entire existence in its power-seeking embrace!


    He could feel his power scale straight past the Half-Step Mahayana Realm, into the Early Mahayana Realm, and beyond!


    After a few nanoseconds of adjusting to the power, he could feel an utterly ridiculous level of strength coursing through his veins!


    "So this is what it means to transcend a Tier of existence¡­"


    He had already surpassed the Mahayana Realm''s basic stages and entered a boundary known as the ''Half-Step Lunar Ascendancy Realm''.


    So the next realm after the Mahayana Realm is the Lunar Ascendancy Realm¡­ How interesting¡­


    He found out the name of his next step on the path of cultivation as a small smile couldn''t help but emerge from his stoic expression.


    However, his thoughts were interrupted by the world-destroying spear zing down to the earth below, aiming to split the Northern Spirit Continent in half!


    "Ahh¡­ I still have some loot to reap¡­ And it came just in time, as my Evolution Essence Bank was looking a little empty."


    The Crimson Devil Lord looked up at the tip of the dazzling spear that just breached theyer of clouds that separated the two of them.


    "In the end, all ites down to is the struggles of a loot bag¡­"


    Azmodeus''s emotionless words, leaking an indescribable killing intent, reverberated, as a High-Heaven Rank sword was taken out of its scabbard for thest time today.


    SHING!


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    The sword arc released from his de first met the bodies of the remaining Reaper''s, evaporating them from this ne of existence before veering directions as it turned from its horizontal trajectory to a vertical trajectory.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    There were a few remnant sword energies released from this change in direction as countless mountain tops were erased from the Northern Spirit Continent!


    WAAAA!


    After shooting straight up like a zing star capable of lighting up the darkest of nights, the terrifying sword arc cut through the barrier of space as it quite literally teleported by negating the difference of two points in space!


    "!!!" The MC wore a smug expression on his face until the veryst moment he had his eyes open, as he saw his javelin get bisected into two separate pieces, and along with it, his body¡­


    ''H-How could this be¡­!? I am the MC-!!!''


    His unwilling thoughts were interrupted by a sword arc slicing up his Nascent Soul and Essence Soul into countless fragments!


    Azmodeus watched the two javelin pieces fall to the earth below as he lightly tapped his finger.


    BOOOOOOM!


    An ear-deafening explosion shook the very foundation of Prometheus as the energies that made up the javelin were scattered across quadrillions of miles ofnd!


    Although he didn''t really care about the lives of other people, he would still like to keep damage to a minimum, so he made sure to evenly spread out the dispersal of Lightning Qi.


    There was also the Sword Qi Arc, which was still zing upwards even at this very moment. However, unlike the javelin, this attack was made by himself, and after all these years of honing his skills, dissipating something sword-rted was as easy as breathing for him.


    After all, he had already progressed his Sword Aura into the High-Heaven Rank, likely making him the most adept sword user in all of Prometheus!


    And it was with this superb level of control that he snapped his fingers, causing the sword arc to instantly explode a few trillion miles in the sky.


    RUMBLE!


    There was a slight tremble that spread out from this explosion, but it was nothing worthy of notice in the grand scheme of things.


    ***


    Meanwhile, in the area right outside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode, Azmodeus was in the process of glossing over all his most recent system notifications.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed 3 cultivators in the 9th Stage of the Tribtion Transcendance Realm and 1 cultivator in the Half-Step Mahayana Realm.*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 320 Septillion Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *You have killed a system user in the Peak Mahayana Realm.*


    *Ding!* *Due to the host interrupting the ns of a system user that has been nning a number of things behind the scenes for thousands of years, you have gained extra Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 500 Octillion Evolution Essence from a system user who was deeply involved in the mysteries and wars of Prometheus!*


    *Ding!* *Your total Evolution Essence Bank has far surpassed what it was before!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte the Stats or roll for one of the Abilities of the System User you just killed?*


    "Roll for one of the Abilities."


    Azmodeus''s response was instantaneous, and to be honest, it wasn''t even a question, as although there were many benefits to receiving that immediate boost in strength, he could always get more stats at any time.


    However, when it came to unique abilities, they were hard toe by, and if he had the chance, then he would make sure to take advantage of anything that he possibly could!


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You havended on the ''Endless Lust'' Trait!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to keep it or re-roll?*


    "Re-roll¡­"


    He didn''t know why the confirmed system user possessed such an unusual Trait, but it wasn''t anything useful to him, so he naturally asked for a re-roll.


    And after a couple dozen rolls, he eventuallynded on¡­


    *Ding!* *You havended on the ''Physique Coalescence System Fragment'' Trait.*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to keep it or re-roll?*


    Azmodeus was extremely surprised by the name of the Trait, but he wasn''t one to deny something good, so he confirmed the Assimtion process.


    After which¡­


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have Assimted part of another system!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained all the functions that were incorporated into the system you absorbed!*


    *Ding!* *From the ''Physique Coalescence System'', you have obtained the ability tobine all of your physique''s into one single physique that includes the positive aspects of every physique you possess.*


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 104: Half-Step Mahayana Realm

    ...¡­.


    WAAAA!


    Following the system notifications, Azmodeus felt a wave of power rush through his existence, as it looked like the new Trait was getting to work right away.


    He could actively feel his various physiques, all of which used to be a big, jumbled mess of attributes, morph into something better!


    A plethora of lights shed around inside the essence of his existence, as all the lights representing each of his physique''s numbered in the hundreds, and every single one of them coalesced at the very center of his being.


    This event led to a resplendent blot of light forming in the middle of his existence!


    After a period of time, the congregation of light reached the precipice of something truly miraculous as a sh of light beyond effulgent erupted!


    And the result of this light was a small, multicolored globe emerging after the light dispersed.


    This multicolored globe looked like a miniature universe and seemed to contain a vast number of profound mysteries that no mortal could ever hope to understand theplexities of.


    Following the solidification of this unknown construct made up of hundreds of physiques, it melded into the surrounding space, spreading its essence through every corner of the man known as the Anomaly!


    -


    "So this is what it feels like to have all Physique''s as one¡­" Azmodeus muttered while looking at the inside of his body, scanning over the gains he acquired from assimting the ''Physique Coalescence System''.


    However, his focus was soon diverted to the system notifications going off inside of his head.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *All of your physique''s have beenbined into one single form through the application of the system fragment.*


    *Ding!* *All future physique''s shall be furtherbined into the physique known as ''Singrity''.*


    *Ding!* *Singrity will contain the best parts of every Assimted Physique, and will even improve every physique''s individual aspects more than ever before!*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has drastically improved!*


    It was only after all of the most recent system notifications were done ringing out that Azmodeus took a moment to digest his gains, which included a major increase in hisbat strength, shooting it straight up to the peak stages of the Half-Step Lunar Ascendancy Realm!


    Nheless, that was a minor point of notice, as the truly important thing that had changed within him was his appearance and his Cultivation Talent!


    In fact, his Cultivation Talent had already achieved a state known as Low-Comet Rank.


    He had no idea what exactly that implied, but there was one thing for sure, and that was the fact that his Cultivation Talent was at least a hundred times faster than it was before!


    To be frank, he wouldn''t be surprised if he was able to achieve the Peak Mahayana Realm within the next hundred years!


    And this was an extremely bold im, as even the most talented of Absolute Peak-Heaven Rank Geniuses would still take thousands of years to achieve such a Realm!


    On that note, there were no known Mahayana Realm Cultivators that didn''t already possess a Heaven-Rank Talent¡ªa Talent that was given to the cultivator through the Spiritual Root that one was born with.


    This was all to say that at the bare minimum, to achieve the Mahayana Realm, one needed to be a Heaven Rank Talent.


    That was, of course, unless you were a merciless killer who went by the name of the Crimson Devil Lord!


    -


    "This has been quite the fruitful outing, hasn''t it?" Azmodeus asked himself with a small smile on his even more handsome face.


    After appreciating his gains for a few seconds, he headed back toward his Cave Abode, aiming topletely consolidate the Cultivation base that he received through the assistance of the system.


    Even with his newfound talent, it would likely take dozens of years for him to solidify his cultivation base to the state it was before, which also just so happened to roughly coincide with the designated date that he was supposed to meet the Sect Leader of the Ice Goddess Sect in order to discuss the matter of the next batch of Heaven-Rank Pills.


    However, he had different intentions in mind, as he was nning to bring up the topic of shattering the world barrier, and if his spections were correct, then Yang Hua''s master would definitely be willing to inform him of everything she knew on this matter.


    After all, the scheming Crimson Devil Lord knew of quite the scandalous rtionship that his master had with the Ice Goddess Sect''s Sect Leader.


    And if he were urate in where he predicted the conversation would go, then it was highly likely that she would spill the beans about everything she knew concerning the location of Yang Hua''s father.


    Nevertheless, that was a topic for another time, as right now, the only thing anybody in the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode was focused on was the endless pursuit of the path of cultivation...


    ¡­


    Time passed by like a fleeting shadow, barely noticed until it was gone, as 35 years went by in the blink of an eye.


    After such an extended period of time, Azmodeus had managed to easily consolidate his cultivation base inside the Half-Step Mahayana Realm Realm, and along with it came an insanely high-quality cultivation foundation.


    However, that wasn''t the only thing that had vastly improved over the past few dozen years, as his Singrity Physique had also made leaps and bounds in its diversified abilities.


    These boons were, of course, due to all the Outer Deacons, Outer Elders, Inner Deacons, and Inner Elders of the River Serpent Sect that offered themselves up on a golden tter!


    On a side note, his total Evolution Essence had already surpassed the Octillion Mark and entered a territory where there were so many zeros at the end of his total Evolution Essence amount that he didn''t know how much further he could keep on taking it until there were no more number indicators left to use¡­


    Even so, he would keep on increasing his Evolution Essence until infinity!


    And that stood true for his professions and techniques as well!


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 105: 4th Stage Lunar Ascendancy Realm Combat Power

    ...¡­.


    Azmodeus had practiced over fifty different techniques over the years, all of which were in the Early-Heaven Rank and above, with every single one possessing a level ofprehension that could be considered unparalleled in all of Prometheus.


    Concerning the high rank of the technique''s, he obtained the ability to increase their ranks through the spending of Evolution Essence a few years ago, and ever since then, he made sure to section a portion of all Evolution Essence gains into Technique Rank Ups.


    The exact ratio split up for Evolution Essence went something like 20% for Technique''s, 20% for Physique''s, 20% for Traits, and 40% for storage just in case he nned to conduct another leveling spree.


    And it was with this setup that he was able to consistently increase his overallbat power, sessfully breaching past the Half-Step Lunar Ascendancy Realm and into the true first stage of Lunar Ascendancy!


    Furthermore, he had managed to not only achieve the 1st Stage of Lunar Ascendancy inbat power, but even the 2nd and 3rd Stages were no match for his elerated progression, leaving him well into the 4th Stage of Lunar Ascendancy!


    That was, of course, just for his overallbat power and not his actual cultivation realm.


    Speaking of his cultivation realm, there had been alterations made to it after his absurd spending spree when that ''MC'' guy made his grand appearance.


    To be specific, he hadpletely skipped the first stages of the Tribtion Transcendance Realm and made it right to the end stages!


    -


    10. Tribtion Transcendance Realm:


    The Tribtion Transcendence Realm is split into 9 minor realms. Those minor realms are ¡ú


    1st Stage Tribtion Transcendence: First Cataclysm


    2nd Stage Tribtion Transcendence: Second Cataclysm


    3rd Stage Tribtion Transcendence: Third Cataclysm


    4th Stage Tribtion Transcendence: Fourth Cataclysm


    5th Stage Tribtion Transcendence: Fifth Cataclysm


    6th Stage Tribtion Transcendence: Sixth Cataclysm


    7th Stage Tribtion Transcendence: Seventh Cataclysm


    8th Stage Tribtion Transcendence: Eighth Cataclysm


    9th Stage Tribtion Transcendence: Ninth Cataclysm


    To breakthrough into the Tribtion Transcendence Realm, you must unify all of your existence using a faint trace of yourprehension of the Void Law before you encase all your aspects of existence in said Void Law.


    Your ''Unification'' will act as a coalescence, but it will also act as a ''Singr'' ¡ú ''Separation'', meaning that you canbine or split up all aspects of your existence.


    Your aspects don''t change, but at the same time, they do. (Only when split up orbined.)


    Either way, your breakthrough into the Tribtion Transcendence Realm willmence as soon as you reach a state ofplete and utter unification of your 5+ aspects of existence and begin to tackle the ''First Tribtion''.


    After sessfully surviving the First Lightning Tribtion, you will have achieved the First Cataclysm of the Tribtion Transcendence Realm.


    The same thing will ur for every proceeding minor stage of the Tribtion Transcendence Realm until you reach a total of Nine Lightning Tribtions .


    -


    Due to Azmodeus''s insanely fast breakthrough speed in the Tribtion Transcendance Realm, something that was the result of all the Evolution Essence he spent on leveling, he was forced to go through all ten of his tribtions at once, incurring the full wrath of the Heavenly Dao!


    In that trial set by the Heavens, he was severely injured, but he was also able toe out of it with immense boons!


    Everything had a cause and a result, all of which rted to the Law of Casualty, and because of this all-epassingw, every obstacle typically came with an appropriate reward.


    And in his case, he was able to obtain a Physique called the ''Lightning God Physique''.


    It was a Physique that had already surpassed the limits of the Low-Mortal Realm, as it was of the Low-Comet Rank, just like the rank his Cultivation Talent was at.


    Furthermore, it was with this new Physique that his Singrity made the jump from Absolute Peak-Heaven Rank into the Low-Comet Rank!


    There were many good things about acquiring this Physique; however, by far, the best thing about obtaining it was the fact that he gained far better control over the aspects of Lightning.


    And considering how vtile the Lightning Element was, hisbat power increased by major amounts!


    After all, lightning was one of the elements that was capable of inflicting the highest amount of damage.


    It was with this Physique that Azmodeus had essentially be a God of Lightning raining lightning bolts down from the heavens!


    Nheless, this Physique was just one of many that he had acquired over the years, as the amount he had snatched up from various genius cultivators had already surpassed the thousand mark.


    And the reason for such a spike in his Physique Acquisition rates was purely because of the number of Mirror Mirage''s that he now had at his beck and call.


    Because of the Octillions of Evolution Essence that he dumped into his Mirror Mirage Trait, it was able to evolve from the E-Rank into D-Rank after the battle with the MC concluded.


    Furthermore, since that point, due to increased Evolution Essence gains, it was sessfully able to achieve Level 5 of the D-Rank, making it far more versatile in its usages as opposed to what it was before!


    It was with these rank-ups and level-ups that the Crimson Devil Lord had his total Mirror Mirage count increase from a few hundred thousand to a few tens of millions!


    With this new Mirror Mirage count, he was able to send out insane amounts of himself into the world, all on the sole mission of acquiring unique Physique''s and amassing Evolution Essence!


    On a side note, he had managed to get the rest of his Traits to the same level as his Mirror Mirage Trait, allowing him to have improvement after improvement in every aspect of his existence.


    -


    "It''s time to try and break through into the Mahayana Realm."


    Azmodeus''s voice resounded inside the lounge area of his Cave Abode, and right on hisp were the two gorgeous, sleepy beauties taking a nap.


    These two will never learn how to cultivate properly¡­ Even though I gave them my insights into the Elusive Ascension Technique, they weren''t able to understand it anywhere as fast as I was able to¡­


    They have Top-Tier Talent, but it looks like you need something more if you wish toprehend that mysterious Technique at a fast enough pace...


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 106: Breaking Through Into the Mahayana Realm

    ...¡­.


    Thinking about the Elusive Ascension Manual got Azmodeus wondering about what the mysterious white cat was doing; however, when he saw her in the same position doing the same thing like always, he sighed a little before letting his brain churn.


    It seems like that alien cat will never wake up from her cultivation, as it has be abundantly clear that she was serious when she spoke about the passing of time meaning nothing to her¡­


    This fact made him even more curious about all the weird and unfamiliar terms that she talked about when they first met.


    Maybe she''s some form of Immortal? I mean, she did speak about the Immortal Realm, and even I know of the myths revolving around that nonsensical concept¡­


    I originally thought of the Immortal Realm as nothing more than something that parents told their children to keep them entertained, but is it truly a real ce¡­?


    And if so, then how much higher is this Immortal Realm from the Starry Expanse??


    Or, rather, how many nes of existence will I need to transcend before I can reach such a point...? I only know of Prometheus and the ce called ''Earth'' that I learned of from the MC.


    After soul-searching the memories of the MC, I was also able to glean into this ''Earth'' being inside of a world filled with countless stars¡ªa world that should be far smaller than the Boundless Archipgo, which surely means that this ''Earth'' is from somewhere beyond the world boundary¡­


    Understanding that there were likely ces that extended even further than the Starry Expanse got Azmodeus excited, as he looked to the roof of his Cave Abode.


    His sight passed through the walls of his home as he found himself soaring through the skies at speeds bordering on iprehensible.


    After a few moments of flying, he found himself at the edge of a thin fment that contained an innumerable number of secrets, all of which were impossible for him to discern¡­


    He observed the almost imperceptible runes and sigils that were inscribed into the shimmering fment, as he knew that was his key to getting away from both the Northern Spirit Continent and the Boundless Archipgo.


    Speaking of the Boundless Archipgo, he had sent out a number of Mirror Mirage''s to scour thends of the Boundless Archipgo; however, even after all this time, not a single one of them had found even the slightest semnce of there being an end to the world¡­


    A few Mirror Mirage''s had traveled countless light years, and yet none of them discovered anything besides a seemingly infinite number of civilizations, all of which were utterly unaware of the world beyond their small inds.


    They lived on plots ofnd that were only a few hundred thousand or million miles in diameter, and yet even with such a small space to roam, they appeared to be content with their lives inside cages, surrounded by a boundless ocean on all sides.


    Azmodeus had yet to figure out how far these civilizations extended out; however, he would keep on improving his strength until it finally came to the point of finding an end to something that quite literally stretched on for infinity.


    Nevertheless, that was all a topic for another time, as right now, the only thing on his mind was getting past a breakthrough into the Mahayana Realm¡­


    -


    WAAAA!


    Intense crimson ck energies swirled around inside a private room of the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode, as Azmodeus had already moved himself to a more secluded spot.


    Nao Long and Yang Hua weren''t with him due to their safety being up in the air when such a breakthrough came along.


    After all, the Mahayana Realm was no joke, and for someone who possessed a Physique like ''Singrity'', it was natural that this breakthrough would most definitely incur the full wrath of the heavens!


    And these spections turned out to be correct, as even with endless amounts of protective barriers and Heavenly Veneer Formation Rune Array''s, the whole mountain and everything in the immediate vicinity started to violently shake.


    It was only at the level of a moderate earthquake due to the countless protective barriers lessening the impact, but it was still enough to elicit quite an overreaction from all the vigers that lived below Fallen Immortal''s Mountain.


    Or rather, it would be more urate to call that ''vige'' a city, as over the years, it had already reached a point where it became quite the bustling spot in the province known as ''Fallen Immortal''s Grove''.


    This was what the descendants of the original viger''s dubbed the surrounding few hundred miles.


    In fact, Fallen Immortal''s Grove wasn''t the only province that had been erected over the years, as hundreds of them sprouted up all over the ce in a tiny section of the River Serpent Sect''s Outer Segment.


    A plethora ofmoners, nobles, and low-level cultivators in the Golden Core Realm and below had already made this part of the Outer Sect their home as they built towns, cities, and even kingdoms.


    Slowly but surely, the once barrennd devoid of human life was bing a popr hotspot for all the humans in Prometheus.


    And the reason for this sudden change in the attitudes everyone had about the River Serpent Sect was solely because of the existence of the Secluded Crimson Devil Lord!


    Even though he had quite the intimidating title and powerful cultivators often came to pick fights with him, there were too many benefits to count from being next to the seclusion spot of the Secluded Immortal.


    The first and most important of those benefits was the fact that the level of Qi that permeated Fallen Immortal''s Mountain and everything around it was able to improve the cultivations of mortals, even if they didn''t have the appropriate cultivation manuals!


    That was just one of many boons that those who lived near the Crimson Devil Lord were capable of obtaining, and on the particr day that Azmodeus decided to attempt his breakthrough into the Early-Mahayana Realm, people from all around started speaking of ''omens'', and that such tremors were very likely to be the ascension process of the Crimson Devil Lord!


    And they weren''t too far off in their guesses, as his overallbat power would most definitely achieve the peak stages of the Lunar Ascendancy Realm, essentially making him an ascender who decided to stay in the Mortal Realm...!


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 107: Primordial Essence Clones

    ...¡­.


    WAAAaa¡­


    The immense energies inside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode died down, as a man who possessed facial features beyondpare stood up from his seared cultivation mat with half his body on fire and the other half burned to a crisp.


    His body was rapidly healing; however, the lightning used by the Heavens when oveing a tribtion as great as the boundary between the Tribtion Transcendance Realm and the Mahayana Realm was capable of killing even the hardest-skinned of people.


    And that wasn''t to even mention the fact that he had attempted to break through while in possession of a Physique as ridiculously overpowered as the ''Singrity''.


    To be frank, he should be thanking Lady Luck for even giving him the chance to breakthrough something like the Mahayana Realm under such conditions¡ªconditions that aimed to impede his limitless path of cultivation.


    However, in the end, the Crimson Devil Lord was able to sessfully break through, and along with that breakthrough came a few system notifications informing him of all that he had gained.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have sessfully broken through into the Early Mahayana Realm!*


    *Ding!* *With this breakthrough, you are now able to use Evolution Essence to create ''Primordial Essence Clones''.*


    *Ding!* *All of these clones will possess 100% of the strength that you do; however, to buy them, you will need to spend 1 Trillion Evolution Essence with 10 times the cost for each further Primordial Essence Clone that you purchase.*


    Following all of these system notifications, Azmodeus became a little astonished by what he was just told he could do with the Infinite Evolution System.


    I can buy clones that have 100% of my total strength¡­? This is surely a broken ability... but I am not one to deny a free meal¡­


    It was through this thought that he immediately spent all the Evolution Essence he could spare.


    And every single point of that Evolution Essence went toward buying Primordial Essence Clones!


    After this spending spree, he was able to acquire not just a single clone equal to him in strength, but over 20 of them!


    With this new force at his beck and call, he would be able to stay inside his Cave Abode and peacefully cultivate while having these extremely strong clones deal with all the intruders that his Mirror Mirage''s were unable to deal with!


    -


    "..." Azmodeus was looking at 20+ nearly identical versions of himself, all of whom had no consciousness of their own and needed his consciousness as a base for which to make theirs.


    It''s the same thing as with my Mirror Mirage''s, but I feel like the upper limit of the intelligence of these clones will be far higher than what it is with the Mirror Mirage''s¡­


    And his theory was soon proven to be true, as he put his hand up to all the Primordial Essence Clones and initiated the consciousness-sharing process.


    After which, all of the Primordial Essence Clones seemed toe to life, as every single one of them instantly moved out, almost as if they already knew what the main body''s intentions were.


    It looks like everything was as I spected it to be¡­


    He stared at all the Primordial Essence Clones tending to their individual objectives with a small smile on his face.


    And one clone in particr was currently on its way to the Ice Goddess Sect, and its objective was to meet the Sect Leader¡­!


    ...


    *Step Step*


    Azmodeus''s split consciousness, in the form of a Primordial Essence Clone, took inaudible steps on top of an extremely wide, icy blue structure.


    What he was standing on was the Main Castle, where the Sect Leader of the Ice Goddess Sect lived, and it was also a ce that stretched on for thousands of miles!


    He was merely on one of the extending sections of the castle, namely, the Western Wing, and inside this part of thevishly decorated castle was where the servants prepared everything needed for a typical day in the Ice Goddess Sect Leader''s home.


    The snow blew heavily on this day; however, it wasn''t like that was anything unusual for the Leader of the Ice Goddess Sect, Bing Nu Shen, as she, herself, was the one who conjured up a never-ending snow storm over every plot ofnd that made up the Sect.


    It might seem unusual for her to do something like that, but it worked quite well in assisting all disciples in their cultivation, as most of them either possessed an ice-rted technique or physique.


    Nheless, an immortal-like man in flowing ck and gold robes was elegantly making his way across the top of the Ice Castle using his sh Step.


    On his short stroll, he looked at the tens of thousands of dimly lit rooms through their blue square windows and saw many scandalous scenes.


    It looks like these Ice Goddess Sect members really know how to let loose, huh¡­?


    However, despite the tantalizing views from all the castle rooms, he traveled along the dark blue shillings until eventually making his way below a tower that stretched upward for thousands of meters.


    The tower spiraled a little and had a number of rough edges that made it seem like it had been damaged in some sort of battle, but such scars only made it look like some natural piece of art.


    There was also this daunting feeling that one got when they looked at the tower, but for Azmodeus, he could feel nothing but wonder when viewing the mysterious lines and marks that adorned the tower off of hanging blue and gray tapestries.


    This ce is fitting for the home of someone termed the ''Ice Terror'' by those who had the guts to make her their enemy.


    He was bing increasingly curious about the woman who was deemed one of the top 10 strongest beings in the Northern Spirits Continent.


    And such curiosity wasn''t left unsated for long, as his obscure, shadowy figure made its way to a window seal that was covered by an esoteric group of teal-colored vines¡ªvines that should also have acted like some sort of concealing barrier.


    However, in front of the Peak-Heaven Rank Crimson Devil Lord, such an borate veneer was no match at all¡­


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 108: Bing Nu Shen, An Enticing Scene

    ...¡­.


    FWAZIP!


    A little humming sound echoed, as the vines of a frozen ice castle forever disappeared from Azmodeus''s sight.


    They were still there, but for his view alone, they were forever gone, and in this case, that was an extremely good thing for the beautiful Sect Leader.


    The reason that was said was because her body was sprawled out on top of a violet-colored heart-shaped couch, and her clothes were very¡­ revealing¡­


    In fact, there wasn''t much of her frilly aquamarine-dyed dress still left hanging over her sensual curves, as it might as well not have been there¡­


    If any other man were viewing such a sight, then they would surely have a nose bleed, but in Azmodeus''s unique circumstance, no such thing happened.


    To bepletely candid, there wasn''t even much of a response from him, as he leisurely walked past the gorgeous woman before finding himself sitting on a four-legged blue and gold chair that overlooked a balcony.


    He sat there, staring up at the four varying-sized moons hanging in the sky, as the one that attracted his attention the most was therge red one that had an enormous crater in the center of it.


    There wasn''t any particr reason that he liked this one more than the other three, but the color was quite to his liking, and that was enough for him.


    Nevertheless, after a few hours of sitting there gazing up at the moon, some rustling sounded out from behind him.


    And when he slowly turned his head in the direction of the noise, he witnessed the most mesmerizing sight he had seen in a very long time.


    The Sect Leader was in doggy position on a couch-bed, staring at him with a dull gaze as her long, silky ck hair hung over her wless face and milky white breasts like the natural barrier of a divine goddess.


    Furthermore, with the moon''s rays reflecting off her thin button nose, dark red lips, long baby doll eyshes, and, of course, her profoundly ck eyes, it left a sight that would likely be able to bring any living creature back from the dead!


    It was a woman like this who was staring at the nonchnt man in front of her with a curious gleam in her eyes¡ªa man who had intruded into her room as if it were something normal.


    She was confident in her concealing techniques, and if they did nothing to stop the advances of this man, then it was very likely that he was stronger than herself.


    Through this inference and with a certain date scheduled with a special someone, along with the extraordinary looks of this intruder, she was able to deduce that it was most probably the Crimson Devil Lord that hade to her private chambers.


    "So, you''re the Crimson Devil Lord? The one that my youngest disciple fell into the fox-like grasp of?"


    Bing Nu Shen closely observed the calm man sitting on one of her chairs, as she couldn''t help but admit that her disciple had quite an eye for beautiful things.


    But regardless of his appearance, she was looking for something more¡ªsomething that would allow her to rest at ease when it came to the safety of her disciple.


    Or rather, her disciples¡­


    That girl would definitely chew me out if she knew of this maning to my private chambers¡­


    She chortled a little at the predicted antics of her second youngest disciple, You Mei, as over thesest few dozen years, that cheeky disciple snuck out just like her youngest disciple, and her destination was also the Fallen Immortal Mountain¡­-


    "You are just as beautiful as the rumors described you to be, but I would rmend that you put on something less revealing."


    The Sect Leader''s thoughts were interrupted by the dry voice of the Crimson Devil Lord, as she followed his gaze and saw that there was nothing covering her perky peaks with their cherry tips.


    "Oh¡­"


    That was all she said before pulling up her straps and acting like nothing had happened.


    "..." Azmodeus couldn''t believe the number of simrities this woman had to Yang Hua, especially when it came to their innate wantoncy.


    Nheless, he lightly coughed to clear the air before saying, "I have brought 150,000 Low to Peak Heaven Rank Pills, which is a few hundred times more than what you asked for."


    "Ho? And why would you do something like that?"


    Bing Nu Shen wasn''t one to deny more than she bargained for, but when it came to big deals like these, there was always a catch.


    And just as she expected, Azmodeus slightly tilted his head away from the dark moonlit skies as one of his crimson eyes focused on her before responding, "There is only one thing that I want from you, and if you can grant it, then I can give you ten times this amount, with all of it 95% off."


    "!!!" The Sect Leader couldn''t believe what she was hearing, as the astonishment caused her loosely fitted blouse to slide off her voluptuous curves once again.


    However, she quickly regained her bearings before ignoring her naked upper half and asked, "What is it that you want from me?"


    Azmodeus''s eyes traveled up her alluring body, making it past those vast mountain slopes before replying, "What I want from you is¡­"


    "You." He finished his words with a finger pointed in her direction.


    "!?!?" Bing Nu Shen thought she had heard wrong as her brows twitched a little before she said, "You couldn''t have possibly just told me that you wanted these old bones, right¡­? That must surely not be the case¡­"


    Azmodeus''s deep red eyes looked into the very depths of her twilight-colored marbles as he got up off his chair before inching ever closer to her enticing body.


    After his breath was able to mingle with hers, he turned his piercing gaze down toward the far shorter Bing Nu Shen as he whispered, "I never jest."


    His frame towered over her own; however, she didn''t back up in the slightest; in fact, she looked into those terrifying blood-colored eyes of his before teasing, "Are you sure you want someone as old as me¡­? I''m sure you''ve seen women far prettier and younger than me¡­"


    Her perfectly shaped breasts jiggled a little bit as she locked her glossy gaze with his.


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 109: The Astral Leap

    ...¡­.


    "...I don''t know what your age or appearance has to do with anything, but objectively speaking, you are likely the prettiest woman I have ever met. In addition, they say women age like fine wine, and I wasn''t able to understand what that saying meant until I met you."


    Azmodeus started to speak his mind without any filters, as he didn''t really understand how the conversation had led to this point, especially when considering that all he wanted was her¡­-


    -Her knowledge¡­


    "Anyway, do you ept the deal? ''You'' in exchange for massive quantities of Heaven Rank Pills at 95% off."


    He voiced his question while backing away from the frazzled beauty, as he sat down in his chair, continuing to look up at the moon.


    And in his previous location, he left a dumbfounded woman who, for the first time in many, many years, became flustered.


    Does he have no idea what bold, flirtatious words he just said to me¡­? Is this really the man that Yang Hua fell in love with??


    Bing Nu Shen let out a short breath of hot air as she calmed her nerves before thinking over the Crimson Devil Lord''s words.


    And after a second of contemtion, she turned her face up toward the rxed man and said, "You meant ''You'' as in something I have in me, didn''t you¡­?"


    "...Yes, I did. Why? What had you assumed I meant?"


    Azmodeus''s response came out in a puzzled tone, as he didn''t know why he was asked such an odd question.


    Wait¡­ Did this woman think I meant¡­?


    He figured out what was happening here, as he wore a mildly amused grin and looked toward the woman who was acting like nothing had happened.


    "..." Bing Nu Shen observed that look in his eyes and immediately knew that she had been found out, as she attempted to change the conversation by saying, "I agree to your proposal. Now what exactly is it that you want from me personally?"


    Azmodeus knew what she was doing but decided to save the woman some face, as he replied, "I only want two things from you. One: I wish to know about how to break the world barrier, and two: I want to know what happened to a man you had certain rtions with a few thousand years ago."


    "The World Barrier?? Why would you wish to know about how to break something like that?"


    Bing Nu Shen already knew the answer to her own question, but she wished to hear it directly from his ears.


    And she got such words in no time at all, as he responded, "Is it not obvious?... I want to shatter the barrier and see how much further I can go in a world outside."


    Azmodeus''s eyes seemed to contain a number of hidden emotions, as he wanted to see whaty beyond the ce he had been stuck in for the past 150 years!


    Bing Nu Shen saw that look in his eyes¡ªthat same look those two gave her all those years ago.


    Such a sight made her reminisce, as she sat her soft hilltops down on a chair adjacent to the Crimson Devil Lord and softly murmured, "I wish to help you in the first matter, but to do that, I would need to possess strength in the Lunar Ascendancy Realm, and I-"


    "Don''t worry about that," Azmodeus interjected.


    "???"


    He saw the confusion present in her dazzling ck eyes as he continued, "I possess the necessary strength."


    "You do!?"


    For the first time in an extremely long time, Bing Nu Shen yelled as she looked at the Crimson Devil Lord with a skeptical expression.


    "You don''t need to be so doubtful of my words. Just look here."


    Azmodeus''s words resounded as he stuck a finger in the air before letting loose a tiny white me.


    However, don''t be deceived by the size of this me, for if this thing were ever to touch the ground below, let''s just say that the Maind would be no more, and a section of the Boundless Archipgo would disappear from the face of the, leaving behind a deep, insurmountable pit whose edges would stretch on for longer than the eye could see¡­


    "!!!" Bing Nu Shen looked at the amount of power contained within that seemingly harmless white me, as that was all the confirmation she needed in order for her to stutter, "T-That''s enough¡­"


    *Whip¡­*


    The me was quenched out with the clenching of Azmodeus''s palm as he looked toward the half naked woman, waiting for her to say something.


    And she eventually did, as she let out an exasperated sigh before narrating everything that she knew about the World Barrier.


    -


    "So you''re saying I need to wait¡­?"


    Azmodeus''s mildly disappointed voice dripped into the ears of the gorgeous woman, who was still reeling in from the amount of power she just witnessed.


    However, she quickly snapped out of her reverie at the Crimson Devil Lord''s question, as she replied, "Yes, in order to shatter the world barrier for a brief period of time, you first need to wait until the beings living outside our worldmence something called the ''Astral Leap''.


    And as I''ve said before, the Astral Leap is a way out of this world, but it''s also a test set up by those from the world beyond. It''s because of this fact that you need to possess 1st Stage Lunar Ascendancy Realm strength in order to pass the test, shatter the barrier, and make the Astral Leap.


    However, it is, of course, better that you disy more strength than the minimum requirement. But that''s easier said than done when everyone is limited to the Half-Step Lunar Ascendancy Realm like I am¡­"


    Bing Nu Shen''s aura became a little mncholic upon remembering the limits that were set on all of them, as the only time she recalled anyone making the Astral Leap was when those two attempted it nearly 150 years ago.


    And even then, they were the only ones to seed within the past 30 thousand years!


    However, it was today that the Ice Goddess Sect Leader met another potential person capable of passing the Astral Leap Test...


    ...¡­

 Chapter 110: Ice Goddess Sect Leader is Intoxicated...

    ...¡­


    He may be a tad bit unconsciously flirtatious, and he may be extraordinarily handsome, and he may possess above-average intelligence, but¡­


    Bing Nu Shen nked as she had no clue where she was going with her thoughts; however, her stupor was put to a close when Azmodeus turned his head in her direction before speaking once more:


    "You also said that they don''t start this Astral Leap but once every hundred years, and I had missed thest one, so I need to wait another 50 years, right?"


    "Yes, that is correct, and the gap that you have to begin taking the Astral Leap test will be shortsting, so I would fully prepare before that pointes."


    Bing Nu Shen gave her response while nearly getting lost inside those vacuum-like red eyes of the otherworldly handsome man sitting beside her.


    She wouldn''t deny that she liked how he seemed to only be focused on her when looking at her, but that was besides the point¡­


    I really need to get a grip on myself¡­ I''m far too old to be acting like some teenage girl in love¡­


    Her mood became a little glum; however, she wasn''t even allowed to be even the slightest bit depressed, as that devilishly handsome face found its way less than a few inches away from her own.


    "!!!"


    Azmodeus ignored the surprise in her expression as he said, "I know what must be done about the first condition for our partnership, but you still haven''t told me about the second thing I requested."


    "...The second thing¡­?" Bing Nu Shen mumbled with a steamy breath after taking a moment to regain herposure.


    "Yes, of course. You haven''t told me about the man you had rtions with a few thousand years ago. A man known as the Sect Leader of the Yang Sect, Yang Fa."


    Azmodeus got up from his bent-over position as he lifted his veiny hands off her chair''s arm rests before walking over to a nearby bar counter and pouring himself something to drink.


    "..." Bing Nu Shen was trying to remember where she had heard of the Yang Sect when she suddenly remembered something and mumbled, "You don''t mean¡­ That old guy and me¡­?"


    She nearly threw up at the mere thought of such a thinging to pass as she seductively walked her 5''2 figure over to where the Crimson Devil Lord was drinking before pouring herself something to drink as well.


    A whole bottle of vodka quickly vanished from existence as a slightly flushed look emerged on her impable facial features.


    She never bothered putting her top back on, so it almost looked like she had just recently woken up from the most wild night ever.


    And it was only after this point that she huped a little before looking at the immortal-like man and stammered, "Y-You really think I would hook up with that perverted bastard!? Wh-Where didju you get this information from¡­!?"


    She threw her hands in the air while asionally mming them down on the bar counter, resulting in cracks spreading throughout it, even with the innumerable protective barriers that were erected all over her castle.


    It seems like she can''t handle her liquor to even the smallest degree¡­


    Azmodeus wore a wry smile on his face as he downed his tenth bottle in the past five minutes.


    It was only after thest drop was gone from that bottle that he asked, "You weren''t one of Yang Fa lover''s?"


    "Hell No¡­! Never in a million years would I ever go out with that pervert¡­!" Bing Nu Shen responded with her eyes closing at intermittent intervals, as she leaned her voluptuous body up against his chest.


    After turning her zed eyes up at the two crimsons staring down at her, she mumbled, "If I were to choose a type, th-then it would definitely be someone like you¡­"


    "What was that?"


    "N-Nothing, y-you idiot¡­!"


    Bing Nu Shen looked away from the Crimson Devil Lord with reddened ears and a cute pout on her face.


    Azmodeus looked at this scene with a tired expression, as he wasn''t stupid, nor was he dense to a fault.


    It''s clear that she''s trying to do something with me, but with the degree of intoxication she''s at right now, such a notion would definitely not bode well when morninges along¡­


    He let out an exasperated sigh over the tsundere woman, who wasying her long, slender arms over the counter with her cheeks puffed out.


    Thoserge breasts of hers seemed to be trying to turn into pancakes with all the squishing she was doing on the counter, which made for quite the sight from where Azmodeus was standing.


    Even so, he turned his gaze up from her alluring figure as he asked, "So, what is your rtionship with my master?"


    "...Your mashter¡­?" Bing Nu Shen slurred her words a little as she switched the side she was looking at.


    Her pretty face squished up against the counter while she stared at the tall, handsome man with an adorable expression¡ªan expression oozing with intoxication¡­


    Azmodeus ignored the lusty look being directed toward him as he replied, "My master is Yang Fa."


    "We''rezz shtill talking about that bastard¡­!?"


    Bing Nu Shen''s cheeks started resembling those of a squirrel as she harrumphed before looking back in the other direction.


    "...All you ever talk about izz shome old pervert when in my presence¡­ Amms I not pretty¡­?"


    "Sorry, I didn''t quite catch what you said."


    "N-Nothing¡­! It was nothing, you idgit¡­!"


    Bing Nu Shen''s wless face had somehow made its way back in his direction as she let out a cute snort before saying, "That pervert was one of my admirers a long time ago, and it wazz during that time that rumors started to spread about us getting togethers when we were thest disciples to stay standing during a tomb exploration mission while part of a Rank 6 Sect called the Darketh Sect¡­"


    It was hard for her to get out so many words, and after she did, her head immediately fell down to the counter with a bang, as she went back to sulking...


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 111: Things Take An Interesting Turn

    ...¡­.


    "..." Azmodeus pondered what Bing Nu Shen said, as he understood the gist of the situation, but he still hadn''t figured out what he came here for, so another question was asked:


    "Do you know where this pervert is being held right now?"


    "...I-I do¡­ But why are all your questions focused on that pervert¡­? Don''t you want to know anything about me¡­"?


    The aura around Bing Nu Shen seemed to be gloomier, as she didn''t like how much she was being overlooked.


    "...Can you please just tell me¡­?"


    Azmodeus was once again reminded of theplications of women, and it was this prior experience that led to a bad omen bubbling up inside his psyche.


    And this feeling was soon proven to be urate, as the Ice Goddess Sect Leader scooched a little closer to him underneath the dimly lit lightning of the bar as she leaned her lewd body on his left shoulder before whispering, "Uhn, uh~"


    "...Is there a reason why you won''t¡­?"


    "Uhn, uh. I just don''t want to," she responded while pressing her enticing body even further on him.


    Azmodeus couldn''t believe this woman, as she was an entirely different person when she was drunk.


    Is she even the same expressionless woman I was talking to a few minutes ago??


    He was beginning to think that she did not get drunk very often, and when she did, her true self seemed to show its face¡­


    Speaking of faces, there was an extremely beautiful one licking his cheeks, and if one listened close enough, then they could begin to hear soft giggles escape Bing Nu Shen''s dark red lips.


    "Could you please stop that¡­?" He asked while starting to turn his head in her direction.


    However, when he did, the tongue that was licking his face found its way inside a hole, as it yed around with another tongue, trying to suck out all the juices from within him.


    "???" Azmodeus felt the drunk woman cup his cheeks as she made a mess of his mouth.


    Has this girl gonepletely insane¡­? Does she not even realize what she''s doing??


    His thoughts stirred as he attempted to think of something that could remedy this situation to the point where he would neither be hated by this woman nor cause her to be so embarrassed that she called out for his headhunt.


    And eventually, he thought of something that always worked on Yang Hua when she was in a horny state like this nude beauty.


    That ''something'' being the¡­


    ¡­Art of tickling!


    "Hahaha~!"


    Bing Nu Shen''s heavenlyugh resounded inside her private chambers as some of the female guards standing outside were alerted by this disturbance.


    "Are you okay, Mdy??" All the guards questioned in unison.


    It was this group question that was able to snap Bing Nu Shen out of her self-indulgent reverie, as she cleared her voice while swatting away the sneaky hands ying with her thin waist and responded, "Everything is fine. Go back to your posts."


    The guards were still a little suspicious even with the lucid response they received, but in the end, she was their Lady, so they saluted outside the door before saying, "Very well, Mdy. Feel free to tell us if you need anything."


    It was after the voice of the guards stopped sounding that Azmodeusmented, "Your guards are quite the pretty ones, huh?"


    *Humph!* "Y-You big idiot! You''re annoying¡­!"


    Bing Nu Shen backed away from his body with her arms crossed, as the jealousy tactic seemed to work quite well in getting women away from the Crimson Devil Lord.


    Something for which he was quite grateful, as he would''ve never been able to escape her grasps if it continued at the pace it was progressing.


    Nheless, he was still waiting for an answer to a question that she likely forgot about, so he once again asked, "What happened to Yang Fa? Thest time I saw him, he was being cornered by what I now know to be Tribtion Transcendance Realm Cultivators."


    Bing Nu Shen opened one of her dazzling ck eyes as she responded, "I don''t want to talk to you, i.d.i.o.t."


    She was still sitting on hisp with her cherry tips feeling the cool breezeing through the open window, which made for an unusual view for the man just trying to get some answers from thisplicated, horny woman.


    Azmodeus had noticed that she bit his lip until blood drew earlier, which made him realize that this woman was definitely the possessive one.


    And that was when a thought formed in his mind, as he said, "How about this? I will give you one thing that you want in exchange for your information on Yang Fa''s approximate location."


    "One thing¡­? Anything?"


    Bing Nu Shen''s attention seemed to have been sessfully attracted, as her ears perked up and she found herself staring into those deep, crimson pools of his again.


    "Anything," Azmodeus responded while sliding his hands up those sensual thighs and hips of hers.


    And that seemed to be the tipping point for the horny Sect Leader as she lightly bit her lower lip before saying, "...He''s trapped in a certain group of nations in the Boundless Archipgo called the Dragon Land Alliance¡­"


    After getting out those lucid words using the full extent of her ability, she straddled his body with a face that said she could take no more!


    If she didn''t get out her frustrations right then and there, then she would explode!


    And just as she was about to take off what little remained of the fabric covering her divinely perfect body, a hand came crashing down on her tender neck, knocking her unconscious in one swift movement.


    *Pat*


    Her curvaceous body fell into the hands of Azmodeus as he muttered, "I''m sorry, Bing Nu Shen, but I would not like a version of myself that takes advantage of women in such a state. And more importantly, I get less benefits if I do such a thing..."


    Even with all of the Traits that he had acquired over the years, there were enough counteracting side effects that some things would simply never change, and one of those things just so happened to be his respect for women.


    Maybe it was his Traits or the teachings ingrained in his soul by what he remembered about his mother, but women would always be a soft spot for him. And even if Bing Nu Shen was quite literally throwing herself at him, that was no excuse to behave like a degenerate.


    However, benefits would always remain #1...


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 112: 40 Years, The Crimson Devil Lords Infamy

    ...¡­.


    In the end, there is a time for everything¡­


    At this thought, Azmodeus looked down at the world-toppling beauty in his arms for a moment before walking over to a nearby purple couch.


    After which, he picked up a soft nket before using it to cover the body which she never bothered to cover by herself.


    Following this action, he took a few soft steps toward arge heart-shaped couch and set her down gently.


    He covered her up even more, as that view from the gods waspletely concealed from the world.


    It was only after getting all of this out of the way that he walked to the window seal that he broke in through and took onest look at that impable face of hers before leaping out of the window, vanishing into the dark moonlit sky.


    -


    A few quadrillion miles away from the Ice Goddess Sect Leader''s Castle, Azmodeus transferred his focused consciousness from his Primordial Essence Clone back to his main body.


    It was done in a split second, as all memories were instantaneously transferred between the two parts of the same existence.


    After which, no words were spoken, as they were the same in every manner, shape, or form. And it was with this level of unity that they did not need to converse with one another to know exactly what they were thinking.


    The Dragon Land Alliance¡­ How interesting¡­


    His thoughts swirled around inside his head, as the Primordial Essence Clone already knew what it needed to do¡ªthat something was to go and find some more information about this ''Dragon Land Alliance''.


    It didn''t take long before all Primordial Essence Clones and Mirror Mirage''s received the relevant information about the Dragon Land Alliance.


    Following this group transmission, all versions of Azmodeus¡ªall of whom were the same existence with varying memory discrepancies that were eventually able to synchronize with each other¡ªmade finding information about the Dragon Land Alliance their main objective.


    After getting out every piece of relevant information to all various parts of himself, Azmodeus continued his cultivation session inside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode, while being smothered by the luscious bodies of two gorgeous women.


    ¡­


    Time quickly passed by for everyone in Prometheus, as the Ice Goddess Sect Leader eventually woke up from her slumber.


    She remembered not an ounce of what happened the night prior, which was quite good in Azmodeus''s case. But when she found millions of Heaven-Ranked Pills at her doorstep with a note that said, ''My end of the trade.'', she became more than a little suspicious about what had happened over thest twenty-four hours.


    And that was when she recalled getting all touchy-feely with the Crimson Devil Lord. This was the only thing she remembered, but that was all she needed to make the bold inference that she slept with him in order to acquire the Heaven-Rank Pills¡­


    At this thought, a profuse blush emerged on her beautiful face, as she never would''ve predicted there would be a part of herself willing to sell her body to a man she just met¡­


    Furthermore, this man was the one whom her second-youngest and youngest disciples had fallen in love with! Hell, Yang Hua was practically next to the man all the time!


    Which was to say that she had be a homewrecker¡­!


    Nheless, she discarded the thought altogether, as these Heaven-Rank Pills would be extremely useful in their war with the Judoka Sect.


    In addition, there were a number of Peak-Heaven Rank Pills, all of which were capable of providing her the chance for a breakthrough into the 1st Stage of Lunar Ascendancy!


    She had no clue why the Crimson Devil Lord had given her so many valuable pills, but she decided to leave that for when she asked him about it in person at a future point in time.


    And it was after these thoughts that, just like the Secluded Immortal, she began a deep cultivation session, using up all of the Heaven-Rank Pills that remained following the sharing across all high ranking members of the Ice Goddess Sect.


    -


    Time passed by like the turning of pages in a book, each chapter leading to the next, as 40 years were gone in the blink of an eye.


    After such a long period of time, many things had changed, especially in the area around Fallen Immortal Mountain.


    With the raging mes of war in all directions, people from all over started migrating to the fields and meadows that surrounded the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode.


    Almost every single person on the maind had heard of the strongest and most talented expert to ever be born inside of Prometheus, as it wasn''t until just a few years ago that he kept a rtively low profile, limiting his movements to the River Serpent Sect.


    But on one day that seemed no different than the rest, something changed for the Crimson Devil Lord as he sent out millions of clones, with dozens of them possessing strength beyond anythingparable!


    Even the Mahayana Realm Experts that attempted to intercept the murder spree''s conducted by the Crimson Devil Lord were deemed part of the deceased within mere moments!


    After dozens of years of this happening over and over again, people started to fear the Crimson Devil Lord, but at the same time, they revered and venerated him!


    It was because of this reverence that Quintillions of cultivators moved away from their nations, kingdoms, and empires, all of them headed for the Fallen Immortal Mountain!


    There were countless Tribtion Transcendance Realm and below cultivators that erected entire factions in the surrounding quadrillion miles of the River Serpent Sect, effectively annexing arge portion of the Sect.


    The River Serpent Sect, of course, had objections to all of this, as these people were not part of their affiliate factions and had simply taken over plots ofnd without permission.


    But in the end, the strongest fist ruled, and the Crimson Devil Lord was even capable of murdering their Mahayana Realm Grand Elders en masse¡­


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 113: Half-Step Comets Passage Realm Battle Power

    ...¡­.


    Although reluctantly, the River Serpent Sect forfeited all rights to arge part of the Outer Sect, moving all their disciples away from the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode, leaving the Crimson Devil Lord and all his admirers to do whatever it was they wished to do.


    And while that was happening, the River Serpent Sect focused on their war with the Razgod Empire and the Sapphrine Empire¡ªan Empire that had decided to join the alliance of the Judoka Sect and Razgod Empire a few years ago.


    On a side note, they weren''t the only ones to gain an ally, as the Ice Goddess Sect and River Serpent Sect had also gained another Top Tier faction in their alliance, namely, the ''Earth Bound Empire'', yet another peak empire on the Northern Spirit Continent¡ªan empire that lorded over a good section of the frosty eastern part of the continent.


    They were originally an empire that pledged not to interfere in the wars of the world, but after the Razgod Empire decided to raid and pige theirnds without a care for their face, they decided to shatter that pledge and team up with the Ice Goddess Sect and River Serpent Sect.


    On a side note, they weren''t the only factions that were devolving into an all-out war, as every Rank 7 Sect, or the equivalent of an Apex force, was making big waves behind the scenes, choosing which alliance they wanted to join before the utterly bloody war to decide the true ruler of the Northern Spirit Continent came around!


    -


    Nevertheless, on a certain mountain with exotic birds and mythical creatures roaming around the lush grassy mountain slopes, a man of unparalleled beauty was looking at his system interface with a hand pressed up against his chin.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: ~200/25,000]


    [Cultivation: Peak Stages of the Middle Mahayana Realm.]


    [Overall Combat Power: Half-Step Comet''s Passage Realm]


    [Level: 138]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 1.5 Nonillion]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 17 Nonillion]


    {[Stats:]}


    [Strength: 135 Septillion]


    [Speed: 160 Septillion]


    [Defense: 150 Septillion]


    [Qi: 210 Septillion]


    [Cultivation Talent: Peak-Comet Rank]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Physique Coalescence - Level 5] (C Rank)] ¡ú [0/10 Nonillion]


    [Mirror Mirage - Level 5] (C Rank)] ¡ú [0/10 Nonillion]


    [Various other Traits] ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [Overall Attribute Boost: C Rank - (Level 5)]


    {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters]}


    [Singrity (Peak-Comet Rank) (Combined Physique created from the aspects of all your thousands of individual Physique''s)]


    [Various other Physique''s] ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [Overall Attribute Boost: Peak-Comet Rank]


    {[Laws]} ¡ú


    ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [All 300 Low-Mortal Laws have beenprehended to 100%, sessfully achieving Law Coalescence.]


    {[Weapon Comprehensions]}


    [Main Weapon] ¡ú [Sword] ¡ú [Primary Art: Iaijutsu] ¡ú [Late-Comet Rank]


    [Plethora of other Weaponprehensions: All Mortal Weapons Comprehended to the Early-Comet Rank and Above]


    ¡ª------------


    Azmodeus perused his system interface with a satisfied glint in his eyes, as there were many things that had changed in it over the years.


    The first and foremost being his level,bat strength, and stats, all of which were leagues above what they were half a century ago!


    This was, of course, due to not only his Evolution Essence gains acquired from the casual genocides conducted by the Mirror Mirage''s but also because of his own efforts in cultivation.


    In fact, excluding his level, he was capable of improving both his stats andbat power by a substantial amount just using his constantly increasing Cultivation Talent, Physique''s, and extended periods of time.


    It was because of this that he was able to improve his overallbat power to the very peak of the Lunar Ascendancy Realm, namely, the Half-Step Comet''s Passage Realm!


    He had no clue what level of strength was enough to impress the judges stationed at the Astral Leap, but if even the Half-Step Comet''s Passage Realm was unable to give him maximum marks, then it might as well be impossible...


    On the subject of the Astral Leap, the time of its start was inching ever closer, and it would likely ur within the next nine years.


    But until that point came, Azmodeus had a few things he had to get off his Prometheus bucket list.


    The first and most important one was to find Yang Hua''s father in the Dragon Land Alliance¡ªan Alliance that he had already discerned to be in the northern section of the Boundless Archipgo, roughly 100 sextillion miles away from his current position.


    It was unknown why those Tribtion Transcendance Realm Experts had taken him so far away from the Maind, but that was irrelevant for the Crimson Devil Lord, as his only purpose was to eradicate all those responsible for the kidnapping of his master.


    He was also doing it for Yang Hua''s sake, but he would never admit that openly¡­


    Nevertheless, that was the main objective that he had left in Prometheus, but there were two more side ones, both of which were rted to each other in a way.


    The first one was to figure out what Jue Mei, the alien cat, was nning to do after he left.


    And if she nned toe with him, should he simply take the entire Fallen Immortal Mountain along with him to save some trouble?


    What to do about his Cave Abode and those moochers were his second concern, as although Yang Hua, Nao Long, and Rou Tian were of the 2nd Stage Tribtion Transcendance Realm, while Jue Mei was in the 9th Stage Tribtion Transcendance Realm, it was unknown whether or not he could protect them while on a higher ne of existence than Prometheus.


    Yang Hua, Nao Long, and Rou Tian possessed cultivation talent of the Absolute Peak-Heaven Rank, while Jue Mei''s was capable of increasing through some mysterious method simr to his, but it was still out there on whether that was enough to allow them to safely cultivate in the Starry Expanse.


    But it also wasn''t like he could just leave those Yandere''s and that mysterious loot-giving cat on Prometheus, so he ultimately ended upnding on the idea of taking his Cave Abode and the mountain itself along with him.


    Theoretically, it was possible, but whether or not it would be permitted by the judges of the Astral Leap was a different matter altogether¡­


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 114: The Tyrants Plunder

    ...¡­.


    Azmodeus would think up anything he could until the moment the Astral Leap came along, and if nothing else came to mind, he would simply sneak the girls into the Astral Leap.


    There were also You Mei, Li Na, and Bing Nu Shen, all of whom were extremely close to Yang Hua.


    He originally nned to bring them along as well, but it was unknown whether they wanted toe with him or not, so that idea was kept to the back of his mind until the date of the Astral Leap came closer.


    On a side note, You Mei and Li Na often came by the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode under the pretense of ''looking out for their youngest junior sister''.


    However, it was made abundantly clear that they were looking at no one other than the tall, immortal-like man¡­


    They practically stared at him the entire time they came to do a ''check up'', and along with their departure was a suspicious liquid left on the cave''s floors.


    It had be such a conundrum that Azmodeus eventually gave them hisprehensions in the Elusive Ascension Book in hopes that they''d sit back and slowly delve into the secrets of the secret manual.


    And they did just that for a while¡­


    At least, that was until theyprehended it faster than both Yang Hua and Nao Long did¡­


    It wasn''t that theirprehension speeds were any higher than both of those crazy women; it was just that Azmodeus''s insights into the secret technique had tremendously improved over thest century, reaching a point far beyond what he possessed when he was instructing the two yanderes all those years ago.


    This was all to say that the two new crazies had once again begun their leaking sessions while staring at him all day. And it was very likely that they would have long jumped him if not for the fact that Yang Hua and Nao Long were cultivating in hisp 24/7¡­


    You Mei and Li Na were like two white cats trying to take over the home of two fiercely territorial ck cats¡ªck cats that were not afraid to kill the white cats if they didn''t tread carefully¡­


    It were these dynamics that led to an air of crackling tension permeating the inside of the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode.


    In fact, the two white cats had even started calling themselves Azmodeus''s wives as well¡ªsomething that led to the two OG Yanderes going on killing spree''s in order to vent their anger.


    They wanted to kill those two bimbos who didn''t know that they had gotten there first, but in the end, they were Yang Hua''s senior sisters, so that option was out of the equation¡­


    It was this unusual situation between the four of them that led to not only Yang Hua and Nao Long murdering cultivators in the Trillions but also You Mei and Li Na, as they needed something to vent out their frustrations for not being able to get any closer to bing the true wives of the Crimson Devil Lord.


    After a few dozen years of murdering anyone who even so much as looked at them the wrong way, the four of them bonded quite a bit. After all, they had the same ''hobbies'', mainly consisting of obsessing over a divinely beautiful man and going on murder spree''s...


    And thus, a friendship between sisters who low-key wanted to kill each other was born. And along with this new friendship, a new title was bestowed upon the four of them.


    The people of Prometheus started calling them the Blood-Bathed Sister Wives!


    It was unknown who made up this title, but after figuring out that all of them were somehow rted to the Crimson Devil Lord, everyone naturally assumed that they were some form of wives or concubines.


    Little did they know that the Crimson Devil Lord was still as single as they came¡­


    It was a crazy notion to imagine that the strongest and most talented tyrant ever to be born in Prometheus was a single pringle, but that was the reality of the situation.


    He was fine withmitment, and he wasn''t afraid to interact with women, but in the end, cultivation was his first and foremost concern.


    However, if he one day came across a fitting Dual Cultivation Secret Manual, then who knew where the night would take him¡­


    Who would he be to deny some substantial benefits?? After all, he was a man who would chase a penny to the ends of the earth if it meant he could acquire even the smallest amount of benefit!


    -


    "Today is the day¡­"


    Azmodeus''s deep and raspy voice resounded inside his cave abode as he looked toward the four women sprawled out on top of him.


    They seemed to think that his body was up for sale, and if it weren''t for the Elusive Ascension Technique, then there was no way he would get any cultivating done while lying on a soft bed, underneath the bodies of women just as soft.


    Nheless, his neutral gaze traveled down to a woman in particr. She had long ck hair and ck eyes, and she usually wore an icy, cold expression.


    However, when she was around him, that icy facade seemed to fade away like it was never there to begin with, simr to a certain girl he''s known since he was a kid.


    Li Na has definitely opened up a lot over the years¡­ And to think that there was a time when I would be hard-pressed to see even the smallest of smiles on her expression¡­


    He observed the cute cat-like face she was making while snuggling against his left side, as he could''ve sworn that he heard her purr a little¡­


    What should I do about these adorable women who feel the need to never leave my side unless they have to¡­?


    And then there''s also that Bing Nu Shen, who, even though she''s finished hertest cultivation sessions, decided to avoid me, likely due to her memories of that daying back to her¡­


    A slight chuckle nearly escaped his mouth when he thought about the troubled expression that the silly Ice Goddess was probably making even at this very moment¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 115: (End of Volume 1) The Price Of Power

    ...¡­


    Thinking about all the wonderful women around him got Azmodeus thinking about the future¡ªa future where he and all these women might be something more than friends.


    However, when he recalled the message that he received from the Infinite Evolution System a while back, that slight smile on his face faded away.


    [The Host should not get too attached to those close to him. After all, everything in life has a price, and to be the strongest, that price is a major one¡­]


    [You will slowly lose your emotions one by one, no matter if you have Traits that counteract the effects of emotion dulling.]


    [It will eventually reach a point where you will lose all sense of your past self as you be stronger and reach further.]


    [And there wille a day when you will lose more than just your emotions, as you will begin to feel pain¡ªextreme physical pain beyond anything that you''ve experienced before. Furthermore, this pain will never subside and will only exponentially increase the stronger you be.]


    [This will not be the only price you will need to pay, but that is not for you to know at this point in time, as knowing is also a form of price¡­]


    This was what Azmodeus had received from his system notifications a few years ago, and ever since then, he had been pondering the words of the system.


    However, before we get to that topic, let us go over all the things that have changed over thest 40 years.


    For his aspects of existence, there was his Sword Aura, which had sessfully progressed into the Early-Comet Rank and was even able to solidify itself inside the Middle-Comet Rank!


    If he wanted to, then he could quite literally split the entire Northern Spirit Continent in half!


    And it wouldn''t end with just that, as his full power strike would bepletely capable of cleaving sextillions of miles of the Endless Ocean that surrounded the Northern Spirit Continent and the Boundless Archipgo!


    He was quite literally a walking cmity with a sword in hand!


    Furthermore, that wasn''t his only improved aspect of existence, for if he used his Laws in conjunction with his sword technique and Singrity Physique, then it was quite possible that even thousands of miles ofnd and sea would stand not half a chance at enduring a casual strike from the Crimson Devil Lord!


    Nheless, there were a few more things that had tremendously improved over thest four decades, and one of the most important of those things were his professions, all of which had achieved the Low-Comet Rank!


    Of course, this was only possible after a bunch of time and effort was expended in researching the individually characteristic professions and the relevant Essence Manuals. But it was still a grand achievement, regardless of how much had to go into achieving it.


    And it was with these new and improved professions that the Fallen Immortal Mountain had essentially be an impregnable fortress!


    On a side note, Azmodeus was also beginning to research a plethora of new techniques that expanded beyond what he could gleam from bits and pieces of ancient technique Scriptures¡ªscriptures that were obtained from all the High-Ranking Elders that were killed over the years¡­


    In addition, the scriptures were also obtained by a new side mission that he had his Mirror Mirage''s go on. But to be urate, it was more of an adventure quest than anything¡­


    It was through these adventures and tomb explorations of his Mirror Mirage''s that a number of ancient texts and scriptures were transmitted to the loot-hoarding hands of Azmodeus.


    And with that piece of information, everything that had changed over the years had been stated, so let us get back to the topic of what the Infinite Evolution System informed the Crimson Devil Lord of a few years ago¡­


    -


    Azmodeus figured there would be a price to pay for such extreme levels of strength progression, even surpassing that of the alien cat¡ªa cat who possessed who knew how many iprehensible secrets¡­


    And with such absurd speed bordering on insanity, it was only fair that the price would be equally high.


    In the end, it alles down to whether or not it''s worth it¡­ Whether the power I yearn for is worth it¡­


    The Infinite Evolution System gave me the option to back out now and let the system dissipate from existence¡­


    He brooded over the subject for a while as he stared up at the intricately carved interior of his cave abode.


    I have the option to get rid of the system and live a life of peace¡ªa life of tranquility and love with the people who care about me¡­


    His neutral gaze seemed to soften for half an instant as he looked at the sleeping beauty''stched onto him.


    However, when he recalled all that he has been through in both lifetimes¡ªeverything that he has paid in order to obtain the opportunity to be stronger¡ªthe warmth in his gaze seemed to fade, as it was reced with an almost deadly coldness.


    I have made my choice from the very beginning¡­


    In fact, there was no choice¡­ There never was¡­


    There was only a path forward¡­


    My path forward.


    Azmodeus''s thoughts stirred as he tenderly caressed the heads of the kind, smart, and beautiful women that had been around him for many years, apanying him on his journey through Prometheus.


    "Although I can''t promise you all the life that you deserve, I will treat you the best I can until the moment my silhouette fades away from your memory¡­" He softly murmured in a voice unable to be heard by the sleeping beauties.


    It was in that moment that he understood what his purpose in this life was¡­


    It wasn''t the pursuit of money, of worldly pleasures, or even of women¡­


    There was only one thing he was born to be.


    "The very best¡­ Unparalleled¡­ The Unparalleled Crimson Devil Lord¡­ That is who I am¡­"


    The Crimson Devil Lord kept on caressing the women snuggled up against him as an indescribable glint shed past his crimson-colored eyes.


    I will be stronger¡­ And on my path of the limitless path of cultivation, I will leave behind me a deep crimson river¡ªa river that will run through all of existence¡ªa river that will leave behind the reflections of everything I have or will do in this renewed life of mine.


    OOOM!


    A light humming sound seemed to resonate through all of existence, as on a certain day inside a nondescript Cave Abode, a title was created¡ªa title that would etch its way into the hearts of countless beings!


    ....

 Chapter 116: The Astral Leaps Prelude

    .....


    In a cave that was dug into Fallen Immortal Mountain many eras ago, a man with long crimson-colored hair and eyes, possessing a face that could only be described as something from a painting, was sitting in the same lotus position that he had been in for many years.


    "The time is almost here¡­"


    Azmodeus had his divine sense travel out to a far off battlefield where many powerful masters were fighting each other, unleashing spells capable of splitting quadrillions of miles ofnd with mere swipes of their hands.


    Luckily for the maind, they were fighting above the Boundless Ocean on the western side of the Boundless Archipgo; however, it wasn''t this violent battle between dozens of Apex forces that attracted the Crimson Devil Lord''s attention.


    It was instead the slight energy fluctuations that were crackling in the sky above where the Apex forces were duking it out.


    "That is the prelude energy signature for the Astral Leap rift, and from what Bing Nu Shen has told me before, it should only be a few weeks away from fully opening, allowing anybody with the necessary metal to shatter the world barrier andmence the Astral Leap."


    Azmodeus observed the rift trying to form for a few seconds before he turned his gaze down and saw countless Tribtion Transcendance and Mahayana Realm figures dishing out attacks that cleaved many sections of the Boundless Ocean into chasms that stretched on for who knew how many miles.


    Should I interfere in this battle¡­?


    He looked at the Sect Leader''s side of the Ice Goddess Sect fight off those on the Grand Elder''s side, as he thought about his next course of action.


    However, such brooding ended in a split second after the sight of an injured Bing Nu Shen came into view.


    She was fighting the Grand Elder of the Ice Goddess Sect and was originally winning due to all the Heaven-Ranked Pills that she consumed, but in the end, the Grand Elder was over 40 thousand years old and was able to enter the 1st Stage Lunar Ascendancy Realm just recently.


    It was the age gap between the two that made it possible for the equally talented Grand Elder to achieve the 1st Stage Lunar Ascendancy Realm at the same time as the Sect Leader, who was loaded up on her sugar daddy''s pill supply.


    However, even though they were both in the 1st Stage Lunar Ascendancy Realm, the Grand Elder had been hiding her breakthrough for a while and was thus far farther into the realm than where the Sect Leader was.


    On a side note, one might wonder how either of them was able to breakthrough even with the limits ced on Prometheus.


    And normally, it would be impossible to break through to the Lunar Ascendancy Realm. That was, unless you just so happened to use an Astral Leap''s opening to your advantage¡­


    If one timed it right, then they could let the Qi from the Starry Expanse flow into their bodies through the rift''s formation.


    However, not everything was good about breaking through this way, as one would need to pass the Astral Leap within the next one thousand years if they wished to stay alive with Starry Qi coursing throughout their low-mortal-level bodies.


    But for one to pass the Astral Leap in the 1st Stage Lunar Ascendancy Realm was¡­ nearly impossible¡­


    For example, the Grand Elder of the Ice Goddess Sect had been secretly trying to pass the Astral Leap for the past 900 years, and every single time, she came out severely injured, half an inch away from death.


    After all, the Astral Leap was meant to be taken by the talented, which made the original 1st Stage Lunar Ascendancy Realm requirement for Half-Step Lunar Ascendancy Realm Experts increase to the 2nd Stage Lunar Ascendancy Realm for 1st Stage Lunar Ascendancy Realm Masters.


    It was these minimum requirements that caused severe bacsh damage to anybody attempting the Astral Leap if they weren''t able to shatter the world barrier.


    And in the case of the Ice Goddess Sect''s Grand Elder, she was close to having her life force nearly drained to depletion, not only because of her failed attempts atmencing the Astral Leap but also because the millennium mark was almost there for her¡­


    This was herst chance to seed, for if she didn''t, then she would shrivel up into a corpse within the next few years!


    However, little did she know that the Crimson Devil Lord had already put her on his agenda board for ''Things to do before making the Astral Leap''.


    I have already figured out a way to sneak the Fallen Immortal Mountain unnoticed by disguising it as a unique treasured weapon, and the Dragon Land Alliance is on theirst legs with the work of three Primordial Essence Clones causing mayhem throughout the sextillions of miles that make up their assortment of inds.


    My master has already been located and will be rescued as soon as those few Lunar Ascendancy Realm Experts understand that there''s a time to give up their futile resistance¡­


    Azmodeus had massacred millions of Lunar Ascendancy Realm dragon descendants of the Dragon Land Alliance over thest dozen years, all of whom were within their ''1000-year Astral Leap Ascension time limit''.


    There were many such experts spread throughout the Boundless Archipgo, as countless powerful organizations had amassed forces that went beyond anything thought to be possible on the Northern Spirits Continent.


    One might wonder how so many Lunar Ascendancy Realm Experts had sprouted up in ces that weren''t underneath an Astral Leap location, but the truth was that there were many more Astral Leap rifts spread throughout all of the Boundless Archipgo and even the Endless Oceans that surrounded everything on Prometheus.


    It was because of these rifts that there were likely quadrillions of Lunar Ascendancy Realm Experts lingering around the expansivends and oceans of Prometheus.


    Azmodeus himself had exterminated a few million of them, so it wouldn''t be much of a surprise if there really were quadrillions of them hiding behind every rock, pebble, and organization in the infinitely stretching world.


    But for the Anomaly, every single one of these ''All-Mighty Gods'' had be nothing more than glorified loot bags, as all of them gave system notifications like:


    *Ding!* *You have killed a 1st Stage Lunar Ascendancy Realm Dragon Lord from the Dragon Land Alliance.*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 300 Octillion Evolution Essence!*


    .....

 Chapter 117: Heavenly Transfiguration

    ...¡­.


    Although the amount of Evolution Essence gained per kill was less than what Azmodeus got from that MC guy who wasn''t even in the Middle Mahayana Realm, it made sense when considering all the Evolution Essence bonuses that he acquired from the MC being a system user.


    It were these Evolution Essence bonuses that made him want to find and kill a few system users in the Lunar Ascendancy Realm; however, even after so many years of searching, he hadn''t found a single one other than the MC¡­


    He had begun to lose all hope of ever finding another one...


    At least, that was until he heard rumors of their being an organization in the Boundless Archipgo that was made up entirely of ''heroes'' who possessed ''systems''.


    Furthermore, he had also caught wind of these ''heroes'' ns to head out in droves for the uing Astral Leap, as there were many of them nearing the end of their Astral Leap deadlines.


    If I time it all perfectly, then I will be able to not only save my master from the Dragon Land Alliance, but I will also be able to kill off a number of those strong heroes and receive immense amounts of Evolution Essence¡­


    A slight grin nearly formed on Azmodeus''s devilishly handsome face as he looked toward the ongoing fight between the Judoka Sect, Ice Goddess Sect, Razgod Empire, River Serpent Sect, and the rest of the top-tier Rank 7 Sect and Kingdom or Empire equivalents.


    After getting a good understanding of the situation, he decided that he would send out 3 Primordial Essence Clones and a few million Mirror Mirage''s.


    That should be enough to reduce the forces of every side of the war besides the Ice Goddess Sect Leader''s Faction.


    But for Bing Nu Shen, and more importantly, myself, to gain the most from this event, I will need to make it seem like my clones are part of the Ice Goddess Sect, all so Bing Nu Shen can take the credit that wille from murdering the majority of the enemy forces¡­


    At this thought, Azmodeus looked at a particr Trait on his system interface that said ''Heavenly Transfiguration''.


    It was a Trait that he obtained from a Lunar Ascendancy Realm Dragon Lord, and its specific abilities were to allow the user to be anything that they wished to be.


    Whether they wanted to transform into a woman, man, or even a donkey, it mattered not for this Trait, as everything down to your gic makeup could be altered to suit the needs of the user.


    And it was this Trait that would allow the Crimson Devil Lord to transform his clones and Mirror Mirage''s into members of the Ice Goddess Sect!


    He would have his Primordial Essence Clones stay men for obvious reasons, but the majority of his Mirror Mirage''s would be women due to that being the primary demographic of the Ice Goddess Sect.


    Nheless, the Primordial Essence Clones would be the Three Supreme Elders, while the Mirror Mirage''s would be the ''Secret Frostwind Brigade'' that had been behind Bing Nu Shen since the very beginning, awaiting the moment that they could be sent out into action!


    It was this setup that would allow the Ice Goddess Sect Leader to acquire all the fame from the killing of trillions of powerful experts!


    -


    Azmodeus wasted no time after formting the strategy that he would use, as a few Primordial Essence Clones materialized from thin air, already aware of what their objectives would be.


    "It will be done."


    "Very well¡­"


    That was all the words exchanged between the two parts of the same existence, as Azmodeus went back into his deep state of cultivation with a dragon girl and jade beautyying on hisp, while the Primordial Essence Clones set out and informed all the Mirror Mirage''s of what they should do.


    After a few milliseconds, everyone knew what their objectives were, as they all used the Heavenly Transfiguration Trait and transformed into men and women, young and old, before conjuring various weapons and heading out to the battlefield.


    ¡­


    A few momentster, millions of figures who looked like they belonged to an extremely powerful organization were seen levitating in mid-air, with their piercing gazes focused on the Apex forces battling bloody fights all around them.


    "..."


    One of Azmodeus''s Primordial Essence Clones, in the form of a wizened old man with long white hair and an equally long beard, walked in front of the crowd of Mirror Mirage''s.


    After which¡­


    "Stop."


    His voice was calm andposed, yet it was also able to reverberate inside the souls of the trillions of hegemonies fighting each other.


    "???" "???" "???"


    Everyone on the battlefield paused what they were doing as every single one of them, without exception, swiveled their heads in the direction of the booming voice, wondering who had the nerve to interrupt so many powerful forces.


    And when they saw the cold gleam in the crimson-colored eyes of an old man who appeared as if he had been alive for countless generations, they all felt an instinctive urge to run for their lives.


    However, before they were able to take the time to understand what that feeling entailed, the raspy voice of the daunting old man resounded once more:


    "I havee here with my Frostwind Brigade on orders of mydy, Bing Nu Shen. And unfortunately for all of you, the only objective we have today is weeding out therge majority of you¡­"


    His primal gaze scanned over all the loot bags as a slightly creepy smile emerged on his face, scaring the crap out of the Tribtion Transcendance and Mahayana Realm Experts.


    However, not everyone was left in a state of terror after being on the receiving end of such a look, as one of the Half-Step Lunar Ascendancy Realm Experts from the Judoka Sect even had the balls to shout, "Do you know what nonsense you are speaking about right now!? How about you go back to whatever sh*t hole you crawled out of and tell me how your mother''s teets taste-!?"


    This Expert wasn''t even able to finish his words, as that cocky smirk was wiped off his face in less than an instant¡­


    SHING!


    "!!!"


    He wasn''t even able to see the crimson-eyed man move an inch before he found his arm sliced off at the base!


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 118: Pandemonium!

    ...¡­.


    "Arrgghh¡­!! You fu*cking bastard!!! Do you know who I am!?"


    It was only after the anguished scream of the Half-Step Lunar Ascendancy Realm Expert echoed out that the rest of the hegemonies were able to snap out of their stupors and begin fighting each other once again!


    A lot of them were targeting the new showy entries; however, a good chunk of the experts utterly ignored the existence of people they already deemed to be part of the deceased¡­


    After all, attracting so much attention to yourself in arge-scale war like this one was never a good thing.


    But for the Frostwind Brigade, they all wore the same creepy grins on their faces, as they turned their predatory gazes up at countless experts capable of blotting out the skies with their overwhelmingly powerful attacks.


    "Let the pandemoniummence."


    Following the cryptic words of the crimson-eyed old man, all of Azmodeus''s Primordial Essence Clones and Mirror Mirage''s unleashedplete carnage on those who dared to oppose them!


    Lightning bolts were shot out like God''s retribution!


    Fireballsrger than suns and ocean tides that extended upward for trillions of miles were conjured up from all the Mirror Mirage''s!


    Every single Element and Law imaginable was being hurled in the direction of the foolish Loot Bags, as the sight of countless resplendently cataclysmic-level spells was enough to create a maelstrom of colors to such a degree that all fighting hegemonies were blinded in half an instant!


    "What the hell is going on!? I can''t see!!"


    "It''s those Frostwind Brigade bastards!! Go out and kill them all!!"


    Various orders and shouts were being thrown around on the battlefield as the Frostwind Brigade became the center of attention.


    ***


    Meanwhile, in a certain corner of the war-torn battlefield, a divinely beautiful woman was in the middle of an intense struggle with an olddy that looked like she was on herst legs.


    "Just what exactly is he nning to do¡­" Bing Nu Shen softly murmured under her breath while narrowly dodging a cane that aimed to explode her head like a watermelon.


    "Don''t get distracted, little girl! I just hate when that stupid, ugly face of yours has the nerve to look away from this queen!"


    The cynical voice of the Grand Elder resounded as she threw even stronger attacks after understanding that the Sect Leader had called for backup.


    "Why must you insult me every time we encounter each other, Biyu¡­?" Bing Nu Shen inquired with a dull gaze while dodging world-splitting attack after the next.


    BOOOOM! BOOOOM!


    Ear-splitting explosions were being set off one after the other as huge circr domes of the Endless Ocean were being carved out with every strike sent out by the Grand Elder!


    There were even a few world-sized inds of the Boundless Archipgo that vanished from the face of the map with just the residual energies of the olddy''s devastating attacks!


    "You wish to know why I hate you enough to insult you, Bing Nu Shen!?"


    Grand Elder Biyu''s infuriated voice sounded out as her attacks were only getting more and more intense!


    "It''s because you were born with the beauty that should''ve been mine!! Some whore like you should''ve never been the one to receive it!!"


    The olddy''s absolutely livid voice seemed to be hoarser as her strikes once again increased in overall power output!


    "...Over such a petty reason¡­ That is why you have teamed up with our enemies?Betraying everything that our Ancestors have worked for...?"


    Bing Nu Shen couldn''t believe what she was hearing, as it was because of petty jealousy that the Grand Elder turned her back on everything¡­


    "Of course you wouldn''t understand what I had to go through because you were always the prettiest one!! Just die, you whore!!"


    Biyu was using the secret techniques of the Ice Goddess Sect to their absolute limits as star-sized icicles plummeted down from the heavens in amounts numbering in the millions!


    "So this is the path you have chosen¡­"


    Bing Nu Shen''s disappointed voice resonated with the very essence of the aspect of Ice, as she tapped into something that was forever barred off from the Grand Elder due to her wavering will.


    The gorgeous Sect Leader conjured up a long ice de that contained all herprehensions in the Ice Aspect, as she focused her icy-cold gaze on the iing attack capable of ttening a gxy.


    "If this is the path you''ve chosen for yourself to be led astray by, then I will assist you in ending your life early."


    Following these emotionless words spoken by Bing Nu Shen, she lifted her serenely beautiful de to her face before taking in a deep, frosty breath.


    And after exhaling, the whole world between the Grand Elder and her seemed to freeze.


    "!!!" Biyu looked at what Bing Nu Shen was conjuring up as she yelled, "Nooo!!! You f*cking whore!!! How were you able toprehend the true intent of ice in a mere fifteen thousand years while I was unable to even after forty thousand!?"


    As the force of her attack was still registering for the world, Bing Nu Shen let her ice sword dissipate before responding, "I was able to do it because I kept true to my path, while you¡­"


    WHAKAZOOOM!!


    "You strayed from yours many years ago."


    "NOoOoo¡­!!!" Biyu cried out while being enveloped by a blizzard of ice elements capable of bisecting entire gxies into two!


    Bing Nu Shen had managed toprehend the true Intent of Ice while in the middle of her fight with the Grand Elder, allowing her to infuse a level of sword energy into a sword attack.


    And the result of this sword attack was a light blue-colored x-mark in the sky that embedded itself in the very fabric of space!


    The edges of this sword mark were unable to be quantified by the human eye, as this attack, if left to its own devices, would eventually form an entire gxy in the skies above this section of the Endless Ocean.


    As for the once-alive Grand Elder Biyu¡­


    Well, let''s just say that she was no longer alive anymore, and nothing was left of her existence besides a faint, anguished cry that could still be heard if one listened close enough¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 119: Glazing Oneself

    ...¡­


    In the aftermath of the eruption of energies lingering after the Ice Goddess Sect Leader and Grand Elder, there was a lone woman whose beauty could not be described in words, standing in thin air, staring up at the effulgent x-mark in the sky with a slightly mncholic aura pervading the aura emitting from her voluptuous figure.


    "To think that I once saw you like a mother that I never had¡­ Biyu, the amount of disappointment I feel right now will be something that you never would''ve been able to understand¡­"


    Bing Nu Shen gazed up at the damage she inflicted on thisyer of the world as she let out a tired sigh before looking toward the figures that imed to be part of her ''Special Forces''.


    Of course, she had already deduced them to be somehow rted to that ''flirtatious'' Crimson Devil Lord, but she wasn''t too keen on exactly how he was able to amass such a strong force of fighters under his banner.


    However, when she saw the glints in the eyes of the leading three elderly figures, the answer came to her right away¡­


    Are these all¡­ Clones¡­?


    Bing Nu Shen herself couldn''t believe what she was thinking, but after seeing that same look emerge in the gazes of all the Frostwind Brigade members, there was no mistaking it!


    But how¡­? How could someone have so many clones?? And if these are all clones, then does that mean the one that came into my room that day was also a clone!?


    She became a little embarrassed when she thought about all the things she imagined doing with this ''clone'' of the Crimson Devil Lord¡­


    Nheless, something was beginning to happen among those of the Frostwind Brigade as they were in the middle of casting all the spells that they had started conjuring a bit ago.


    -


    "This will make for quite arge sum of loot bags¡­"


    That was all the crimson-eyed man said before all hell broke loose!


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The attacks from the Mirror Mirage''s and Primordial Essence Clones were shot out in rapid session, creating sr system-sized spells at every corner of the battlefield!


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    All of the various experts of every apex force looked in the direction of countless attacks¡ªevery single one of them being capable of eradicating all life on the Northern Spirit Continent!


    And it didn''t take long before the entire existence of cultivators in the Tribtion Transcendance Realm vanished one after the other!


    Along with their deaths, the spells from the Brigade members exceeded light speed as they passed by those lucky enough to be in their direct line of sight.


    "What the hell-!?" One of the Mahayana Realm Experts attempted to get out his exmation but was swiftly interrupted by:


    KABOOOOOM!!


    The attacksunched by Azmodeus finally touched ground with the Endless Ocean, and when they did, those peak hegemonies were able to understand just how powerful this neer force was¡­


    "The Endless Ocean¡­ Where did it go¡­?"


    Everyone looked down from their positions in the sky; however, what they assumed would still be there was no longer there, as the Endless Ocean quite literally disappeared¡­


    And in its ce was a crater that had its edges stretch out farther than the eye of a Lunar Ascendancy Realm Expert could see!


    "To do this much damage¡­ Only the Crimson Lord should be capable of it, and yet every single one of these Frostwind Brigade members possesses the same level of strength¡­"


    People were beginning to put the clues together, but there were far too many of them for the Crimson Lord to be the direct cause, so that begged the question:


    Who the hell are these people!? And how are they rted to the Crimson Devil Lord!?


    One of the 1st Stage Lunar Ascendancy Realm Masters from the Judoka Sect looked at the scene of absolute destruction before him, as he could see water rush in from all sides of Prometheus in order to fill the gap in the world.


    It would take another minute or two, but even then, for it to take a minute for the water toe rushing in was insanity!


    To aplish something like that, you would need to have strength in the Later Stages of the Lunar Ascendancy Realm¡­


    It must surely be the Crimson Devil Lord, but not him at the same time¡­


    The Grand Ancestor from the Judoka Sect turned his decrepit figure in the direction of the crimson-eyed old man calmly floating in the skies as he transmitted his voice outwards:


    "Are you the disciples of the Crimson Devil Lord!?"


    "..." "..." "..."


    Everyone on the battlefield looked toward the Grand Ancestor of the Judoka Sect, as they were thinking the same thing.


    And they didn''t have to wait long to verify the veracity of their spections, as the crimson-eyed old man spoke once more:


    "We are not disciples of the Crimson Devil Lord, for we aren''t worthy of such an honor. You can simply think of us as the bodyguards that have been personally trained by the Crimson Devil Lord in order to watch after the Sect Leader of the Ice Goddess Sect.


    In essence, we are the direct force of the Ice Goddess Sect Leader, and you can think of us as such."


    Following his response, he tapped his cane in order to attract the attention of everyone who was still reeling from the fact that the Ice Goddess Sect Leader had gained so much of the Crimson Devil Lord''s favor.


    After all, they had tried everything in order to get on favorable terms with the Crimson Devil Lord, and yet no matter what they did, nothing seemed to work, as he would simply ignore them or send his disciple Rou Tian to kick them out!


    However, they weren''t allowed to dwell over the matter for long, as the crimson-eyed old man''s cane tap brought them back to that wrinkled yet ethereal face of his.


    After acquiring the attention of trillions of peak experts, Azmodeus stared down at those who remained from such arge-scale attack and said, "Even though some of you have betrayed your alliance''s with the Ice Goddess Sect Leader, I will give those of the Earth Bound and River Serpent Sect''s a chance to plead your cases."


    "???" "???" "???"


    ...¡­

 Chapter 120: Early Comets Passage Realm Battle Power

    ...¡­


    "..." "..." "..."


    The high-ranking members of both top-tier sects looked up at the crimson-eyed old man, as they didn''t know whether he waspletely insane or audacious beyondparison.


    But after remembering the attacks that he and the Frostwind Brigade just disyed, they were immediately reminded of the odds being stacked up against them¡­


    And it was with this realization that the Grand Elders and Leaders of both sects started to speak:


    "We did not know it would-"


    SHING! SHING!


    However, before they could finish their words, a countless number of sword strikes were unleashed in the direction of a few key members involved in the betrayal of the Ice Goddess Sect Leader.


    "I was just kidding about giving those guilty a chance to plead their cases, for I already know which ones among you are not worthy of living in the world that mydy and the Ice Goddess Sect n to build."


    The cryptic words of the crimson-eyed old man resounded as he turned his back on a battlefield that was beginning to resemble a crackedyer of space.


    CRACK!


    And it was only after these cracks in space started to crumble and break that everyone was woken right the hell up, which was especially made the case with the explosion that followed:


    QUAZOOOOM!!


    The fabric of space and everything in specific coordinates of the battlefield were sliced once¡­ then twice¡­ then thrice¡­


    The slices didn''t stop being unleashed until the very atoms of billions of Tribtion Transcendance and Mahayana Realm Experts werepletely erased from thend of the living!


    "!?!?" "!?!?"


    Those still alive after such an iprehensible sword strike looked at those who survived such an encounter and saw that 60% of all the Earth Bound and River Serpent Sect Disciples were vanquished on the spot!


    Furthermore, the leader of the River Serpent Sect was included in that death count, as before his face was turned to dust, he couldn''t wrap his head around the fact that a boy he once deemed to be harmless in his sect was able to create such a terrifying force within the time he used to take naps¡­


    "That is what happens to all those who dare to betray ourdy and her sect from this day until the end of time."


    The crimson-eyed old man spoke with a spine tingling voice while his hands were sped behind his back.


    To all those hegemonies below, he was disying his domineering demeanor; however, for a certain beautiful woman who was in his direct line of sight, she felt nothing but immense gratitude toward him for helping to secure her sect''s position before and after her ascension through the Astral Leap.


    I promise to pay you back for this favor, Crimson Devil Lord¡­


    ***


    Meanwhile, in an isted corner of the battlefield, a girl with long brown hair and eyes was watching her master''s clones wipe out entire chunks of the opposing forces without even breaking a sweat.


    After so many years of cultivating without doing much of anything else, Rou Tian had long since lost that childish glow in her doe-shaped eyes, as it was instead reced by a fire that didn''t seem like it could be burned out¡ªa fire that said she wanted more power, enough power that she could cause the strongest masters of the world to tremble in fear just like her master had done.


    I want to be stronger¡­


    No matter the cost, I will be stronger¡­


    "..." Azmodeus looked at that simr glean shine within his disciples eyes as he sighed a little before having his divine sense travel back to the ongoing intimidation tactic.


    And as he watched billions of experts resist his will and fight back against their fates as eventual Evolution Essence, he also took cursory nces at all the system notifications spamming his vision¡­


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed 10+ billion experts of the Judoka Sect, River Serpent Sect, Razgod Empire, and various other organizations.*


    *Ding!* *All of these experts ranged from the Tribtion Transcendance Realm to the 1st Stage Lunar Ascendancy Realm, and because of these deaths being rted to the plot concocted by the previous owner of the ''Physique Coalescence System'', the amount of Evolution Essence being allotted has tremendously increased!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 100 Decillion Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *Your Evolution Essence Bank has increased by leaps and bounds!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte the stats or roll for an Ability of the beings you just killed?*


    "Assimte those without physique''s that I already possess, and roll for the Abilities of those with unique Physique''s."


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 150 Nonillion Stat Points in Strength, 155 Nonillion points in Speed, 145 Nonillion points in Defense, and 180 Nonillion points in Qi.*


    *Ding!* *You have Assimted 35,670 Physique''s that you don''t already possess!*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has tremendously improved!*


    *Ding!* *Your Singrity Physique has had its rank increased to the Absolute-Peak Comet Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Ascend to the Starry Expanse and absorb your first Physique from that ne of existence in order to have your Singrity evolve into the Meteor Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power, cultivation talent, and every other aspect of your existence have taken one leap after another, allowing your overallbat strength to improve into a new Realm¡ªthe Initial Stages of the Early Comet''s Passage Realm!*


    WAAAA!


    Azmodeus felt an immense wave of power rush over him while cultivating inside his Heaven Exploding Cave Abode, as his strength had taken an insane jump in level, finally allowing him to surpass the bottleneck that he had been attempting to cross for thest dozen years!


    "With this strength and what I''ll gain from killing the rest of those opposing the reign of the Ice Goddess Sect, I should be able to confidently cement my strength at a high enough level to be capable of obtaining the highest rank I can inside the Astral Leap¡­"


    After these satisfied words resounded inside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode, the Crimson Devil Lord had a few Primordial Essence Clones head out to the Dragon Land Alliance in order to finish off the straggling Dragon Kings who knew of his master''s location.


    While that was happening, he would also be watching over the battlefield (massacre) of the Apex forces of the Northern Spirit Continent.


    There were genocides happening in the most popted corners of Prometheus, and the catalyst that set all this death in motion was none other than the devil that sat in his cave abode, cultivating his life away¡­


    Genocide truly is the best form of Evolution Essence acquisition...


    ...¡­

 Chapter 121: Dragon Land Alliance, Universe-Size Dragon

    ...¡­


    After a few seconds of travel, inside a vast expanse of inds in the shape of a dragon that made up the Dragon Land Alliance, Azmodeus''s Primordial Essence Clones were on their way to the other versions of themselves.


    Today would be the day that the Dragon Land Alliance gave up their resistance, as they had nowhere left to hide.


    And along with him on this quest, he decided to bring his eldest and only disciple, Rou Tian.


    She didn''t get out very often¡­ Or at all, so he figured it would be best if she got out and experienced something other than cultivation.


    However, when he saw that expression on her face¡ªan expression that said she wanted to get this over with so she could get back to cultivating¡ªhe knew that a lot of work would have to be put into having her let loose a little¡­


    What happened to that cute and soft-spoken, silly brown-haired pigtail girl from all those years ago¡­?


    Azmodeus couldn''t help but contemte what the passing of time does to people, as he wondered if he would look back one day and see apletely different person in himself as well¡­


    However, that was a price he was willing to pay in order to be stronger.


    I just need to be strong enough to ovee any restrictions ced on me¡­ If I reach that point, then what will be capable of inhibiting anything of mine?


    After this thought passed through his mind, he looked back at the girl blitzing through the skies right behind him.


    "You understand what your position will be in this operation, don''t you, my dear disciple?" He asked.


    "...I do¡­" Rou Tian responded with an apathetic tone.


    "Very well, then you will lead your own ship and do as you must in order to show that you are worthy of being my only disciple," Azmodeus said.


    "That means you will need to show absolute mercilessness. And I assume you understand what that implies¡­?"


    "..."


    Rou Tian observed the serious expression that her master was making, as she turned her head down for a moment before shooting it back in his direction with a resolute gleam in her eyes.


    "I understand what I must do," she said.


    "That''s good." Azmodeus shed a small smile before passing a token in her direction.


    *Pat*


    She caught it and looked at it with a confused look on her face.


    "Is this some form of security measure¡­? If so, then I already told you I could handle it-" She wasn''t able to finish what she was saying as Azmodeus interrupted her by saying:


    "That''s not what it is." He clicked his finger in the air and continued, "It''s an attack token and contains some of my sword intent inside of it. That is to say that it''s not a security measure but rather something to strengthen that resolve of yours when ites to what you''re about to do."


    "..." Rou Tian stared at the lightly humming token in her hands as she tightly clenched it before saying, "I will not fail your expectations, master. I will show everyone out there exactly what it means to be the disciple of the Crimson Devil Lord."


    A fire was lit inside her heart as she turned in the direction of a certain part of the seemingly endless stretch of inds in the shape of a dragon.


    -


    Azmodeus watched his only disciple go and make her own path in this world, as she would need to do things that could be seen as cruel or unfair. But in the end, the way of the world allowed no kind-hearted saints to make it very far.


    Even those of the Righteous Faction, like the Judoka Sect, were just as evil as those affiliated with the Ice Goddess or River Serpent Sect''s.


    No cultivator was innocent in a world where only the strong had the final say¡­ There were simply those who knew they were evil and those who thought of themselves as righteous whilemitting the most heinous of acts imaginable.


    And for a man who was in possession of a system that quite literally allowed him to be stronger through the killing of other beings, there were not many inhibitions involved when it came to bing stronger.


    That point would be proven not long from now, as the Crimson Devil Lord would be heading to the headquarters of the Dragon Land Alliance to kill off all those who dared to impede his finding of Yang Fa.


    "Those who get in my way shall either move or die and be my strength¡­ There are no other options¡­"


    Following these emotionless words, his immortal-like figure vanished from the skies along with all the other Primordial Essence Clones and Mirror Mirages he brought along with him.


    FWIP! FWIP!


    Countless identical figures in flowing white robes materialized above the airspace of a vast stretch ofnd that extended up into the sky, creating some form of dragon-shaped world that stood on its hind legs.


    There were many parts protruding off of this structure, marking the buildings and kingdoms that were built on every section of this dragon that stood up at a height of septillions of miles!


    It was quite literally a multi-colored dragon the size of a universe!


    "Is this thing alive¡­?" Azmodeus muttered while looking at the almost life-like gaze of the structure in front of him.


    There appeared to be some semnce of life inside the universe-size eyes of the dragon, but after feeling not a single ounce of life force inside of it, the idea of it being alive was immediately discarded.


    And it was after this thought that he, along with all of his clones, shot in the direction of the backside of this colossal structure, aiming to fly up its head and approach the headquarters of the Dragon Land Alliance.


    But little did he know that the frozen gaze of the dragon flickered a little as it watched the approaching figures go around its backside.


    Quite an interesting existence has emerged from this low-level mortal ne¡­


    This one has been killing my descendants, but it wasn''t like they truly mattered in the grand scheme of things¡­


    However, this boy might be able to assist me in condensing my Dragon Scale to a higher level and breaking through to the Meteor Shower Realm.


    At this thought, the vibrant dragon structure had its eyes shimmer for a moment before returning to its original still state.


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 122: Playing Baseball...

    ...¡­.


    Meanwhile, on the backside of the dragon statue''s head, Azmodeus was zooming past countless civilizations and worlds while making his way to the very top of the head.


    He saw many unique worlds and dimensions attached to this enormous dragon, and from what he could tell, all of the organisms, whether human, beastkin, dragon, or whatever, were allpletely unaware of the grandiose statue they were living on.


    Everything within this universe-like dragon structure was extremely diverse and unusual, as there were even a few cultivation systems set up in worldsprised of nothing but trees the size of gxies.


    There were also worlds that were filled with vast, endless arid deserts where the main race were these world-sized worms that stood on two feet and lived in vibrant and spiritually advanced cities the size ofrge gxies.


    The number of mysterious and wondrous things that made up every fiber of hair on this dragon left for quite an interesting subject for Azmodeus, who was watching it all pass him by at speeds that were beginning to surpass the very essence of what speed was ssified as.


    He was scaling gxy-sized structures like they were nothing, all while leisurely looking at the plethora of exceptional things that came together in an unbelievable way to make up the territory of the Dragon Land Alliance.


    Nevertheless, after a few minutes of wandering around the multitude of independent civilizations and vibrant worlds, he and all his clones found themselves in front of what appeared to be some sort of ship over 100 sextillion miles in length.


    The ship could be considered oblong, making it longer than it was wide, and at the front of this ship, there was a figurehead that depicted a gold and ck dragon oozing magnificence, as every inch of it was carved out in such a way that even the olden cksmith gods would be dying of envy.


    It was a Western-style dragon and seemed to follow the same pattern as the rest of the ship. This was further solidified when one was able to see the legs of this golden-ck dragon cover both sides of this giant ship.


    This ''ship'' was absurdly big, and with such size, from the masts all the way down to the deck and bulkhead, it was used to house the gxy-sized living areas of the highest-ranking leaders of the Dragon Land Alliance.


    "To think this ship was able to run so far away from me¡­" Azmodeus softly murmured while observing the giant Lunar Ascendancy Realm dragons go about their business while in their full-sized dragon forms.


    The truth was that this wasn''t the first time he had seen this ship firsthand, and it wasn''t the second or third time either¡­


    He had caught wind of the Dragon Land Alliance Headquarters from a few informants of the Ice Goddess Sect Allies, but somehow, whenever he neared the ''ck Dragon God Ship'', the Dragon Land Alliance Leaders seemed to already know about his arrival beforehand.


    And because of what the Crimson Devil Lord assumed to be a betrayal of the Ice Goddess Sect allies, this ship was always able to leap through space, effectively escaping his grasp every single time.


    However, this time was different, as his power had taken an insane boost while the traitors were being ''dealt with'' by his other Primordial Essence Clone.


    This was to say that the Dragon Land apex leaders had no clue about him being right on their doorsteps, and it was quite likely that they were so rxed that their innate lust was getting the best of them inside thatrge turtle shell of theirs.


    -


    "..." Azmodeus turned his crimson-eyed gaze across countless Half-Step and 1st Stage Lunar Ascendancy Realm Dragons as his eyes narrowed before a long, sleek ck de was conjured in the hands of him and all his clones.


    "I''ve always wondered what it would be like to bunt a wooden toy ship like this one, so why don''t we dull these sharp edges a little bit?"


    Following his sardonic words, he used his control over Qi in order to alter the aspects of the swords he and his clones were holding onto, ultimately resulting in the Late-Comet Rank Swords having their deathly sharp edges reduced to a dullness that would make it impossible to cut anything.


    However, it was after this action was aplished that he had another idea¡­


    "I''ve been using swords a lot as ofte, but why don''t I try using something different¡­?"


    He looked down at the dull-edged des and decided to transfigure them once more, resulting in their edges being transformed into a cylinder shape as the once sleek ck and gold swords morphed into objects akin to the hardest of baseball bats.


    "This should work quite well for what I n to do with them."


    After these words resounded, Azmodeus finally moved from his spot. In fact, he and all his other clones shot out in different directions, getting into what appeared to be a globe formation.


    The reason for this specific formation set up was because¡­


    WHAAAAAM!


    An ear-deafening whacking sound echoed out as the backside of the gxy-sized ship exploded outward, resulting in the ship shooting forward at ludicrous degrees of speed!


    And the catalyst for such a sudden action was a fallen immortal-like man standing upright with a ck bat in hand.


    He had a slight smirk stered on his face as he watched the ship and all its inhabitants get jolted toward one of his Mirror Mirage''s with overwhelming force!


    However, this was where the bats really came into the equation, as the Mirror Mirage on a direct collision course with this ship had his smile widen before he lifted his bat into the air and got into a proper swinging stance.


    After which, he waited for the ship''s bow to get a little closer to him before a violent swing was made right at the very tip of the figurehead!


    BOOOOOOM!!!


    Arge section of the bow and figurehead sted off the mainframe of the ship, as it was subsequently hurled in the direction of a few more Mirror Mirage''s!


    And this time, there were a total of three Mirror Mirage''s that hit the ship from a few different sides, causing it to slingshot in a different part of the airspace withrge chunks of its infrastructure crumbling and breaking apart, killing millions of high-ranking figures in the process.


    A few bright lights shed in front of Azmodeus''s main body''s vision as he watched all his clones bunt therge-gxy-sized ship like some sort of baseball¡­


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 123: Destroying The Dragon Land Alliance

    ...¡­.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed 50,000+ 1st Stage Lunar Ascendancy Realm Experts and 5,000,000+ Half-Step Lunar Ascendancy Realm Experts.*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 200 Decillion Evolution Essence due to a few bonuses being applied on ount of the fact that the Dragon Land Alliance was founded by a dragon system user from ancient times.*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte the stats or roll for an Ability of the beings you just killed?*


    "Do the same thing as usual, please."


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 250 Nonillion Stat Points in Strength, 240 Nonillion points in Speed, 260 Nonillion points in Defense, and 310 Nonillion points in Qi.*


    *Ding! *Your overallbat strength has moderately improved.*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained a few thousand new Physique''s, allowing your Singrity Physique to improve and evolve even further!*


    Following all the various system notifications, Azmodeus focused his attention back on what his clones and Mirror Mirage''s were doing with the Dragon Land Alliance''s HQ.


    -


    *Whack!* *Whack!* *Whack!*


    The HQ of the Dragon Land Alliance was being whacked in every which direction at speeds that made it look like nothing more than a blur above the dragon statues head.


    And inside of the Dragon God Ship, all of the high-ranking executives were being thrown around, bashed through walls, mmed against the roofs, and anything else that could happen while moving inside of arge structure at such insane speeds.


    After what felt like an eternity of having their bodies mmed against every object in sight, many of them died extremely bloody deaths as their bodies turned into meat paste.


    It was suffice to say that their ''fun time'' with their lovers was interrupted¡­


    Well, they were still connected to their lovers one way or another, as their meat paste bodies were slung into each other''s mush, making for quite the romantic scenes inside the private cabins of these once terrifying monsters.


    Nheless, after a few minutes of repeating this process over and over again while listening to the anguished cries of apex forces echo out across the skies, the ship was turned into something faster than a blur as it shot left, right, up, down, vertically, and horizontally!


    There was not an inch of space above the dragon statue''s head that the ship had not been flung in the direction of!


    And as a result of this insane way to eradicate all the Dragon Executive''s beside one, the ship was put on itsst legs, with 90% of its mainframe in shambles, while the only moderately undamaged piece of the ship was the captain''s quarters.


    After all, this was where the Absolute Leader of the Dragon Land Alliance was located, and he was someone who couldn''t die just yet¡­


    FWIP!


    Azmodeus appeared inside the captain''s quarters in his giant form, utilizing the Gargantuan Law in order to properlymunicate with the Dragon Land Alliance''s Absolute Leader.


    And after passing by a few meat paste spots, he found himself face to face with a gxy-sized dark gold dragon that was leaning up against a table with half his scaled head scorched beyond recognition.


    The burns weren''t caused by anything that Azmodeus had done, but rather because of the price that the Absolute Leader had to pay in order to survive the bashing around.


    "..." The Crimson Devil Lord had his piercing gaze focused on the sinuous and pained expression that the Absolute Leader was making, as he asked:


    "Was this all worth it? You could''ve just told me the location of my master, and none of this would''ve happened. But now look at what the result of your resistance was¡­"


    He pointed his finger at all the blood and scales scattered around the once-ssy interior of the captain''s quarters.


    "This is what happens to those who get in my way. And I wish to let you know that your fate will be no different."


    His crimson-colored eyes honed in on the struggling figure of the Absolute Dragon Leader as he watched him lean his charred arms on a dark brown mahogany table.


    "...W-Was it worth it¡­?" The dying dragon incoherently mumbled with a deep grimace on his serpentine facial features.


    "Y-You ask me if it was worth it!?" His despondent tone suddenly increased in intensity as he roared, causing his golden scales to shimmer.


    "Of course it was worth it!!! If you knew what sort of fate would''ve awaited us if we gave you that old bastard, then you would realize that you gave us mercy!!"


    The expression of the Absolute Dragon Leader became a little crazed as his toothy grin was shown to the world.


    After which, his maniacalughter resounded as he bellowed, "You think we were just awaiting the day that you became strong enough to kill us!? Just like those two bastards from a few hundred years ago did!?


    Ha! We may be lustful creatures by nature, ''Human born of freaks'', but you must understand that we are not stupid!!


    And that ''master'' of yours has already been transported to the Starry Expanse using the methods of a master beyond your wildest imagination! So give up all hope of ever finding him!"


    "..." Azmodeus watched the Absolute Dragon Leader go on a crazed rant as he sighed a little upon realizing that there was no deceit in the dragon''s crackly voice.


    After which, he tapped his gxy-size ck bat and swung out with unrelenting force!


    WHAAAM!!


    *Spurt!*


    The head of the Absolute Dragon Leader exploded like a watermelon!


    Following this bloody eruption of brain matter that further stained the walls red, Azmodeus pulled his bat away from the bloody mess and put his other hand in the bat''s ce.


    WAAAA!


    He released a mysterious aura that invaded the mauled head and started to absorb the soul of the Absolute Dragon Leader, subsequently allowing him to obtain all his memories.


    After the absorption process waspleted, he walked away from the captain''s quarters, destroying what remained of it before having all the other Primordial Essence Clones and Mirror Mirage''s tag along behind him.


    And while this was happening, he looked over all the system notifications bombarding his vision¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 124: A New Monarch Is Crowned!

    ...¡­


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed over 10 million Dragon Lords and King''s of the Dragon Land Alliance¡ªan organization directly rted to a dragon system user from an era long gone.*


    *Ding!* *Due to affecting the ns of an Ancient System User who lives on a higher ne of existence, your Evolution Essence gains have been drastically improved!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 10 Undecillion Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *Your Evolution Essence Bank has had its total value increased by massive amounts!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte the Stats or roll for an Ability of the beings you just killed?*


    "The usual. Thanks."


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 3.5 Decillion Stat Points in Strength, 3.8 Decillion points in Speed, 3.4 Decillion points in Defense, and 4.5 Decillion points in Qi.*


    *Ding!* *You have received tens of thousands of various ranked Physique''s, allowing your Singrity Physique to make another leap!*


    *Ding!* *Your Singrity Physique has reached levels never before seen in a low-mortal ne of existence!*


    *Ding!* *You will receive appropriate boosts to your Singrity Physique after ascending to the Starry Expanse and absorbing your first Physique from that ne of existence!*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has drastically improved!*


    After all of the system notifications finished sounding, Azmodeus blitzed through the skies, heading toward the assortment of inds in the shape of a dragon, utterly oblivious to the enormous dragon statue watching them leave with unknown intentions shing past those lithe eyes it possessed.


    There will be nowhere for you to hide, boy¡­ Just patiently wait until the day I can descend to this ne¡­


    ***


    Meanwhile, as the malicious thoughts of the giant dragon statue stirred, a group of otherworldly handsome men were standing over a dragon-shaped assortment of inds, watching a woman ughter billions of dragonkin with a face bereft of emotion; her slender legs danced along the vast crimson-dyed meadows as she swung her light blue sword around like a blood-bathed swordswoman.


    "Rou Tian adapted quite fast to killing so shortly after killing her first person."


    Azmodeus made ament with his brows raised a little, as he never would''ve expected her to be so quick to adapt and evolve.


    I sent her out to get her first kill, and here she is shing through crowds of dragonkin like a goddess of light and ice.


    He knew how simr her personality was to his own, but this level of adaptability was beyond even his expectations for his eldest disciple.


    "It looks like I am not needed here," he muttered while watching world-sized inds sink to the bottom of the Endless Ocean with every strike unleashed from his star pupil.


    After a few seconds of watching her continue the murder spree that would likelyst a few days, he figured he would leave early, but not before sending out a voice transmission to the blood covered woman.


    "..." Rou Tian turned her savage eyes up toward her master and lightly nodded her head.


    After which, she slung her long brown twin tails, performing a backflip, narrowly dodging the lethal attack of a Monster King.


    BOOOOOM!!


    Arge ind the size of a sr system was destroyed by the unstoppable attack of the monster king, effectively cutting down billions of lives without remorse.


    And it was with a simr level of mercilessness that Rou Tian dangerously narrowed her eyes before shooting toward the monster king like a speeding bullet, chopping off his head in one clean strike before moving onto the next King-Ranked Monsters of the Dragon Race.


    "..."


    Azmodeus watched his disciple act like he would in her situation, as the strength of her opponents was very close to her own, allowing for perfect opportunities for growth.


    "It looks like she didn''t need that ughter token in the end," he softly murmured with a small smile on his face.


    He was happy that his disciple had developed well enough to conduct such actions, all while adapting and evolving at tremendous rates of progression.


    After admiring his disciple''s bloody battlefield for a few more moments, he turned around and darted in the direction of another bloody battlefield¡ªone that was nearing its end.


    -


    "This is the end of the resistance," Azmodeus announced while elegantly taking his sword out of the hearts of two Rank 6 Sect Leader''s.


    Their bodies were being visibly disintegrated in front of his eyes as he shed the blood off his de before letting it return to his storage ring.


    After which, he turned his head in the direction of the wide-eyed people looking at him with expressions of disbelief.


    The reason for their surprise wasn''t unwarranted, as the crimson-eyed old man had taken out all the opposing forces of the Ice Goddess Sect without breaking a sweat.


    Furthermore, he had quelled the rebellion of the Grand Elder''s side and taken out anyone who was opposed to the rule of Bing Nu Shen.


    They watched him massacre countless lives from beginning to end, and they still couldn''t believe what they had just witnessed¡­


    But regardless of their shock and disbelief, they immediately realized that a new leader had been anointed for the Northern Spirit Continent. And it was through that realization that they¡­


    "We await the glory of Bing Nu Shen, the absolute monarch of the Northern Spirit Continent!"


    Every single one of the remaining hegemonies from all friendly forces bowed with their fists to the ground and shouted with fervent looks on their faces.


    "..." Bing Nu Shen observed every known apex expert, whether they were secret lords, known Tyrants, or ancient monsters who had been in seclusion for many eras¡ªall widely known and less known Experts of the Northern Spirit Continent bow before her.


    Even though she had entered the 1st Stage of the Lunar Ascendancy Realm, she likely only made it into the top 20 among all of these monsters¡ªmonsters that were heavenly geniuses of their respective generations!


    And yet, all of such heavenly geniuses believed she was fit to be the next leader of the Maind, not because of her individual power but because of the respect they had for the woman who was capable of acquiring the favor of the most monstrous genius to ever be born in Prometheus.


    It was through this understanding that she turned her wless face in the direction of the crimson-eyed man and shed him a grateful smile.


    Upon which, she received a gentle look from the faint illusion of a handsome face that she had already be all too fond of seeing¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 125: The Northern Empress

    ...¡­


    *Ba dump!*


    Bing Nu Shen''s frozen heart seemed to unthaw a little bit the moment she saw Azmodeus''s gaze focus in on her, as she clenched her well-endowed chest before diverting her gaze away from that absurdly handsome face of his.


    W-What was I thinking about just now¡­? Something must surely be wrong with me¡­


    The face of the Ice Queen became a little flushed as she hid her expression underneath that long, silky ck hair of hers,pletely unaware of the narrowed gazes of her three disciples, all of whom hade here to experience the art of true battle.


    But they never would''ve expected to be subjected to their ''man'' flirting with the woman they called their master.


    "Should we get him back for thister¡­?" You Mei inquired with a twitching smile.


    Li Na swiveled her darkened expression in her second junior sister''s direction as she responded, "Yes."


    Her tone was cold and apathetic, but hers was nowhere near as scary as the youngest and craziest of the group¡­


    "I think he should be castrasized, and our master should be stripped naked before being forced to take the walk of shame¡­"


    "..." "..." Both You Mei and Li Na nkly stared at Yang Hua as they asked, "Isn''t that a little excessive¡­?"


    "No, I don''t think it''s enough," Yang Hua replied instantaneously, as that neutral look on her face morphed into an eerily creepy expression.


    "..." "..."


    Li Na and You Mei listened to the low obsessive giggles leaking out of their youngest junior sister''s mouth as theymented the day they ever became that down bad...


    ***


    Meanwhile, in the main section of the battlefield, Azmodeus was conversing with Bing Nu Shen while in his crimson-eyed old man form.


    And after a few seconds of exchanging pleasantries, he left the scene with his Frostwind Brigade and headed back toward the Fallen Immortal''s Mountain, where all of them would be reassigned new tasks by the main body post assimtion.


    On a side note, the battle to decide the absolute ruler of the Northern Spirit Continent had concluded, and the remaining peak experts bent the knee before Bing Nu Shen, who would henceforth be known as the Northern Ice Empress!


    For the first time in tens of thousands of years, a new ruler had been crowned on the Northern Spirit Continent!


    And the day of the inauguration of her position as the Northern Ice Empress just so happened to coincide with the day that the rift''s all across Prometheus would be opening up, allowing anyone who possessed the necessary metal to break the world barrier and take the Astral Leap!


    On a side note, Azmodeus had already informed Yang Hua of her father''s unknown whereabouts somewhere in the Starry Expanse, as she was left a little bummed out before her resolve was once again reaffirmed, prompting her to cultivate the Elusive Ascension Art harder than ever!


    Of course, she did all of that while eating delicious snacks and ''cuddling'' with the Crimson Devil Lord¡­


    In her words, there was no reason to ''impede my happiness because that stinky father of mine decided to go off with some floozy behind my mother''s back.''


    She also made somements about her mother needing to castrate her father if she ever came back to life¡­


    Azmodeus became more than a little worried about her sanity when he heard thesements, but after such a long time together, he had long since be ustomed to her¡­ tendencies¡­


    Nevertheless, all of the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode shenanigans were besides the point, as the day of the rift''s opening was here, and the tally to decide who would being on the Fallen Immortal Mountain when the Astral Rift opened had started being added up.


    And the result of this poll was that You Mei, Li Na, Yang Hua, Nao Long, Rou Tian, and Bing Nu Shen decided toe with him, while Jue Mei was left undecided.


    This was mainly due to her never wanting to wake up from her cultivation session¡ªa cultivation session that Azmodeus had tried to wake her up from many times.


    However, each and every time would be met withplete silence and the continued flow of Qi into her feline form, so in the end, he decided to take her along with him, no matter if she wanted to or not¡­


    And it was after reaching this point in the poll that he and the rest of the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode members took slow steps outside of Fallen Immortal Mountain, making their way to where Bing Nu Shen would bemencing her inauguration ceremony.


    The exact location of this ceremony would be held on top of arge cliff that peaked at quadrillions of miles in the sky, making it one of thergest cliffs out there.


    And this one in particr was especially unique, as it was formed not from natural causes but because a giant golem of untold proportions had descended upon the Maind many eons ago, and this cliff was said to be one of the atoms that made up the golem''s figure.


    It was unknown whether this tidbit of lore was true or not, but it was precisely because of it that all Absolute Monarchs of the Northern Spirit Continent had been crowned here.


    -


    As the relevant parties who were participating in the inauguration ceremony made their way to the ostentatiously decorated venue, a few sinister shadows lurked in the dark, talking about how they felt the presence of one of their rising-star system users have his life crystal dim and shatter.


    "Are you sure that is where the newbie grinder was murdered?"


    An ancient voice that sounded oddly modern echoed out, as an old man who had been in the world of Prometheus for many years looked in the direction of the hundreds of other figures that hade with him on this mission.


    Another antiquated system user turned his head in the direction of the old man who just spoke, as he responded, "From what we know, this is most definitely the ce where the rising boy with the Physique System was killed."


    "...For someone to kill one of us Main Characters, is it another system user¡­?" A different, far younger voice chimed in with a quizzical tone.


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 126: More System Users...

    ...¡­.


    "..." "..."


    The two original olden system users swiveled their faces toward a man who had been transported to this world a few thousand years ago, as they replied, "As you know, some system users possess the ability to stay in Prometheus even after reaching the Lunar Ascendancy Realm.


    And with this unique quirk that some of us main characters have that the NPC''s don''t, there are some, like myself, who have been alive for hundreds of thousands of years, staying behind on this ne of existence as something akin to an Overlord at the cost of acking ascension.


    What I''m trying to get at is the fact that some of us were not good with sitting still over the years, and with any further ascension barred off from us after we made our choices eons ago, a number of the Hero Association''s older members have long since lost their sanity and have been known to hunt our own."


    "So, you''re saying that was another system user-!?" The newbie tried to get out his exmation, but he was interrupted by the archaic old man:


    "No, what I''m attempting to convey to you is that none of these are signs of another system user killing one of our own."


    "But, how could that be!? There''s no way that an NPC could possiblypete with a Main Character!"


    The newbie couldn''t understand how it was possible for an NPC to kill one of the MC''s, and he would be left in the dark for quite a while, as the old system user stopped speaking for a moment.


    After a second of silence among hundreds of system users, the old man let out an aged sigh before muttering, "Normally, you would be correct, as all of us possess inherently overpowered plot armor after transmigrating or reincarnating from Earth''s various time periods; however, in the case of this particr NPC, he seems to be capable of bypassing all our cheats, effectively causing our plot armor to betray us."


    "Such a thing is really possible!?"


    The Newbies shout brought everyone''s focus to the two of them, as they were able to glean the gist of the situation.


    And it was such a realization that left even the other veteran system users of the Comet''s Passage Realm in a state of shock.


    "I know how hard it is for you all to believe this, but it is the only possible exnation for why a system user died without remnant system traces being left in the area where he passed away.


    This is the truth of the reality we find ourselves in, and although we don''t know if this is just a bug in the system or somethingrger than us all, we must be prepared to face permanent death that doesn''te from other system user''s or main canon events."


    The informative words of the strongest and wisest of them all put every single system user into a deep state of contemtion as they pondered their situation.


    None of them wanted to die. After all, they were the Main Characters, but they also couldn''t simply leave the ''bug'' to his own devices.


    Following a few seconds of deep thought, the system users knew what they had to do as they clenched their fists until whites could be seen and said in unison, "We''ll do it."


    "...Very well, then we''ll head deeper into this ce in the boondocks¡ªa ce that the savages here call the ''Northern Spirit Continent''."


    The oldest of the system users gave his order as he and all of the other Main Characters vanished from their spots.


    ***


    Meanwhile, on a high-stretching cliff that seemed to touch the heavens, a multitude of women, men, humans, monsterkin, beastkin, elves, and various other races were gathered around avish ceremony that had exceptionally ced white and gold tapestries hanging off of dark blue-colored tents¡ªtents that also acted like castles with their tops extended and folded into the shapes of towers.


    Every single one of these towers stretched upward for billions of miles as they weaved together in the skies after a certain point, creating a colorful view that looked otherworldly.


    That was especially the case when these weaving towers were clearly in the shape of an ice Phoenix that almost appeared to be alive, as it soared through the skies, asionally releasing dazzling tendrils of energy and rare, exotic herbs and flowers from the skies above.


    It was this wonderful phenomenon that left quite the ambience down at the main venue area, where there was a wide circr podium that had dark gold and blue sigils etched into every crack and crevice.


    These sigils were not just for show either, as they were put there in order to wee¡­


    WAZAAA!


    A woman who possessed beauty beyondparison walked up the borately carved steps of the podium.


    The sigils on the podium were etched there just for this asion, as the moment she stood atop thest step, all of them lit up in quick session, releasing a dazzling golden, light blue light, which swiftly had its light matter transform into miniature flying western-style dragons, all of which circled around her opulent clothing like a goddess''s divine attire!


    And that fact was further cemented when the dragons lifted up her long, light blue dress until the hem of her skirt was put at a point where those sensual thighs of hers could be glimpsed at but not delved into.


    Adding that to the blue Phoenix pin she had holding her intricately done bun up and you had yourself a real-life Phoenix Queen!


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    Her magnificence and imperious demeanor were enough to have the trillions of cultivators sitting in the oak-tree chairs immediately fall to the ground with fervent expressions, their auras emitting nothing but utter reverence for the noble woman standing before them!


    "We greet the new Queen of the Northern Spirit Continent and wish for your good health with your ascension alongside the Crimson Devil Lord!" Everyone shouted in unison, their voices boisterous and deferential.


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 127: The Dragon Land Alliance Comes Alive!?

    ...¡­.


    "..." Bing Nu Shen flipped her ice-cold gaze across all the people she now called her subjects, as her indescribably dazzling ck eyes found themselves honed onto the stalwart figure of a man who could only be described as an immortal in human form.


    This god-like man was staring at her with a gentle smile, looking at her like she was the only woman in the world (from her perspective).


    It was this very look that left her icy heart in a state of disarray.


    How is he always able to do that¡­? With that stupid face of his¡­ And that stupid smile¡­


    If not for her needing to keep up appearances and the four sets of eyes staring daggers at her, then she definitely would''ve already shown a crimson red blush that would in no way fit the ryrannical demeanor that she was meant to keep up¡­


    ¡­


    After a few minutes of getting out a few words and speaking with all those who would be directly working under her and keeping things in check while she was in the Starry Expanse, Bing Nu Shen finally had her turn to talk to the Crimson Devil Lord.


    "So, about that night-" Just as she was about to say something to him, an aura oozing arrogance erupted from the endless skies as tens of thousands of hooded figures materialized out of nowhere!


    And the most inexplicable thing about these new arrival''s was the fact that not a single one of their cultivations was below the 1st Stage of Lunar Ascendancy!


    Furthermore, those in the 1st Stage of Lunar Ascendancy were part of the minority, as a few of them possessed auras that rivaled that of the Crimson Devil Lord, even surpassing it¡­


    "..." Azmodeus expressionlessly stared up at the new arrivals as he let out a sigh¡ªa sigh that was meant to conceal the wide smirk that emerged on his face when he saw so many whales offer themselves up on a golden tter, ready to be gobbled up whole!


    This is going to be a far more lucrative celebration than what I originally anticipated¡­


    After this thought entered his calctive mind, he waited for the floating, cloaked figures to speak first.


    And he didn''t have to wait long, as the leading cloaked man with a frame that could be considered quite frail slowly took off his hood, revealing a face that looked as if it had been through many eras, exhibiting the fullest extent of what time could do to a person.


    However, the oddest thing about this man wasn''t his aged appearance; rather, it was the fact that he had two crosses interlocked on top of one another inside both of his pitch ck eyes, leaving a stark contrast to the rest of his decrepit body.


    "So you are the NPC who was able to kill one of us Main Characters¡­"


    The old man''s voice seemed to shake the very foundation of time and space as he unleashed a cacophony of sounds¡ªsounds that bounced off every inch of space, resulting in the shuddering of all beings gathered at the ceremony.


    Whether they were in the Body Refinement Realm or the Lunar Ascendancy Realm, it didn''t matter in the face of this ethereal old man¡­


    The Main Characters¡­? So this one is another system user¡­


    Let me see if that original Main Character guy has any idea who this old man is¡­


    Azmodeus''s thoughts were churning as he scanned over a series of memories that he had absorbed a few years ago.


    And after looking into the Hero Association part of the memories, he was able to understand that this old man was one of the oldest members of the Hero Association and also one of the only ones near the Peak Stages of the Comet''s Passage Realm.


    After understanding who he was dealing with, he got ready to stand up from his seat and use up his Evolution Essence in order to take care of this Main Character.


    But before he could, a sudden phenomenon urred to the east side of the venue¡­


    CRACKLE! KWAZOOOM!


    Intense energies were being shot out at levels that couldn''t be described in words, as entire sections of the Endless Ocean were being evaporated with every step that a¡­


    "Is that a dragon!?" A Mahayana Realm guest from the crowd eximed, as he looked at what appeared to be a dragon the size of a universe!


    This dragon was moving across the Endless Ocean at ludicrous speeds, skimping atop the water.


    It was originally just an energy emission dot in the distance, until a second passed and the dragon became the size of arge building, fully disying the extent of its speed!


    And it didn''t look like the dragon was nning to stop its charging anytime soon, as it even looked like it was increasing its speed!


    "Is that dragon nning to tten the venue!?"


    "Are we going to die!?"


    "What about the Ice Empress and the Crimson Devil Lord!? Can''t they do something about this situation!?"


    "What are they going to do, you idiot?? How is anyone supposed topete with something asrge as that dragon!?"


    Everyone was starting to freak out among the crowd as they looked toward the Crimson Devil Lord and Ice Empress for guidance.


    Bing Nu Shen looked at the terrified group of people and universe-size dragon statue bum rushing the venue with a face oozing ofposure.


    However, that was all just a facade put up in order to keep the people calm, as on the inside, she couldn''t be more confused about what was going on.


    And if she were being honest, then she was expecting the Crimson Devil Lord to have some miraculous solution for this quagmire they all found themselves in.


    Luckily for her, that wish came true, as Azmodeus flipped his piercing gaze across all the Main Characters before seeing what was clearly the Dragon Land Alliance.


    So that statue was a living thing, huh?


    He figured it was part of the living after feeling that intense gaze bore into his back when he was at the Dragon Land Alliance HQ, but he never would''ve expected the statue to be so powerful¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 128: Let There Be Carnage!

    ...¡­


    Both the old Main Character and the two other Main Characters are around the peak of the Comet''s Passage Realm, while that dragon is on the precipice of the realm thates after the Comet''s Passage Realm¡­


    And with the improvedbat power of all Main Characters in the equation, I am potentially looking at 4 Half-Step beyond Comet''s Passage Realm cultivators aiming to take my life.


    After analyzing his situation with a discerning eye, Azmodeus walked away from his ostentatious chair and took slow steps toward the group of heroes.


    "..." The leading Hero looked down at their target moving toward them of his own free will, as he never would''ve assumed he would give up without a fight.


    But after feeling the presence of the dragon¡ªa presence that rivaled his own¡ªhe understood why it was that the NPC considered giving up.


    And although the leading Hero had no idea who that dragon was or why it was rushing toward them like that, if it got in the way of their capture of the bug, he would kill it on the spot.


    After all, even though he and the dragon possessed simr strength, there was one thing that set the two of them apart...


    "I am the MC. And with that status as someone above you, I havee to inform you that for your crime of going against our Hero Alliance and killing one of our own in cold blood, you will be captured, tortured, and eventually killed after we extract all secrets from you."


    The leading Hero stared down at the slowly approaching crimson-eyed man of extraordinary beauty as he clearly thought of himself as the center of the world.


    But regardless of his thoughts, the Crimson Devil Lord continued his leisurely steps toward the group of heroes, and along with those steps came a steadily increasing aura.


    "There was once a Devil." He started to speak with a voice that seemed to echo out across multiple different points in time.


    "???" The Leading Hero didn''t understand why the NPC started speaking, but he wasn''t given the time to brood over it as Azmodeus continued to speak while his aura increased appropriately with every step he took.


    "This Devil met God. And do you know what this Devil said to God?"


    "...I don''t understand what you''re saying, you NPC-!"


    "The Devil said¡­" A cold gleam shed past Azmodeus''s eyes as hepletely disregarded the elderly man.


    And it was only after a moment of deafening silence that he said exactly what the devil said:


    "Let There Be Carnage."


    WAAAA!


    And with the conclusion of his words, the aura surrounding him was augmented even further, its limits extending far beyond what the dragon statue and heroes were capable of achieving!


    "!?!?" "!?!?"


    Everybody waspletely dumbstruck by this release of this aura, as they had never seen something so beautiful yet so devastatingly deadly in their entire lives!


    They watched the Crimson Devil Lord''s aura sway back and forth while releasing unlimitedly powerful energy tendrils in the skies, stretching upward for further than the eye could see!


    FWIP! FWIP!


    After which, multiple figures with the same aura materialized from thin air as all of them conjured up ck greatswords over 6 feet in length.


    However, that was nowhere near the limit of their grandiosity, as all of these fallen immortal-like crimson-haired men put their greatswords in front of their faces before extending their tips as high as they could go.


    The extent of these greatswords was not limited to merely their physical forms, as dark beams of crimson ck-colored light shot out from their edges, seemingly trying to pierce the very top of Prometheus!


    OOOM!


    The level of energy being emitted from more than two dozen Primordial Essence Clones was enough to cause all beings to shudder, as spine-tingling sensations were felt by even the strongest of heroes!


    "H-How could you be so strong!? You are just an NPC!! You should be nowhere near this powerful, even if you''re a named NPC!!"


    The leading Hero started to freak out, as there was no way he could take on those terrifying tendrils of crimson ck energy firsthand¡­


    Even if he put his all into it and used the cheats from his Void Devouring System, there was absolutely no way he could even hope to put a dent in those existence-splitting attacks!


    So that left only one option for him. And the rest of the heroes, along with the dragon, seemed to be thinking in unison as all of them turned tails and... ran!


    The universe-size dragon statue had stopped in his tracks the moment he felt a threat to his life, and after twenty more of the same threat appeared, he already scratched the idea of using the human in order to improve his dragon scale.


    No one said that boy was such a freak!! How could I have predicted that his strength could increase from the Early Stages of the Comet''s Passage Realm all the way to the Meteor Shower Realm in a mere two weeks!?


    This level of freakishness surpasses even those monstrous geniuses in the Star Federation Capital!


    Following these thoughts, the universe-sized body of the multi-colored dragon statue turned into a bright sh of iridescent light and ran away at the fastest speed he could.


    And along with him were the few thousand heroes, all of whom wore horrified expressions on their faces.


    "..."


    Azmodeus watched all of his loot bags try to get away as he let out a light sigh before uttering, "There''s no escape for loot."


    Following the announcement of this universal truth, he, along with all of his clones, simultaneously let their Greatswords plummet down to the earth!


    RUMBLE!!


    First, there was a rumbling, as just the sheer magnitude of these sword strikes was capable of putting immense pressure on the Endless Ocean!


    After the rumbling subsided, the level was immediately taken past 11, as the 20+ Crimson ck sword beams over 1 octillion miles in length finally found themselves perpendicr to the infinitely stretching ground below.


    And what happened next was apocalyptic¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 129: Half-Step Lunar Ascendancy Realm, Lots of Dings

    ...¡­


    WAAAAA!!


    The ck tendril des made contact with the Endless Ocean, traversing all distances and reaching the fleeing figures in but an instant!


    "!!!" "!!!"


    Before they even received the time to react, the ck energy tendril strikes crashed into the Endless Sea with overwhelming force, evaporating everything within a moment''s notice!


    Following this out-of-the-world series of attacks, the damage finally registered for the world as a multitude of different sword lights of untold resplendence erupted from the point of contact!


    There were countless mushroom clouds and cross-shaped sword emissions that were unleashed from these sword lights, resulting in the world being lit up like a Christmas tree on a pitch-ck night!


    After these lights died down a little, the end result of Azmodeus''s catastrophic attacks were world scars that stretched on for Nonillions of miles¡ªscars that were etched into the Endless Ocean, even reaching the Boundless Archipgo, effectively erasing the lives of numerous existences!


    -


    "..."


    Azmodeus looked at the chasms that seemed to stretch on for infinity, as he never would''ve guessed that a casual attack from him after breaking through to the Half-Step Lunar Ascendancy Realm would be so devastating¡­


    There were an uncountable number of beings that died because of this casual strike of his, including the Heroes and the Dragon statue, and along with these deaths came an absurd amount of system notifications.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed thousands of system users, all of whom have been around for many years and had a plethora of ns set in motion for Prometheus.*


    *Ding!* *Due to how many lives were affecting the existence value of these system users, you have been allotted exponentially more Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 650 Duodecillion Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *Your total Evolution Essence Bank has had its total amount tremendously increased!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte the stats or roll for an Ability of the system users you just killed?*


    "The usual, if you would."


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have received a few thousand diverse System Fragments!*


    *Ding!* *Due to the number of different system fragments being too much for your current physical form to handle, the Infinite Evolution System has decided to convert all the Traits into Physique''s in order to forcefully have your body adapt.*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained thousands of varied System Physique''s!*


    *Ding!* *Your Singrity Physique has not only had its rank ''Stagnate Improved'' to a rank far surpassing what the Peak-Comet Rank can provide, but has also had a number of unique and useful attributes incorporated into it! (Reach the next ne of existence in order to obtain drastic boosts to your Physique.)*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 800 Undecillion Stat Points in Strength, 820 Undecillion points in Speed, 770 Undecillion points in Defense, and 950 Undecillion points in Qi.*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has improved by leaps and bounds!*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has increased by insane amounts all at once, warranting a few seconds for the steady power alterations to be made.*


    Following all of these system notifications, a lot more came in, informing Azmodeus of what he gained from all the lives that he eradicated from the Boundless Archipgo¡ªa Boundless Archipgo that now had over two dozen razing sword marks shot right through the middle of it¡­


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed over 10 Octillion living beings, ranging from the Body Refinement Realm to the Lunar Ascendancy Realm.*


    *Ding!* *Due to the sheer number of beings that have been killed, the amount of Evolution Essence you will obtain will be massive.*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 360 Tredecillion Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *Your Evolution Essence Bank has long since surpassed what you spent!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained tens of millions of unique Physique''s that you don''t already possess!*


    *Ding!* *Your Singrity Physique truly knows no bounds as its maximum potential is being increased one Tier at a time!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 1.5 Tredecillion Stat Points in Strength, 1.6 Tredecillion points in Speed, 1.8 Tredecillion points in Defense, and 2.4 Tredecillion points in Qi.*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has drastically improved!*


    *Ding!* *You have enough Evolution Essence to get all of your Traits to the B-Rank, while your Physique''s can be directly upgraded to the maximum Absolute Peak-Comet Rank, subsequently allowing your Singrity Physique to have its full potential improved beyondpare!*


    *Ding!* *You also have the option to spend 1 Tredecillion Evolution Essence per Law in order to upgrade their Rank from ''Low-Mortal'' to ''Mid-Mortal''.*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to ept these rmendations from the Infinite Evolution System?*


    "..."


    Azmodeus listened to the Infinite Evolution System tell him what it rmended he do, and he immediately replied yes.


    After all, that was what he was going to do anyway, so it saved him a little bit of hassle.


    Following his confirmation, a few more bright blue and golden lights shed.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *All of your Traits have achieved ''Rank B: Level 5''*


    *Ding!* *Millions of your individual Physique''s have been upgraded to the Absolute Peak-Comet''s Passage Realm, allowing your Singrity Physique to achieve levels never before seen in the history of Prometheus!*


    *Ding!* *All 300 of your fullyprehend Low-Mortal Laws have had their Ranks increased to the Mid-Mortal Rank, allowing their existences to achieve a new ne of existence before your physical body was able to.*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has drastically improved!*


    *Ding!* *Your Cultivation Talent has improved by ludicrous amounts!*


    After all of these pop-ups swarmed his vision, Azmodeus finally gained some respite, and with this break from the system notifications came an absurd level of power washing over him.


    WAAAA!


    The amount of Qi being emitted from his body had reached an utterly absurd degree!


    If not for the fact that he had be ustomed to restraining his sudden aura bursts, then it was highly likely that everything within Decillions of miles would''ve been consumed by his irresistible aura!


    Nevertheless, after feeling such an increase in power, the Crimson Devil Lord decided to sit down and digest his gains while looking at his system interface, immediately noticing something quite interesting.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 130: Infinite Combat Power Potential

    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: ~200/50,000]


    [Cultivation: Peak Stages of the Half-Step Lunar Ascendancy Realm.]


    [Overall Combat Power: Initial Stages of the Early Meteor Shower Realm]


    [Level: 164]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 50 Decillion Evolution Essence]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: ~20 Tredecillion Evolution Essence]


    {[Stats:]}


    [Strength: 25 Tredecillion]


    [Speed: 38 Tredecillion]


    [Defense: 32 Tredecillion]


    [Qi: 48 Tredecillion]


    [Cultivation Talent: Early-Meteor Rank]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Physique Coalescence - Level 5] (B Rank)] ¡ú [0/1 Tredecillion]


    [Mirror Mirage - Level 5] (B Rank)] ¡ú [0/1 Tredecillion]


    [Various other Traits] ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [Overall Attribute Boost: A Rank - (Level 1)]


    {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters]}


    [Singrity (Absolute Peak-Comet Rank) (Combined Physique created from the aspects of all your thousands of individual Physique''s)]


    [Various other Physique''s] ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [Overall Attribute Boost: Peak-Comet Rank]


    {[Laws]} ¡ú


    ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [All 300 Low-Mortal Laws have beenprehended to 100%, sessfully achieving Law Coalescence.] ¡ú [All Low-Mortal Laws have had their ranks increased to Mid-Mortal, ascending this ne of existence.]


    {[Weapon Comprehensions]}


    [Main Weapon] ¡ú [Sword] ¡ú [Primary Art: Iaijutsu] ¡ú [Early-Meteor Rank]


    [Plethora of other Weaponprehensions: All Mortal Weapons Comprehended to the Early-Comet Rank and Above]


    ¡ª------------


    After looking over his system interface, Azmodeus muttered, "The Meteor Rank¡­ Does that mean the next major realm after the Comet''s Passage Realm has something to do with Meteors¡­?"


    That was one of the things he was curious about, but what interested him more was the fact that his stats no longer corrted with his cultivation realm and simply affected his Overall Combat Power.


    "What is this about, Senior System?"


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *Due to your existence being capped at the Half-Step Lunar Ascendancy Realm because of the negative repercussions that the ''Rift''s'' energy could have on your body, the Infinite Evolution System has decided to bar your cultivation from progressing any further until you reach the next ne of existence.*


    *Ding!* *It''s because of this fact that all stat acquisitions will increase yourbat power while having little to no effect on your Realm.*


    *Ding!* *For convenience, the Infinite Evolution System has opted to leave this format as such from this day on, even if you ascend to higher nes of existence.*


    "So, what you''re saying is that my Combat Power can theoretically increase the gap between my realm and what my actual strength is¡­? And this could be done infinitely¡­?"


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *That is correct.*


    "..."


    Azmodeus went silent after that conversation, as he didn''t know what to make of such an overpowered notion¡­


    "This will make me too OP¡­" He softly murmured while floating in the sky with a listless gaze.


    That was until he heard the frantic voices of Nao Long and Yang Hua, both of whom were flying up to him with their voluptuous bodies fighting against thews of Gravity¡­


    "Why did you leave us behind, you big idiot!" Nao Long shouted with puffed-out cheeks as she was the first one to shoot toward his arms like a short, adorable rocket.


    *Pat!*


    She crashed into his body before snuggling up to him with a giddy grin on her impable face.


    And the other troublesome woman wasn''t too far behind¡­


    "I will delete all further hope of you continuing your generation if you ever dare to leave me behind again!*


    *Pat!*


    Yang Hua collided with the other side of his body as she softly hit him, using that as an excuse to let her dainty hands travel across every muscle and crevice of his body.


    "..." Azmodeus felt that crazy woman stick her hands inside his robes, as he wasn''t even sure how she was able to do that without his knowing.


    I guess everyone has a talent for something¡­


    Following this exasperated thought, he was about to speak up and get them off of him, but just as he was about to say something, the rest of the ''Troublesome Female Brigade'' found their way to his position in the sky.


    You Mei¡­ Li Na¡­ Bing Nu Shen¡­ Even that silly disciple of mine¡­


    Azmodeus''s thoughts were followed by him looking in the direction of four beautiful women flying up to him with varying expressions on their gorgeous faces.


    "You really left us like that- wait, what the hell are those huge chasms in the ground!?" You Mei questioned with her mouth agape.


    She was staring at many massive ming scars on a plot ofnd that had its edges extend out for who knew how many light years!


    "Were you the one who did this, Azmo¡­?" Lin Na asked with a tone of disbelief.


    There was no way to describe the level of shock that she felt when looking at such unbelievable levels of damage.


    How were we unable to hear the explosions resulting from such extreme methods¡­?


    She looked to Azmodeus for answers; however, in response to her question, he let out a wry chuckle before looking at all the damage he had caused.


    "It looks like I went a tad bit overboard¡­" He muttered.


    "..." "..." "..."


    All of the girls listened to the nonchnt words of this insane man as they let out sighs in unison before Bing Nu Shen stepped forward and said, "You really know how to cause some destruction¡­"


    "...Yeah¡­" Azmodeus responded with a in voice before turning his head toward the system notifications that were stilling in from all the things being killed by his attack''s residual energies.


    "Anywho, are you all ready to head back to the ceremony and finish that up before we take on the Astral Leap?"


    "..." "..." "..."


    The girls were still stunned by what he had done to Prometheus, but they eventually snapped out of it and responded, "Sure¡­"


    After which, all of them headed back down to the inauguration ceremony while fighting over who would be standing beside Azmodeus on the podium.


    And as this was happening, he had his Primordial Essence Clones go toward where the Heroes attempted to escape.


    His reason for doing this was to absorb everything they once had, and after finding traces of all their existences, he was able to glean into a few fragmented memories they possessed before death¡­


    All For The Benefits... Benefits Above All...


    ...¡­

 Chapter 131: The Woes Of A Man Pursuing Benefits

    ...¡­


    From the soul searches of all the Heroes who came to capture and kill him, Azmodeus was able to learn that the Heroes Association had a Headquarters that was around 10 Nonillion miles to the east of what was vaporized by his attacks.


    Furthermore, he was also able to figure out some rather interesting information pertaining to the Starry Expanse from that Dragon Statue, which also served as the Dragon Land Alliance.


    It truly is too bad that such a wondrous ecosystem was shredded down to ash, but from their sacrifice, I was able to understand the intricacies of the Starry Expanse¡­


    Of which, the most interesting tidbit was the fact that someone as strong as that Dragon Statue, otherwise known as Drugros, was considered nothing more than trash in the Starry Expanse, barely escaping his position as a ve of a dragon ruling force called the ''Dragon Horde''.


    This force possesses countless beings stronger than Drugros was, and anyone who reached the Half-Step Meteor Shower Realm was capable of using something called a ''Descender'', which was a mysterious item that would allow the user to descend to a lower ne of existence.


    Following these thoughts, Azmodeus perused the rest of the information he obtained before burning it to his memory.


    After which, he and the rest of the Primordial Essence Clones, along with a few million Mirror Mirage''s made their way to the Hero Association.


    ¡­


    A few minutester, the Hero''s Association was put on theirst legs, with more than 90% of all their members dead, while the remaining few were being put through soul searches.


    And after absorbing the memories of millions of Heroes, Azmodeus was able to learn about the origins of all of the Heroes in Prometheus.


    Earth again¡­ I wonder what sort of ce this Earth is¡­


    He pondered the matter of this that was no bigger than the size of a farm in Prometheus, as he just couldn''tprehend how powerful figures with various cheats like these ''Main Characters'' came from such a dpidated.


    But it wasn''t even their origin that made for the weirdest thing about these Heroes¡­


    It was instead the fact that not a single one of them was part of the same time period while living on Earth.


    Some of them came from periods in time where fire was considered some form of object of reverence, while others were flying in unusual metallic saucers among the stars.


    Furthermore, every single one of these Heroes has their own unique story, and from these stories, they received systems that matched what theycked to an almost perfect degree¡­


    But what I don''t understand is: who was the one to give out so many systems¡­? And does this person or people have anything to do with my system¡­?


    Azmodeus doubted that was the case, especially when you include the fact that he didn''te from this ''Earth'', but it was still a notion that lingered in his mind for a while.


    Nevertheless, following the genocide of the Hero race and the assimtion of all of their systems into his own, a tremendous improvement in all aspects of his existence washed over him.


    WAAAA!


    After feeling his power increase by another substantial amount, he had his clones shoot in the direction of the areas of any straggler heroes that he had learned the approximate locations of through the soul searches.


    "Now that all of that is out of the way, I think it''s time to attempt the Astral Leap... But before that point, let''s clean up the rest."


    Azmodeus''s deep and raspy voice was followed by him lifting his index finger up.


    BZZZT! BZZZT!


    Dark crimson energy was building up on his fingertip as he flung a few condensed masses of energy at every inch of territory that made up the Hero Alliance.


    BOOOOOM! BOOOOOM!


    A few explosions of indescribable magnitude reverberated as a number of mushroom clouds sprouted up from where the condensed energy balls touched base.


    WAAaa¡­


    After the radioactive energy from the mushroom clouds dissipated, a plethora of craters were left in their ces¡ªcraters that had diameters of Nonillions of miles, possessing depths that seemed to stretch downward with no ends in sight¡­


    FWIP! FWIP!


    Following the apocalyptic casting of these spells, all of the immortal-like men vanished from their spots as they had new ces to be before the eventual ascension into the Astral Leap.


    ¡­


    A few hourster, Azmodeus had just about finished up everything he needed to do in Prometheus, as the Astral Leap was thest thing on his checklist.


    Well, there was one more thing he wished to do; however, all of the people he knew in the Yellow Mellow Sect and Frontier section of Yellowcreek City had long since died due to either their insufficient lifespans or fighting in the world-wide war that was incapable of discrimination¡­


    "Life sure has a lot of twists and turns¡­" He softly murmured underneath his breath.


    "What was that, Azmo?" Yang Hua asked from the side, her slender arms linked with his.


    "...It''s nothing. I''m just thinking about what could''ve been if I did things differently," Azmodeus responded with a hand to his chin as he nced at the four womenying on hisp.


    "Other women¡­?" Yang Hua questioned with a darkened tone, her expression reaching a simr level of darkness.


    Her grip on his arm tightened a lot, as she was clearly expecting an immediate response from the naturally flirtatious man.


    "..."


    Azmodeusmented the side effects of his Traits as he looked into those scary green eyes of hers and replied, "Don''t worry about things like that so much¡­ Furthermore, you''re not my wife or even lover, so-"


    "I knew my husband wouldn''t go off and cheat on me!" Yang Hua interrupted him as herplexion lightened up a bit before she rubbed her voluptuous curves on his chest. "Luvs you, Az, Az!"


    After which, she snuggled up on his body before falling asleep with a peaceful look on her exquisitely beautiful face.


    "..." Azmodeus couldn''t even get out his rebukes, as that silly girl would always interrupt him.


    He sighed a little before deciding to rub her silky ck hair, all while thinking of the benefits he''d obtain next...


    ...¡­

 Chapter 132: The Opening Of The Astral Leap

    ...¡­


    The time of the Astral Leap was mere minutes away, and it was unknown how it would be once itmenced, so if the girl''s wished to rx a little beforehand, then it was all fine in Azmodeus''s opinion.


    And just as he was about to resume his cultivation as a form of rxation, a woman who looked like the reincarnation of an Ice Goddess made her way through a door corridor.


    Her curvaceous body leaned up against the simple wooden door frames of the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode lounge area.


    Following this sudden entrance, she lifted her lower dress and shed a seductive look in the Crimson Devil Lord''s direction.


    "..." Azmodeus opened up one of his closed eyes as he asked, "You''re intoxicated, aren''t you¡­?"


    "*Hick* N-No¡­ Why would you think such a thing about little ol me~?? *Hick*"


    She huped a little before wobbling her way over to his meditating figure with a wine bottle in her hand.


    It didn''t take very long for her to see the feisty territorial cats in human form, as she could feel the killing intent from miles away.


    But, in the end, she was an Empress, and with such a renowned status, she put her button nose to the sky before her expression became rtively haughty as she made her way around the mean cats and found herself on the backside of the devilishly handsome man.


    "I-I am the Queen *Hick!* An-And with this title, I order you to give me a big kiss~!" She slurred her words while leaning over the Crimson Devil Lord''s left shoulder, pressing those giant, soft mellons of hers all over his backside.


    After which, she pointed to her bright red lips and said, "R-Right here. You must kiss me right here¡­~"


    "..."


    Azmodeus was momentarily stunned by that glossy look in her star-filled eyes, and just as he was about to be taken off guard by the Ice Empress''s approaching lips against his own, she huped a bit as her luscious lips barely grazed his before she fell unconscious.


    The Crimson Devil Lord watched this whole thing go down with a straight face as he let out what felt like the millionth sigh today. And that was when he noticed the scantily-d way that she looked with her dress slipping halfway down her milky white breasts.


    This girl is always trying to talk to me in the nude¡­ I''m beginning to think that she''s a natural-born streaker¡­


    Following thisplicated thought, he had her float onto a nearby cotton bed using his Qi.


    And after tucking her in so as to not catch a cold that she wouldn''t be able to obtain anyway, he got back to his original objective.


    The art of cultivation truly has no limits¡­


    It was through this thought that he continued his cultivation for thest few hours he had before the Fallen Immortal Mountain would need to be taken into his storage ring.


    Normally, it wouldn''t be possible for a mountain to go into a storage ring and stay undetected by experts of unknown strength brackets, but with the refinement of this mountain into a treasured life weapon using his Spirit cksmithing Profession, that fact changed.


    And it was through this refinement that Azmodeus had fullypleted a few years ago that the Fallen Immortal Mountain became an Absolute Peak-Comet Rank Life Treasure.


    -----


    Life Treasure.


    A special type of treasure that, if refined to a high enough level, will allow the treasure to obtain the ability to hold human life or any other form of organism, assuming that the space limit is not surpassed in the treasure.


    Treasures of this type are few and far between, as they are extremely hard to make. Thus, anyone who had one was someone of important notice.


    However, in the world of cultivation, being noticed without the necessary strength typically meant an early death, so most Life Treasures were left ownerless and scattered throughout all of existence.


    -----


    Azmodeus had managed to create an Absolute Peak-Comet Rank Life Treasure at the age of 200, making him a monstrous freak even among the heavenly geniuses of the Starry Expanse!


    Nevertheless, he was utterly unaware of this fact, and even if he did know of it, it was highly likely that he would shrug it off and continue the infinite grind.


    And it was during this infinite grind that the rift''s strewn across countless parts of Prometheus started to have something change within their slight energy fluctuations!


    BZZZT! BZZZT!


    The rift thaty directly above the Northern Spirit Continent began to have its energy signature increase by a hundredfold, reaching levels of exponentially increasing vtility!


    And it was only after this rift achieved its zenith, ultimately reaching a size billions of timesrger than it was before, that it calmed its active Qi fluctuations and settled down to a state of tranquility.


    However, this peacefulness was all a facade, for if one without sufficient strength got too close to this rift, then they would without a doubt die¡­


    Nevertheless, there were a number of fearless figures standing in front of this purple ckhole-like phenomenon as they watched it with varying expressions, some of greed, some of hope; there were even some with more mvel expressions.


    But regardless of what was going through the minds of the countless experts that had gathered at the Northern Spirit Continent, all of them had one end goal inmon. And that was to see whaty on the other side of that rift...


    -


    "You guys best not get in my way as I sessfully pass the Astral Leap Test with flying colors!"


    A man with arge frame and a long red beard stepped forward from his position among a group of Lunar Ascendancy Realm experts. He stood in front of everyone with a conceited look on his face.


    "Ha! You actually think you can pass the test this time around, Go Bo?? What about the other 3 times that you attempted and failed spectacrly!?" A different robust Lunar Ascendancy Realm Master remarked with a disdainful gleam in his gray gaze.


    "Shut up, Chen Chao! Go suck on a few bananas and stuff your face like usual! And while you''re busy being a glizzy gobbler, let me show you how to pass the Astral Leap!" Go Bo spat back before walking up to the Astral Leap portal and putting his hand against the ethereal energy that made up its surface.


    BZZZT!!


    Intense ck and purple energy was shot out of the rift as it consumed the red-haired man whole!


    However, he was not dead. It was just that the Astral Leap took him to where he would be attempting to shatter the world barrier.


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 133: Entering The Astral Rift

    ...¡­.


    After a few seconds and a number of boisterous explosions, Go Bo shot out from the heavens like a spiky fireball lugy, zing past the gathered Lunar Ascendancy Realm Experts before ultimately crashing into the Endless Ocean.


    BOOOOOM!!


    A massive crater was formed where hended as the ocean evaporated around him, leaving his seared and signed body out in the open for all to see.


    "It looks like that idiot wasn''t able to resist the counters from the World Barrier for even half a minute!" Chen Chao started tough his a*s off as he held his stomach while sneering in the direction of the scorched, charcoal-like man below.


    "Indeed¡­ Go Bo never learns¡­"


    "Seconded."


    "Yes."


    A few of the Lunar Ascendancy Realm Experts conversed among themselves as they turned their gazes away from the burnt Go Bo and focused on their own Astral Leap trials.


    ¡­


    A few minutes passed by as hundreds of Lunar Ascendancy Realm Masters attempted to seed in passing the Astral Leap Trial, only toe out with severe injuries that would leave them in bed for years¡­


    And just as everyone was about to give up on the idea of passing the Astral Leap Test, a man of otherworldly beauty, along with a group of divinely beautiful women, materialized from thin air, their eyes honed in on the enormous Astral Rift.


    "So this is what a fully-formed Astral Rift looks like up close¡­"


    Azmodeus''s curious voice echoed out in the surroundings, silencing everyone around him as he took slow steps in the air, passing by the dumbfounded Lunar Ascendancy Realm Masters.


    "I must say that it truly does not disappoint, as even with my insights into everything on this Mortal ne, I can still not understand a single thing of what I''m looking at," he mused while his elegant figure approached the Astral Rift with quick steps.


    "Is it some form of spell cast by a higher being?" Nao Long inquired from his side.


    Azmodeus turned his gaze down toward the curious dragon women as he replied, "It could be, but it''s more likely that it''s rted to some sort of profession that is not on Prometheus."


    "A profession?" Bing Nu Shen questioned as she looked up from where their arms were linked, expecting an answer with that inquisitive gaze of hers.


    "...Well, the truth is that I feel a sort of connection with this rift, almost like my professions are calling out to something with a simr essence.


    Of course, I have no clue if this is actually the case, but I feel that I might''ve been able toprehend something from this rift if it stayed open for long periods of time."


    Following the Crimson Devil Lord''s response, he passed a few 1st Stage Lunar Ascendancy Realm Ancestor''s before making it mere feet away from the Astral Rift.


    "W-Wait, sir Crimson! You must understand that this Astral Leap is no child''s y, and you could be seriously injured if you go in headstrong!"


    One of the Lunar Ascendancy Realm Experts tried to warn the Crimson Devil Lord of the dangers of trying to pass the Astral Leap.


    But his caution fell on deaf ears as the fallen-immortal-like man simply walked past him with brief movements before directly making contact with the Astral Rift.


    BZZZT!!


    The ck and purple energies of the Astral Rift shot out in the same way as all the other masters who touched it, as countless tendrils of energy enveloped his body, whisping him away.


    And in his ce, there were a plethora of shocked Lunar Ascendancy Realm Experts and the other residents of the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode.


    "He''ll be okay, won''t he¡­?" You Mei asked with a hint of trepidation in her sweet voice.


    "I believe that he''ll make it out just fine. You should have more faith in my husband, especially when considering that you''re his side chick," Yang Hua replied to her weary question with a snarky remark toward the end.


    "Hey! I''m not a side chick! You''re a side chick, you shtupid idiot!" You Mei spat back with her slender arms stretched out toward the ground.


    Yang Hua looked at her pouty expression and clicked her tongue. "Stop trying to act cute," she said. "It''s pitiful, especially when you''repeting against someone as adorable as I...!"


    "H-How dare you!? Do you want to fight right now, you idiot-!?" You Mei was about to throw her fists in the air right then and there, but she was swiftly interrupted by the short dragon girl, saying:


    "I am the cutest. Not you two cows¡­" Nao Long dered with a serious expression while her long, scaly tail swung around behind her well-endowed buttocks.


    "..." "..."


    Yang Hua and You Mei looked at the pot calling the kettle ck, as they didn''t know if they had ever seen a pair of breasts that were as big as the ones that this small dragon girl possessed.


    "???" Nao Long saw the disgusted looks in both of their eyes, as she didn''t understand why they were looking at her like that.


    "You''re oblivious to everything, aren''t you, Nao Long¡­?" Li Na joined in on the conversation with a soft voice.


    "Whaa¡­?" Nao Long was as confused as she could be.


    I don''t understand what these cows are talking about!


    Her thoughts stirred as her voluptuous breasts jiggled around a little due to all the thinking that she was forced to do.


    "..." Bing Nu Shen and Rou Tian watched the girls rankle themselves with tired looks on their wless faces.


    "So, what has been going on with your cultivation as ofte, Rou Tian? It''s been a few dozen years, and yet you''ve already improved your cultivation to the Tribtion Transcendance Realm."


    The gorgeous and elegant Ice Empress observed the emotionless look on a brown-eyed woman''s face as she awaited a response.


    It didn''t take long before Rou Tian turned her head in the slightly taller Ice Empress''s direction and responded, "It might seem like something extraordinary to you, but if you understood the talent that my master has, you would realize that I''m nothing more than trash."


    "???" Bing Nu Shen''s expression became a little puzzled as she asked, "What do you mean by that? Don''t we all possess the same levels of talent due to the pills that Azmodeus concocted for us? His talent can''t possibly be that high-"


    "You''re wrong," Rou Tian interrupted her. "You may not understand what I''m talking about right now, but there are many mysteries surrounding my master. And as you know, he''s not one to open up to other people, so everything about him is unknown, even to Eldest Mother and Second Mother."


    Bing Nu Shen heard what she said, and although she still couldn''t understandpletely, what annoyed her more was not that.


    It was instead the fact that Rou Tian called her disciple the ''Eldest Mother''...


    I should be the Eldest Mother¡­ So why was that silly disciple of mine given that status before me¡­?


    Lost in her thoughts, she grumbled softly before refocusing on the Astral Rift, where she assumed that dense man had been transported.


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 134: Sudden Ascension!

    ...¡­.


    Meanwhile, as all of the residents of the Heaven Exploding Faction talked among themselves, Azmodeus was somewhere in the clouds, countless miles above the Northern Spirit Continent, trying to figure out what space he found himself in.


    However, his contemtive state was quickly interrupted by a shimmering barrier forming from thin air, covering every inch of the endless sky above him.


    "Is that the world barrier¡­?" He asked himself with an intrigued glint in his crimson-colored eyes.


    Following this question, he moved from his spot, phasing through the skies until he reached the shimmering world barrier. Extending his hand, he prepared to discover what would happen if he touched it.


    *Pat*


    His hand sessfully made contact with the barrier, but contrary to his expectations, nothing much changed except a small ripple spreading out from where his hand touched.


    "So it isn''t some entity with a natural-born hostility for all living beings¡­"


    After crossing that option off his checklist, he decided to try something different¡­


    "Let''s see what happens if I attack it¡­"


    WAAAA!


    Immense levels of crimson ck energy built up on the tips of his fingers as he stuck both his index fingers into the air, unleashing a miniscule fraction of his total strength.


    SHING! SHING!


    Two tiny balls of crimson light shot out from his fingertips at a speed far surpassing the speed of light as they blitzed through the skies, piercing through countless clouds before ultimately making contact with the world barrier in the shapes of small, deathly, sharp swords!


    BING!!


    When they touched the world barrier, an intense reaction was felt throughout an untold number of miles as the barrier started to crack in its epicenter!


    CRACK! CRACK!


    And it didn''t take long before those cracks started spreading out at a rapid pace, causing everything within octillions of miles to crumble and fall apart!


    "..."


    Azmodeus watched the sky quite literally fall down from every point in space as sweat beads started to form on his forehead.


    BING! BING!


    Pieces of the sky trailed past his face as he wore an awkward expression while muttering, "How was I supposed to know that such a weak attack would do so much damage¡­?"


    He had no idea that his ''weak attack'' had already shattered the world barrier far past what was required, immediately initiating the next part of the Astral Leap Trial!


    "Oh sh*t¡­" He murmured, feeling every piece of his existence suddenly get pulled through time and space without any chance to resist the pull.


    I don''t have enough time to retrieve the rest of my Mirror Mirage''s, but they should automatically dissolve ande back to me without me needing to do anything¡­


    And with the Fallen Immortal Mountain already inside my Dantian Space, I just need to get the girls¡­


    There was no way Azmodeus could have absorbed the girls in the split second he had to think, if not for tethering their existences to the Fallen Immortal Mountain beforehand. This connection allowed them to stay alive indefinitely, as long as they didn''t die from old age or some mysterious cause.


    And along with this broken immortality, he was able to incorporate a rune that was made so the girls could be transported via space and time.


    This was actually the first prototype of the Time/Space Rune and was the better version of the individual Time Rune and Space Rune''s.


    But regardless of how he was able to aplish it, they were already traveling through a type of wormhole in space, reaching his Fallen Immortal Mountain in a split instant, leaving all the Lunar Ascendancy Realm Experts with dumbfounded looks on their faces.


    But it appeared like they weren''t the only ones confused by what was going on, as Yang Hua and the rest of the girls found themselves sitting inside the Fallen Immortal Mountain with perplexed expressions.


    Even so, this all happened in a fraction of a second, as the Crimson Devil Lord found himself in a new space¡ªa space that could be seen as a transit location between two points in infinitely stretching plots of space.


    -


    "..." Azmodeus looked around with a curious gaze, as the surroundings were quite ''unique'' to say the least.


    "A train station¡­?" He inquired with a puzzled voice.


    He knew what this ce was from the memories he absorbed from the heroes, and there was no mistaking it¡­


    But what he didn''t understand was why there would be a train station in the Astral Leap.


    Furthermore, the material that made up the hard metal surface he was standing on had a level of robustness that should''ve been impossible...


    "Even with my full strength, I doubt whether I would be able to dent it in the slightest¡­"


    What he was dering was something that was ludicrous!


    After all, with his full strength, he was able to crack countless quadrillions of light years, separating spaces the size of multiverses like it was just another day!


    And yet¡­ What he was saying was entirely true, as no matter how much power he put into the soles of his feet, no damage was inflicted on the metal surface beneath him¡­


    "There were screws and likely welding objects used in the making of this train station, which all checks out. But what I don''t understand is why there are no people¡­"


    Azmodeus scrutinized his immediate vicinity, and all he saw was a revolutionary-era train station, along with faint traces of steaming out the top of a train that looked like it had a definite form but also a form that stretched on for infinity.


    The train station itself seemed like it was barely holding itself together with screws dangling from various tin roofs, while the nks of wood that wereid next to the train were on the verge of snapping in half.


    However, no matter how dpidated the ce appeared, no amount of strength could result in even the smallest of splintersing off the wooden nks or screws being loosened from the tin roofs.


    As for the area outside this train station¡­


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 135: The Astral Leap Locomotive

    ...¡­.


    "There''s nothing but fog¡­ and a¡­ blood-red moon¡­?"


    Azmodeus turned his head in every direction, but no matter where he looked, there was no plot ofnd that didn''t have a fog-like mist covering it.


    And above this ckened, misty surface, there was a moon as dark as the darkest of blood, looming over the pitch-ck skies like a menacing jewel meant to light up the world.


    If he were being honest, the aura pervading the air around this ce was eerie, leaving behind a creepy ambiance.


    However, he feared no monsters in the dark, so he took his first step since being transported to this ominous space, and that was when he noticed something unusual¡­


    "My speed¡­ I can''t even achieve a running pace of travel¡­"


    He felt the power coursing through his veins, and all of it was in order with no direct restrictions on his strength, so what exactly prevented him from surpassing 5 km/hr was something that eluded him.


    At least, that was the case until he had a sudden sh of realization and muttered, "The Laws¡­ The Laws that make up the materials of the train station and even the very space itself are so high in level that my body is nowhere near strong enough to affect much of anything¡­"


    After understanding this fact, he proceeded to take slow steps in the direction of a flight of six cobblestone steps¡ªsteps that led up to where a dimly lit corridor of the train was left open.


    *Step Step*


    Azmodeus eventually found himself in front of the wide, ck ss doors of the train as he moved his legs a couple more times before making it inside the train''s interior.


    And it was at the moment he put one foot inside the train that its barely visible, foggy interior had an entirely different world open up for the confused man.


    A wave of light surged from beneath his feet, streaking toward the front of the train. In an instant, too quick for even his extraordinary perception to register, the train was illuminated in a dazzling disy of colors!


    The fog dispersed,nterns were lit up in quick session, and various figures materialized from thin air.


    All of these figures sat opon red cushion chairs while sipping mysterious green tea substances.


    And then this was where the really unusual part came in, as these figures were wearing top hats and ck or gray striped suits, with their appearances being analogous to those of older English men.


    However, it wasn''t even the various anachronisms that left Azmodeus in a state of bewilderment, as it was instead the fact that floating skulls with faint green glows inside their heads were floating around, serving all the English people whatever they wanted.


    What in the hell is this ce¡­-?


    "Ahh, we have a neer, everyone! Look at him!" A friendly voice interrupted his thoughts as a man with avishly decorated mustache walked over to the tall, handsome neer.


    "A neer, you say?" A different English man stood up from the beautiful women sitting on hisp as he took pompous strides toward where themotion was.


    ...


    After a few seconds of different voices being passed around inside the train cabs, nearly five dozen English men and women were gathered around a man who looked way out of ce in the middle of them all.


    "So, which Mortal Realm did youe from!? Is it a famous one!?"


    "How much Ascendance Value did your Mortal Realm have!?"


    "What were the women like in your world?? Gorgeous or meh¡­?"


    "Excuse me, Mr., but would you mind telling me if you are taken¡­? If you aren''t, then would you maybe consider¡­"


    "..."


    Azmodeus was being hounded by males and females alike, as everyone appeared to be extremely curious about his Mortal Realm.


    He could glean a few interesting pieces of information from what they were bbering about, and their attention being so focused on him was likely attributed to the fact that his appearance was unparalleled, giving everyone the assumption that his Mortal World was one of high renown.


    And as many things he could think up to take advantage of their misunderstandings, it was never good to start out potential benefit-based friendships like that. So, in the end, he reluctantly sighed before backing up a few steps.


    After which, he said, "Ie from a world called Prometheus¡ªa world that all of you have never even heard of, and this world is nothing special, as it''s merely a oneyered infinity space-"


    "You said Prometheus!?" All of the English people snapped out of their dazes and shouted at the same time.


    Azmodeus didn''t understand their reactions, but he still responded, "...Yes¡­"


    "Th-This¡­"


    "To be from Prometheus¡­ Where those two monsters originated from all those eons ago¡­"


    "The world that was banned from interster travel by the Gctic Lord¡­ There were enough restrictions ced on that world to make it nearly impossible for anyone else to ascend¡­"


    "A few billion years, and yet someone has already achieved something that should''ve been impossible¡­"


    Everyone muttered among themselves with expressions of disbelief, as what they were hearing was something iprehensible!


    And following the chater, all of them backed away from the one with bad omens surrounding him, as they all headed back to their seats and resumed what they were doing before the neer entered the Astral Leap Lotive.


    "..."


    Azmodeus watched everyone leave him in an instant, as nobody would even so much as look in his direction anymore.


    At least, everybody besides one¡­


    "Excuse me, Mister."


    A young, soft girl''s voice sounded out as a kid with long silky ck hair and white misty eyes around knee-high stared up at the otherworldly handsome man in front of her.


    Azmodeus turned his neutral expression down toward the innocent-looking girl with a hint of mystique to her appearance as he asked, "What is it that you want¡­?"


    He didn''t know why the other English people fled the scene as soon as he mentioned the world he originated from, but having this lone girl stay behind was more than a little unusual.


    However, the girl in question thought nothing of it as she responded, "I-I am sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you could allow me to tag along with you when the Astral Leap begins¡­?"


    "Why would I do that? And why is a kid like yourself taking the Astral Leap?? Furthermore, what do you mean by taking the Astral Leap? Wasn''t breaking the World Barrier part of the Astral Leap¡­?"


    Azmodeus was perplexed by a number of things right now; however, the fact that a young girl no older than 9 or 10 met the requirements for the Astral Leap was by far the most far-fetched notion!


    To reach the Lunar Ascendancy Realm inbat power by the age of 10 in a Mortal World¡­ That shouldn''t be possible¡­


    And for this particr situation, he was correct, as this girl did in fact not reach the Lunar Ascendancy Realm by the age of 10 in a Low-Mortal World.


    She had instead achieved the state in a higher level world!


    However, that was a topic for another time¡­


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 136: The Peculiarities Of The Astral Leap Train

    ...¡­.


    "W-Well, Mister. The truth is that I''m not from a Low-Mortal World, but I am the age that I look¡­


    As for your question on why I''m on the Astral Leap¡­ Family problems¡­


    And for what you asked about breaking the World Barrier being a part of the Astral Leap¡­ That is technically true, but it''s moreplicated than that, as breaking your respective world''s World Barrier is akin to acquiring the key to taking the real Astral Test.


    There were probably people who told you that there were ''judges'' who scored the cultivators that broke the world barrier, and although that is halfway true, there are no judges before the true Astral Leap begins¡­


    Lastly, as for why you should let mee with you¡­


    I''m cute, and I need someone strong to watch out for me¡­"


    The young, white-eyed girl became a little bashful toward the end as she spun her left foot on the wooden floor, taking furtive nces at the most handsome man she had ever seen.


    "..."


    Azmodeus ignored the weird looks of the equally unusual girl as he pondered all the things she said.


    ¡­It looks like Prometheus is at such a low level that a bunch of the information concerning the Astral Leap and the Starry Expanse has been skewed over time¡­


    He turned his listless gaze up from deep thought as he asked, "Why is it that you seem smarter than you should be at your age? And also, how do you know I''m as strong as you think I am?"


    "...T-The first question has something to do with those family problems, and your second question is because I watched you walk over to the Astral Leap Lotive."


    "???" Azmodeus wasn''t following.


    "What does making it to the train have anything to do with my strength¡­?" He questioned after his curiosity got the better of him.


    "You don''t know¡­?" The young girl inquired.


    "...No¡­ I know nothing about anything past my Low-Mortal World."


    "How unusual¡­ To be so ignorant of the situation outside your world is not ordinary. But when considering the history of Prometheus, it makes some more sense¡­"


    Azmodeus listened to the girl whispering to herself as he asked, "What do you mean by that-?"


    "Anyway, you just need to know that it usually takes hundreds, if not thousands, of years for someone to make it from over there to this train station," the girl interrupted him while pointing at a spot where arge number of people were making their way over at absurdly slow speeds.


    None of the countless people were in the same dimension, and thus, they were unable to view the existences of anyone besides themselves, just like the Crimson Devil Lord.


    However, unlike him, they moved millions of times slower than turtles, with some of them having been on that trot for thousands of years, simply moving toward a goal that was so close yet so far away¡­


    Azmodeus observed the speeds of all the ghost-like people walking, as he now understood why the girl showed so much interest in him.


    After all, he probably looked simr to an anomaly as he passed by all the other incorporeal ghosts like he had a rocket up his a*s.


    But there was one thing that confused him greatly, and that was:


    "Wouldn''t the train have already taken off toward its destination by this point? And if not, then what do these people do when that does eventually happen?"


    "...You truly don''t know anything, do you¡­?"


    "No¡­"


    The young, misty-eyed girl shook her cute head a little bit as she stuck one of her small hands in the air and pointed toward a set of ss windows on the opposite side of the train.


    And unlike the side of the train station where all the people took the ''Time Walk'', there was no train station, only bright shes of light that zoomed past the train at speeds beyond inhuman.


    "That is¡­" Azmodeus muttered as he flipped his gaze between both sides of the train, noticing that there was one still-moving side and one constantly moving side.


    "...I''m honestly baffled by yourck of knowledge, but the simple version of what is happening is that the Astral Leap Lotive exists in countless universes, multiverses, omniverses, and various other low-level Cosmic Constructs.


    And through this connection between an untold number of Cosmic constructs, the Astral Leap Lotive and parasitic train station act as a transit point, and yet only the train exists on apletely different ne of existence, speeding through the boundless Void as it approaches the Astral Leap venue, all while never leaving the parasitic train station.


    You can think of the two constructs as a pet owner and a leash, with the dog being infinite in size and yet as small as could be."


    Azmodeus got the gist of what she was talking about, but the concepts centered around such ludicrous ims were of such a ridiculously high level that it was extremely tough to believe.


    After all, even with his Time/Space Rune''s, it would be impossible toe even close to making something asplex as what the Astral Leap Lotive and Train Station acted as.


    Which begged the question:


    What sort of godlike existence was able to make the Astral Leap setup¡­?


    "If you''re thinking about who or what was capable of creating this iprehensible train station, then I suggest you discard that train of thought."


    The young girl''s voice took Azmodeus out of his mind as he looked toward the kid who was too smart for her own good.


    After analyzing her existence for a second, he asked,"On a side note, how long will it take before we reach the true Astral Leap Venue?"


    "I will tell you if you promise to look out for me in the days toe," the girl responded with a serious expression, indicating that she was not looking to bargain.


    "..."


    Azmodeus stared into the misty eyes of a girl who had clearly been ying the part of a naive and innocent kid...


    This girl is too smart for her age¡­ And more often than not, it probably stems from a not-so-good childhood.


    And I''m assuming this childhood of hers is one of the reasons why she''s here on this train...


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 137: Pan Nu

    ...¡­.


    Following Azmodeus''s thoughts, he took a glimpse at what he could discern from within the young girl''s misty eyes. After which, he said, "I can do that, but you will need to assist me in understanding more about the Astral Leap. Does that sound good?"


    The young girl outstretched her arm as she grabbed a rough hand from the handsome man''s side. "We have ourselves a deal. Now follow me to the best part of this gloomy train stinking of old monsters."


    After getting out those disdainful words, she dragged him behind her as they made their way throughout the Astral Leap Lotive.


    And it didn''t take long after their walking began that Azmodeus noticed the fact that his speed had increased by quite a bit¡ªnot to the level that he was on Prometheus, but he could still move above the speed of sound, and that was good enough for him.


    Another thing he realized was that the Astral Leap Lotive didn''t appear to have any limit to the size of its interior.


    There were innumerable people scattered throughout the train; however, a lot of them almost appeared like they were slipping in and out of reality, as they were there one second and gone the next!


    "Are you curious about what''s happening to everyone you see walking around this endlessly stretching train?"


    The inquisitive and perceptive voice of the misty-eyed girl resounded as she nced behind her shoulders for a second. However, she quickly turned her head away and resumed her advance through the countless cabs, seemingly trying to reach a certain part of the train


    Azmodeus gazed down at the small kid''s back¡ªa back that contained a shadow with more tragedies inside than he could ever hope to understand.


    But regardless of what he glimpsed from something esoteric like a shadow, he responded, "I was wondering that, yes."


    After hearing his response, the girl passed through a specific corridor before stuffing her face with some unknown desserts on a silver tter to her side. And with a mouthful, she said, "...Well, the reason that the people around us are constantly appearing and vanishing is because, just like the Train Station, the Astral Leap Lotive is filled to the brim with-"


    "Stacking dimensions and realities¡­" Azmodeus finished her sentence as he watched all the ghost-like people phase through his body, almost as if they didn''t exist¡­


    "So, you''re not as obtuse as you look." The young girl started to speak with a snarky tone, filling her face with even more treats while standing inside a room that should serve as some form of buffet for the Astral Leap participants.


    Azmodeus ignored herment, as he understood the gist of the infinitely stretching realities and dimensions stacked on top of each other, assuming they''d be amon urrence from now on.


    After figuring out most of the things that puzzled him, there was still one more oddity that irked him, and that was¡­-


    "You''re probably going to ask me why everyone is dressed up like people with sticks shoved up their butts, aren''t you? If so, then I will save your breath and tell you that everyone is like this because, after spending so much time inside the Astral Leap Lotive, you start to limate to the general atmosphere.


    And with such limation, you begin to have your clothes transform into whatever the designs of the Astral Leap judges want them to be."


    The rather intelligent girl got out a plethora of words in quick session before grabbing dozens of soft and squishy chocte desserts, stuffing half of them into her mouth before putting the other half into her dress pockets.


    "..." Azmodeus didn''t really understand why such a thing would happen to those who entered the Astral Leap Lotive, but he still decided to ask-


    "Don''t worry, this transformation of your clothes will not be permanent, and to be honest, I think you would look quite good in a ssic suit." The girl once again interrupted his thoughts, as she always seemed to know what he would ask beforehand.


    And at this point, it was beyond mere coincidences or a naturally perceptive nature, as he decided to get to the bottom of this unsualness and straight up asked:


    "How are you able to do that?"


    "You mean, how am I able to know what you''re going to say before you say it?"


    "Yes¡­"


    "Well, it has to do with my family¡­"


    The young girl stopped munching for a second as her eyes seemed to have a number ofplex emotions pass through them.


    But before she could enter a deep morass of depression, she lightly shook her head and continued snacking away at a buffet that literally had no end to it.


    Azmodeus noticed the familiar gleam shine through her misty eyes as he muttered, "Family¡­ That is aplicated topic¡­"


    "Youzz haves any yourselfss??" The kid inquired with her cheeks stuffed to their utmost limits.


    "...Family¡­I have many things, but family is not one of them."


    Azmodeus''s voice trailed off a little bit, as it had been hundreds of years since hest thought about the man and woman who abandoned him.


    The girl felt a kindred spirit within the absurdly handsome man as she extended a hand and said, "Here."


    "And what is this for¡­?" Azmodeus asked with a raised brow as he looked at the chocte ball in the kid''s clutches.


    "...You eat it¡­" The kid responded while forcefully putting the treat in his firm grasp.


    Following this action, she got back to her all-you-could-eat buffet, seemingly eating without a care in the world...


    "..."


    The Crimson Devil Lord nkly stared at the chocte dessert in the shape of a heart as he put it up to his mouth and took a bite out of it.


    There was nothing special about the dessert itself, as although there was a bit of Qi incorporated inside, it was just a tasty snack.


    After taking a few chunks out of the dessert and ultimately finishing it in one bite, he decided to ask the question that he should''ve already known the answer to by this point in time:


    "So, what''s your name?"


    The young girl stared at him with her cheeks still stuffed as she swallowed before responding, "My name is Pan Nu."


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 138: Reaching The Castle Of Astral Benevolence

    ...¡­.


    "Pan Nu, huh¡­?"


    "I know it''s a weird name, but that is just what the people who birthed me decided to name me... How about yours?"


    "My what?" Azmodeus inquired.


    "...Your name¡­ You have one, don''t you?"


    Pan Nu was really starting to believe that this man was a big, pretty idiot.


    Azmodeus realized that he was being judged, but he still decided to respond, "My name is also an unusual one and far more out-of-ce than yours."


    "Oh yeah? What is it?"


    Pan Nu was bing increasingly curious about what he was talking about, as she even took the time to stop munching.


    Azmodeus observed the expectant look in her gaze as he responded, "My name is Azmodeus¡ªAzmodeus the Crimson Devil Lord."


    "That really is an odd name, but I kind of like it."


    After getting out those words with a small smile on her cute face, she once again got back to munching away at all the desserts on the endless buffet line.


    Azmodeus watched the girl eat everything in sight with a satisfied look on her face as he lightly shook his head before taking a seat at a nearby window sill.


    He wasted no time and went right to circting his Elusive Ascension Technique, immediately noticing that the Qi inside of the Astral Leap Lotive was countless times higher than what he possessed inside his Heaven Exploding Cave Abode, even with all the Formation Rune Array''s in the mix.


    With this level of Qi absorption, I should be able to break through to the Lunar Ascendancy Realm the moment we reach the Starry Expanse¡­


    Furthermore, my foundation will be beyond impable, with no room for ws.


    A slightly content look emerged on his face for a moment before returning toplete neutrality.


    After which, he continued circting his technique while watching the various universes and cosmic constructs pass him by at speeds surpassing the definition of speed.


    ...


    Time passed like a raging tsunami as the tides swept anyone around into its evesting current.


    Two weeks forever disappeared from the calendar.


    During this past half a month, Azmodeus had managed to perfect his cultivation foundation, and he wasn''t the only one, as Nao Long, Yang Hua, and the rest of the girls were able to absorb the outside Starry Qi and progress their cultivation by tremendous degrees!


    Nao Long and Yang Hua had sessfully broken through to the Early Mahayana Realm, while You Mei, Li Na, and the more industrious Rou Tian made it into theter stages of the Early Mahayana Realm, only a few months away from breathing through to the Middle Mahayana Realm!


    On the other hand, Bing Nu Shen made quite a lot of progress into the 1st Stage of Lunar Ascendancy, making her quite the talented genius. And that was still the case when one included the fact that her talent had just broken through the Comet Rank after leaving Prometheus.


    And then there was Jue Mei, a mysterious alien cat that had appeared in the Crimson Devil Lord''s life from what a group of vigers called ''A rock that fell from the heaven''s''.


    There was still not much known about this cat, but her undeniable ability to defy talent gaps was definitely a gift, as she had already achieved the Half-Step Lunar Ascendancy Realm in such a short amount of time, putting her neck and neck with the monstrous genius himself!


    However, that was only the case in base cultivation, as Azmodeus knew for a fact that he had far more power augmenters than the alien cat, who likely cared not the slightest bit about herbat strength.


    Furthermore, he had all his professions to focus on, and that wasn''t to mention all the Formations, Runes, and Array''s that he was constantly researching outside of progressing in the professions themselves.


    All in all, the Unparalleled Crimson Devil Lord still lived up to his title, and even if the cat was some mysterious creature from space, there would be no impeding his advance as the Indefatigable Aberration!


    However, all of this was merely the cultivation andbat power-mark improvements of the residents of the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode,pletely excluding what was happening on the Astral Leap Lotive¡ªa train that rapidly neared its destination in the vast void of space.


    -


    "Do you know how much longer it''ll be until we get there, Pan Nu?"


    A deep and raspy voice resounded inside a luxurious cab of the Astral Leap Lotive as Azmodeus looked toward a young girl who held a highly intelligent intent within her misty eyes.


    Pan Nu turned her apathetic gaze toward the overly handsome man before replying, "We should be there right around-"


    CREAK!


    "Now."


    She finished her words at the same time that the train took an abrupt halt, leaving one side of the windows still at the Train Station, while the other half found itself in an area filled with a wide assortment of luminous mushrooms, all of which lit up the gray and ck sky like a ce from Pandora!


    Azmodeus was a little taken aback by the scenery on the right side of the train as he instantly moved through infinite stretches of space and yet but a mere few feet, all in order to get a better look at whaty outside.


    There''s no ground in this world¡­ Just a ss screen of sorts¡­ And of course, this ss screen extends out farther than the eye can see.


    However, this infiniteyer of space seems a little different than most, as there are clouds and stars below this sheet of ss.


    Furthermore, there are what appear to be cultivators flying around inside the ground, and their cultivations: unknown¡­


    He looked up from the ground floor and saw nothing except some form of floating blue castle that had its existence fluctuate in and out of reality, along with an untold number of luminously glowing green, yellow, and purple mushrooms, all of which were made of Laws and materials far beyond what a Low-Mortal World could produce.


    "So, this is the ce that I''ve heard so much about¡­"


    "Yeah, the castle of Astral Benevolence, along with the Starry Shrooms¡­ I''ve heard that absorbing a tenth of the essence of one of those things would allow the cultivator to progress straight through the ranks of the Starry Expanse, directly achieving the Moonlit Path Realm!"


    "The Moonlit Path Realm!? Really!? To skip the Lunar Ascendancy, Comet''s Passage, and Meteor Shower Realm is insane!"


    "I know what you mean, but that is just the level of power contained within the Starry Shrooms that the Ten Principality Rulers of the Astral Benevolence Castle use as mere snacks!"


    "How do you know so much, senior brother!?"


    "Well, Ie from the Azure Downfall World, so it''s obvious that I would possess a lot more information about the Astral Leap Trial than what you all are privy to!"


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 139: The Ten Astral Principality Princes, A Contract

    ...¡­.


    "..."


    Azmodeus listened in on the conversations that all the other passengers were having, as he was able to understand the gist of the ce they found themselves in.


    Starry Shrooms, eh¡­? I wonder what would happen if I ''borrowed'' one or two of them?


    Maybe I should ''borrow'' more than that¡­


    He was having some extremely precarious thoughts as he stared at all the condensed Starry Qi Shrooms with a hint of avarice in his piercing gaze.


    "I wouldn''t rmend it." Pan Nu interrupted his thoughts while taking bites out of a chocte covered apple cinnamon strudel.


    "...You always do that¡­" Azmodeus muttered with a twitching smile as he turned his head in the direction of the girl sitting atop his shoulders, asionally dripping chocte on his once clean robes.


    "Well, when you''re so easy to read, it bes hard not to point out all the dumb things you think about doing," Pan Nu remarked whileying her cheeks against the top of his soft, crimson-colored hair, still chewing on chocte.


    Azmodeus let out a soft sigh at the shenanigans of that troublesome girl as he put stealing all the Starry Shrooms to the back of his mind, leaving it up to his future self in order to solve.


    Err, I meant to think ''borrow'', not steal¡­ I''m not a criminal¡­


    He tried to convince himself that he wasn''t a convict in the making, even though he had Septillions of lives to his name, making him a certified psychopathic serial killer!


    At least, that would be the case if he were on Earth, but in the Infinite World of Cultivation, life was worth less than dirt¡­


    -


    "Everybody may leave the Astral Leap Lotive, but please remember to be cordial and respectful upon meeting the Ten Astral Principality Princes."


    The voice of the Astral Leap Lotive''s driver seemed to resonate throughout countless stacking dimensions as all the participants for the Astral Leap made their way to a glowing sign that hung over a door¡ªa sign that said:


    ''This is an Exit. If you''re not an idiot, then leave the train before the tether effect of the Astral Train Station pulls the train through the Endless Void at a speed that your feeble bodies would be unable to withstand.''.


    Of course, most of the text was in fine print, but that didn''t change the fact that there was clearly an enormous amount of danger that came along with staying inside the train for too long.


    And as much as Azmodeus wanted to figure out what benefits he could acquire from this tether pull, he wasn''t an idiot, so he made his way to the exit and took his first step into the world where the Astral Leap would be held.


    It was a wonderful feeling, marking the first true step on his journey outside of Prometheus, holding an unknown number of opportunities-


    "Where''d you put that chocte bar I lent to you?" Pan Nu questioned from atop his head, interrupting his thoughts.


    "...I ate it¡­"


    "Why¡­?"


    "You gave it to me¡­ to eat¡­"


    "I was letting you hold onto it for me, not asking you to eat it."


    "..."


    "..."


    The silence was deafening...


    "Anyhow, let''s go see what these Astral Principality Princes are all about." Azmodeus broke the silence with a dry voice as he continued walking over the clouded, ss-like world.


    After a few minutes of taking rtively slow steps across the ss world, Azmodeus, along with the rest of the Astral Leap participants, had their old English-style clothes transformed back into what they were wearing prior to breaking the world barrier.


    FWIP! FWIP!


    Following this subtle reverting session, a few illusory figures sitting upon ostentatious purple and ck thrones materialized in the air above the Astral Benevolence Castle.


    "We are the Astral Principality Prince''s, and we appeared in front of you for only one reason: not because we care about your lives, but because we need yourpliance in order to use your essences after death."


    The leading seated figure''s voice boomed out, interrupting the walks of everyone below the ethereal castle that stretched on indefinitely.


    BZZZT! BZZZT!


    The castle violently buzzed as a few energy tendrils were unleashed from its confines, subsequently causing an immeasurable number of scrolls to shoot in the direction of all the ovepping dimensions,nding in the hands of all the participants.


    "To ensure that your deaths will not be in vain, the signing of these contracts will allow everyone here to have purpose in their lives even after death, and all you need to do is¡­ sign¡­"


    A voice like that of an Archaic Devil slithered into the ears of all the people gathered within ovepping realities.


    "..." "..." "..."


    Many of them instantly signed the contract, as they were all figureheads of their respective worlds before breaking the world barriers¡ªthe strongest of the strong.


    And it was because of their achievements that many of them overlooked the contract signing, summing it up as nothing more than cordiality.


    However, for the few cautious or smart ones, they read over the glowing contracts in front of their faces, scrutinizing the fire-red words embedded in the paper.


    The Principality Princes knew what these participants were doing, but in the end, it made no difference if they looked over the contents of the contracts or not, for in the end, everyone would eventually sign.


    Never in their wildest imagination would they have imagined there to be a man who not only read the contents of the contract but also had an extremely unique system that was capable of warning the host of any potential harmful substances or devices.


    And just as Azmodeus predicted, a few bright lights shed in front of his face.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *Warning! It is highly advised that the host not agree to the contents of this contract!*


    ''Then, what do you suggest I do in this predicament¡­?'' Azmodeus asked from within his subconscious.


    It wasn''t like he could simply fight the Astral Principality Prince''s to the death, as even if all his stored Evolution Essence was used up, the probability of surpassing those ancient monsters in strength was¡­ nil¡­


    But luckily for him, the system had a solution in mind.


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 140: Entering The Astral Plane

    ...¡­.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *Given the dire circumstances, it is rmended that the host use up his Evolution Essence in order to upgrade the ''Cloak'' Trait to A-Rank, upon which the host will acquire the ability to cloak parts of your existence, such as the hypothetical scenario where you don''t sign a harmful contract.*


    Azmodeus roughly understood what the system was saying, and after a moment of contemtion, he said, "Do it."


    *Ding!* *You have used up 100 Tredecillion Evolution Essence in order to rank up your Cloak Trait to A-Rank, allowing you to escape the eyes of any experts below the Forger Realm!*


    *Ding!* *Along with the Chameleon Lepron Comet-Rank Physique, you are now able to hide various aspects of yourself from even those who just broke through to the Forger Realm!*


    Following all of the system notifications, Azmodeus checked up on the calm andposed Pan Nu before discreetly burning the contract.


    After which, he acted like nothing had happened. However, when he recalled the fact that the girl on his shoulders didn''t have the same Cloaking Ability, his expression morphed a little as he asked, "Do you mind if-"


    But before he could finish his question, a faint light was emitted from Pan Nu''s small body, causing the contract in front of her face to wither and fade away.


    "???"


    She noticed the confusion present in the horsie''s crimson-colored eyes as she softly whispered, "Family stuff¡­"


    "...Family stuff, huh¡­?"


    Azmodeus wasn''t even surprised anymore, as he let out a sigh before refocusing his attention on the ten illusory figures in the sky.


    He was waiting for something to change within the shadowy expression of the Principality Prince''s, and he wasn''t forced to wait long as the leading Prince made an announcement:


    "All of you have signed the benign contract; that is good. Now, if everyone will please move over here and pass through this door, we can get these Astral Leaps started."


    Following the Prince''s antediluvian voice, a sudden pull was felt by all the participants, clearly not giving anyone the option to back out.


    "!!!" Azmodeus was not an exception to this abrupt pull, as he looked toward the misty-eyed girl being whisked away with a face that said this was normal procedure.


    In fact, she was so rxed about the situation that she even took out a cinnabon and started munching on it.


    It was only after she got in a few good bites that she shouted, "I will see you on the other side! Be sure toe find me as soon as you reach the Astral ne! I will bending¡­ around 50 miles to the west of where you will spawn!"


    Following these words, her body vanished into an iridescent door that seemed more like a ck hole than a door as it sucked in countless trillions of participants.


    The Crimson Devil Lord was one of those to be sucked in, as thest thing he heard was ''50 miles to the West''.


    He naturally assumed that it was the usual voodoo that she was capable of predicting, as he kept her words in mind before letting his consciousness fade to ck¡­


    And when he reopened them once more, he found himself in free-fall within an airspace that looked nothing like the vibrant, luminescent world he just came from.


    "I know there''s no point asking this at this point in time, but where am I¡­?"


    Azmodeus''s puzzled voice traveled through the blue skies that enveloped him from all sides, reaching the ears of birds and insects alike as he plummeted toward the wide green and blue scenery below, seemingly on a direct collision course for a mountain!


    Usually, such a fall from a few tens of thousands of miles in the air would be no biggie for him; however, there was something different about this situation¡­


    My speed and strength¡­ It looks like they''re back to around the approximate power of someone in the Core Formation Realm, and with this height at such a speed¡­


    He was looking at an extremely low chance of survival, but there was one thing that should be able to pull him through this hurdle, which was the fact that his regenerative speed had not diminished in the slightest!


    And with how absurdly high his regeneration was with all the various boosters applied, there was roughly a 50% chance that he could make it out of this fall in one piece.


    "I''m willing to take those odds¡­"


    The voice of a man traveling downwards like a cannonball echoed throughout the vast blue skies of the Astral ne as he was mere meters away from touching base with a mountain!


    And the moment he made contact with said mountain happened in an instant!


    BOOOOOOM!!


    A loud explosion reverberated, violently shaking the entire topography for hundreds of miles!


    And at the center of a crater, there was a mangled bag of meat squirming around, causing the surrounding dust and sut to disperse.


    The sight of this lump of meat wiggling and making unusual noises was one that would make anyone watching it feel uneasy.


    But in the case of the burnt meat lump himself, he was d that his bet ended up going in his favor, as it didn''t take long before a pair of legs, a torso, and arms were formed from the blood and internal organs scattered across the crater''s epicenter.


    After a few seconds of further healing, a man of unparalleled beauty was standing upright at over 6 feet tall, his looks beyond human and his demeanor that of a reclusive sword immortal who knew nothing other than the evesting pursuit of cultivation.


    "That was quite a painful experience¡­ But in the end, everything worked out," Azmodeus muttered to himself while scanning his surroundings, attempting to discern where he was.


    Although his divine sense appeared to be severely limited, his vision hadn''t decreased by much, so he used the old-fashioned way of seeing and saw¡­


    Some forestry¡­ A few bushes and some odd animals with weird color schemes and appendages¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 141: Meeting Up With Pan Nu, Pumpkin Wolfy

    ...¡­


    To bepletely candid, Azmodeus didn''t see much of anything that could help him in understanding what sort of location he was transported to, as the trees were slightlyrger than normal trees, being a few dozen meters in height, with some of them yellow and blue in color instead of brown and green.


    There were also a few cultivationless animals jumping from tree to tree or roaming on the grassy ins and fields below, but other than that and the peculiar screeches they asionally produced, there wasn''t much to the surrounding area.


    "The animals seem more curious than harmful, and the forest itself doesn''t appear to be some form of hive mind or gaping monster''s mouth¡­ So, is this ce really as simple as it looks¡­?"


    Azmodeus doubted that was the case, as there was no way the Astral Leap was as basic as this, so he surmised that the true Astral Leap Trial was either in a different location or it had to do with the world itself.


    Maybe it''s simr to a test of endurance? Testing how long the participants could survive in a hostile environment¡­?


    That thought lingered inside his mind for a moment before disappearing as soon as it came. After all, there was essentially nothing hostile about anything in the area where hended, excluding the fall itself, of course.


    So in the end, his train of thought was back at square one as he continued brooding over the subject with his uninhibited perception speed.


    Wait¡­


    Noticing that he could think extremely fast got him on the topic of reduced attributes, and from that string of thoughts, a certain something formed inside his subconscious.


    Does this world and the subsequent Astral Leap Trial have something to do with increasing attributes¡­?


    And if so, what exactly dictates this attribute increasing prerequisite?


    He pondered the subject for a few moments before eventually reaching the conclusion that it had something to do with his body.


    And his reasoning for this hypothesis was because there was something constantly affecting his body, almost as if it were trying to open something up and put something else inside a metaphorical ''hole''.


    What is it?? My body, yes. But how so??


    Is it trying to improve my physical strength¡­? Yes, but not exactly¡­


    My physique is also an option, but it''s not that either¡­


    No matter in which way Azmodeus thought about it, nothing concrete came to mind. And after more than half a minute of dted perception rtion, he ultimately gave up on brooding over his queries altogether.


    "There''s no point in wasting brain power on something that seems to be out of my reach for now, so instead of meandering around inside of my mind for eternity, I should instead put my efforts into something more productive¡ªsomething like going to meet up with that girl."


    He didn''t know what made him think about that sardonic kid, but after thinking about her taking the same fall that he did, something seemed to be veering his mind in her direction.


    I''m not sure how any of the participants would be capable of surviving such an immense fall, but I will figure it out soon enough¡­


    Following this thought, he moved the legs that just had their bones and ligaments regenerated, heading toward the east.


    ...


    After a few minutes of traveling through a vast forest at a moderate pace, Azmodeus found himself in front of a girl with long ck hair and whitish/gray eyes riding on top of a spiky-haired wolf that looked like it came straight out of Ragnarok.


    "What are you doing on top of that beast¡­?" Azmodeus inquired with a quizzical tone.


    "GRrrrr¡­!"


    The wolf didn''t appear to like the term that it was called, as its long ck fur stood on end, resulting in a few sparks of purple electricity crackling around its six-meter-long body.


    "Her name isn''t ''beast''; it''s pumpkin wolfy."


    Pan Nu''s voice sounded out from atop the giant wolf as she petted itsrge head before slowly crawling off the side of its body.


    Azmodeus watched her struggle with clear caution in her movements as he walked over to where she was climbing and picked her up by her sides before putting her on the ground-


    "No. Up." She interrupted his action with her feet refusing to touch the grass beneath her.


    Why am I not even surprised¡­


    Azmodeus sighed a little before putting her on top of his shoulders, and the first thing she did upon reaching her spot was take out a metallic box with unusual stickers on the side of it.


    And inside that box, there was nothing but a wide assortment of... treats¡­


    It was at the moment he felt chocte drip into his crimson-colored hair that Azmodeus felt a little empathetic for the wolf that had to deal with her antics before he got here.


    "You''ve been through some things, huh¡­?" He inquired while gently caressing therge wolf''s snout.


    "Arrawrgh¡­" ''Did you hear what she named me after kidnapping me with her weird eye powers!?''


    The wolf seemed to be going through quite the mid-life crisis, as Azmodeus could swear that he saw tears build up inside its watermelon-sized eyes.


    Nevertheless, he gave her a few more pets, easily making friends with a terrifying wolf before he had ''Pumpkin Wolfy'' follow behind him, continuing to venture deeper into the woods, trying to figure out what part of his body this world was trying to augment.


    And while this was happening, he decided to ask Pan Nu a few questions that he was curious about:


    "How were you able to survive the fall with your strength reduced to such a degree? And how is it that you were able to tame a beast that possesses physical strength well into the Core Formation Realm??"


    The young, misty-eyed girl momentarily looked down from her vantage point as she replied, "For your second question, I have a special set of eyes-"


    "Family again?" Azmodeus interjected.


    "Yes¡­ And as for your first question, I honestly have no clue what you''re talking about¡­"


    "You didn''t fall from a few thousand miles in the sky?"


    "No¡­ Did you?"


    "..."


    Azmodeus smelled something afoot, but he decided it wasn''t worth delving into at this moment in time, especially when considering the ''visitor'' rapidly approaching their location¡­


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 142: Physical Existence Cultivation System

    ...¡­.


    BAM! BAM! BAM!


    The sound of trees hitting the ground with tremendous force reverberated in the surroundings as a creature made its way through the forest, knocking down everything in its path!


    And it didn''t take very long before the appearance of the massive creature was in full view, as all eight of its legs and hundreds of eyes had the bright sun''s rays shine down on them.


    "Scaceetch¡­!!!"


    The beast made the most soul-wrenching sound it possibly could as it towered over the tiny figures with a primal glint in its numerous pitch-ck eyes.


    "Is that a friend of yours¡­?" Azmodeus asked the wolf who was cowering in fear behind him.


    "!!!" The wolf vehemently shook her head before backing away from the enormous arachnid, finding her way behind the fallen immortal-like man, attempting to hide its giant body from sight.


    Azmodeus nkly stared at the scaredy-cat wolf as an exasperated sigh escaped his mouth before he turned his piercing gaze in the direction of the mindless, primitive spider drooling over them.


    "It''s too bad you''re so weak, for if you were stronger, I might''ve been able to gain more strength from killing you¡­"


    Following the uttering of his apathetic voice, Azmodeus put one hand on Pan Nu to keep her still before pushing his body back and sliding his right foot across the dirt.


    SHING!


    He put his other hand on his sword handle, taking it slightly out of its sheath.


    SHING!


    The sword went back into its sheath just as fast. "Iaijutsu Unleashment Form: Raging Dragon."


    After he muttered these words, a countless number of thin sword strings shot out from his stalwart figure, reaching the colossal ck spider in an instant!


    "Eskkeeech¡­-!!!"


    It wasn''t even given the time to finish its screech before every single one of its eyes split apart at the center, resulting in putrid-smelling green blood gushing out of its terrifying face!


    *Spurt!*


    The green blood fountains continued spreading from the spider''s face to its abdomen and lower back before making it to its eight tree-size legs, turning its entire body into a diced-up onion!


    BANG!


    Its enormous body crashed into the grassy fields with a loud bang as life faded from its beady eyes.


    After which, a few interesting system notifications popped up in front of Azmodeus''s vision.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed a Low-Bronze Rank Monster from the twoyered infinity ne called the Astral ne.*


    *Ding!* *A new tab has been opened in the system in order to amodate the new power leveling system that you have discovered!*


    *Ding!* *''Cultivation V.2'' Tab has been opened up and is avable for you to use whenever you so wish to.*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 500 points in the Physical Existence Refinement aspect after killing a Low-Bronze Rank Monster of the Astral ne!*


    *Ding!* *Your Physical Existence Rank has been ranked up from ''No Rank'' to ''Peak-Copper Rank'', effectively passing most of the Copper Rank in one go!*


    *Ding!* *A multiplier has been applied to your totalbat power and will show its effects from this point onwards!*


    *Ding!* *Your Physical Existence baseline multiplier has increased from ''0x'' to ''2.5x''.*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has slightly improved!*


    *Ding!* *Due to the specialws, time dtions, and limited lifeform constructs, you are unable to obtain what you usually do from killing orgasmisms in this ce. For as long as you are here, your aspect improvements will be strictly limited to the ''Physical Existence Refinement'' Aspect.*


    *Ding!* *Reminder! All Life Treasures inside your body and outside will have varying time dtions. ¡ú Current Rate ¡ú 1000:1 ¡ú 1000 seconds in the Astral ne will equal 1 second inside Life Treasures like the ''Fallen Immortal''s Mountain''.*


    *Ding!* *This ratio can be altered, but to do that, you must progress in your Physical Existence Refinement Aspect.*


    *Ding!* *Don''t take out any living organisms inside your Life Treasures unless you''re absolutely positive that they can avoid the sight of the beings called the ''Ten Astral Principality Princes''. Furthermore, you must be aware of the fact that you are being watched at all times¡­*


    *Ding!* *Due to the Ten Peak-Moonlit Path Realm Experts focused on your existence due to the killing of that arachnid, it is rmended that the hosty low for a few days before continuing to hunt monsters. (Only do so after you have changed your Stealth-type Traits and Physique''s to amodate your needs.).*


    Following the ringing out of all the system notifications, Azmodeus perused everything while feeling his power take a small jump.


    So this world has been trying to alter an aspect of my existence called ''Physical Existence Refinement''...


    Everything makes a lot more sense now¡­


    But I still wonder how it is that everyone else is expected to improve their Physical Existences without the help of a system like the Infinite Evolution System?


    There must be something I''m overlooking, but I don''t quite know what that something is¡­


    As Azmodeus pondered the peculiarities of the Astral Trial, an unusual phenomenon urred within the corpse of the spider monster.


    WZSHHH!


    The corpse withered at a visible pace as all of its ashes shot in the direction of the crimson-haired man, transforming into a form of essence at a rate that couldn''t be discerned by their target!


    "!!!" Azmodeus realized it far toote, and before he was given the time to react, the essence had already hit him in the chest, resulting in a st of golden light exploding from where it hit!


    WAAA!


    His energy spiked upwards for a moment before ultimately calming down as he regained control of his power.


    But that was when he noticed something extremely unusual¡­


    "Mybat strength¡­ It''s slightly improved due to the¡­ improvement of my Physical Existence Refinement??"


    It was after these words echoed out in bewilderment that he suddenly realized something!


    The Astral Trial¡­ It''s one where the participants are meant to kill other organisms, just like I do with the Infinite Evolution System¡­


    However, instead of giving out Evolution Essence or Racial Traits, this trial takes away the essence of the beings killed before giving that same essence to the one who did the killing¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 143: Max Lvl Newbie!

    ...¡­


    This Astral Trial is meant to be one in which the participants are supposed to fight increasingly powerful monsters while starting from the very beginning of the powertrain, namely, with the strength of mere mortals...


    Azmodeus remembered how much Pan Nu struggled to dismount the wolf, attributing it to her strength being constrained to the Mortal Realm by the Astral ne''s Laws.


    Which was all to say that the rest of the participants were likely no different when it came to their power reductions.


    And then there was Azmodeus, the Unparalleled Crimson Devil Lord¡­


    It looks like I''m likely the only one among all those taking the Astral Leap who started off above the Mortal Realm.


    This thought of his was indeed correct, as not a single other participant possessed the necessarybat power to ascend past the Mortal Realm after the power reduction.


    After all, no one else had millions of Physique''s, one singr overpowered Physique, or the number of evolved Starry Laws that he had.


    All of this was going towards the point that¡­


    "I''m too OP¡­"


    Azmodeus was beginning to realize that the level of cheat he was had already surpassed anything that the Astral Principality Princes could''ve predicted!


    In the gaming terms that he learned from Earthlings, he had be a Max-level character in the Newbie Area, likely making that giant Arachnid one of the MiniBosses!


    It''s no wonder that the Infinite Evolution System told me to keep my head down for the next few days¡­


    Before I get back to hunting, I''m going to need to alter my Cloak Traits in order to conceal everything around my approximate location, including what I''m about to do with various monsters.


    If I put a few Comet Rank Formation Rune Array''s into the mix while taking advantage of a couple spirit foods and spirit beasts with A.O.E. stealth abilities, then I should be able to conceal everything from the eyes of the all-powerful Astral Principality Princes.


    After figuring out what he had to do, Azmodeus decided to get to work right away, as he took out a few Lunar Ascendancy Realm Beasts that he kept within an isted dimension on Fallen Immortal Mountain.


    He made sure to only take out the ones who could assist with the current objective, while leaving the rest to y around inside the Wondend-like world that he set up in a sub-dimension.


    Following this action, he went to a wide and expansive metal kitchen with a different Primordial Essence Clone, taking out various ingredients before summoning a few million Mirror Mirage''s, all of whom turned into master chefs as they started cooking up a wide assortment of Comet-Rank dishes rted to camouge, power increasing, or stealth.


    It was only after getting all of this out of the way that Azmodeus moved a couple dozen of his Primordial Essnece Clones into the Formation Rune Array Concoction and Creation Room.


    This was where he had millions of his Mirror Mirage''s get to work on improving his proficiency over the various professions, along with ving away at making various objects of immense value!


    Of course, to minimize material consumption rates, only the best of the products were allowed to be kept inside the ''Boundless Treasure Room'', a separate pocket dimension that incorporated the unique aspects of Storage Rings in order to make a room that quite literally stretched out in every direction for infinity.


    This was where all the valuable treasures, such as Formations, Rune''s, Array''s, Spirit Foods, a few peculiar beasts, and powerful weapons were kept, all of which were of the Comet Rank equivalent, with some even nearing the Meteor Rank!


    There was also a treasure room like this one, but for materials instead, as it was called the ''Endless Storage Room''


    All in all, that was basically everything that had been added to the interior of Fallen Immortal Mountain over thest few years.


    On a side note, although the ''Fair ve'' work of the Mirror Mirage''s might seem a little cruel as it was just recently implemented with the rank-up of the Mirror Mirage''s to A-Rank, not a single one of them wasining.


    After all, every single Mirror Mirage and Primordial Essence Clone was based on the memory connection with Azmodeus''s main body, essentially making it so that Azmodeus felt all their boredom as well.


    Except he didn''t feel just one person''s boredom, but the boredom of millions of identical copies of himself¡­


    It came as a great surprise that he hadn''t already gone insane by now, but that just went to show the level of grit that he, along with all his clones, possessed!


    There was absolutely nothing that could get in his way of reaching for more power¡ªnothing!


    ...


    Time passed like a fleeting shadow, quickly and silently slipping away, as two months forever disappeared from the timeline of the Astral ne, while less than a few hours had gone by for the residents of Fallen Immortal Mountain.


    "Do you want to head over to that quaint little vige in the distance, Pan Nu?"


    Azmodeus''s voice resounded from atop a giant wolf as he rode Pumpkin Wolfy while traveling across vast grassy ins at speeds surpassing Mach 1.


    And while he was exploring the surrounding environment with Pumpkin Wolfy, he also made sure to farm all the Spiritual Beasts in the nearby areas, as no matter if they were in the Copper Rank or the Silver Rank, it only took a single finger in order to cut them down like pesky weeds.


    In fact, as he was speaking, a monster in the Silver Realm started to awaken in the form of arge mountain in the distance.


    However, before it even got the chance to open up its terrifying eyes, a far more terrifying ball of energy trailed toward its forehead!


    BZZZNGG!


    *Spurt!*


    The energy beam prated the head of the beast in less than an instant, as Azmodeus received a few system notifications.


    While this was happening, he listened to Pan Nu tell him that she would like to go to the vige for more ''Diverse Treats''.


    However, as the silly girl ranted about all the things she wanted to eat, a number of bright lights shed in front of his face.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 144: Copper Physical Existence Rank, A Village...

    ...¡­.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed a monster of the Low-Silver Rank!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 15,000 points in the Physical Existence Refinement Aspect!*


    *Ding!* *Your Physical Existence has ranked up!*


    *Ding!* *Your Physical Existence has achieved the Mid-Silver Rank, allowing you to end the Astral Trial whenever you so wish. However, it is highly rmended that the host not do such a rash thing, as it typically takes thousands of years for one to reach the Mid-Silver Rank. (High chance of alerting the Ten Astral Principality Princes.)*


    *The long span of time it takes to achieve the Mid-Silver Rank is due to many reasons, such as an Astral ne fatality rate above 99.999%. But the main cause for such slow progression is because the way in which the essence is extracted from beings is extremely primitive, and thus, the amount of a being''s existence that Astral Leap participants receive in return for each kill is abysmally low¡­*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power has tremendously improved!*


    *Ding!* *Your baseline multiplicative rate has been increased to ''x15'', allowing your overallbat power to continue constantly improving!*


    Following all of the system notifications ringing out, Azmodeus felt a small rush of power wash over him, as the strength coursing through his veins was slowly but surely causing many qualitative changes within his body, particrly in his skin.


    When he first arrived in the Astral ne, his skin was a tan/whitish color, but after he reached the Copper Rank, a slight copper fment wasyered over the top of his skin.


    Furthermore, after achieving the Bronze Rank, that copper color transformed into a more copperish shade, and the same thing happened for the Silver Rank.


    It was due to all these augmentations that not only had his appearance drastically improved, but his physical prowess had taken leap after leap as well!


    With the level of physical power contained within his skin and muscles, Azmodeus wouldn''t doubt it if he could take on a Nascent Soul Expert while expending minimal effort!


    That was just the degree to which his overallbat power had been augmented, not only due to the steadily increasing multiplicative boosts but also because of the subtle yet effective improvements from his skin and muscles being refined over and over again-


    "How bout we go over there and see what sort of treats they have in that shop¡­?"


    Pan Nu interrupted his thoughts, and although she asked a question, she had already started pulling the him around by a few strands of red hair that she used as reigns.


    "..."


    Azmodeus let out an exasperated sigh before allowing the troublesome girl to steer him into the vige gates, quickly passing by all the vigers who were looking at them like they were some sort of circus freaks.


    Considering the extraordinary looks of both of them, it was honestly no surprise that they''d attract quite a lot of attention when entering a small vige in the middle of nowhere.


    Azmodeus didn''t really mind their stares, but when he saw through their existences, he noticed something more than a little interesting.


    All of the vigers have refined their Physical Existences¡­


    That means that the inhabitants of this world are capable of progressing their Physical Existences as well, but for one to improve their Physical Existence Refinement level, they first need to kill other beings¡­


    This was where things became extremely weird, as everyone, no matter if they were young or old, had some part of their Physical Existence refined.


    And although none of them were above the Copper Realm, there were still a select few in more ostentatious clothing that possessed strength at the Peak of the Copper Realm.


    To reach the Peak-Copper Realm in such a peaceful vige¡­ Something unusual is going on here¡­


    As Azmodeus, Pan Nu, and Pumpkin Wolfy made their way through the cobblestoned streets of a vige where the wood and stone buildings sat a few meters apart, something started to change in the attitudes of the vigers. They creepily stared at the neers, their eyes seemingly moving in sync.


    "..." "..." "..."


    The vigers stood in absolute stillness, as contrary to Azmodeus''s predictions, they were not in shock due to their appearances but were instead attempting to conceal the eerie looks that crept up their faces¡­


    The children, the adults, the elderly¡­ As soon as the visitors passed them by, their expressions warped and morphed into something terrifying¡­


    Their teeth became sharp, and the edges of their mouths extended upward at a degree that shouldn''t be possible.


    Furthermore, their smiling faces,bined with their swirling pitch-ck eyes, created an extremely unnerving sight...


    Especially when, for a split second, their tongues rolled out of their mouths as acid-like drool drizzled down onto the ground, burning deep holes where they fell¡­


    "???"


    Azmodeus looked behind him after feeling a disturbance in the air, but upon seeing thepletely normal and mildly stunned expressions on the viger''s faces, he lightly shook his head before continuing his advance through the wide, spacious streets of the peaceful vige they entered.


    "..." "..." "..."


    The moment the neers were no longer paying attention to them, all of the viger''s expressions warped back into the horrifying things that they were just a moment ago.


    "Meat¡­ Delicious meat¡­" One of the vigers had his abyss-like eyes crease upward as he watched the back of the little girl with a malicious glint in his gaze.


    "Meat¡­ Must eat¡­" A different viger iprehensibly mumbled while wing away at his outeryer of skin, trying its best not to go on a feeding frenzy right then and there.


    "Must tell Chief¡­ Meat must be devoured by Chief before sharing¡­"


    "Meat¡­"


    "Meat¡­ Hungry¡­"


    All of the vigers spoke simr phrases as they repeated them while mindlessly walking toward a certain location south of the vige.


    ***


    Meanwhile, in a different part of the vige that sat atop a small grassy mountain, a crimson-eyed man, along with a young girl and wolf, leisurely walked through the borately decorated streets.


    The ce was quite nice, as there were tapestries of various vibrant colors and a number of neat inventions scattered around the shops and buildings, all of which were powered by a simple form of electricity.


    But, regardless of how nice the vige itself appeared, there was something off¡­


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 145: The Deepest Depths Of The Dimsinion Church

    ...¡­.


    "It''s too quiet¡­ And where are all the vigers we saw ying and talking to each other not long ago¡­?"


    Azmodeus scanned his surroundings and saw nothing other than vacant buildings and stores that looked like everyone had moved out overnight.


    "This ce is not normal¡­ There is something ominous lurking inside the core of this Vige¡­"


    For the first time in a while, Pan Nu put on a perceptive expression, setting aside her yearning for treats right now.


    And she wasn''t the only one who suddenly became serious, as Pumpkin Wolfy had her fur stand on end, ring at all the empty shops with a cautious gleam in her eyes.


    "Something is putting Pumpkin Wolfy on edge¡­ But what¡­? What is it that gives me such a bad feeling about this vige¡­?"


    Azmodeus sent out his severely limited divine sense and discovered that all the vigers had seemingly vanished¡­


    And with all of his energy-rted aspects of existence restricted by the Laws of the Astral ne, there was nothing much he could do besides go about investigating the old-fashioned way.


    "It looks like we need to make a little side stop before going to that sweets shop, Pan Nu," he softly murmured while looking at a few sets of tracks on the loose, sandy side paths, all of which led in the same direction.


    "...I can hold off for now¡­ I will try to manage¡­" Pan Nu spoke with a strained voice while taking out snacks that she kept inside her storage ring for emergency situations just like this one.


    Azmodeus listened to the ridiculous words uttered by the silly girl sitting on his shoulders as he ignored her antics and started following the tracks.


    ...


    After a few seconds of trailing behind the dozens of tracks all leading in the same direction, Azmodeus was greeted with the sight of arge, rundown ck church that just screamed ''creepy as hell''.


    But it wasn''t like he feared ghosts or devils, so he walked under the crickety gates that led to the church, as he saw a few crows cacaw from atop the dead trees they were perched upon.


    "This ce is definitely no good¡­" Pan Nu mumbled while gripping her horsie''s head even tighter than before, trying her best not to let fear show in her expression.


    "...Are you okay to keep on going forward¡­?" Azmodeus inquired while stopping at the two dpidated iron doors of the equally austere church.


    Pan Nu gripped his soft crimson hair until her hands got lost in the strands, as she mutely muttered, "I''m not a baby! I can take something as stupid as th-"


    CREACK! WHAM!


    "Ahhh¡­!" She yelped while putting her face against Azmodeus''s head, refusing to look up at the ominous surroundings.


    Azmodeus felt the girl cling to his head like her life depended on it as he stared at the gate that mmed close due to some unknown phenomenon.


    "It looks like you''reing, no matter if you want to back out or not¡­" Hemented while looking at a thin, dark gray energy emanating from the gates and the rest of the church''s periphery.


    Some form of sealing formation¡­? But unlike the usual ones that I could unravel with ease, this one has an odd aspect to it¡­


    That aspect being death and the effect of trapping all of those inside of it...


    Furthermore, the only way to shatter it is to either kill all other living beings within the formation''s limits or find the one who set it up¡­


    And if my spections are urate, then that very formation master lies somewhere within there¡­


    Azmodeus looked into the hollow, dimly lit interior of the church as the various stacked books and melted candles indicated only one direction that the visitors should go.


    And that direction was down¡­


    "To go into the basement of a spooky church¡­ This is the plot of a sher flick¡­"


    Azmodeus''s wry voice echoed out in the unsettling surroundings as he made his way down some creaky wooden steps, leaving Pumpkin Wolfy to hold the fort up above.


    He wanted to leave Pan Nu behind as well, but that girl refused to leave his side, so he reluctantly brought her with him and ventured into unknown territory¡­


    -


    "Meat¡­"


    A raspy and crackly voice echoed from within a shadowy nook as a tall ck figure, with a physique resembling that of a slenderman, looked down at the mindless, freakishly-mouthed monster that made the ''meat'' sound.


    "You wish to feed¡­?" The thin figure inquired with a croaky voice.


    "Hungry¡­ Meat¡­ Human¡­!!!"


    A humanoid creature with its head opened up like a Venus fly trap jumped up from a swampy morass of fog, leaping in the direction of the 8 foot-tall slenderman.


    "Since you are so hungry¡­ Then feed¡­"


    The slenderman didn''t even bother to dodge the advances of the horrific creature as he spread out his paper-thin arms, seemingly inviting the monster in for a bite.


    "Hungry!! Meat!!" The creature shrieked while its mouth opened wide enough to devour the slenderman whole.


    However, before the creature''s razor-sharp teeth touched the decrepit figure in front of it, a slimy ck hand stabbed into the monster''s side, spinning around inside its innards before taking out a beating red heart.


    "Here... eat." The slenderman took the heart and stuffed it in the gaping mouth in front of him.


    POP!


    *Spurt!*


    The moment the heart touched the mouth of the creature, its monstrous body exploded into a big pile of meat chunks, decorating the walls of this dark space a deep crimson red!


    "...It looks like you weren''t hungry enough¡­"


    Following the grating voice of the faceless ck slenderman, he took his long, thin fingers and pointed them at a few more glowing sets of eyes.


    All these eyes popped up from inside the swampy area of the deepest levels of the Dimsinion Church.


    "..." "..." "..."


    Creatures¡ªvery simr to the one that had its heart ripped out¡ªstared at the significantly taller organism as they retreated back into the swamp, disappearing into the murky water that filled most of the basement floor.


    "If all of you are hungry, then go and catch this human and hispanions. I have no need for a human at this moment, so you may do whatever you want¡­ But if you interrupt my experiments again¡­ well, I might just..."


    The atmosphere within the swampy region, centered around a floating mobileb, intensified as the swamp started to violently shake, resulting in tremors spreading out for hundreds of miles beneath the ground.


    "I will not tolerate any more interruptions¡­"


    Following the non-negotiable voice of the ck slenderman, he slid over to a wide assortment of vials and ss objects, getting right to work as he poured and swished around a few vials with mysterious substances within them.


    "..." "..." "..."


    Even though the nightmarish creatures were extremely simple-minded and only thought with their stomachs, they knew when not to test their luck, and when it came to the Chief, he gruesomely murdered on a moment''s notice.


    So, in the end, they swam away from the floatingb and headed for where they smelt fresh human blood, intense avarice visible in their savage gazes.


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 146: Meeting The Black Slenderman Face-to-Face

    ...¡­.


    "This ce is ghastly, but it''s still quite an interesting ce nheless."


    Azmodeus voiced his opinion of the eerie environment as he put one of his hands on the head of the jittery girl. He used his other hand to swipe away all the vines and spiderwebs dangling from the crumbling roof thaty above the dpidated staircase.


    "I don''t like it¡­" Pan Nu muttered with a trembling tone.


    "Yeah, I know, but just bear with it for now. We''re nearing the location of a wide hollow area, which is likely where the one who set down the Formation will be."


    Azmodeus reassured the anxious girl while continuing to make his way through the dreadful staircase that seemed to extend downward forever.


    And after a few minutes more of walking down the creaky steps, he and Pan Nu found themselves at the bottom of the wooden staircase.


    After stepping over thest step, which was on the verge of caving in, the tall, immortal-like man observed his new surroundings, and the only word he could use to describe it was...


    "Morbid¡­"


    This whole ce looks like something straight out of a horror movie that got mixed up with a swamp bog TV series¡­


    Azmodeus had seen many movies and TV shows through the soul absorption of all the heroes, and it was through this culture washing that he knew a bad setting when he saw it.


    But regardless of the eerie ambience of the expansive swamp-like underarea, he walked through the knee-high green water. He also made sure to use a thin fment of crimson-colored Qi in order to cover up both himself and the girl clinging to his head, adamantly refusing to look up.


    "I''m not scared or anything! I-I just don''t want to waste my eyesight on this stupid ce, so hurry up and kill whatever is preventing us from leaving!"


    Pan Nu made sure to reiterate how unafraid she was as she tried to sneak a chocte snack into her mouth without moving her head.


    "...Sure, sure¡­" Azmodeus spoke with an exasperated tone as he increased his trudging speed, quickly turning into some form of humanoid motorboat.


    Putter! Putter! Putter!


    He sped off through the deep bog, heading toward where he felt a trace of an energy that shouldn''t belong to anyone of this world.


    To set up a formation, one needs energy, and there are no beings capable of utilizing any form of energy in the Astral ne¡­


    And I''m almost entirely positive that I feel Starry Qi, so the formation master must be someone who''s participating in the Astral Leap.


    But for this person to possess enough energy to set up formations, one would have to stay inside the Astral ne for a lot longer than two months.


    There is a scenario where this person had enoughbat power to bypass that fact, but such a notion is highly unlikely¡­


    So, what is it¡­? How is someone able to utilize Starry Qi so early on??


    As Azmodeus''s thoughts stirred, he skipped across the swamp water, reaching the energy signature at a rapid pace.


    And as soon as he saw the being that was capable of using Starry Qi, he automatically knew what had happened¡­


    "Someone from a previous Astral Leap Trial¡­" He murmured while staring at a tall, thin, pitch-ck man above 8 feet in height.


    "So, you''re a participant in the current Astral Leap iteration, eh? I haven''t seen one of you in ages¡­ But since you are here, there''s no reason for you to leave¡­"


    The slenderman didn''t even bother to turn his head in the crimson-eyed man''s direction as he stirred a purple substance inside arge cauldron. Human parts asionally bobbed up from the mysterious liquid.


    However, as soon as he spun the wooden spoon in his hand a little, a few terrifyingly disproportionate mouths shot out from the nearby swamp water!


    WSHHH! WSHHH!


    "Meat!!!"


    Multiple crazed screeches resounded in the swamp as ten gaping mouths lunged toward the two lone humans, aiming to swallow them up in one big gulp!


    "..."


    Azmodeus flipped his gaze between the dozen nightmarish creatures as a cold gleam shed past his eyes. After which, he skidded his right foot behind him, getting into a sword stance.


    "Iaijutsu Stance Form: Endless Singr shes."


    SHING!


    Following the uttering of a daunting name and a crisp, unsheathing sound, slight sword vibrations were felt in the vicinity.


    Following this phenomenon, an immeasurable number of sword shes were unleashed in the direction of all ten humanoid monsters!


    These sword shes caused innumerable blood lines to emerge on the darkened skin of what were once vigers.


    "You all were likely peaceful and harmonious at one point in time; however, that time has long since passed from the looks of it." Azmodeus sheathed his sword before leaping onto the floatingb. "So just die and enter the never ending cycle of Reincarnation."


    *Spurt!* *Spurt!* *Spurt!*


    The ten horrifying monsters were sliced up like sashimi, dying with the lust for meat still present in their barbaric gazes.


    *Plop!* *Plop!*


    After their meat chunks sshed against the swamp water, Azmodeus took leisurely steps toward the unbothered slenderman while ncing at all the system notifications he received.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed 10 Humanoid Monster specimens in the Mid-Silver Rank!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 400,000 points in the Physical Existence Refinement Aspect!*


    *Ding!* *You have made great progress within the Middle-Silver Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your skin''s hue has improved in quality, giving your skin a shinier silver color.*


    After all of the system notifications finished ringing out, Azmodeus took slow steps toward the far taller and thinner ck slenderman as he said, "So you''re the one who set up such aplex formation, huh? And from the looks of it, your lifespan is on itsst legs, which over time caused your body to rapidly deteriorate, leaving you looking like this¡­"


    "Ho...? You''re quite the knowledgeable one, aren''t you?" The slenderman mused, his hands making great strides in the stirring of whatever hodgepodge he was concocting.


    Azmodeus ignored the asional arms and legs that appeared from within the nightmarish man''s cauldron as he responded, "I started to dabble in the Medical profession, and you could say that I''m a fast learner."


    *Tap Tap*


    His strides never slowed down, as he was but a mere twenty meters away from the eerie ck man.


    But regardless of the strength he disyed and his unimpeded advance, the slenderman paid no heed and continued to stir the contents of his cauldron. This resulted in weird, nasty fumes being exuded into the air.


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 147: Killing The Black Slenderman

    ...¡­.


    "...Tell me, Astral Leap participant. From the world you originated from, what was the least useful profession to be proficient in when death is looking you right in the face?"


    Azmodeus thought the question over for a second before he put his right hand on his ck dragon-adorned sword handle and replied, "That would be the Medical Profession¡­"


    The slenderman''s faceless expression warped into something truly horrifying as he swiveled his head behind him and said in a deep, resonant voice, "Precisely! Now tell me human. What happens when one of your kind breaches past their designated lifespan and decides that they want to live longer!?"


    At this point, the nightmarish monster''s neck had been split and broken into dozens of different directions, and yet he still looked at the tall, firegod-like man while having never stopped his stirring.


    Azmodeus observed the gruesome sight before him, as this was one of the main reasons he never liked dealing with those who had long since discarded their humanity.


    Nevertheless, he still replied, "They be like you¡­ Monsters¡­"


    "You''re absolutely, unequivocally correct!!!" The slenderman slung his head back to his body before continuing to say, "And for your prize¡­"


    URGHTT!


    Eightrge wings shot out of the back of the insane scientist as a maniacalugh reverberated outward. "For your prize, I will allow you to be part of something greater! Something far above the purpose you had before!!"


    WHSSHHH!


    Intense winds started blowing in from all directions as the thin, decrepit figure of the Slenderman became even thinner. His body transformed into something flimsy and malleable, like something straight out of a horror-story cartoon.


    And at the forefront of this unknown lifeform, there was a wide, toothy face that had more razor sharp teeth than one could count!


    Furthermore, the teeth weren''t limited to just its face, as every inch of its body had transformed into something straight out of H.P. Lovecraft!


    There was nothing in the spots they should be, as eyes were growing out of hands and feet, of which there were more than a couple. Furthermore, teeth surrounded every misced appendage, making for a truly disgusting and terrifying sight.


    WAAAA!


    And the worst part of it all was the suffocating pressure emanating from the Slenderman, as it was utterly overwhelming!


    It surpassed even the Nascent Soul Realm and Soul Transformation Realm, firmly nting itself in the Void Refining Realm!


    "After tens of thousands of years of being trapped in this god-forsaken ce, I was able to survive!! And from this spared life, I was able to surpass all my rottingrades! I achieved not only the Early-Silver Rank but also regaining back a small fraction of my previous cultivation base through the use of Dark Arts!


    And after I ran out of Space Stones and spiritual stones, I needed a new source of energy because of theck of energy present on this acursed Astral ne...


    Do you want to know what I use as an energy source!? What I use in order to sustain not only my energy supply but also my existence!?"


    The freakish creature lifted up the cauldron filled with human parts as his wide toothy grin extended up to where his ears should be.


    "I absorb the Essence of newly ascended fools like yourself!! After all, there''s no better source of energy than Lunar Ascendancy Realm Expert''s who just broke through!! So if you would¡­"


    It crawled up theb''s walls with its centipede legs before hanging above the visitor''s body. After which, it hissed, "Just die for me!!!"


    *Tap Tap*


    All it took was a few taps on a translucent blue screen for Azmodeus to dump absurd amounts of Evolution Essence into upgrading the equally expensive Physical Existence Refinement Rank, sessfully allowing his power to spike.


    Following this instantaneous action, a crisp sword unsheathing echoed out.


    SHING!


    "!!!" The centipede monster tried to dodge, but it was futile, for against a Gold-Rank Physical Existence Cultivator, a Void Refinement Cultivator stood no chance.


    *Spurt!*


    Its disgusting body was sliced into two before being sliced into four¡­ and then eight¡­ sixteen¡­ two hundred fifty six¡­ millions of times¡­ billions of times¡­


    The number of times the centipede''s body split in half had already surpassed a trillion. And it was only then that the crimson-haired man, along with the girl, jumped off the floatingb.


    SLICE! SLICE!


    After which, blood dyed the bog a deep shade of red.


    SLICE! SLICE!


    Another series of shes were unleashed, as the floatingb was splintered before being subsequently destroyed and scattered.


    It was only after all this had happened that Azmodeus received a number of system notifications informing him of what he had done.


    Upon which, he sat down on a nearby floating log with Pan Nu still atop his shoulders.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed a previous participant of the Astral Leap Trial. Furthermore, he possessed strength in the Early-Silver Rank! But due to various alterations made to his existence, his power had transformed into the Peak-Silver Rank equivalent, thus allotting you the appropriate number of points!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 5,000,000 Points in your Physical Existence Refinement Aspect!*


    *Ding!* *Your Physical Existence has increased by quite a bit inside the Early-Gold Refinement Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your overallbat power and fortitude have moderately improved!*


    Following all of the pop-up screens, Azmodeus felt all the gains wash over his body as his skin took on a slightly darker shade of gold.


    Following this urrence, he looked at the sinking remnants of what used to be arge floatingb. Thereafter, he turned his head in the direction of the way he came in, noticing a few hundred of those mutated vigers lurking in the deep, murky waters.


    "It looks like I have some more strength to gain from this little adventure¡­"


    FWIP!


    His figure quickly blurred as he rushed straight into the piranha-infested waters, aiming to see how well these ''piranhas'' would fare against the edge of his de.


    ...


    A few minutester, at the edge of the halfway submerged steps of the Dimsinion Church''s basement stairs, Azmodeus was seen holding onto the legs of Pan Nu. He ascended the steps of the church''s basement, making his way back to where Pumpkin Wolfy was waiting.


    There wererge amounts of greenish-red blood dripping off his sleek ck sword, but that didn''t seem to affect his cold demeanor in the slightest bit as he listened to all the various system notifications bombard his vision...


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 148: Cleaning Up The Village, Potion Masters

    ...¡­.


    *Ding!* *You have killed 500+ Mutated Vigers and exterminated every single living being inside a high-level cosmic construct¡ªthe Second Tier ne of Infinity¡ªAstral ne.*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 30,000,000 points in your Physical Existence Refinement.*


    *Ding!* *You have progressed moderately inside the Early-Gold Rank! Continue killing and the Mid-Gold Rank will not be too far away!*


    Azmodeus perused a plethora of system notifications, conveniently ignoring the low-key coercing that the system was doing.


    After all, he was nning to kill anything that got in his way of more power to begin with, so such advice was merely a reminder of what he already had on every day of his agenda.


    In fact, he nned tomence the ''Mass-killing spree'' pretty soon, as the only reason he hadn''t been acquiring points like a madman was because he was unable to summon his Mirror Mirage''s and Primordial Essence Clones. This was, of course, due to insufficient Physical Existence Ranks.


    But after this recent draining of absurd amounts of Evolution Essence, he was able to release that limit set upon his various clones, likely having been ced on them due to the higher-level Laws of a secondyered ne of infinity like the Astral ne.


    He was clueless how the Laws could affect even his Primordial Essence Clones, but outside of Fallen Immortal Mountain, they were unable to surpass the Mortal Realm in strength.


    However, following his rank up to Gold Rank Physical Existence Refinement, whatever was restricting his clones and Mirror Mirage''s shattered all at once. This left his Primordial Essence Clones with 100% of his strength and his Mirror Mirage''s with a fraction of that!


    And for Azmodeus, this only meant one thing¡­


    "Time to reap some loot¡­"


    -


    As soon as Azmodeus ascended all the crumbling wooden steps of the Dimsinion Church, he met up with the frightened Pumpkin Wolfy and discreetly conjured up his clones before going on his way.


    It didn''t take long for the clones and Mirror Mirage''s to begin the ultimate killing spree, causing points to constantly flow into Azmodeus''s Physical Existence Refinement Rank.


    After a few hours of this grindfest, he had already acquired over 50 million points, effectively surpassing what he obtained in the span of two months by himself!


    And after a few days of grinding while bringing Pan Nu and Pumpkin Wolfy to various small towns and cities, the amount of Physical Existence points multiplied by a few fold. In total, his storage amounted to hundreds of millions of points, all of which were automatically dumped into his Rank.


    However, on one particr day, as Azmodeus traveled through arge bustling area located within a ce called GreenBurrow City, he found out that there was one more way that one could refine their Physical Existences¡­


    "Physical Existence Refinement potions¡­ A Potion Master¡­"


    He, along with Pan Nu, were staring at a couple of posters that had the name of a particr store. On the posters, it said they were hiring people called Potion Masters, aiming to request some ''Low-Bronze Rank Physical Existence Potions'' be made.


    "Do you know anything about what is on this poster, Pan Nu?" Azmodeus inquired with a curious tone, taking cursory nces at the people on the other side of the wide ss window where the posters were hung.


    "...I have never heard of a Potion Master before¡­ And Ie from a ce where they have everything¡­"


    Pan Nu was quite intrigued by the contents of the poster as well, which was why she moved preemptively and walked through the wooden doors of the small tannery shop in front of them.


    *Ring!*


    A doorbell rang.


    Azmodeus was surprised by the decisiveness of the girl, but it didn''t take long before he was tagging right along behind her, hearing a doorbell ring for the second time.


    After leaving Pumpkin Wolfy to stare at them from outside therge ss shop windows, a tall, handsome, robed man and an adorable girl wearing a light blue frilly dress found themselves inside a tannery where leather clothing and armor were made.


    However, there was nothing too special about the items and objects hanging up on the walls for sale, so the two visitors made wide strides toward the reception desk, noticing arge antediluvian clock on the backdrop. Below that clock, there was an old white-haired man soundly sleeping with a wheat cone-shaped hat covering his face.


    Even with the bell ringing twice, this old man doesn''t look any closer to waking up¡­


    Azmodeus wore an amused look on his face, and just as he was about to ask the old man about the posters, someone got to it first.


    "Hey, old fart, wake up!" Pan Nu yelled while throwing a nearby leather shoe in the direction of the old man''s head.


    *Whack!*


    *Bang!*


    The old man was hit right across his forehead, causing him to fall off the back of his chair!


    "Ahh! What was that for, you damn youngsters!?" The old man woke up right away, and when he felt the red mark on his forehead, his expression immediately became redder due to anger.


    "...Well, I guess that''s one way to get his attention¡­"


    Azmodeus nkly stared at the short girl, who seemed to be more vexed than the old man that got hit. He lightly shook his head before walking up to the reception desk.


    After which, he said, "I''m sorry about mypanion over there. She''s not very good with new people, but since you are up and active, could you tell us where we need to go for the flyers outside?"


    *Jingle! Jingle!*


    He spoke these words with a friendly expression, shaking around a bag that contained a sizable amount of the ''Azura Kingdom''s'' currency.


    -----


    Azura Kingdom.


    In the Second Layer Infinity World¡ªa world that transcends the most basic ne of existence, namely, inside the Astral ne¡ªthere were an immeasurable number of vast territories, all of which possessed varying military strengths and powerhouses.


    And one of such kingdoms was the Single Leaf Kingdom¡ªthe ''Azura Kingdom''.


    It was a kingdom under the jurisdiction of the Mountain God, and it was also one of the only kingdoms to birth a Mountain God descendant worthy of his heritage.


    Which was all to say that although the Azura Kingdom was a Single Leaf Kingdom, it was a Kingdom that had the backing of the Mountain God himself!


    And inside one of the countless popted cities of the Azura Kingdom, the Unparalleled Crimson Devil Lord and his feistypanion were in the process of bribing a store owner. They were doing their ''utmost''  to figure out more about these ''Potion Master''s''.


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 149: Emonius Triade

    ...¡­.


    "So, 100 Azura''s for the information contained in this poster and 200 Azura''s for the damage done to your forehead¡­?"


    Azmodeus voiced his question just to be sure that he was hearing the ludicrous prices being dered by the curmudgeon old man.


    "Yes! That''s my final offer! And if you don''t want to ept, then you can leave my shop right away!"


    The store owner was most definitely grumpy over the fact that the little troublemaker was still taunting him from behind the mahogany desk. Mind you, it was a desk that she wasn''t even tall enough to see over.


    300 Azura''s is enough to feed amoner family for three months¡­ This old man is truly asking for an arm and a leg¡­


    But in the end, I still need the information, and with the money I grabbed from that Dimsinion Church, along with what I relinquished from the bandits I met over the past few days, I should be able to easily cover such a sum of doubloons¡­


    After contemting the matter for a few moments, Azmodeus ultimately ended up bleeding from his heart as he handed over all the money that the old man wanted.


    *Jingle! Jingle!*


    The old man violently shook around the bag of Azura''s as he nodded his head in approval before telling the rude guests what he knew about the one who stuck up the posters outside his shop.


    -


    "The Magician''s guild¡­ There''s really a Magician''s guild that doesn''t use magic and instead concocts potions so they can beef up¡­"


    Azmodeus couldn''t believe what he was hearing, for if this were true, a certain muscle man in a world of magician''s would be proud of what his image had produced.


    Even so, he swiftly snapped out of his thoughts, bid farewell to the cranky store owner, and walked out the doors of the shop with his feisty ck cat-like girl. She was still trying to pick a fight with the old man, so they had to vacate without looking back¡­


    Speaking of ck cats, the ones inside of Fallen Immortal Mountain are doing quite well in their cultivation sessions. Although the time difference between there and here is massive, I''m slowly but surely reducing that number.


    Even though it would be easier to simply take them out into this world and be done with it, my stealth-rted Traits are not yet at a high enough level to conceal existences that aren''t directly connected to me. One such case would be my Primordial Essence Clones and Mirror Mirage''s, all of whom are able to grind points without worrying about the sight of the Ten Astral Principality Princes.


    But, at the rate I am progressing in the Physical Existence Refinement Aspect, I should be at a sufficient rank to forcefully conceal their existences soon enough.


    In the end, all Azmodeus needed was time, and he would be able to solve every single one of his problems.


    And luckily for him, all he had was time¡­


    ...


    Nearly half an hour faded away from the Astral ne''s timeline as Azmodeus, Pan Nu, and Pumpkin Wolfy made their way up an extremelyrge mountain that stretched outwards for thousands of miles in every direction.


    And though that might not seem like much whenpared to the enormous structures that were present in Prometheus, the Astral ne was of much higher quality.


    It was to the extent that a single atom of this mountain was worth countless times more energy than what an entire universe of space possessed on Prometheus!


    That went to show just how high something evolved when havingpletely transcended a lower-level Cosmic Construct, such as a Two Layered Infinity Construct trumping over a Single Layered Infinity Construct.


    All of that was said so one could better understand the grandiosity of the ''Psyon Mountain'', which was where most Potion Master''s within tens of thousands of miles came to apply.


    Or rather, it was where Potion Master''s traversed in order to apply to the elusive Potion Master organization called the ''Emonius Triade''.


    And it just so happened to be the location that the old shop owner informed Azmodeus about.


    Speaking of the man in question, he was currently looking up a multitude of ominous towers and buildings that surrounded a veryrge center building. All of which were dark ck in color and adorned with a plethora of hanging vines and weeds.


    Considering how many people were going in and out of this ce, it was highly likely that the untrimmed weeds were put there intentionally.


    Azmodeus realized this interesting decoration design as well, but there was something else that he was far more amazed by¡­


    "It''s a lotrger than I thought it would be¡­"


    His slightly awed voice resounded, as he wasn''t unfamiliar withrge things, but rather, he was surprised over the fact that the few small cities in the vicinity were able to house such a ce of clear renown.


    It was this query that brought up a few red gs in his mind. But regardless of his instinctively cautious nature, he still decided to walk up to the huge, ck metal gates that had the letters ''E'' and ''T'' engraved onto the overhead in a cursive font.


    "You don''t think this ce is haunted, do you, Azmodeus¡­?"


    Pan Nu voiced her question while in her ''spot'', for she got up to her vantage location as soon as she felt the creepy aura permeating the atmosphere of the Emonius Triade.


    To bepletely candid, if it were up to her, then she would''ve long since left Azmodeus and found herself a nice sweet''s shop to munch at.


    But unfortunately for her, the one with all the money just so happened to be the one always wanting to go into the creepiest of ces¡­


    "If you do bear through it, then I promise that we can go buy any sweets that you want afterwards."


    Azmodeus''s honey-covered words dripped into the ears of the distraught girl as they immediately perked up.


    "Say less next time, you big dummy!"


    Pan Nu''s vivaciousness seemed toe back in full force as she shook his shoulders, clearly urging him to hurry the hell up!


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 150: Trying To Become A Potion Master

    ...¡­.


    Azmodeus''s facial features twitched because of the words of the troublesome girl atop his head as he continued walking, passing under a set ofrge, ominous gates.


    However, contrary to what one would expect to be on the other side of the gates, there was an entirely different world inside the confines of the Emonius Triade.


    From outside the gates, the ce appeared quite dreary and morbid, with very little going on in the ''happy people'' department. However, after passing through the gates, the once gray skies transformed into a bright blue shade with fluffy clouds covering it for as far as the eye could see.


    It wasn''t only the setting that had changed, as even the building''s original ck colors morphed into a bright green and blue. This color scheme meshed surprisingly well with the wands and vials that the lively members of the Emonius Triade carried around with them.


    All the vines and weeds vanished into thin air¡­ Even the number of people and the state of the building''s infrastructure have been tremendously augmented¡­


    Azmodeus was astonished by the fact that there were ces in the Astral ne that were capable of cing down formations capable of performing at such a level.


    But for something like this to exist, one must at least be of the Heaven Rank in the Formation Profession¡­ And after analyzing the difference in Qi between the inside and outside of this ce, it is quite clear that Runes and Array''s of the Heaven Rank also have a part to y in the shrouding of this ''Emonius Triade''.


    A previous Astral Trial Participant of the Heaven Rank Professions, huh¡­?


    Azmodeus''s thoughts swirled around inside his head before he was swiftly interrupted by the boisterous voice of one of the professors of the Emonius Triade:


    "Do you know what sacrosanct grounds you have entered, boy?? This is the Emonius Triade¡ªa ce of extreme prestige with many branches spread throughout every corner of the Azura Empire-!"


    "I havee to sign up for your Potion Master request," Azmodeus interrupted the prolonged speech of the pointy hat wearing middle-aged dude as he took a flier out of his back pocket.


    "You said what!? You''re here to join the Emonius Triade!?"


    The wizard-like man practically fell over onto his butt, as he never would''ve expected there to be a Potion Master willing to join their organization in these backwater areas!


    "You should''ve just said so, youngster! So, what''s your Potion Master Rank?? You''re quite young, so I won''t be disappointed even if it''s of the Common or Mortal Rank!"


    The professor slid over to the youngster''s position at a speed not befitting his old age, as he didn''t know of thest time he moved so fast!


    We haven''t had a new Potion Master for the past 3 years, so if we can acquire another one, even if he''s of the Common Rank, we can meet the Headmaster''s quota for the decade! This is a joyous asion indeed!


    Azmodeus looked at the expectant gleam in the old guy''s gray eyes, as he was sure that there was a misunderstanding between them.


    And so as to not make this misunderstanding even moreplicated, he decided to clear things up right away.


    "I''m sorry to say, but I''m not an official Potion Master. In fact, I just learned of the term less than an hour ago, but I''m a little talented when ites to imbibing information, so I figured I woulde over and give the Potion Master Profession a try."


    Following the crimson-haired man''s statement, the wizard''s overjoyed expression instantly dyed out as he clicked his tongue before sneering, "What sort of ce do you think this ce is, boy?? Not just anybody cane up here and ''give a try'' at bing a Potion Master!


    It is an extremely convoluted and intricate profession, requiring dozens of years of practice in order to obtain even the smallest modicum of proficiency-!"


    *Jingle! Jingle!*


    "Here''s 5,000 Azura''s. Now could you please bring us to the registration area?"


    "..."


    The wizard''s eyes had dazzling coins shine within them as he rubbed his hands together before saying, "Very well, generous young master. The reception area is right over there¡ªpast those few neon-colored gazebos."


    "That''s good. Thank you for answering my questions. Now I will be on my way, and I hope to see you in the Emonius Triade after I sessfully be a member," Azmodeus responded while passing by the professor, walking on the paved, octagon-shaped roads. He headed toward arge assortment of gazebos in the distance.


    "Awooof¡­?"


    Pumpkin Wolfy was utterly perplexed by the abrupt flips in the attitude of the unusual-looking man, as she was on edge during their entire interaction. But after seeing the nice red-eyed man leaving the scene, she got up and lept toward them, but not before growling at the weird pointy-hat man.


    The professor ignored the snarling of the giant wolf as heughed inside his mind and thought, ''There''s absolutely no way that kid will make it past the first mark¡­ But who really cares about him, as I''m now filthy rich! Time to go buy some time with a few prettydies!''


    ***


    Meanwhile, as the haughty wizard mocked the downfall of the ''naive kid'', said kid was standing at the front of a line with no one else in it.


    "It seems like bing a Potion Master is quite hard¡­"


    Azmodeus looked around him and saw nothing other than an empty street and an old man with sparse strands of dark gray hair. He only had one eye and wore a set of misty gray robes that contrasted greatly with the colorful buildings in the vicinity.


    This old man was sitting in a lotus position on a red circr cushion under a wide awning that had the words ''Registration Area'' embedded on a hung up sign. The sign itself was barely holding itself up with the abysmally low number of nails stuck in it.


    Not that it''s shabby appearance made any difference for Azmodeus as he approached it, curious to see what would happen next...


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 151: Becoming Members Of The Emonius Triade, Something Afoot?

    ...¡­.


    *Step Step*


    With Pan Nu napping on his head, Azmodeus walked up to the old man under the awning as he had Pumpkin Wolfy stay a few feet back just so the old man wouldn''t get frightened.


    "Excuse me?" He asked out loud while on the other side of a table that separated him from the old man.


    "Hunrgh!? W-Who is it!?" The old man awoke with a snot bubble popping on his face as he looked around him with a lethargic expression.


    And when he saw the extraordinarily handsome man standing in front of him, his face turned ashen as he dispiritedly mumbled, "I-I don''t want to die just yet¡­ I still haven''t lost my virginity after tens of thousands of years of working in the Emonius Triade¡­!"


    *Thud!*


    The old man fell off his seat and started groveling on the hard-paved ground, tears streaming down his wrinkled eyes.


    "Pl-Please allow me to sleep with the pretty teacher from E Block before I die, Mr. Angel! This is my only request!"


    "..."


    Azmodeus looked down at the sniveling old man with both of his eyebrows raised, as he truly had no clue what was going on right now.


    However, after thinking about it for a moment, he realized that the old man was likely under the assumption that he was some sort of deity who came to im his life.


    At this realization, he let out a soft sigh before saying, "You''re not dead yet... And I''m not an angel. I''m just someone looking to sign up for the Emonius Triade."


    The old man stopped his sniffling for a moment as he asked, "You''re really not some form of Reaper God here to take me away to King Yama¡­?"


    "No¡­"


    "..."


    *Cough* *cough*


    The receptionist coughed slightly, got up from the ground, and patted down his robes.


    After which, his expression became staid as his voice turned a few levels deeper, and he said with a wizened countenance, "I knew that all along, youngster. I am a senior who was sent down from the higher ups in order to test a new promising recruit. And luckily for you, I have given my superiors the green g, meaning that you can begin the normal signing-up process right away!"


    BAM!


    He sat back down on his cushion before mming his hands on the table like he was dering a divine promation!


    Azmodeus expressionlessly stared at theical old man as he lightly shook his head. "Sure¡­ Now could you please sign me up under the name ''Azmodeus'' and put this girl with the name ''Pan Nu''?"


    "V-Very well, but before I solidify this Divine decree, I will need you both to verify your Physical Existence Rank''s with this crystal ball right here."


    The old receptionist took out an abnormallyrge crystal ball from his baggy clothes, as he looked quite haughty over what he had just done.


    And though Azmodeus was puzzled by the behavior of the old dude, he picked up the crystal ball, resulting in a bright sh of mild bronze light!


    BLINGgg¡­


    After the light died down, the old receptionist jotted down the results as Mid-Bronze Rank under the name ''Azmodeus'' with an age of 40 off to the side.


    Following the testing of his existence, the crystal ball was passed along to Pan Nu, as she held it in her hands with an indiscernible glint in her equally mysterious, misty gray eyes.


    "This is stupid, but I will do it anyway¡­" She grumbled before inputting some of her grayish Qi into the crystal ball.


    BLING!


    A bright, mild bronze light shed, indicating that she was of the Mid-Bronze Rank, just like Azmodeus.


    "Ho? You are quite the genius, being in the Mid-Bronze Rank at the age of 10¡­" The receptionist mused with a single raised brow as he penciled down her results as well.


    "Yeah, yeah, whatever," Pan Nu responded with a nonchnt tone as she lightly pulled on Azmodeus''s crimson-colored hair.


    "???" The victim of the tugging looked up at the troublesome girl as he whispered, "What is it?"


    "I''m hungry¡­ I want some chocte chip muffins¡­"


    Pan Nu seemed to be struggling with her stomach, as slight growls could be heard from that bottomless pit inside her.


    Azmodeus didn''t even know how to describe his exasperation anymore, as he decided it would be best to simply do as she wished.


    "So, are we done here¡­?" He asked the old man who had just put down the pen in his hand.


    "Mhmm? Oh yeah, you two are good to go to F-Block. I was just doodling a self-made portrait of myself for thest few seconds. See?"


    The old man''s response was followed by him sticking his notepad in the air, showing the two uninterested people a very poorly sketched drawing of himself.


    "..."


    Azmodeus ignored the stick-figure drawing and took the two maps he saw on the side of the table. After which, he walked away from the confused old man with a number of veins popping up on his forehead.


    "That old dude is something else, alright¡­"


    His voice trailed off as he walked toward Pumpkin Wolfy, but not before seeing a couple of shiny bronze pentagon-shaped objects being thrown in his direction.


    "Those will be your identity tokens as someone affiliated with the Emonius Triade, so make sure not to lose them," the old receptionist announced with a yawn as he went back to slouching on his cushion, pretending to cultivate.


    *Piang! Piang!*


    Azmodeus and Pan Nu caught the identity tokens.


    Following these wless catches, they looked at them and saw an borately etched design with a few mystical symbols and a singr sword hanging in the very center of the depiction.


    "It looks like that is all we need to do to sign up with this Emonius Triade¡­ Such a simple process to join what appears to be a prosperous organization. There must be a catch¡­"


    Azmodeus looked around him and saw plenty of people going about their days in the expansive and moderately decorated courtyards of the Emonius Triade.


    Most of them were dressed up like witches or wizards, but other than that, there didn''t appear to be anything too out of ce among the lot of them; however, he just knew that something was afoot¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 152: Copying A Potion Master Manual

    ...¡­


    There must be a catch and a reason why no one seems to be signing up, but that reason appears to be more deeply involved within this organization...


    Maybe I should ask around when I make it to ''F Block''. Which, from the looks of it, is right over there.


    Azmodeus was looking at what appeared to be a dorm building¡ªnot toovish, but also not analogous to destitute, as it was something one would see at your average college on Earth.


    The windows were numerous, and the people even more so, with every single one of them being in the Low-Bronze Rank at the very minimum.


    "Hello, fello friend! Are you new here?"


    "???"


    A friendly voice took Azmodeus out of his thoughts as he looked in the direction of a young man walking up to him with a warm smile on his rtively handsome face.


    He was a bit surprised that someone actually took the initiative to talk to a stranger, but that didn''t stop him from responding, "Yes, I''m new here. My name is Azmodeus, and who might you be?"


    "Ah, it''s so very nice to meet you, Azmodeus! So which City or Organization do you originate from??"


    The young man had already extended his hand, clearly attempting to be friends with the red-haired man wearing expensive clothing and possessing the bearing of a noble.


    However, Azmodeus''s next words quickly dashed away any thoughts he had about bing acquainted with another rich young master:


    "I''m not affiliated with any known organizations and can be considered an itterant cultivator."


    "An Itterant Cultivator¡­?"


    The once-friendly expression on the young man morphed into one of disdain as he sneered, "They actually let someone like you into the Exchange Program venue for the high-ranking organizations of the Azura Kingdom?? Are the organizers idiots or something!?"


    Following his scornful words, he stormed off with an irritated look on his face as he quickly found another group of people to approach and butter up to.


    -


    "What did he mean by Exchange Program I wonder¡­"


    Azmodeus took a better look at all the people surrounding the dorm-like building and suddenly realized something.


    This whole ce is filled with people who aren''t part of the Emonius Triade¡­ They are simply here for some sort of gathering, which exins theck of people registering at the registry desk¡­


    Everything seemed to be piecing itself together inside his mind as he nced at the various badges and logos that everyone had embroidered onto their clothing or hosiery. After a rough estimate, he counted around 500+ different logos, which meant that over 500 organizations were gathered at the Emonius Triade.


    To have so many different characters here¡­ I wonder what''s going on inside this organization surrounded by a deep veneer¡­


    Azmodeus continued to ponder the peculiarities of the recent series of events as he walked into the dorm doors, aiming to settle himself in before focusing on the art of Potion Mastery.


    Regardless of the mysteries of the Emonius Triade, I think something has happened within the upper brass of the organization. If I can properly take advantage of the social environment, then I might have found the ce where I can set my Fallen Immortal Mountain down¡­


    At this thought, a small smile emerged on his stoic face as he walked through the spirited lounge area of the F-Block building. He found a fleet of stairs that he swiftly ascended with Pumpkin Wolfy inside his Life Treasure and Pan Nu napping on his head with a chocte covered mouth.


    After a few seconds of walking, he found himself at a set of doors on the thirty-sixth floor, namely room numbers 36,001 and 36,002. These were numbers that were transmitted to his mind from both of the identity tokens.


    Pan Nu''s supposed to be going into room number 36,002 while I take 36,001, but¡­


    Azmodeus looked at the clingy girl sleeping on his shoulders as he let out a deep,plex sigh before muttering, "It doesn''t look like she''ll be waking up anytime soon, and I can''t exactly leave her inside an empty room with no recollection of how she got there¡­"


    Azmodeus brooded over the subject for a second before deciding that he would let her nap on his bed while he continued to cultivate. He would also make sure to grind the lives of various existences with his clones.


    Afternding on that decision, he got right to it and opened up the reddish green rectangle doors of dorm room #36,001. After walking in, he was weed with the sight of a 20 x 20 square foot room with a simple cotton bed, a wooden frame, and a four-foot-high dresser in a corner of the room.


    The room was basic, to say the least, but basic was good enough for Azmodeus, especially when considering that he didn''t have to pay for sh*t!


    So like the opportunist he was, he took advantage of the free rent and got to cultivating-!


    Wait¡­


    I can''t cultivate in the Astral ne¡­


    I always seem to forget that and attempt to cultivate out of habit¡­


    After these houghts passed through his nk mind, he decided to instead focus on what the people outside were doing.


    And when he did that, he noticed a particrly special technique manual in the hands of a brown robed wizard.


    The manual was thin and flimsy; however, it wasn''t the shape that attracted his attention; it was instead the fact that the book had the words ''Physical Existence Refinement Potion Making - Basic Tier'' on the front cover.


    That was all Azmodeus needed to see to know that this could help him in starting off his Potion Making Profession. What he did in response to this discovery was use his mind and Qi in order to copy the contents of the Secret Manual without even needing to touch it.


    This was possible due to not only his Qi but also his insanely highprehension and theck of high-level protective barriers in the manual.


    Even so, the result of this little trick was an exact replica of the manual materializing in the air right in front of a crimson-haired man sitting on the floor of a room in F-Block.


    Upon the full creation of this book, Azmodeus grabbed it from thin air before opening the pages and reading the contents right away.


    He was stounded by what he saw...


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 153: Testing Out The Art Of Potion Making

    ...¡­.


    It didn''t take long before Azmodeusprehended everything that was depicted on the pages of a copied manual as two minutes passed by in the blink of an eye.


    And that was all the time needed for him to understand everything rted to the basic stages of being a Potion Master.


    Of course, such speed was partly due to hisprehension and Cultivation Talent side effects, but it was also because of hisprehension in the various Essence books of his other Professions.


    So¡­ It seems like the Potion Maker Profession is simr to that of an Alchemist and was likely created as some form of variation by an extremely proficient Alchemist.


    At this thought, Azmodeus continued flipping the book''s pages, ncing at a multitude of depictions that exhibited postures simr to what one would use while refining pills in a pill cauldron.


    To be a Potion Master of the ''Basic'' or ''Common'' Tier, I just need to make a few vials with my Qi to supplement the fact that I don''t know how to make vials of a sufficient level with my Spirit cksmith Profession.


    Following this thought, he conjured up a bit of his Qi as it flowed out of his Dantian beforeing together as a sphere of energy in front of his face.


    *Waaaz!*


    He had the Qi wiggle and squirm as it started to mold into the shape of a crimson-colored vial.


    *Waaaz¡­*


    The energy died down after a moment of molding, and from this process, a six-inch vial with arge, round base was created.


    "This will be my first time attempting the Art of Potion Making, so just to be safe, I will encase this vial in anotheryer of Qi."


    Azmodeus''s analytical words were followed by him lifting up the vial and swishing it around a little, just to make sure that no loose Qi elements could ke off the interior.


    After confirming that nothing was wrong with the vial itself, he used his recollection of the Basic Tier Potion Making Manual in order to figure out which materials he needed to begin concocting the simplest of potions. Namely, the ''Copper Refinement Potion''.


    BING! BING! BING!


    He used hisprehension of the essence of various aspects of existence to materialize the necessary materials from a few scraps of trash metal.


    "This should be enough to make around 10 batches of Copper Refinement Potions," hemented with a content gleam in his gaze.


    Though I could make a nearly infinite number of materials at such a low level, this is good enough to start what I''m about to attempt.


    Azmodeus''s thoughts stirred as he levitated the Low-Common Rank materials that he transformed with what little he understood of the essence of Potion Making.


    But regardless of how he acquired the materials that had their descriptions inside the secret manual, they were immediately thrown into the vial after being converted into a liquid form.


    *Wazoop!*


    An unusual sloshing sound echoed out from within the vial as a wide array of unknown phenomenons were urring inside it.


    From this step, all I need to do is understand the molecr makeup of each individual part of the various substances within the vial¡­


    Azmodeus got to work on the concoction of his first ever potion as a bit of time passed by.


    ...


    Half an hourter.


    *Pop!*


    ~Whiff~


    Following the low-sounding popping sound produced from the opening of the vial''s lid, a strong and rich heavenly fragrance was unleashed into the outside world.


    This fragrance would''ve definitely alerted a number of high-ranking figures if not for the swift actions taken by Azmodeus to conceal the smell.


    After verifying that no one was attracted by the fragrance, he moved his gaze toward the potion in his hands as he looked at the results of his first attempt at potion making.


    A light blue color¡­ a tinge of gold filim, along with a smidgen of green on the outer rim¡­


    Everything appears to check out, but there is only one true way to verify the sess or failure of the first product of this new venture of mine.


    Azmodeus lifted the vial a little higher until it eventually reached his lower lip. After which, he dumped all the contents of the multi-colored liquid down his throat.


    This would typically turn out to be a sure-fire way to find yourself on a straight line to hell, but in his case, nothing much was capable of steering him away from more strength.


    But regardless of his fearlessness, he was confident that even if the potion was a flop, he would still make it out with his life intact.


    After all, no matter what sort of potion it was, the materials that were used in its making determined its potency, and Low-Common-Rank herbs were far from enough to kill him.


    Even so, he waited for the effects of the potion to kick in. Fortunately, he didn''t have to wait long, as a slight boost to his strength could be felt from within his muscles'' molecr structure.


    "Roughly¡­ 45% efficiency¡­"


    Azmodeus dered the efficiency rate of his first Physical Existence Refinement Potion, as he was quite satisfied with this result.


    The average efficiency rate for a potion like this one is around 30%, and that''s even considered excellent for veteran Potion Masters, which is all to say that I''m on the right track.


    He wouldn''t deny that he was happy about the results, but on the infinite road of cultivation, there was no room for conceit orcency, so he continued the art of potion-making without respite.


    ...


    Nearly 6 hours flew by in the blink of an eye.


    By the 1-hour mark, Azmodeus sessfully concocted over 3 batches of Copper-Rank Physical Refinement Potions.


    And by the 3-hour mark, it only took approximately 2 minutes to make an entire batch of Low-Copper Rank potions with 50%+ efficiency rates.


    After the full 6 hours passed, he was able to increase that 50%+ rate to 70%+ and the total concoction time down to 20 seconds.


    ording to predictions, it would likely take him no longer than a few more hours to achieve 100% efficiency along with instant refinement speeds. But at the exact moment he reached the 8-hour mark, a troublesome girl with misty gray eyes awoke with a drowsy look on her face¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 154: Chi Wu, The Crimson Witch

    ...¡­


    "Azmodeus¡­" Pan Nu mumbled while rubbing her big, round eyes like a sleepy kitty.


    "Yes¡­?"


    A response came from a man with one of his eyes slightly jarred open.


    "Hungry¡­"


    "..."


    Azmodeus was honestly surprised by the fact that he was surprised by her answer.


    But regardless of his exasperation, he got up from his lotus position, put away his vials with 75% efficiency, and walked over to her before lifting her up onto his shoulders.


    After which, he took long strides toward the average-sized door of the room and opened it up. He quickly found his way down the spiraling stairs that epassed the center part of every floor in F-Block.


    Upon making it down to around the tenth floor, he encountered someone else who happened to be up at 5 a.m.


    It was a pretty girl with an extremely well-endowed figure, long blonde hair, and mesmerizingly blue eyes.


    Is this woman another exchange student here¡­? She''s wearing the witch outfit, but hers has a rather seductive see-through mesh element in the¡­ chest area¡­


    He analyzed the appearance of the woman, who looked as if she had just woken up. And from the looks of it, she was also doing the same thing for the extraordinarily handsome man in front of her.


    A kid¡­?


    She noticed a young girl with a special set of eyes sitting atop the shoulders of the immortal-like man.


    She was mildly surprised that the crimson-haired guy was a father...


    "..."


    Azmodeus observed the perplexed gleam in her pretty blue eyes as he said, "She isn''t my daughter."


    "She''s not¡­?"


    The mysterious woman spoke for the first time since this silent staring session began, as her voice was soft and soothing yet emotionless and indifferent.


    "...No¡­ Now, if that is all, I''ll be on my way. It was nice meeting you, Miss¡­"


    "Chi Wu. My name is Chi Wu." The blonde-haired woman finished his sentence as she moved from her spot and walked down the spiraling stairs.


    Azmodeus watched the unusual girl get ahead of him as he thought about her name.


    The Crimson Witch, huh¡­? But from her gentle appearance, that name doesn''t seem very fitting¡­


    He watched her receding back for a moment before eventually walking down the stairs as well. Incidentally, he caught a glimpse of whaty underneath the frilly ck skirt of the gorgeous witch.


    Of which, he acted like he saw nothing scandalous and continued his descent down the steps while listening to the bemoaning of the girl drooling on his head.


    I wonder if I will see that woman again¡­


    As Azmodeus''s thoughts stirred, he made his way out of F-Block''s building, heading toward where arge group of wizards and witches were congregated.


    I must look quite out of ce among all of these people-


    Azmodeus was about to think about his out-of-ce appearance. At least, that was until he recalled the fact that he had already changed into the Wizard outfit that was contained within his Identity Token.


    Pan Nu was still a bit out of the norm when it came to outfits, but she was just a kid, so nobody paid any mind to her attire.


    Even so, after Azmodeus walked past a shop window, he caught a glimpse of his appearance in its reflection and couldn''t help but think that he''d stand out regardless of whether or not he was actively trying to.


    "I never cared much, and I still don''t, but now that I am face-to-face with what I look like, it makes me wonder how I became so handsome¡­"


    His soft murmur was followed by him observing every contour and chiseled part of his face and body. He was almost entirely positive that he had never seen anyone so handsome in his entire life.


    But what confused him greatly was the fact that before he obtained the system, his appearance was average in every sense of the word.


    However, after acquiring the Infinite Evolution System and rocketing through the realms of Prometheus, his appearance rapidly changed from ''basic'' to ''ungodly''.


    Purely from a benefit-driven perspective, that was good and all, but what didn''t make sense was that his appearance was vastly superior to even those in the same realm.


    So, if it wasn''t directly rted to his realm, then what was causing his appearance to change so much...?


    It could be that my body possessed insent potential and just needed the Infinite Evolution System in order to unleash it.


    Or it could be something else entirely¡­-


    "Hungry¡­"


    Azmodeus''s thoughts were interrupted by the disgruntled voice of an adorable girlying her face against his head.


    "...You want cake for breakfast¡­?"


    At his question, life seemed toe back into the eyes of the glum girl as she responded, "Yes!"


    After which, she shook his shoulders and steered him by his hair, bringing them toward a cake shop that she saw outside of F-Block.


    Azmodeus lightly sighed before going wherever the boss wished him to go.


    ...


    After half an hour of snacking at a bright white and pink cake shop, a familiar face entered through the front doors of the building.


    Chi Wu¡­ the Crimson Witch¡­?


    The witch in question looked around the cake shop, as her beautiful eyes sparkled a little when she found the strawberry pie that she had been yearning for over thest few days.


    And just as she was about to elegantly walk over to the pie in the disy ss, she caught a glimpse of a red-haired man who stood out more than just a little bit.


    "It''s you again¡­" She muttered with a slightly intrigued voice.


    "It appears so, Miss Chi Wu," Azmodeus responded with his blood-colored eyes slightly ajar, which left for quite the view when you looked at all the cake being shoved into his mouth.


    The culprit of this forceful throat gobbling was, of course, the cute twin-tailed girl sitting beside him at the window seal.


    "Since you''re already here, why don''t youe take a seat?" Azmodeus asked while patting the stool adjacent to his.


    Chi Wu stared at the devilishly handsome man, looking for any sinister intentions in his gaze; however, after finding none, she walked over with sophisticated grace and sat down.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 155: Crazy Women, A Pair Of Hyenas

    ...¡­


    "So, what are you doing here in the Emonius Triade? You don''t appear to be part of the Temporary Exchange Program, so you''re likely one of the permanent students here, right?" Azmodeus inquired.


    Chi Wu pointed toward the pie she wanted on a menu, letting a waitress go and retrieve it as she responded, "Ie from a far-offnd, and at a very young age, I found myself at the Triade''s doorsteps. Since that moment in time, I have been living in A-Block¡­"


    "A-Block¡­ That must mean you''re quite proficient in the art of Potion Concocting¡­" Azmodeus muttered while looking at the beautiful woman with a curious gleam in his eyes.


    "...Yes, you could say that¡­ But from the looks of it, you are quite proficient in it yourself," Chi Wu replied while observing the faint residue of numerous potion substances on his body.


    "Ahh¡­ I am nothing special. In fact, I just learned what a Potion Master was sometimest night."


    "???"


    The Crimson Witches expression became a little puzzled as she softly murmured, "How could that be¡­ My senses are never wrong¡­"


    She didn''t even consider the option where he had truly achieved such a level of potion fragrance while having just started concocting the night prior.


    And after a second of brooding over the matter with her head down, she asked, "What Rank are you¡­?"


    "Rank in what?"


    "...Potion Mastery¡­"


    "Uhmm¡­ I''m only of the Early-Copper Rank," Azmodeus responded with a slightly wry chuckle.


    "The Early-Copper Rank¡­ That doesn''t make any sense¡­ The fragrance¡­ Not proficiency¡­ But Talent¡­?"


    The voluptuous witch mumbled to herself while looking at the nonchnt man in apletely different light.


    "Your talent¡­ To have it at such a high level¡­ Just who are you?" She inquired with clear astonishment in her voice.


    "Me¡­?"


    That question got Azmodeus thinking, as he didn''t know who he was¡­


    Was he Azmodeus the cultivator? Someone who sat in his cave abode and cultivated while letting his clones do all the killing for him?


    Or was he the Crimson Devil Lord? A man who''s renown and infamy spread far and wide due to all the murder sprees he''s gone on¡­


    Maybe I''m both¡­ And maybe I''m neither of them¡­


    He eventually stopped pondering the matter as he looked into the deep, serene eyes of Chi Wu and said, "I am Azmodeus, Azmodeus the Crimson Devil Lord."


    "The Crimson Devil Lord¡­ One bathed in blood, on a path of no return¡­ Simr to me¡­"


    Chi Wu mumbled thest part in an inaudible tone before the sound of a te hitting the counter snapped her out of her thoughts.


    "Your Strawberry Pie!" A waitress eximed with a cordial smile.


    "...Thank you¡­" Chi Wu murmured with a hint of avarice in her voice as she stared down the pie like it was going to run away from her.


    "You''re so very wee! Make sure to tell me if you need anything else!" The waitress lightly giggled at the look on the blonde witch''s face as she backed away from the sore thumbs of the shop.


    However, before her figure fully left the scene, she made sure to take a few more furtive nces in the direction of the aloof, godlike man who had been sitting at that window seal for the past half an hour.


    Azmodeus noticed the keen interest of not only that waitress but every person in the shop, as they likely assumed he was some sort of powerful monarch of the Azura Kingdom. But he wasn''t one to pay any mind to the attention he garnered due to his appearance and overall solemn aura.


    "You''re quite the popr one, aren''t you??" Pan Nu asked while stuffing her face with one of everything she ordered from the menu.


    Even though she was making a quip, she didn''t appear to be in the same dimension as the rest of them, as there was just her and sweets in the world she lived in.


    "..."


    Azmodeus stared at the silly twin-tailed girl before moving his focus back toward the equally voracious blue-eyed witch.


    Are all women the same¡­? Or do I only know the unusual ones¡­


    He didn''t really notice it much previously (due to all the loose screws inside his head), but it genuinely seemed like not a single girl he''s met so far could be termed ''normal'' or ''sane''.


    Nao Long is mischievous, outgoing, and a yandere, while Yang Hua is¡­


    Well Yang Hua is Yang Hua, also a yandere¡­


    And then there are You Mei and Li Na, one that''s cheeky and sky, while the other is more refined and reserved (except when ites to being naughty¡­) both of whom are also insane yandere''s¡­


    Of course, there''s also Bing Nu Shen and my disciple, Rou Tian, one that is basically a mixture of all her disciples but with a more mature, Milf-like aura. While thetter is so focused on cultivation that I fear she will one day go mute¡­


    There''s also that alien cat who gave me Elusive Ascension, but she has not woken up once in thest century, so whether or not she''s sane is still up for debate¡­


    All in all, every single girl that Azmodeus met in all the years he''s been alive has turned out to be crazy. Whether that was determined right from the get-go or after spending prolonged periods of time with him, it was unavoidable.


    Maybe I''m just a crazy ma¡­


    But that probably means that I''m just as insane, if not worse, than all of the residents of my Cave Abode.


    He recalled all the lives that he''s taken, likely numbering in the Septillions, as he realized that he might''ve been worse off in the sanity department than every womanbined¡­-


    "Are you going to eat that?" Both Chi Wu and Pan Nu questioned in unison while staring at Azmodeus''s te like a pair of starving wolves.


    "..."


    Azmodeus looked at the maniacal expressions on their faces as he slid the te away from his chest, allowing the two hyenas to dig in.


    While they did that, he watched all the passersby walking outside the store''s windows, thinking about all the power he gained with every passing second...


    .....

 Chapter 156: Going To A-Block

    .....


    After a few minutes of cleaning every te presented to them, Pan Nu and Chi Wu slouched against the window counter as they thought about all the tantalizing desserts they had just consumed.


    "So, are you going to tell me what your Rank is?" Azmodeus voiced his question upon seeing that they hadid off the consumption of the store''s stock.


    This question ultimately led to the Crimson Witching out of her reverie as she regained her bearings.


    After which, she cleared her throat and responded, "I am of the Diamond Rank and am also one of the school''s Special Exam''s Teachers."


    "You''re a teacher?" Azmodeus inquired with a raised brow.


    He never would''ve assumed she was the teacher-type due to her icy disposition, which was why he looked so doubtful.


    Chi Wu gazed from a side view of the crimson-colored eyes of this audacious man as she asked, "Do I not like a teacher to you?"


    "???"


    Azmodeus didn''t know if she was mad or confused due to her apathetic tone, but he still replied, "Yes, you don''t seem like the type."


    "..."


    "..."


    They both stared into each other''s eyes for a brief moment before Chi Wu interrupted the silence by saying, "That makes sense¡­"


    "Yes, it does."


    "Do you want to see?"


    "See what¡­?"


    Azmodeus didn''t quite know what she was getting at, but his mind seemed to veer in the direction of those two milky white mountain peaks staring him down like they wanted to gobble him up.


    However, before such a ridiculous thought solidified itself inside his mind, Chi Wu said, "Do you want to see what a potion I refined looks like?"


    "Oh¡­ Sure¡­"


    The Crimson Devil Lord discarded his useless thoughts as he followed the actions of the Crimson Witch, who had already gotten up off her seat and walked toward the shop door.


    He had to essentially pry Pan Nu''s hands away from the shop''s door frame, but she eventually caved in under his persuasion, as he promised her that he''d go to all the chocte storester that day.


    After the coercion of the simpleminded yet intelligent girl, Azmodeus put her on his shoulders as he followed behind Chi Wu, heading along in whichever direction she was taking them.


    ...


    A few minutester, at the edge of a curved sidewalk, a tall red-eyed man, along with an adorable girl and a 5''6 blonde-haired beauty in a witch getup, found themselves looking up at arge,vishly decorated castle.


    It was a building that seemed extremely out of ce when put in the middle of the bustling streets.


    "Is this A-Block¡­?" Azmodeus inquired with a mildly amazed voice.


    "No, these are my private quarters, and there are a few just like this one if you look around the vicinity, as this entire city within the Emonius Triade is termed A-Block."


    Chi Wu''s response was followed by her walking up to the tworge metal gates with the initials C and W on the front. After which, she pushed them open and strolled into a lush, verdant green garden that quite literally had exotic birds roaming around. These birds did as they pleased in the area surrounding a massive, borately carved fountain of a peacock.


    "The rich truly do live differently than the poor¡­"


    Azmodeus''s dispiritedly murmured while following behind the woman who lived like a queen inside a castle that was bigger than all of F-Blockbined.


    The energy makeup of this ce likely exceeds that of the entire singleyered Infinity Construct called Prometheus¡­


    Even though he himself had a Life Treasure with the same level of ambience, just the energy contained within this castle far surpassed what he could ever hope to acquire for his Fallen Immortal Mountain in the short term.


    This was mainly because the castle itself was over a mile long, and it resided within a dimension of far higher existence value. To be more specific, it was all because of the Astral ne being a Second Layered ne of Infinity.


    In spite of this fact, Azmodeus leisurely strolled behind the expressionless witch as he looked at anything that he found interesting.


    And as he was doing this, he decided to ask, "To be a Potion Master, one must have a certain level of energy in order to concoct potions. But from what I''ve seen, no one here has even the smallest modicum of energy or Qi contained within their bodies. So how is it that there are so many Potion Master''s¡­?"


    This question made Chi Wu stop in her tracks as she turned behind her and said, "You think there are a lot of Potion Master''s? Oh¡­ Because of all those people who came to mock us¡­"


    She started to whisper to herself again as she paused her ramblings for a moment. After which, she said, "Azmodeus, the truth is that the Potion Master Profession is a dying one... and the reason for this lies in the exact point that you mentioned."


    "Ack of high-quality energy¡­?"


    "Yes, and from what I can discern, you''re from outside the Astral ne, likely originating from an area with abundant levels of energy."


    Chi Wu followed up those words by knocking on the tall, jewelry-encased doors of her home, seemingly waiting for something to happen.


    *Pitter Patter*


    And it didn''t take very long before rushed footsteps resounded from inside the castle interior.


    Not even half an instantter, a woman in a loose, frilly maid dress opened up the castle doors before shouting, "Wee home, mydy! I have already prepared a batch of tea and muffins for your return!"


    The maid had long ck hair with light golden eyes and a curvaceous body that could never hope to be concealed beneath her dress.


    However, it wasn''t her appearance that the Crimson Witch was focused on, as drool nearly dripped down her mouth while she mumbled, "You said muffins¡­? The usual?"


    The golden eyes of the maid brightened up as she replied, "Yes, my Lady! It''s just the way you like them! Although... I only made enough for you, and it seems like we have visitors¡­"


    She turned her effervescent gaze away from her master and scanned the appearances of the two guests that herdy brought home with her.


    Her original intent was to scrutinize them, making sure that her master hadn''t been deceived by any unsavory characters. However, after viewing the unparalleled appearance of a man akin to a seductive devil, her smile morphed into a mischievous smirk as she put her dainty hands up to her mouth before giggling.


    "It looks like mydy has finally found herself someone to warm her bed-"


    *Whack!*


    "Owchies!" The maid yelped while holding the top of her head. "You didn''t have to hit me so hard, My Lady! I was just kidding!"


    "...Just go and get the appetizers prepared, Lan Yu. You will do that while I bring Azmodeus up to my room to show him a few things."


    "Ho~? A few ''things'' in your private bedchambers, how naughty~-"


    *Whack!*


    "Just go and get it done," Chi Wumanded while pulling back her fist.


    "Oww¡­ Ye-Yes, mydy¡­"


    The maid whimpered and scampered away while holding onto the big red bump on her head.


    .....

 Chapter 157: An Empty World...

    .....


    It was only after the maid waspletely gone from view that Chi Wu looked behind her and asked, "Where were we again?"


    "You were talking about the insufficient energy of the Astral ne and the details regarding me being from outside of this world¡­ Something that I''m still not sure how you knew with absolute certainty¡­"


    Azmodeus understood that he gave a few indications of him not being from around here, but there was no way she knew with such assurance based on what he''s said so far.


    So how did she know¡­?


    However, his queries would soon be answered by the Crimson Witch, as she found herself walking ahead of him on a sleek flight of spiraling marble stairs.


    "I knew you were from and beyond the Astral ne solely because there is a certain gleam in your eyes¡ªone that doesn''t belong to those of this empty world."


    Chi Wu''s voice became eerily ominous toward the end, as she seemed to know something that little to no one else knew of in the Astral ne¡­


    "Empty world¡­? What does that mean?" Azmodeus inquired.


    "It''s nothing¡­ Forget I said anything. First off, let me exin to you why the Potion Master is a dying profession, a reason that also just so happens to be rted to your existence as an Astral Trial Participant."


    Chi Wu diverted the Crimson Devil Lord''s attention away from the topic without a hitch, as she continued by saying, "There are not enough spiritual stones and Star Stones to supplement theck of energy that we can utilize in this world. And the reason for this insufficient number of spiritual stones that we used to have in massive amounts is because of people like you¡­"


    "Astral Leap Participants¡­" Azmodeus muttered while walking through a few windy hallways on the fifth floor of the castle.


    "Precisely. It is due to ack of Astral Leap participants with extreme amounts of wealth that all our spiritual stone reserves are in decline. And as you know already, the Potion Master Profession is one that uses Spiritual Stones and Star Stones as midway points. These ''midway'' points allow us to utilize energy for potion making¡­"


    Chi Wu''s voice became a little despondent toward the end, as the subject of the Potion Master''s decline was a touchy one. And she wasn''t the only one sensitive toward that issue, as just about every single Potion Master was left in disarray after realizing that they would one day have to quit their practice.


    "The situation for those in the Potion Master Profession has really reached such a degree of destitution? Because of theck of Astral Leap participants no less¡­"


    Azmodeus could imagine a scenario like the spiritual stone reserves running dry, but it just didn''t make sense that it was only bing a noticeable problem as ofte.


    The natives of the Astral ne have likely been practicing the Art of Potion Making for countless years, and yet it was only just recently that they started running out of Spiritual Stones and Star Stones??


    It just doesn''t make any sense¡­


    As he was pondering the matter concerning the decline of the Potion Master''s, Chi Wu had already led him and Pan Nu into her room.


    Before they even realized it, they were weed with the sight of a room that was split into two areas. One side of the space was filled with variousmon bedroommodities, such as beds, small chairs, and a number of dressers, all light pink and blue in color.


    While the other side of the room had vials andb tables on every inch of the floor, some were spiraling, and some were in shapes that could only be described as four dimensional.


    But regardless of the abstract constructs and objects on that side of Chi Wu''s room, it left quite a vast contrast whenpared to the rest of the space.


    -


    "Do you know what it is that uses up the Qi within so many energy containers¡ªcontainers like spiritual stones?"


    Chi Wu''s oddly melodic voice resounded inside her unusual room as she stopped in front of a table that had numerous vials stacked on top of it.


    After which, she picked up a vial that looked like a coffee mug and handed it to Azmodeus.


    "???"


    The Crimson Witch noticed the confusion in his gaze, which resulted in her saying, "You should take a sip from that potion. It will allow you to understand just why so much energy is expended in the creation of high-level potions."


    "Okay¡­" Azmodeus responded after a moment''s hesitation. After which, he downed the golden contents of the potion without any inhibitions.


    "!!!" What the hell??


    WAAAA!


    An explosion of energy erupted from within his chiseled body as everything inside the room and even the castle itself started to violently shake!


    However, before it could get too out of hand, he reeled it in, and when he did, the amount of power gained from drinking that potion could be felt in full.


    "The Middle-Gold Rank¡­"


    Azmodeus couldn''t believe that such a simple potion had actually allowed him to breakthrough the bottleneck that prevented him from achieving the Middle-Gold Rank¡­!


    In spite of that, the next words of Chi Wu quickly cleared up his confusion, as she said, "That potion was of the Diamond Rank, and do you want to know the cost of such a potion?"


    "The cost¡­" Azmodeus suddenly got a bad feeling, and that feeling only became more prominent with what the Crimson Witch said next:


    "That potion will go for 10 billion Azura''s on the market, which is roughly the total worth of a high-ranking Duke in the Capital."


    "10 billion Azura''s¡­" Azmodeus muttered with a voiceced with astonishment. "Why is it that you let me consume such a valuable potion and breakthrough¡­?"


    What are her motives? Nothing is free in this world, and for one to give over something worth so much and expect nothing in return is impossible¡­


    Is it poison? Not immediate poisoning¡­ But some form of dormant poison that will show its effects at ater point in time¡­?


    ...¡­

 Chapter 158: More Than Chi Wu Bargained For...

    ...¡­


    "You truly are a cautious one." Chi Wu interrupted Azmodeus''s thoughts with her refined voice. After acquiring his attention, she continued by saying, "You don''t need to worry. I put no suspicious substances inside that potion, and as for the reason I gave it to you¡­ Well, I was hoping that you could be my bodyguard while I''m within the confines of the Emonius Triade."


    "Your bodyguard?? Why would you need me to be your bodyguard when it''s highly possible that you could even afford Diamond-Rank bodyguards¡­"


    Azmodeus wasn''t able to fathom why this mysterious woman would want a mere Mid-Gold Rank man as her bodyguard¡­


    Chi Wu picked up a couple more vials with multi-colored substances inside them as she walked over to her velvet-colored bed. She sat down with her legs crossed over one another in a sensual manner.


    "The reason I want you as my bodyguard is because no one else knows that I''m a Diamond Rank Potion Master. In fact, everyone in the Emonius Triade is still under the assumption that I''m in the Late-Silver Rank, which would still make me a genius in the eyes of the people."


    Chi Wu patted the spot right next to her on the bed. She was obviously inviting the handsome man over in the same way that he invited her at the cake shop.


    "..."


    Azmodeus observed the effortlessly seductive woman while feeling Pan Nu nibble on his ears out of hunger.


    He ignored theter issue and took short strides toward the alluring beauty. After which, he sat down in a debonair manner before awaiting the next words toe out of the enticingly red lips of the Crimson Witch:


    "You are quite the decisive one when it reallyes down to it. But regardless of that quirk, I would like to ask you if you''re willing to be my bodyguard and protect me from those who know of my identity¡­ People who could be far stronger than you¡ªpeople who are rapidly nearing my location as we speak¡­"


    "Your identity¡­? People are chasing after you not because of your proficiency in the art of Potion Making, but because of your identity as a special exams teacher- Oh¡­ So it''s this trope, huh?"


    Azmodeus was able to acquire a good sum of knowledge from all the heroes he absorbed, and through that knowledge, he understood many different things.


    It was through this knowledge that, if he wasn''t incorrect in his spections, this was surely the buildup of some sort of ''Foreign Noble/Princess setup''. On that note, Chi Wu was likely from some far-off country who escaped her fate.


    And just as he expected...


    "...You see, I may not have told you previously, but I am not from around these parts¡­ Well, at least not originally¡­ And though I have been in the Emonius Triade for thousands of years, the ones from my homnd have caught wind of my existence." Chi Wu spoke with a tone that contained a plethora of conflicting emotions as her icy countenance nearly cracked and shattered.


    However, before it could reach such a stage, a deep and raspy voice took her out of her reverie, as Azmodeus said, "I can do it. But you will need to tell me the time."


    "The time¡­?" Chi Wu questioned.


    "Yes, how long do we have before they get here?"


    The Crimson Witch wasn''t sure what that had to do with anything, but she still responded, "I don''t know of the exact date; however, I am sure that the first wave will be on our doorsteps within the next thousand years¡­ Which is not enough time to do anything to stop it¡­"


    She was putting all her hope in the deeply hidden talent of the handsome man sitting beside her, for there was truly no way that she could escape the pursuit of entities with far more strength and talent than she had¡­


    "A thousand years¡­?" Azmodeus''s furrowed brows eased up as he couldn''t believe he got so worked up over nothing.


    "???"


    Chi Wu was puzzled by the rxed posture of the man whom she had just requested to protect her from beings that could be countless times stronger than he was.


    Which was why she asked, "Why did the time that we have left change your tune¡­? One thousand years is not enough for anything¡­"


    "Tell me, Chi Wu, how long do you think it has been since I broke through the Gold Rank in Physical Existence Refinement?" Azmodeus inquired with an amused expression.


    "I don''t know¡­ Maybe three thousand years? I was surprised that you could breakthrough from a single Diamond-Rank Potion, but it should be around there."


    Chi Wu didn''t understand the questions being asked of her, but there was no harm in answering them, so that''s exactly what she did.


    However, her eyes would soon be pried open with the next words that came out the mouth of the Crimson Devil Lord¡­


    "I broke through to the Gold Rank a few days ago and have been in the Astral ne for a total of two and a half months." A small smile seemed to emerge on his face, as he was just waiting for the doubt.


    And¡­


    "How can that be!?"


    There it was.


    "You couldn''t possibly have reached the Gold Rank within two and a half months! And it''s even more impossible that you were on the precipice of the Middle-Gold Rank without more than a thousand years of refining your body!"


    Chi Wu had long since leaped up off the bed, interrupting the alluring view that was just there.


    But luckily for all the viewers out there, all the freaking out she was doing caused her milky white cannons to ricochet, creating an absolutely devastating sight for all the virgins who tuned in¡­


    Azmodeus nced at her enticing movements for a moment before saying, "You may not believe me just yet, but not a single word I''ve said so far has been a lie."


    "...You''re not kidding¡­"


    Chi Wu didn''t know what to make of this revtion, as such a thing truly being the case would mean¡­


    It would mean that the degree of genius that she wanted to hire on a whim turned out to be so much more than she bargained for¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 159: Split Consciousness, Potion Mastery

    ...¡­


    If it''s this man, then he might actually be able to¡­


    Chi Wu''s thoughts stirred as she stared at the devilishly handsome man like she found her saving grace!


    "Can you do it¡­? Within a thousand years¡­ Can you help me¡­" Her voice was strained, and her fists were clenched as she let some of her emotions show.


    "..."


    Azmodeus observed the intense emotions swirling around inside those pretty blue eyes of hers, as he just knew that she would end up turning out to be anotherplicated woman¡­


    A light sigh escaped his lips as he let one of his soft yet firm hands fall down onto that soft bed of blonde hair.


    "???" Chi Wu looked up with confusion apparent in her gaze.


    "I will take care of it. But if I do this for you, I will need something in return¡­ As that potion was far from enough to sate my thirst."


    Azmodeus spoke with a hint of avarice in his expression as he looked her body up and down like she was a prime piece of meat.


    He wants something. But what¡­?


    Chi Wu followed his gaze, and when she saw the passion inside his crimson-colored eyes, she immediately knew what he was after¡­


    "V-Very well¡­ Even though I have no prior experience, I will try my best to satisfy you¡­" She incoherently mumbled with flickering pupils as she attempted to look away from those two blood-red pools attempting to suck her in like inescapable abysses.


    "Really? You''re actually willing to be my Potion Master Tutor??" Azmodeus questioned with a hint of surprise in his voice.


    I didn''t think it would be so easy to acquire a tutor in the Diamond Rank of Potion Mastery, but it turns out that it was a lot easier than I expected it to be.


    "Your what¡­?" Chi Wu asked with a frazzled countenance, as she thought she was hearing things.


    But when Azmodeus rephrased the question and asked again, she realized that she had definitely heard correctly¡­


    Which ultimately led to quite the back and forth between the two of them as time passed.


    ...


    After a few minutes of discussing the terms of their rtionship as Tutor-Learner and Bodyguard-Protectee, Azmodeus left the room and castle of the Crimson Witch. With his dissapearence, there was still a woman trying to understand what had just happened during the past period of time...


    "Was I just indirectly rejected without my knowing¡­?"


    Chi Wu''s mumbling resounded inside the castle interior as she sat on her bed, waiting for her maid toe in and make fun of her for something she couldn''t even understand...


    Meanwhile, as the puzzled Diamond Rank Potion Master murmured to herself in a quizzical tone, Azmodeus, Pan Nu, and Pumpkin Wolfy walked through the streets of A-Block, heading back toward F-Block.


    F-Block will be where the true grinding willmence!


    With the addition of all these manuals from Chi Wu, I have obtained a way to progress through the Potion Master Profession without going to those ridiculous lectures being held at the Emonius Triade''s main building.


    At this thought, Azmodeus made his way through the marbled, modernish streets of A-Block ¡ª> E-Block before eventually finding himself at the all-too-familiar dorm building for F-Block.


    Upon opening up the doors of the building and walking up the spiraling stairs, he turned around for a brief moment and asked, "Do you like your new form, Pumpkin Wolfy?"


    "Awoof!" A small wolf-like puppy with dark ck spiky fur responded with an overjoyed bark while pompously walking behind the group.


    "It seems like Pumpkin Wolfy enjoys its new, more portable form¡­" Pan Numented from atop the shoulders of the crimson-haired man.


    "It does seem that way," Azmodeus replied with a content expression, as his mastery over the ''Size Maniption'' Star Law came in handy for once.


    But regardless of the work he did on Pumpkin Wolfy, it was time to begin the grindfest, so that''s exactly what he did as he walked through his room door before sitting down on the cultivation mat that he set down earlier that day.


    After which, he got toprehending the various profundities of Potion Concoction right away.


    And as he was doing that, a few system notifications rang out inside his head.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *Over thest hour, you have killed numerous beings of the Copper through Silver Rank, allowing you to add more than 1 million more lives to your murder board!*


    "My murder board¡­?"


    Azmodeus ignored the unusualment made by the Infinite Evolution System as he continued listening to the rest of the system notifications.


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 500 Million Points in your Physical Existence Refinement Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your Physical Existence has progressed by a substantial amount within the Middle-Gold Rank!*


    *Ding!* *You have absorbed a number of Physique''s of this world from the Experts that you ughtered!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained the Amornom Physique, Dragon Taming Physique, Avid Reader Physique, Spirit Thorn Physique, along with many others that are only in the Astral ne.*


    *Ding!* *Your Singrity Physique has improved by leaps and bounds due to all the high-level Physique''s that you''ve assimted.*


    *Ding!* *It is rmended that the host ascend from this ne of existence within the next few thousand years, so as to avoid the repercussions of possessing a Physique that shouldn''t exist in such a limited space.*


    Following all of the system notifications, Azmodeus perused them with one of his split minds while using another part of his split mind in order to beginprehending the secret manuals that Chi Wu had given him.


    One might wonder how he was able to split his focus in such a way. However, such an efficient way of multi-tasking was one part due to hisprehension speed and the other part because he had acquired a Trait called ''Consciousness Separation'' a while back.


    It was this technique¡ªalong with a few others with simr effects¡ªthat allowed him to put his focus on over four different things at the same time. Furthermore, this focus splitting wasn''t merely limited to his main body, as every single one of his Primordial Essence Clones could also use the same ability!


    The Mirror Mirage''s could use Consciousness Separation as well, but it wasn''t anywhere near as effective as using Primordial Essence Clones instead.


    In the end, anything that the Mirror Mirage''s could do, the Primordial Essence Clones could do as well. The only difference being that they could do it countless times better¡­


    For example, over thest few years, with all of Azmodeus''s clones and Mirage''s being assigned to different tasks, the effectiveness of both sides was roughly the same, even with the vast difference in numbers between the two.


    All in all, neither one of the two abilities was better than the other and had different strong suits. But regardless of their differences, both of them were currently hard at work when it came toprehending not only the Alchemist Profession, Formation Master, and such professions, but also the newest Potion Master Profession.


    In fact, they made absurd achievements over thest few hours, allowing Azmodeus to reach the Middle-Copper Rank with little to no effort!


    Additionally, he could now instantly concoct various Low-Copper Rank Potions in an instant with 100% efficiency rates. On top of that, the rate of progression within the Middle-Copper Rank was rapidly increasing, as it wouldn''t be long before the 50% efficiency mark was surpassed!


    And it was with this exponential rate of progression that time continued to pass within room #36,001 of F-Block¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 160: Years Later, A Birthday Party

    ...¡­


    1 year passed by within the blink of an eye, and as many things were changing within the Emonius Triade, a crimson-eyed manprehended theplexities of every single profession he knew of.


    When the Exchange Gathering ended at the 3 month mark, Azmodeus had already achieved the Middle-Bronze Rank in Potion Mastery.


    And when an entire half a year had flown past everyone inside the Astral ne, his Potion Master Rank had long since passed the Late-Bronze Rank, edging ever closer to the Peak-Bronze Rank.


    On a side note, during this past year, he had many visitors, of which included Chi Wu, who came to him under the pretense of ''Passing on some knowledge''. However, upon seeing how far he had advanced in his Potion Mastery, she understood just how unnecessary her presence was¡­


    After all, even for her, who was considered a genius in her heyday, it took nearly 20 years in order to reach the Late-Bronze Rank, and yet this devilishly handsome man had achieved the same feat in a twentieth of the time!


    Chi Wu was baffled, to say the least, but after being exposed to his nonsensical actions for thest year, she couldn''t even allow herself to be surprised anymore¡­


    Even so, Azmodeus''s tutor was just one of many visitors that came by over thest year. As for the others, there were a few of the staff that visited from the main building of the Emonius Triade, along with the Vice Headmaster, who was the highest-ranked member of the organization still on the premises.


    This definitely raised some red gs for the man who tried his best to stay under the radar. But in the end, Chi Wu had convinced Azmodeus that the Vice Headmaster was trustworthy, so he went along with garnering ''friendly rtions'' with the extremely scarce members of the Emonius Triade.


    On that note, from what he had gathered from the information told to him by Chi Wu and the others, he had learned that the total number of people in the enormous Emonius Triade Grounds was a mere 1500¡­


    Furthermore, of those 1500, only 200 were above the Bronze Rank, mixed up inside the Silver Rank, while there were less than a handful inside the Gold Rank.


    This Rank approximation also just so happened to corrte with the Ranks of their Physical Existences as well. Which was all to say that not only the auxiliary aspects but also the fighting aspects were severely limited inside the Emonius Triade¡­


    Of course, it wasn''t always this way, but after the changing of many Headmasters, Vice Masters, and students over thest hundred thousand years, the once mighty organization¡ªspanning not only the Azura Kingdom but also a good chunk of the MountainGod Empire¡ªwas reduced to less than a third-rate faction.


    All of their high-ranking Gold and Diamond Potion Masters had abandoned them, and their allies were annexing more and more of their territory with every passing day, exhibiting the highest levels of usurpation.


    To be honest, the remaining loyal members of the Emonius Triade wished they could simply fly up into the sky and get away from it all. But upon remembering that they didn''t have any Qi inside their bodies, that dream was dashed away in an instant.


    All because of Qi¡­ Because they didn''t have ess torge amounts of Spiritual Stones¡­


    That was the reason for their downfall¡­ But it would also be the reason that led the being who would bring salvation right to their doorsteps¡­


    ...


    Time passed by like a dream, swift and unimpeded in its never-ending path forward, as 7 years flew by without anybody knowing the better.


    It was on this day that Pan Nu, Azmodeus''s second disciple, officially turned 18. And to celebrate the day of her birth, he decided to bring the cheeky girl to her favorite cake shop in A-Block. Which also just so happened to be the same one where they had their first real conversation with Chi Wu all those years ago.


    Speaking of the Crimson Witch, she, along with Yang Hua, Nao Long, You Mie, Li Na, Bing Nu Shen, and Rou Tian, hade to the cake shop where Azmodeus and Pan Nu were waiting.


    Every single one of them wore spotted pointy hats with loose confetti straps tied around their necks. With such an appearence, they all had varying expressions upon seeing the girl who had grown up in what felt like a single night.


    They remember the day over 5 years ago, when they were able toe out of Fallen Immortal Mountain and see everything that had changed over thest decade.


    Even though less than a month had passed for them inside Fallen Immortal Mountain, they were aware of how long had gone by in the outside world...


    All of the girls feared that the man they loved had changed over the years, but surprisingly, he appeared exactly the same as he did when they met him in Prometheus.


    This came as a pleasant surprise for thedies of the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode, but along with that surprise came another one¡ªin the form of a 14 year-old girl¡­


    Although the possessive yandere''s were put on edge in the beginning, after interacting with the intelligent girling from a tragic past¡ªthey quickly got along with her. And with that bonding came the happy expressions that everyone wore upon viewing the misty-eyed woman officially bing a full-fledged woman.


    "Even though you''re an adult now, I bet you''re still as annoying as you were before!" Nao Long spoke with a light grumble as she pouted while swinging that unruly tail of hers behind her voluptuous figure.


    "You''re still upset that I beat you in chess the other day?" Pan Nu asked with a mature feminine pitch to her voice as she disappointedly shook her head.


    "Y-You didn''t beat me, you idiot! I''m a dragon! I don''t lose!"


    A bit of me came out of Nao Long''s ring nostrils as she stormed over to the desert products on disy and stuffed them all inside her face hole.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 161: A Complicated Question

    ...¡­


    "That woman is something else, alright¡­" Yang Huamented while standing in an elegant posture, talking about the dragon bimbo as she watched the unbothered crimson-haired man. She did so with that same obsessive gleam in her emerald-like eyes.


    "Yeah, she is a bit unhinged, but sometimes I''m a little jealous of how free she is when ites to expressing whatever she wants to," Li Na chimed in on the conversation with a posture just as sophisticated as Yang Hua''s.


    Following her voice, both she and the ''First Wife'' looked toward the other unruly woman, who at this moment was sneaking her way over to the dessert items on disy in a different part of the shop.


    And it didn''t take long before You Mei started munching away at everything that she fancied, all before the actual celebration even started¡­


    "That disciple of mine is¡­" Bing Nu Shen let out a soft sigh as she watched her second-eldest disciple devour anything in sight.


    However, even though all of them were criticizing the voracious pair of troublemakers, they wouldn''t deny that the treats were beginning to appear extremely appetizing¡­


    That was, except for one industrious woman who stood to the back of the group with a sleek, icy blue sword in hand.


    "I don''t understand how you all have such a sweet tooth when you should be more focused on cultivation instead," Rou Tian remarked with a judging look on her face.


    "..." "..." "..."


    The rest of the women looked at the eldest disciple of the Crimson Devil Lord. They should''ve figured that even during a birthday party like this one, she would never not stop being so serious. And it turned out that they were correct¡­


    "You can loosen up a little bit, you know?" Bing Nu Shen spoke with an awkward expression as she picked up a few desserts and began to take small bites out of them.


    "I don''t want to hear that from the woman who was acting like a stone-faced Tsundere for the first few dozen years after meeting my master."


    Rou Tian sneered before gleaming over her most recent understanding of the Sword Law.


    I was so close to achieving the precipice of something greater, but before I reached that point, these bums dragged me away from my cultivation¡­


    She was more than a little vexed because of what they had done, but upon seeing the gentle smile of her master focused on her, all that annoyance seemed to fade away like a cool spring breeze.


    "...Master-con¡­" Bing Nu Shen, Yang Hua, and Li Namented at the same time.


    The Ice Goddess wasn''t even mad about what that slick-tongued girl had said. After all, that man''s eldest disciple had it far worse off than she ever did when they were on Prometheus.


    "H-How dare you three, l¡­!" Rou Tian was utterly livid at the remarks made by the three Ice Queens, as she was on the verge of conjuring a deadly sword from thin air.


    One would usually be intimidated by the feisty woman who was capable of destroying entire buildings, even in this world. But for the three Ice Queens, upon seeing that profuse blush adorning the pretty facial features of their youngest niece, no amount of fright was able to ovee the mocking looks on their faces.


    "Y-You¡­!!"


    WAAA!


    Rou Tian was about to fight her mother''s right then and there, but before she could lunge forward, a soft, firm, yet gentle and soothing voice resounded inside the cake shop:


    "Come sit next to your master, my dear disciple."


    Azmodeus beckoned the hot-headed woman to his side as he made some room for her on the red cushion-lined booth he and Pan Nu were sitting at.


    WAAaa¡­


    Rou Tian''s aura immediately died down as she stammered, "Y-Yes, Master. I''ming over right now...!"


    She followed up these flustered words by walking up to the table surrounded by colorful balloons with the number 18 embedded on the front of them.


    But before she fully made it away from the rest of the girls, Rou Tian made sure to sh the most ''aggressive'' look she could make with those overly adorable features of hers.


    And in response to that fading expression, Yang Hua, her Eldest Senior Disciple, and her Master, simply giggled a bit before following right behind her.


    *Tsk!*


    Rou Tian clicked her tongue at the three women she called her Eldest Mother, Third Eldest Mother, and Fourth Eldest Mother. After which, she settled herself in right next to her master, sitting at just the right distance to revel in her master''s scent without making it too obvious¡­


    Unlike her ''Mother''s'', she was what one would call a ''closet pervert'', and the Crimson Devil Lord was abundantly aware of this little quirk. However, he preferred to overlook it as some sort of phase she was going through.


    Nevertheless, today was not Rou Tian''s day, so let''s get back to the birthday girl herself¡­


    -


    "How does it feel to be an adult now, my Second Eldest Disciple?"


    Azmodeus''s cold voice oozing of warmth echoed out inside the cake shop where they all gathered for events like these, buying out not only every single employee but also the store itself.


    And for today, there was no one but him and his group of girls inside of it, with all of them gathered around arge circr oak wood table. It sat at a spot where the sun''s rays lit up the interior of the establishment with just the right amount of resplendent splendor.


    All of the women were conversing among themselves, talking about cultivation, Azmodeus, professions, and mostly Azmodeus¡­


    On the other hand, as they were talking about various things centered around the man who started it all, the man in question nced over a menu that he had long since memorized.


    He was doing this while circting his Elusive Ascension Technique, limating his cultivation base through a little cheat code he figured out he could do after acquiring a Physique called the ''Ultimate Gatherer'' a few years ago. It was a Physique that allowed him to negate all wasted time that could be spent cultivating with the Elusive Ascension Technique.


    As he listlessly looked over a menu, the birthday girl tried to figure out what her answer should be to the plicated'' question that she was asked by her master¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 162: 20 Years, Peak-Gold Rank, Setting Down Da Mountain

    ...¡­


    "You know it''s not rocket science, right?"


    "???"


    Pan Nu was taken out of her thoughts by the calming voice of her master as she stared into those crimson eyes that seemed to be peering into her very soul.


    "I know I, along with the rest of those silly women, are the only people you have truly interacted with over thest decade. But if you want to say something, then there should be nothing holding you back."


    Azmodeus spoke such words with a small, imperceptible smile before returning his focus back to the menu that he liked reading for a reason unbeknownst to even himself.


    "..."


    Pan Nu observed the side view of her master as she couldn''t help but get lost in his mystical voice every time he spoke.


    She forced her gaze away from that hateful man as she understood what it was that her troubled senior sister had gone through over thest century.


    Rou Tian felt the sympathetic gaze focused on her as she turned her dazed face away from her master, instantly understanding what her younger junior sister was trying to convey.


    Finally, someone understands what I''ve been going through in solitude¡­


    She wasn''t one to visibly express any emotions, but if one looked close enough, then they would see tears building up within those brown doe eyes of hers.


    -


    After developing a deeper connection with her senior sister, Pan Nu turned her head back toward her master, as she knew what the answer to that question was.


    And her extremely well-thought-out answer was¡­!


    "I think it feels exactly the same as before¡­"


    Utterly ridiculous¡­


    Azmodeus looked away from his menu as he saw the serious look on his youngest disciple''s face.


    She''s not kidding, is she¡­?


    He didn''t know why he was shocked by the entricity of the women around him, but it always seemed to leave him baffled with each progressively silly thing that they did¡­


    "Just eat to your heart''s content for today¡­ And tomorrow, we will go over a few normal human interactions that one might have if faced with such a question¡­" Azmodeus sighed as he looked away from that weird disciple of his.


    "...Yes master¡­"


    At her master''s words, Pan Nu assumed she had answered the question incorrectly as she dispiritedly ate away at all the desserts being brought in on borately decorated tes by the waitresses.


    That glum attitude of hers likely would''vested for the rest of the night if not for the magical effects that Azmodeus''s pats were capable of inducing in every victim caught in their grasps¡­


    The night continued without a hitch, as everyone had their fun before going back to their respective cultivation spots, all of which just so happened to be in the same building as Azmodeus.


    Every single one of the girls managed to get a room right next to his, whether that be through the pulling of strings like what Chi Wu had done or through the more conventional route of signing up to be members of the Emonius Triade, like what Yang Hua, Nao Long, and the rest had done.


    But regardless of the exact location of the cultivation sessions, everyone quickly got straight to the arduous art of cultivation, all while staying in close proximity to Azmodeus.


    It was with this setup that time continued to pass for those rted to the man who would soon take the entire Astral ne by storm¡­


    ...


    In the blink of an eye, 20 years flew by.


    On the day that marked three decades sinceing to the Astral ne and taking the Astral Trial, Azmodeus decided to make a big choice for his continued stay inside the Emonius Triade.


    That exact choice was to set down ''Fallen Inmortal Mountain'' at a location north of the main buildings, outside the generally popted areas.


    This action was long overdue, and after such a long period of time inside the Emonius Triade, Azmodeus managed to garner himself quite a reputation. This was mainly due to all the times he sent out one of his Primordial Essence Clones to do various quests for the organization.


    Although most of these ''quests'' were really just ways for the sect to request the acquisition of spiritual stones through exploring and traveling the kingdom, it was still good enough to allow Azmodeus toe back with ''Obtained Boons''.


    Of course, the likelihood of him actually finding anything like a spiritual stone in the Azura Kingdom was extremely low. But if there was one thing that he had in surplus, it was ''Relinquished Goods'' from all the beings he had killed in his lifetime¡­


    And it was with these ''relinquished goods'' that he was able to gain the favor of not only Wu Zheng, the leading Vice Headmaster, but also the Middle-Gold Rank Headmaster, Chao Yuen. He was someone who had just returned from his expedition in the ''forbidden regions'' of the Azura Kingdom.


    Azmodeus was quite curious about these ''forbidden regions'' that everyone seemed to be intent on exploring after taking requests from the kingdom.


    However, after sending out a number of clones and Mirror Mirage''s a few thousand miles out, what he found was¡­ nothing much¡­


    All he found was a shroudednd, enveloped in a deep veneerposed of fog and mist, with every inch of thend nothing but a mystery for as far as the eye could see.


    There may or may not be anything within thatrge smoke screen, but that was something that didn''t really matter for the current Azmodeus. So after finding nothing of value, he diverted his focus elsewhere while keeping a few Mirror Mirages in the Forbidden Regions.


    As for the rest of his Primordial Essence Clones and Mirror Mirage''s, they were going about their tasks per usual, ''cleaning up'' thends and killing anyone that so much as looked at them the wrong way.


    Such actions may seem a tad bit cruel, but the world of cultivation was one where there was no room for soft-heartedness if one wanted continued progression.


    And it were these decisive actions taken by Azmodeus that allowed him to achieve the Middle-Gold Rank, Late-Gold Rank, and Peak-Gold Rank over thest three decades!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 163: Slowly Taking Over The Azura Kingdom

    ...¡­


    If not for the fact that the gap between the Gold Rank and Diamond Rank was insurmountable, then Azmodeus would surely be a Diamond Rank Expert by now.


    Such a scenario would subsequently put him on the same level as the top ruling forces of the Azura Kingdom!


    Speaking of the Azura Kingdom, Azmodeus had long since sent out a few ''Envoys'' toward the lower-ranking nobles of said kingdom under the guise of being affiliated with an organization called ''The Heaven Exploding Faction''. It was an organization that a few of his Primordial Essence Clones got up and running 15 years ago.


    Of course, they were under the orders of Azmodeus, as he had requested them to make an organization that would start at the very bottom rungs of society before making its way to the very top.


    This was done not only to improve his standing and begin the Kingdom Building Arc, but it was also done so as to acquire easier ess to various information rted to all the strong cultivators in the Azura Kingdom''s territory.


    And the reason that Azmodeus wanted to acquire this information was none other than the fact that he would not allow a single loot bag to escape his inescapable grasp!


    Just thinking about all the lonely loot wandering around the Azura Kingdom with no Loot Goblin to keep thempany was enough to leave him in tears...


    For this reason, he took it upon himself and made a sworn oath to find every single one of them and kill them all!


    Nevertheless, with the passing of time, many things had changed outside the confines of the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode. But not much was different for the residents inside of said cave abode.


    Even after more than two decades had forever disappeared from the timeline, Yang Hua, Nao Long, Bing Nu Shen, and the rest of the girls had progressed in their cultivation as per usual.


    One might wonder how they had made progress with their cultivation even though there was no Qi present within the Astral ne. And the truth of this matter was that Azmodeus had developed a Formation Rune Array 18 years ago called the ''The Divine Transference Formation''.


    The sole function of this extremelyplex Middle-Meteor Rank Formation Rune Array was to transfer the energy contained in Spiritual Stones and Star Stones to a cultivator. The best part about this Formation was that this could be done without the presence of Qi in the atmosphere!


    It was this very Formation Rune Array that made it possible for all members of the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode to once again be capable of gathering Qi and cultivating!


    Furthermore, with the addition of a secret manual called the ''Essence of Qi'', Azmodeus was able to copy the molecr makeup of any Spiritual Stones and produce a nearly infinite number of them.


    This unbelievable phenomenon not only solved the issue of continued cultivation, but it also helped in bringing the Emonius Triade back on its feet. Which, in return, would not only allow the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode to maintain a peaceful environment, but it would also improve the standing of an already established organization.


    Extending off that note, let''s say that the Emonius Triade was able to return to its past glory and get back everything they''ve lost.


    If such a scenario dide to pass, then the Heaven Exploding Cave Faction could springboard off the established foundation of an organization with over 100 thousand years of history!


    However, not everything was so good about everything that Azmodeus had altered and improved. One such unfortunate thing was that the ''Divine Transference Formation'' was incapable of assisting the native inhabitants of this world in building up a cultivation base outside of Physical Existence Refinement.


    He was still working on something that could potentially change that. But in the meantime, Chi Wu and all the other indigenous people of the Astral ne would have to settle with what they had in Physical Existence Refinement.


    In spite of all this, over the long years, and because of all the resources that the Crimson Devil Lord had copied the essence of, the various members of the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode managed to achieve the Half-Step Lunar Ascendancy Realm!


    Additionally, they managed to get to the Peak-Bronze Rank in their Physical Existence''s!


    There were obviously a few more outstanding ones that differentiated from the crowd, such as Rou Tian and Pan Nu. They were students who focused on cultivation andbat power 90% of the time, and thus, they were able to excel.


    While on the subject of progress, Yang Hua, Nao Long, You Mei, Li Na, and Bing Nu Shen had long sinceprehended the wide array of low-mortalws through the help of a ''Law Booklet for Comprehensions''. It was a booklet that Azmodeus had inscribed a few dozen years ago.


    On the other hand, Rou Tian and Pan Nu managed to not onlyprehend all the low-mortalws but also the far moreplex mid-mortalws, otherwise known as Starry Laws/Star Laws.


    This achievement not only made both of them geniuses even in the eyes of the people of the Astral ne, but it also allowed them to see the proud expression that their master made when he figured out they hadprehended over ten Star Laws.


    And for the two master-cons who craved their master''s attention above all else, that was enough for them to put ten times the effort into all things cultivation!


    But regardless of the two hopeless disciples of the Crimson Devil Lord, there were many more changes that happened outside the bounds of the newly ced Fallen Immortal Mountain.


    For example, the Azura Kingdom''s Nobles had noticed the presence of someone making big waves within their Single Leaf Ranked Kingdom. Because of this, they sent out headhunters, utterly unaware of the fact that the one making waves was the same one that owned the Heaven Exploding Faction.


    Furthermore, that wasn''t the end of his involvement, as he also owned a multitude of other Sect''s and organizations, all of which were attempting to get closer to the baron-level nobles at the outskirts of the kingdom.


    Azmodeus had already organized the creation of thousands of factions, including Merchant Traders, Hotel Managers, Town Lords, City Heads, Drug Lords, and various other organizations.


    And every single one of them had the same goal in mind with their creations, which was to slowly but surely take over every inch ofnd that epassed the Azura Kingdom!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 164: Becoming The Best Farmer

    ...¡­


    Azmodeus didn''t care if it was the dazzling blue seas and rivers that stretched on for as far as the eye could see or the rocky mountains and grassy ins; he wanted it all!


    Since the Ten Astral Principality Princes had given him the opportunity to farm within theirnds, he would be the best damn farmer there ever was!


    He didn''t care how long it would take or how many obstacles he would need to leap over, for in the end, nobody would be leftughing besides himself.


    Benefits! Benefits! All Azmodeus wanted were the Benefits!


    It was with this mindset that time continued to flip its never-ending pages for those rted to the Freakish Anomaly. Someone who had goals farrger and greater than anything the Astral ne had ever known.


    ...


    50 yearster.


    On one inconspicuous hour no different than the 23 that came before, a certain alien cat¡ªwho went by the name Jue Mei¡ªawakened for the first time in two centuries.


    "It looks like I will need to leave this lower ne of existence if I wish to break through the Lunar Ascendancy Realm¡­ But considering that the human wants to stay here for longer, I guess I will do something else."


    Following these cryptic words, Jue Mei lifted up her snow white paws and swiped in the air.


    *Bzzzzt¡­!*


    A slight fluctuation was felt within theyer of space that encapsted the Fallen Immortal Mountain. Unbeknownst to any of its residents, something started to change within the atmosphere.


    That change was due to the fact that Qi had started to flow and circte inside the isted area that made up Fallen Immortal Mountain...


    It was neither due to energy from within a Spiritual Stone or Star Stone, but the result of a natural current of Qi being transmitted from a slight crack that connected them with the outside Starry Expanse!


    And the cause of such an unexinable phenomenon urring inside the Fallen Immortal Mountain was none other than the mysterious alien cat, Jue Mei. A cat, who upon seeing that her little reality trick worked, decided to once again re-enter her deep slumber.


    FWIP!


    The moment she fell asleep, a crimson-haired figure in long, flowing red robes materialized from thin air.


    "..."


    He stared at the slumbering cat with an expression that seemed to be increasingly handsome with each passing year.


    It looks like she woke up for an instant¡ªchanged something within the very fabric of reality¡ªand then went back to sleep¡­


    I don''t understand¡­ Why is this Jue Mei staying inside of my Cave Abode, and why does everything performed by her contain enoughplexities to send my mind spiraling¡­?


    Even after analyzing what she had just done with great scrutiny, I still can''t figure out even the slightest modicum of the profundities within that small movement she made¡­


    Azmodeus pondered the matter for a few moments before heading toward the other members of the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode, telling them of what had changed.


    Speaking of change, over thest half century, many things went through many iterations of change.


    One of such major changes was the progression made by the girls, as all of them had, at the very minimum, achieved the Mid-Silver Rank, leaving them at the level where they couldplete the Astral Trial if they so wished to!


    And in the case of the Anomaly himself, he had not only achieved the Diamond Rank in his Physical Existence Refinement, but he had also progressed his Potion Master Profession to the Diamond Rank. This effectively made him the second Diamond Rank Potion Master within a radius of trillions of miles, epassing all of the Azura Kingdom''s territory!


    Furthermore, he had not only be a Diamond Rank Potion Master, but he had also be the equivalent of such a rank within all his other professions, namely the Moonlit Path Rank.


    Of course, achieving such a rank with all his professions in such a short period of time was most definitely impossible for a single person to achieve.


    But Azmodeus was not a single existence¡­


    He had enough clones (ves) to produce an army capable of taking over Earth in a single night, and with such a formidable force, he put them all to work!


    In fact, he even managed to slip a couple Primordial Essence Clones and Mirror Mirage''s into the slight crack that Jue Mei made in the fabric of reality, allowing him to make it back to Prometheus!


    Following this series of events, the Terrifying Crimson Devil Lord quickly took over the Ice Goddess Sect in the name of the Ice Goddess Sect Leader. After which, he spread his tyranny across every patch ofnd contained within the Boundless World.


    Of which, included the Maind, the Boundless Archipgo, and the various other enormousnd masses scattered throughout the Single Layered ne of Infinity.


    Azmodeus had sessfully be the Evil God of Prometheus after another 30 years passed. Though the name wasn''t really his style, he decided to go by that alias while amassing innumerable amounts of Evolution Essence from all the bugs that resisted his farming methods.


    And for some odd reason, the world itself seemed to give birth to an extremelyrge number of ''Heroes'' after he became the Evil God.


    He summed it up as the world''s way of counterattacking against the mayhem and apocalyptic destruction that emerged wherever he passed through.


    But regardless of the world''s attempts at resisting his rule, everything was proven futile, as all of the heroes served as nothing more than loot bags that assisted him in bing even stronger!


    -


    Meanwhile, as tumultuous chaos was ongoing within the Single Layered Infinity ne (Prometheus), a few visitors in ostentatious attire¡ªpossessing power in the Early-Diamond Rank¡ªwere on the front doorsteps of Fallen Immortal Mountain. A mountain that was located directly outside therger mountain called ''Psyon Mountain''.


    The nobles from the Assembly are back, huh¡­


    Azmodeus''s thoughts stirred as he sent out his Divine Sense and said, ''You maye in''.


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 165: Stats In The Quindecillions

    ...¡­.


    "..." "..."


    After hearing the ancient and archaic voice of the man who lorded over Fallen Immortal Mountain, both of the Early-Diamond Rank Nobles from the Royal Capital of Azura walked through the entrance of the cave abode. Upon entering, they saw a number of divinely beautiful women on their way to where the strongest presence originated from.


    "Are those the Viscounts who¡­-?"


    "Yes, they are. Now get back to cultivating, my dear disciple, or this master of yours will get further ahead of you," Bing Nu Shen responded with a slight smile on her gorgeous face.


    "Ahh! You really think that you''re going to win that bet before I do, master!? You must have too many of your brain cells put into those big balloons if you think you canprehend the Starry Law of crity before I do!"


    You Mei started cultivating harder than ever following the response she made to her master. She circted massive amounts of the Qi that was flowing in from outside the Astral ne.


    "Ho? You''re a tenacious one, but that is not nearly enough for you to get one over on your master."


    Bing Nu Shen wore an amused look on her face as she continued to put all her focus intoprehending the trace slivers of the Law of crity that were imbued into the outside world''s Starry Qi.


    -


    Meanwhile, as master and disciple were having a littlepetition in one of the side rooms of the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode, Azmodeus was weed with the sight of two old men with slightly wrinkled skin. They wore dark ck and green robes with gold outlines adorning the intricately woven embroidery of their clothes.


    "..."


    Azmodeus slightly opened one of his eyes, as his piercing gaze could be felt within the very souls of the two on-looking nobles.


    And contrary to how two Diamond Rank Physical Existence Master''s would act upon being the target of such a menacing stare, both of them immediately fell to their knees!


    *Thud!* *Thud!*


    "Master! We have managed to get your Baron-Rank honorary titled clone an invitation to the most prestigious noble gathering at the Divine Duke Household of Doxing in the Royal Capital!"


    Azmodeus flipped his apathetic gaze across the two old men bowing before him in reverence. He said, "Is that so¡­"


    After which, he pulled out a couple of unknown metallic objects from his storage ring and threw them in the direction of the pair of Viscounts.


    "This is your reward for getting this done on my behalf. Make sure to use them to increase the defenses of your respective territories."


    *Piang!*


    "!!!" "!!!"


    Both of the nobles caught the metallic objects in the shape of octagons with mysterious symbols on the sides of them. Upon realizing what they were, their expressions instantly turned to ones of jubnce.


    "Thank you very much for the Moonlit Path Rank Formation Rune Array''s, Master! We will make sure they don''t go to waste!"


    The Viscounts eximed in unison before bowing once more and heading back out the way they came in.


    After which, Azmodeus was left in his private cultivation chambers, ncing over the plethora of system notifications bombarding his vision. After which, he took a look at the system interface that had continually evolved after such long periods of time.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: ~300/160,000] (Increased due to Physique''s and Traits with relevant boosts)


    [Cultivation: Peak Stages of the Half-Step Lunar Ascendancy Realm (umting Cultivation base ¡ú can breakthrough at any moment).]


    [Cultivation V.2: Physique Existence Refinement ¨C Late Stages of Early-Diamond Rank]


    [Overall Combat Power: Initial Stages of the Early Moonlit Path Realm]


    [Level: 195]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 120 Quindecillion Evolution Essence]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: ~500 Quindecillion Evolution Essence]


    {[Stats:]}


    [Strength: 5.2 Quindecillion]


    [Speed: 6.9 Quindecillion]


    [Defense: 5.8 Quindecillion]


    [Qi: 9.5 Quindecillion]


    [Cultivation Talent: Early-Moonlit Path Rank]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Physique Coalescence - Level 5] (A Rank)] ¡ú [0/1 Sexdecillion]


    [Mirror Mirage - Level 5] (A Rank)] ¡ú [0/1 Sexdecillion]


    [Various other Traits] ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [Overall Attribute Boost: A Rank - (Level 5)]


    {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters]}


    [Singrity (Middle-Moonlit Path Rank)]


    [Various other Physique''s] ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [Overall Attribute Boost: Middle-Moonlit Path Rank]


    {[Laws]} ¡ú


    ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [All 300 Low-Mortal Laws have beenprehended to 100%, sessfully achieving Law Coalescence.] ¡ú [All Low-Mortal Laws have be Star Laws; adding onto the alreadyprehended Star Laws leaves the host with 920 Star Lawsprehended to Level 3+]


    {[Weapon Comprehensions]}


    [Main Weapon] ¡ú [Sword] ¡ú [Primary Art: Iaijutsu] ¡ú [Early-Moonlit Path Rank]


    [Plethora of other Weaponprehensions: All Mortal Weapons Comprehended to the Peak-Meteor Rank and Above]


    [Reminder! Physical Existence Rank Boosts are included in the stat calctions due to it being part of the corporeal form aspect of existence.]


    ¡ª------------


    After looking over his system interface for a few moments, Azmodeus obtained a better understanding of just where the system quantified his immense progress.


    And to say the least, he was baffled by the degree to which the Infinite Evolution System took his stats¡­


    To have them in the Quindecillion''s¡­ Just how many zeros are within such arge number¡­?


    He already knew the answer to his question, as there were 48 zeros following the unit at the front. But that didn''t stop him from being surprised by the mind-boggling changes that his stats had gone through over thest century.


    Gaining more strength was what he wanted more than anything else, so he wasn''t one toin. Furthermore, if his predictions were urate, he should be able to surpass the Astral Principality Princes within the next few hundred years!


    He might even be capable of outpacing the eventual approach of the powerful masters on Chi Wu''s tail!


    But regardless of his stats, there was something that caught his attention at an even deeper level.


    That something being the fact that he was able to breakthrough into the Lunar Ascendancy Realm at any moment in any time!


    Of course, he had the option to breakthrough many times over thest half century. But he waited such a long period of time so that the absolute best foundation could be obtained while he was still in the first section of Mortal Realms¡­


    However, the time was nigh!


    The time for a breakthrough!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 166: Solving The Spiritual Stone Issue

    ...¡­


    Considering how big a step it was for one to breakthrough into the Lunar Ascendancy Realm from the Mahayana Realm, it was actually quite smart of Azmodeus to prolong his breakthrough for so long.


    Furthermore, he wasn''t the only one who had this train of thought, as Jue Mei had been thinking along these lines since the very beginning.


    It was the same for the rest of the girls in the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode, as all of them were holding off on breaking through to the Lunar Ascendancy Realm. They amassed morebat power while waiting for Azmodeus to give the go-ahead for a breakthrough.


    Due to this prolonged group session, every single one of the inhabitants of the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode had surpassed their realm inbat strength. Some of the more industrious ones like Rou Tian and Pan Nu achieved nearly 2 major realms above their own!


    Although they were nowhere near the level of freak that the Anomaly was with his four major realm strength gap, they were still at a stage where they could be considered Heavenly Geniuses of the Starry Expanse!


    Nevertheless, the strength of all the girls was just one of many things that changed over the years. Another one of such changes was that the surrounding topography and even the Azura Kingdom as a whole were going through too many alterations to properly gauge the full extent of them all.


    For example, the Emonius Triade¡ªan organization in which Azmodeus set his Life Treasure down next to¡ªmanaged to have a number of their past memberse back in droves after learning of all the progress that was being made by those who stayed around.


    With all the excess Spiritual Stones and Star Stones lying around inside the bounds of the Emonius Triade, the 1500 or so members were able to increase their Potion Master Ranks by leaps and bounds!


    Some of them had already advanced entire major realms within the Potion Master Profession over thest century, and that was not an umon urrence either!


    Even the old Headmaster himself had managed to jump up from the Middle-Gold Rank to a state nearing the Peak-Gold Rank, which was an aplishment that he was exceptionally proud of.


    Breakthroughs like this one were verymon among those of the Emonius Triade. It was not because their talent suddenly spiked, but because all of them had long since umted the necessaryprehensions in the Potion Master Profession. All theycked was an appropriate amount of energy in order to make use of saidprehensions.


    Of course, every single member of the Emonius Triade knew where these Spiritual and Star Stones wereing from. In fact, they had been thinking of an appropriate reward to give to their ''Lucky exploring charm''. After a period of long, hard thought, they eventuallynding on allowing him to shoot straight up from B-Block status to the level of an Elder!


    And if he continued to make miracles happen with all of the Spiritual Stones he brought, then it would surely be no longer than a few hundred years before he would once again be able to rocket up in status from an ''Elder'' to a ''Grand Elder''. If luck permitted it, he might even be able to be a ''Supreme Elder'', which would put him at the same level as the Headmaster!


    Nevertheless, all of this was merely what had happened inside the Emonius Triade,pletely excluding everything that had changed outside of the organization''s grounds.


    One of such things that had gone through drastic changes was the status of all unofficially affiliated factions of the Heaven Exploding Faction.


    Azmodeus''s clone''s managed to uproot the majority of the low-ranking nobles, whether through coercion like with the two Viscounts earlier or by using methods such as brainwashing for the more stubborn one''s.


    Another thing that had shifted within the political climate of the Azura Kingdom was the status of the Heaven Exploding Faction itself. They not only had its position in the eyes of the people elevated to an entirely new level, equal to that of a Marquis. But they also managed to monopolize various aspects of the Kingdom''s economy.


    Azmodeus, his Primordial Essence Clones, and his Mirror Mirage''s have been creating a wide array of new creations and products that came from Earth. And with a little spoofing up using the cultivation world MO as the guidelines, everything they produced was made a trending item.


    All of which were capable of affecting massive chunks of the Azura Kingdom''s market, essentially allowing the Crimson Devil Lord to be a forerunner for niches like beauty, entertainment, food, and household appliances.


    Through this method of utilizing his memories of Earth and his already highprehension speed, which allowed him to see potential ups and downs in the market, he was able to amass no small sum.


    Just his liquidated worth alone had surpassed the tens of quadrillions of Azura''s, making him one of the richest Tycoons in the kingdom!


    And that wasn''t to even mention the hundreds of quadrillions of Azura''s that he kept inside the market in order to keep money flow at an all-time high!


    But regardless of how many things Azmodeus modified about every form of climate in the Azura Kingdom, nothing ever seemed to satisfy him. In fact, he was already nning to go to the Assembly being held by Duke Doxing in the Royal Capital.


    This was just the opportunity he had been waiting for, as he could slip into the Assembly/Party with only the highest-ranked of his Primordial Essence Clones.


    So far, a total of sixty-five nobles of variegated noble ranks havee to the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode, informing him of all the clones that managed to obtain an invitation to the all-inclusive party being held a few million miles to the North.


    This was where nobles from every part of the kingdom would congregate so that they could show off something in their possessions. They also made use of the meeting and proposed business deals for any rted parties.


    All in all, the Assembly was a good way for anyone to gain an extremely sturdy foothold within the Azura Kingdom as long as the cards were yed right.


    And Azmodeus would sure as hell y his cards right...!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 167: Lunar Ascendancy Realm, 5th Star

    ...¡­


    If everything was done in an eptable fashion, then a newbie noble could even hope to obtain a direct rank up to something that would lead to a rank up in noble rank.


    There were even a few of the luckier ones that were capable of acquiring the favor of someone like Duke Doxing, his daughter and sons, or even the very King of the kingdom himself!


    A king that would most definitely be going to the Assembly set up by his favorite Duke and also the one who was most loyal to him.


    His intentions were unknown; however, everyone knew that the Duke called this gathering of high-ranking figures an Assembly, when in reality, it was nothing more than a fancy phrasing for the 1000th birthday party of his eldest daughter, Jia Lei. She was someone who hade back from the Double Leafed Mithros Sect in order to meet up with her family and celebrate her birthday.


    But all of the Nobles knew that the true reason she hade back was to show everyone that she had sessfully be a Core Disciple of the prestigious Mithros Sect. Her purpose for doing this was so she could quell any thoughts of rebellion among the leeches and opportunists within the Court of Nobles.


    Little did she know that a storm of unparalleled chaos would soon arrive in the Royal Capital of Azura, and the chaos wasn''t nning to leave until he obtained the absolute maximum amount of benefits that he could!


    ...


    After looking over all the things that had changed in thest few dozen years, Azmodeus decided it was time to attempt his breakthrough into the Lunar Ascendancy Realm.


    Considering that it had already been 10+ years since Jue Mei broke through into the Lunar Ascendancy Realm, he figured that it was time he made the jump into the Lunar Ascendancy Realm as well.


    So that''s exactly what he did, as Qi swirled inside his private cave abode, originating from not only the crack in reality but also the energy leaking out from the Star Stones and Formation Rune Array''s. All of which were set up in every corner of the Cave Abode in order to maximize the density of Qi on Fallen Immortal Mountain.


    It was with this level of Qi that Azmodeus focused on his breakthrough into the Lunar Ascendancy Realm, actively trying to convert his Basic Qi into a higher-quality Starry Qi. Which was what all cultivators in and above the Lunar Ascendancy Realm utilized.


    This was aplicated process that required one to put all their focus into guiding the conversion process. However, for the freak of nature, the moment he converted the dull gray liquid inside his Dantian Space into a brighter and more luminescent starry white liquid, the rest of the conversion process progressed as smoothly as could be.


    One drop converted into two¡­ and two became ten¡­ ten to a hundred¡­


    The pattern continued like this until the vast and expansive sea of Qi within his Dantian Space had been reworked from the ground up, transforming into a dazzling sea of stars!


    It was at the exact moment in which Azmodeus converted what felt like the quadrillionth drop of Basic Qi into Starry Qi that his entire Dantian Space lit up in a dazzling sh of light!


    BLING! BLING!


    Eruptions of Qi urred in every section of the Dantian Space as energy collided and coalesced with one another, creating a mesmerizing view beyond words!


    BLINGgg¡­


    However, the extremely active Qi eventually died down as the Starry Sea of Qi became as tranquil as a fresh spring breeze.


    At the center of this Sea of Starry Qi, there was an almost mirror copy of a crimson-haired man with unparalleled beauty sitting in a lotus position. He was being passively washed over by newfound strength far surpassing what he previously possessed.


    This figure was none other than the Nascent Soul and Essence Soulbination of Azmodeus, which sat at the extreme epicenter of his Dantian Space. Thisbination of soul''s absorbed all the gains from this most recent breakthrough before transmitting said gains to the main body.


    WAAAA!


    And with arge release of suppressed power inside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode, his breakthrough into the Lunar Ascendancy Realm had sessfully solidified!


    "A breakthrough¡­ But it looks like everything I umted before breaking through is starting to hit me all at once¡­"


    OOOM!


    He felt his strength try to fly out of control, as he might''ve umted just a tad bit too much cultivation base while inside the Half-Step Lunar Ascendancy Realm. It didn''t help that he was in the Half-Step Realm for more than a century...


    WAAA!


    The bubbling of energy inside his core ultimately reached a point where there was no more turning back or chances for repressing the inevitable. However, it wasn''t like Azmodeus was going to deny its advance any further, so he allowed it to hit him all at once with unrelenting passion!


    WHAZOOOM!


    Energy swirled around inside Azmodeus''s private cave abode as it violently rushed out of his body and swished into his Dantian like an unstoppable tsunami!


    ...


    After a few minutes of back and forth between Azmodeus''s body and his Dantian Space, the realm progression started to hit him like a raging river, resulting in an explosive increase cultivation base.


    Early Stages of 1st Star Lunar Ascendancy -


    Peak Stages of 1st Star Lunar Ascendancy -


    Initial Stages of 2nd Star Lunar Ascendancy -


    Middle Stages of 2nd Star Lunar Ascendancy -


    Half-Step Stages of 3rd Star Lunar Ascendancy -


    Middle Stages of 4th Star Lunar Ascendancy -


    Early Stages of 5th Star Lunar Ascendancy -


    The rapid cultivation realm improvements finally calmed down after achieving the 5th Star Lunar Ascendancy Realm. After which, it eventually showed signs of slowing down in the Middle Stages of the 5th Star, finallying to aplete halt at the Late Stages of the 5th Star Lunar Ascendancy Realm!


    "With this new cultivation base and a perfect foundation, my strength should''ve definitely improved to untold levels¡­"


    Azmodeus was correct in his assumptions. However, even though his power had increased countless times, it still wasn''t enough for him to reach even the Late Moonlit Path Realm inbat power¡­


    .....

 Chapter 168: Marquis Amonroth

    .....


    In the end, the Moonlit Path Realm is a realm unlike the ones that came before, with each further realm being analogous to chasms that no amount of effort could hope to help one cross¡­


    Azmodeus''s thoughts stirred as he realized the cold, hard truth of the matter, and there was nothing that could be done about it.


    But there was still plenty of time until he would need to face off the Astral Principality Prince''s that likely neared the Forger Realm, so there was definitely room for improvement.


    One might wonder why Azmodeus was so adamant about taking on the Ten Astral Principality Princes and eventually killing them. However, the truth of the matter was that he had no real reasons behind his motives; he simply wished to obtain ten juicy loot bags¡­


    "Loot¡­"


    Azmodeus''s dazed murmurs of loot could be heard by no one but himself as he stared up at the roof of his cave. He thought about all the loot he would obtain if the Assembly in the Royal Capital went as nned.


    Speaking of the Assembly, a number of Primordial Essence Clones and Mirror Mirages were on their way to the Royal Capital of Azura at this very moment.


    Dozens of them traversed therge, verdant green mountain peaks and rocky terrain of the area that separated the Emonius Triade and everything north of it.


    There were a few cities and towns in between the two locations, but they were few and far between, with very minimal benefits for the Loot Goblin, so he left them alone and repressed the inner Viking within him.


    He wanted to pige and plunder, take all the loot, and kill the ones deemed untasteful before going on his merry way with good hauls. But with his clone''s statuses, he had to be careful which settlements he massacred and with which clone''s.


    Such actions would also lead to the economy being affected, and that was a big no-no for the money-hungry cave camper. So in the end, he had to force himself to only Assimte those he knew would not affect his ns of world domination.


    These individuals included people like bandits, looters, raiders, mercenaries, pirates, smugglers, and anything else that was far past what was considered ''morally gray'' in Azura.


    This still allotted a number of points in his Physical Existence Rank, so not everything was so bad. However, of the many clones going to the Assembly in the Royal Capital, there was one in particr who was ying the part of a Marquis¡ªMarquis Amonroth.


    There would be many things that would change upon this Primordial Essence Clone making it to an especially opulent mansion to the north of the Capital¡­


    -


    "This must be where the various nobles n to meet¡ªthe Doxing Mansion."


    Azmodeus looked at the massive 100 thousand+ square foot mansion in the distance. He didn''t know if he had ever seen anything so shiny and expensive-looking in his entire life.


    Just one look at the resplendent gold shillings and dazzling diamond pirs of the building was all it took for one to understand that Duke Doxing was an extremely affluent man. It also seemed like he was one who doted on his daughter¡­


    "All these statues of a beautiful woman¡­ This must surely be for the birthday celebration¡­"


    Azmodeus nced at the dozen ice statues scattered throughout the mansion grounds, as some form of holy water gushed out from the mouths of all of them. It made for quite the mesmerizing sight when stacked up alongside the wide array ofvishly decorated spiritual ships flying in from all directions.


    WHIZZ! WHIZZ!


    A couple rtivelyrger ones zipped in from a far-offnd. The ostentation emitting from their exteriors was enough to leave one blinded due to all the jewels embedded on their oblong starboards.


    On the front of this pair of ships, there were two different emblems¡ªemblems that indicated the factions that the owners of the ships were affiliated with.


    And considering the extravagance of their rides, it was highly probable that they came from Marquis households.


    To have two Marquis''s join in on the party so early on¡­ It seems like this Duke Doxing is quite the popr one¡­


    Azmodeus hadn''t had any interaction with the Duke with any of his Clone''s, but he had heard of his benevolence and magnanimous acts over the years. With the main topics of discussion being centered around his eldest daughter, Jia Lei.


    She was known not only for her beauty and talent, but also for the fact that her father was overprotective to the degree that he would go to any lengths to kill the one who even so much as slighted her with a curse word.


    The number of men that Duke Doxing has killed in order to keep his daughter away from suitors has long since passed the millions¡­


    But regardless of his homicidal actions, everyone in his territory and the surrounding territories still thought of him as the saint who was meant to save the world.


    This was not only due to all the fundraisers and civilian benefit acts that he started up over thest few thousand years. But it was also because he made sure to produce only the best of things in his territory¡ªa territory that mainly consisted of expansive wheat and spiritual grass fields.


    The amount of money that he had made for not only himself but for his citizens as well had already surpassed anything that any other fief within millions of miles could hope to imitate!


    So even if he went on killing sprees because of his eldest daughter and younger daughters, no one really cared¡­


    -


    It had been over three hours since Azmodeus arrived at the Doxing Mansion, and all of his clones were already inside the Mansion''s interior, leaving him as the only one left outside.


    The majority of the high-ranking and low-ranking nobles had long since arrived as well, so he figured it was time for Marquis Amonroth to make his grand entrance!


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 169: Duke Doxing And The Marquiss

    ...¡­.


    WHAZOOM!


    A phenomenon unlike any other materialized in the skies above the massive Doxing Mansion, as something beyond splendorous shattered the gap between the void. It caused dark purple sparks to shoot out into the violent winds.


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    The strongest of the nobles gathered inside the mansion were immediately alerted by this grand, majestical aura. Even though they possessed no cultivation bases, they could feel the fluctuations in the very essence of the world from many miles away!


    "Who the hell is that!?" A Count eximed, his astonished figure standing outside the mansion''s doors, looking up at something that could only be described as otherworldly.


    "To have a ship sorge and dazzling¡­ Just which household does hee from¡­?" Marquis Bing inquired with a look of disbelief etched across his horse-shaped face.


    As a multitude of nobles chatted among themselves while staring at the hull of a Star Stone adorned Star Ship, a bulky, stone-faced man wearing clothing befitting of a Duke pushed away the crowd of people at his doorsteps.


    "Move out of the way for the Duke!" Someone among the crowd announced. Everyone else quickly dashed away from the centerline.


    "Did hee for my daughter''s birthday party¡­? That bastard¡­" Duke Doxing muttered to himself with an expression that was bing increasingly reddened.


    He had only invited that stupid Marquis Amonroth because it would be rude to ignore an up-anding rising Marquis as rich as he was. But never in the Duke''s wildest imagination would he have expected the man rumored to be ''The most handsome in the Azura Kingdom'' toe to his daughter''s birthday party!


    I cannot allow my beloved daughter to catch a glimpse of¡­


    His thoughts paused for a moment as he tried to find the man in question. But they resumed in vehement annoyance the moment he saw the godlike crimson-haired man standing atop his ship''s bow like a divine deity who came down from the Heavens to grace themon folk!


    Never in my lifetime will I allow my precious daughter''s to fall into the grubby clutches of this bastard!!


    Duke Doxing practically fumed from the top, as all the surrounding nobles could visibly see the fury waves emitting from his stalwart figure.


    While the nobles were distracted by the livid demeanor of the highest-ranked among them, the dragon-themed ship of Marquis Amonroth touchednd with the grassy fields. These fields served as thending area for the various nobles.


    After which, a man of unparalleled beauty leaped off the tip of his ship''s bow with both his arms crossed behind his back.


    "I see that you all are doing quite well," he remarked while passing all the Nobles who used to be of a higher rank than him.


    However, over the course of half a century, many things could change, and with Azmodeus''s borderline psychopathic tactics, nothing was impossible.


    Add in a few ''unorthadox'' tactics, and a once thought to be insane task was made possible...


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    Everyone stared at the beautiful man leisurely strolling past them with their mouths agape.


    Not even a few dozen years ago, this man was nothing more than a Baron with far above average looks. But upon looking at the golden dragon emblem embroidered on his slick red suit, they all realized that he had be a Marquis!


    "How was I unaware of this!? A Baron bing a Marquis in 50 years!? And so young as well!"


    "Impossible! There is absolutely no way that someone could skyrocket straight from a newly dubbed Baron to a Marquis only using ''yer Achievements'' within 50 years!"


    "I must surely be dreaming¡­ There was even a time that I insulted Amonroth at a gathering in my Count Mansion¡­"


    Many people had varying reactions as they watched the Marquis walk past them like they didn''t exist. However, the consensus among them was that it was absolutely impossible for Amonroth to be a Marquis!


    But when the elephant in the room reached the higher-ranking Marquis''s, their doubtful thoughts were dashed away in an instant¡­


    "It''s so very nice to meet you after your private coronation ceremony in the King''s Castle, Marquis Amonroth!"


    "!!!" "!!!"


    The friendly, boisterous voice of Marquis Danish took all the Counts, Barons, and Baronesses out of their stupors as they collectively shot their heads in the direction of a tall man.


    This man had his ck hair tied into a bun and his attire suiting the one titled the ''General of the Northern Straights''¡ªsomeone who was predicted to have killed more men than seconds that one had in a lifetime.


    "It is very nice to meet you as well, Marquis Danish." Azmodeus gave a cordial nod before his crimson eyes caught sight of a rather corpulent Marquis toward the back of the group. "I see you are doing quite well for yourself, Marquis Marco."


    An imperceptible smirk emerged on his chiseled features as he looked toward a middle-aged man with a belly rounder than a dumpling¡ªa man who was one of the prime reasons why he wasn''t able to be a Marquis sooner.


    "!!!" Marquis Marco started profusely sweating as his absurd amount of jewelry jingled a little before he responded, "Y-Yes, I was doing alright¡­ But that ''alright'' became amazing the moment you showed up, Marquis Amonroth!"


    Azmodeus observed the sweating pig for a few moments before eventually losing interest as he shook hands with the rough palms of Marquis Danish.


    After which, he spoke to a few more of the Marquis''s before ultimately finding himself face-to-face with the smiling expression of Duke Doxing.


    "It truly is my utmost honor to meet the one rumored to be the worst terror that the Vermillion Phoenix Providence has ever known. All of us have heard of the one who fought alongside Marquis Danish at the Battle of Riverpass Edge."


    The Duke''s words came out with twitching eyelids. He hated that Marquis Amonroth was even more handsome in person!


    This bastard must never be allowed to go near my daughters!! Never ever ever!!!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 170: A Fan Girl...

    ...¡­


    ''Alfred!''


    While exchanging pleasantries with the biggest yboy in the Kingdom, Duke Doxing sent out a voice transmission to his Head Butler


    ''Yes, my Lord!?'' A voice echoed out inside his head less than an instantter.


    ''Keep Jie Lie away from the main venue as I attempt to get this sneaky Marquis Amonroth bastard out of my territory!''


    ''B-But, My Lord¡­ Is it truly wise to keep the young Miss away from her own party¡­-?''


    ''I don''t care, Alfred!! Just get it done, and make it quick!''


    ''...''


    Alfred let out a soft sigh at the words of his master as he replied, ''Yes, my Lord. It shall be done.''


    Following the response of his head butler, Duke Doxing cut off the connection powered by Star Stones before leading the overly elegant Marquis into his home.


    He was pissed off that even his movements were refined and above the rest as he discreetly clicked his tongue before having him go check out the kitchen and dining area of his home. The home itself was filled to the brim with diamond-iid chandeliers and spiraling marble stairs that practically oozed of opulence.


    The number of rare and exotic paintings that Duke Doxing has inside his mansion is a tad bit excessive¡­


    Azmodeus observed his surroundings, noticing all the intricately and borately decorated walls of the home of one of the richest men in the country.


    As he scrutinized the disy of affluency of the man he was tagging along behind, a small figure popped her head out of one of the many hallways inside the mansion.


    "???" Azmodeus saw a short, 8¨C9 year old girl appear out of the corner of his eye as he wondered how a kid got into the gathering of Nobles.


    One of the Duke''s daughters, maybe¡­?


    He assumed that was likely the case as he noticed that the girl had her curious gaze focused on him. Her big yellow eyes tracked every single one of his movements.


    A blonde-haired girl with gold-like pupils¡­ She definitely takes after her father in appearance.


    Azmodeus was confused over why she seemed to be so intent on staring at him, but she kind of reminded him of the younger Rou Tian and Pan Nu, so he let her be.


    He naturally assumed that she would eventually give up and go her own way, which she ultimately wound up doing.


    However, she ended uping back, and with her was another girl, this time with light silver hair instead of blonde hair. She was aound 10 years old.


    The two of them left the corner they were gawking from after a few minutes, and Azmodeus thought he would finally gain some respite from their intense stares.


    But before he knew it, the blonde-haired girl and silver-haired girl came back with two more girls. One had goldfish-brown hair and was around 14, while the other had simr hair to the youngest blonde girl, roughly 16 years of age.


    There were now four girls of various age groups staring at Azmodeus like they had just discovered fire¡­


    Just how many daughters does this guy have¡­?


    His thoughts stirred as he sat on a ck and white quartz counter, eating a number of exotic appetizers being offered to him by the Duke.


    "..."


    The Duke in question was bing increasingly nervous due to some unknown reasons.


    ...


    After a few more minutes of Duke Doxing giving him a house tour while steering away from the numerous bedrooms. All of the Marquis''s who knew of their Duke''s plight were practically begging Marquis Amonroth to leave with pleading eyes.


    "???" Azmodeus was puzzled over their urge to have him gone. But after seeing that the number of girls and women stacked on top of each other behind a corridor exceeded 7, he deduced what was going on.


    It looks like this Duke fears for the innocence of his daughters¡­ Which is respectable¡­


    He thought over his options and realized that he had made a number of connections and even a few business deals before the party even fully began, so he didn''t necessarily need to stay.


    After this thought passed through his mind, Lucifer figured he would do the Duke a favor and leave while the iron was hot.


    "It was nice talking to you all, but I really must be on my wa-" Just as he was about to take his leave with a cordial farewell, a crisp, feminine voice resounded throughout the halls of the mansion:


    "Daddy! You didn''t tell me that Marquis Amonroth would being to the party!"


    A woman with long braided blonde hair came speeding down a set of spiraling stairs in the middle of the ballroom. She made it to where her father was standing in less than a couple seconds.


    "Jia Lei, me dear! What are you doing down here when Alfred is supposed to be watching you??" Duke Doxing spoke with a darkened expression as he looked toward the old debonair butler running down the same flight of stairs in a rushed fashion.


    "My Lord, I''m so sorry! One second, the youngdy was talking to her sisters, and the next, they slipped away using one of the treasures you gave them!"


    *Bang! Bang!*


    Alfred, the head butler, hit the ground running as he kowtowed before the robust man who red at him with clear irritation in his gaze.


    That irritation only grew when he saw his precious eldest daughter speed around his outstretched hug, making it straight toward the man that he was trying to hide behind hisrge frame.


    "Ahhh¡­!!" A shrill streak followed not long after as she was able to catch a glimpse of the man that all the women near the battlefields were raving about¡ªa man whom she''d only seen from afar.


    "It''s really you, Amonroth! I have been a fan of yours since the very beginning! Gosh~! You''re so gorgeous! Is there any way that I could get your signature!?"


    Jia Lei bounced around the tall, handsome Marquis as she was what one would imagine a devout fan girl to look like.


    "..."


    Azmodeus realized that he was unable to leave in time, and when he saw the group of eight other girls inching their way over, he knew that Duke Doxing would definitely hold a grudge.


    "Uhmm¡­ Listen, Miss Jia. I truly must be going, but the next time, for sure," he muttered with an awkward smile.


    "!!!" Duke Doxing''s darkened face immediately lit up at this offer made by the Marquis. He secretly thanked him inside his heart.


    However, the next few events to follow would make him eat his own words¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 171: A Troublesome Situation...

    ...¡­


    "But, Amonroth, you must stay! Pretty, pretty, please!?" Jia Lei was using all the cards in the book to get him to stay: the puckered lips, the puppy dog eyes, even the breast squeeze.


    And with her already irresistible charm and appearance, it was enough to leave anyone at the whim of the divinely beautiful Duke''s Daughter.


    But unfortunately for her, Marquis Amonroth was no normal man, and he sure as hell was no simp.


    "Listen, Miss Jia Lei, I ca-"


    Jia Lei''s eyes were about to tear up as she automatically assumed that she wasn''t pretty enough for him.


    However, before such a thought could be fully fermented inside her mind, the voice of the girl''s father was transmitted inside the Marquis''s mind:


    ''You must not decline my daughter''s offer.''


    ''I shouldn''t?'' Azmodeus questioned with clear confusion in his voice.


    Didn''t this old dude want me to stay away from his daughter''s?? What the hell is he talking about¡­? Alzheimer''s??


    Although he didn''t know what was going through the mind of the shadowy-faced Duke, he wasn''t going to sour his rtionship with him even further. So he looked at the expectant woman in his arms and started to speak:


    "Very well, Miss Jia Lei¡­ Where would you like the signature¡­?" He asked after letting out an exasperated sigh.


    "Really!? You''ll do it!? I love you, Amonroth!!"


    The voluptuous woman jumped up in glee as she grabbed onto his far taller figure and kissed his left cheek before whispering, "I want the signature right here~"


    *Squish Squish!*


    She pressing her alreadyrge, milky white breasts together in order to make them bigger. A seductive and slightly lusty gleam shed past her eyes as she gazed into thw menacing crimson pupils of the man who possessed an appearance beyond description.


    "..." "..." "..."


    Everybody in the crowd went utterly silent at this disy, as even the older daughters of the Duke were surprised by the boldness of their eldest sister.


    "???" "???"


    The younger daughter''s looked toward the elder sister''s with puzzled expressions as they didn''t know why their cheeks were so flushed.


    But when the older teenagers among them saw the sensual position that their eldest sister was in, they were able to piece a few things together as equally crimson blushes formed on their faces.


    "!!!"


    Some nobles among the crowd were baffled or bewildered, and some were embarrassed or even horny when it came to the older female nobles. But there was more than one among them infuriated at this clear disy of affection.


    There were the Nobles who hoped to have their sons marry the young Duke''s daughter, and then there was the angriest of them all¡­


    "Get your hands away from my daughter, you scumbag!!" Duke Doxing roared with a voice so loud that the sound barrier shattered!


    "..." Weren''t you the one who told me to ept her offer¡­?


    Azmodeus couldn''t believe the ridiculousness of the old dude, and when he saw the mischievous expression that the vixentched onto him was making, he knew that he was in for a huge headache.


    Just as he was about to flee the scene, effectively dodging the problem (quite literally), the cheeky woman wrapped around him suddenly got off him.


    *Tap Tap*


    Shended on the hard marblewood floors with refined steps as she walked over to her father, aiming to soothe his ring nerves. While she made the walk over, she made sure to shake her plump mountain tops left and right in mesmerizing fashion.


    Azmodeus caught a glimpse of something that the short blue mini-skirt she was wearing could not hope to conceal.


    This woman¡­ Sigh¡­


    He sighed inside his mind while turning his gaze away from the cheeky, side-eyed nce that Jia Lei was giving him.


    As soon as Jia Lie made it to her father, she put on the most pitiful look she could manage before pleading, "Won''t you allow Marquis Amonroth to give me his autograph on my 18th birthday¡­?"


    "I''ll kill him!!"


    "Please, daddy??"


    She was pulling out all the stops, and that was enough for the visible steaming out of the Duke''s head to subside.


    "I-If that is your wish, then I will allow it¡­" He murmured with a croaky voice that was on the verge of exploding.


    However, It was also on the verge of morphing into one of satisfaction at his previous daughter speaking to him for the first time in months.


    This wasn''t the first time that she had seen Marquis Amonroth, as she had caught a glimpse of him while near the battlefield separating them from the Vermilion Phoenix Providence. However, unlike now, the Duke strictly prohibited any contact with the Marquis back then, which caused a rift to form between the both of them.


    I want to kill him so bad!!! But¡­ My daughter¡­ She''s talking to me¡­


    But I want to kill him and rip out his throat!! But my precious daughter¡­


    The conflicted Duke was at an interpass as he didn''t know what he wanted anymore.


    But regardless of his feelings on the matter, he had already promised his daughter that he would allow her to receive an autograph from the Crimson Battlefield Demon. He only hoped that the Marquis would back off out of respect for his name.


    However, just to be sure, he voice transmitted:


    ''Amonroth, do me a favor and leave right after giving my daughter a signature in a¡­ normal way¡­''


    The Duke made sure to emphasize thatst part just to be sure that the Marquis got the point, and in response to what he said, Azmodeus gave a light nod.


    But before the headnod could even finish the motion, Jia Lei held her father''srge hands while pleading, "Daddy, can I have Amonroth dance with me right after he gives the signature?? The ballroom dance is about to start, and I want to have him as my first partner!"


    Duke Doxing''s beard hairs sprung out of ce as he muttered, "The Marquis is a very busy man and must get back to managing the many cities he Lord''s over, and there''s still me to dance with-"


    "Please, Daddy¡­? I would love you whole bunches if you could allow it!" Jia Lei interrupted his words with a voice that couldn''t be refused.


    Her father bit his lips as hard as he could before clenching his fists and responding, "O-Of course you can, my dear¡­" all while he cursed that sneaky bastard foring to his party with an invitation that was meant to be for merely upkeeping face!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 172: Unspeakable Levels Of Farming, Destruction Of Prometheus

    ...¡­


    For face! You Amonroth bastard!! Don''t you know a single thing about face!?


    It had been ages sincest Duke Doxing was so infuriated over a man, and especially for one of such a high standing within Noble Society¡ªa status gained not from lineage but of pure battle merits in the war with the Vermillion Phoenix Providence.


    He respected the young Marquis for that fact, but he abhorred him and his face far more than he appreciated his des!


    Just wait until I catch you, Amonroth¡­ I will make sure to give you a fate far worse than death!!


    His Peak-Diamond Rank Aura fluctuated a little as he nearly let his rage consume him.


    But before he reached such a point, he saw the giddy look on his daughter''s face. And after seeing the infatuated expressions of all his other daughters as well, that rage was instantly reced with depression.


    He got to my other daughter''s as well¡­ But how?? I kept them inside their rooms for the gathering so that this wouldn''t happen, and yet¡­


    Duke Doxing was beginning to think that life wasn''t worth living anymore...


    He dejectedly walked away from the ballroom and headed in the direction of his private chambers, looking to fall onto his bed in a deep morass of sadness.


    My baby girl''s¡­ To that Devil¡­ All because he decided to show up and whisk away my daughter''s with his fox-like grasp¡­


    -


    Meanwhile, as the Duke went through the seven stages of grief, Azmodeus spun around in the middle of a dimly lit ballroom dance floor. He and the gorgeous Jia Lei weaved in and out of the he spotlight, making for a truly sophisticated disy.


    A light and fuzzy-feeling melody yed in the background as a number of professional violinists and pianists yed their hearts out in order to set the mood for theirdy.


    Azmodeus wasn''t too sure how he had gotten to this point in time. But with the other Duke''s Daughter''s expectantly waiting for their dance to conclude so they could go next, he was sure that the night would be a long one¡­


    "Hey, Amonroth¡­ You''re not of this world, are you?"


    "???"


    Jia Lei took him out of his thoughts with a question that she whispered out of the blue.


    Although he was puzzled by her question, it wasn''t one too umon among those of Azura. Many people were either descended from cultivators that came from outside of the Astral ne or were ounders themselves¡ªthe term in which they were called.


    Regardless of how abrupt the question was, Azmodeus stared into the sparkling yellow eyes of the 5''7 blonde woman as he replied, "Yes, Ie from beyond the Astral ne-"


    "I''m not talking about that, silly. I''m referring to the other-other world¡ªEarth!" Jia Lei interrupted his response with a discovery that left Azmodeus in a state of shock.


    To know about Earth¡­ She''s a hero¡­


    At this realization, his eyes widened a bit, as this was the first time he had met a hero sinceing to the Astral ne.


    He had originally assumed that they were either extremely good at hiding or they were absurdly rare, and it turned out that it was a little bit of both.


    But to meet a hero here¡­ And after exterminating them to extinction in Prometheus¡­ Is the world chasing after me¡­?


    As soon as that thought entered Azmodeus''s mind, his thoughts started to spiral.


    At least, that was until he realized that the time dates didn''t match up, considering that the Duke''s Eldest Daughter was 1000 years old, while he was a little over 300 years old.


    If it''s not the pursuit of Prometheus after I razed it to the ground with a st of |infinite heat|...


    Is it possible that it''s somehow rted to the repercussions taken against me for massacring a few other Low-Mortal Realms with attacks capable of inflicting Endless Single Layered Infinity damage¡­?


    The Crimson Devil Lord, or Evil God as people called him, had been doing unspeakable levels of farming inside Prometheus as ofte.


    He eventually reached a point where he wasn''t receiving enough Evolution Essence from ''regr'' massacres. And with the Infinite Evolution System informing him of the ''Depletion of the world''s Infinity Essence'', resulting in a steep drop of Evolution Essence, a drastic decision had to be made¡­


    It was decided by all the Primordial Essence Clones that they should increase the degree to which they encroached upon their morals, so Prometheus as a whole was put on the chopping board.


    But then again, Azmodeus wasn''t cruel enough to kill innocents without regard for the excruciating pain that would follow. So after creating an attack with enough potency to erase a Single Layered Infinity Construct in one blow, Prometheus was erased the day of.


    Of course, there was no pain involved for any existences in said construct, so the impact of Karma was severely reduced. This made it so that he could further limit all Karma with the ''Karma Severing'' technique that he developed a few dozen years ago.


    The result of these actions was theplete destruction of Prometheus, with all strength being transmitted to the one who caused it.


    However, with the acquisition of an insane amount of Evolution Essence, there came a bottomless void in the spot where Prometheus used to be located.


    Along with that void was no more Evolution Essence for the Loot Goblin¡­


    So in response to this travesty to all creation, the widely feared Evil God and every single one of his clones moved outside of the space where the Single Layered Infinity Low-Mortal World used to be.


    After traveling around the infinite, boundless void of a higher degree of infinity than a singleyered cosmic construct, the Evil God found his next target¡ªthe Realm of Acropolis.


    It was a Single Layered Infinity World, and though it took countless years of Void travel to reach it, everything was worth it in the end. It was immediately understood that this realm would be just the ce to begin anew and scope out the extent of its ''loot value''.


    The world itself was infinitely stretching and had giantnd masses with boundless water surrounding them, just like Prometheus. But other than that, there was nothing worthy of notice besides a few unique Physique users.


    So after understanding that the ''loot value'' was around that of Prometheus, the Evil God evaporated the world with a sh of his |Endless shes| technique.


    Of course, |Endless shes| was adapted to the ''Infinite Series'' in order to be capable of imbuing Single Layered Infinity destroying qualities. Furthermore, the same result could be obtained with every stroke of the de!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 173: Goddes Of Light

    ...¡­


    Following the ''disappearance'' of Acropolis, the Evil God moved onto his next target and continued this process over and over again. He erased everything in sight with painless deaths like they were nothing more than A.I. in a simtion.


    This was a turning point in Azmodeus''s personality, as the price of bing stronger than all the rest began to take its toll on his psyche. Slowly but surely, it erased all humanity left within his essence.


    For absolute peace, a great suffering must firstmence. -


    It was unknown where Azmodeus had heard this quote from; however, he was sure that it was full of interpretations and meant to depict a great number of principles.


    But it was still a saying that resonated within the very core of his being, telling him that to achieve everything that his mother told him he would, he must first pay a hefty price.


    Even so, this was all the ongoings of a few Primordial Essence Clones and Mirror Mirage''s. While the main body was still in the middle of a dance with the eldest daughter of the Doxing Duke Household, speaking about a topic that Azmodeus already knew how to answer.


    -


    "You ask if I''m not from this world when you already know the answer to your own question."


    Azmodeus spoke these words in a hushed whisper as he moved his feet left and right in calcted motion. He attempted to guide the giddy woman through thest parts of the dance¡ªdance motions that he had long since memorized in his thirst for knowledge.


    "Yeah, I know youe from Earth, but I just wanted to make certain of it, Amon."


    Jia Lei gazed into those blood-red eyes of his as she seemed to have gotten lost in a trance¡ªa trance that was impossible to break through with her effort alone.


    "So, what is it that you wish to know?" Azmodeus inquired with a raised brow.


    "Wish to know? Oh, whatever do you mean?" Jia Lei questioned with an innocent tone, her eyes flickering a little as she held his hands with a nervous grip.


    "Oh? You think I don''t know that you want to ask me something? You would not wait until we entered this ambience to bring up that topic if you weren''t nning to ask me something, so what is it?"


    Upon looking at that discerning gleam in his eyes, Jia Lei knew that she had been caught. So in the end, she stopped the act and replied, "I need your help¡­ in hunting a few heroes¡­"


    Her tone became grave toward the end as she knew the implications of such a notion. With the ''Goddess'' who summoned them still watching everything they did, she needed a good opportunity to propose this request, which just so happened to be now.


    She understood that she was asking a lot, and it was understandable if her idol rejected her proposal, but when she turned her head up to the man in question¡­


    A smile¡­ He''s smiling¡­?


    Jia Lei didn''t know if she had seen anything more radiant in her entire life, but more than that, she didn''t know why he was smiling after she said such a thing.


    However, after a moment of thought, Azmodeus focused his previously listless gaze back on the woman in his arms as he said, "I will ept your offer."


    "But you haven''t even heard my terms or what sort of dangers lie ahead if you take on this request-"


    "I don''t care. Now tell me, where are these heroes you want me to hunt, and how strong are they?" Azmodeus interjected with a nonchnt voice¡ªa voice that hid a deeply rooted sense of joy beneath it.


    "???" Jia Lei looked at the handsome man with confusion in her gaze, but regardless of her puzzlement, she responded, "They are located within the Vermillion Phoenix Providence. Furthermore, they know of my identity as a hero through the divinations from the Goddess.


    Through the impartial and sadistic actions performed by the Goddess, she allows all the heroes she''s summoned to do whatever they want.


    And with these particr heroes in the Early-tinum Rank¡­ Well, they want m-"


    "I understand what their general objective is. Now, tell me, how many of them are there?"


    Azmodeus interrupted her not to be rude, but because he was no fool. From her strained expression, it didn''t take a genius to understand that she likely escaped from these heroes after they attempted to ''take her'' by force.


    Following this train of thought, he could infer that these so-called ''heroes'' were extremely livid over the fact that their soon-to-be victim had gotten away. In response to this, they waited for the opportunity that woulde when their country and Goddess gave the go-ahead.


    Azmodeus did not know who this ''Goddess'' was or how she was capable of summoning heroes from Earth. But the one thing he did know was that, like all other beings high on power, she thought of herself as God.


    And with this mindset, it was highly probable that she betrayed the Duke''s daughter and allowed the Heroes to have their way with her after finding her. All for their ''amusement'' or ''entertainment''.


    Of course, this was all conjecture, and it was unknown whether it was actually the case. But with the following conversation that he had with Jia Lei, he was able to confirm it with very few discrepancies between his hypothesis and the truth.


    As it turned out, the betrayal of the Goddess was far worse than one might imagine, as Jia Lei was no ordinary hero and was widely known as the ''Most Devout Follower'' of the Goddess.


    At least that was the case hundreds of years ago, around the time that she first arrived in the Astral ne. But after hundreds of years of monotony, the Goddess, otherwise known as the ''Goddess of Light'', found the current state of things far too dull and routine.


    So following a few hundred years of continued boredom, she decided that it would be fun to y around with her most devout follower¡ªa zealot one might call her¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 174: A King, The Dukes

    ¡­..¡­


    The result of the Goddess''s decision was the tinum Rank Heroes catching wind of a ''Divinely Beautiful Maiden'' to the east of their Country.


    At the time, Jia Lei was inside the Kingdom to the east, the Holy Kingdom of Light, which was a Triple Leafed Kingdom. It possessed many experts in and above the tinum Rank, with some even surpassing the Ten Astral Principality Princes in pure brute force.


    The kingdom itself was expansive and fertile, with lush green meadows for as far as the eye could see. But within such a fairy-likend, therey a deeply seeded malevolence that no amount of bubbly veneer could hope to conceal.


    One of the products of this ''malevolence'' was the Goddess of Light, a being that was truly capable of summoning heroes from the world called ''Earth''.


    She was the ruling Monarch of this Kingdom and was in possession of strength that far surpassed anything that even the Ten Astral Principality Princes could hope topare to!


    It was unknown whether she was actually a god or not. But in the eyes of the Insatiable Loot Goblin, her entire existence looked like nothing more than arge, shiny bag of loot with a godplex.


    So, what did he decide to do in response to Jia Lei''s plea for help? ¡ªa plea that even the elders of her double-leafed Mithros Sect were unable to help her in.


    Well, the answer to that was simple¡­


    "Of course I will help a beautiful, kind woman in need. Why would I not?" Azmodeus spoke such words with a kind look in his eyes, attempting to keep a wide grin from overtaking his facial features.


    This girl¡­ She practically told me the location of every single hero of high standing within both the Vermillion Phoenix Providence and the Holy Kingdom of Light¡­


    With this information, I can begin the hunt right away. And if my spections are correct, then the number of Physical Existence Points that these ''Heroes'' shall give will exceed even what I got from the heroes of Prometheus and the other Low-Mortal Realms I exterminated.


    Following this thought, he looked toward the stunned girl, practically oozing gratitude from his expression.


    However, from her perspective, she interpreted his look as a way to show affection, foe why else would he be so eager to ept a request that he had little to nothing to gain?


    It was an iron-d rule that no heroes could obtain experience points from any other hero upon killing them, no matter which system they had.


    In her mind, there was close to nothing that Marquis Amonroth had to benefit from, which was why she nned to propose marriage. She hoped to both get closer to him and obtain assistance in the matter that her family and sect would be helpless in.


    But contrary to her expectations, his response was nearly instantaneous, and from the looks of it, he genuinely wanted to help her.


    Does he like me¡­? Does that mean he thinks I''m pretty? Or maybe he likes my personality¡­ hehe~


    Jia Lei giggled a little at the thought of the Marquis favoring her over all other''s as the smile on her face only seemed to brighten.


    With the end of her dance, her sister''s followed in their big sister''s footsteps and fell for Amonroth just as easily as their sister. With the only difference being that the underage one''s simply had extremely good impressions of him.


    But regardless of what went through the heads of a bunch of gorgeousdies in Delulu Land, the one to receive their feelings of affection was in an entirely different world himself¡ªone where there was nothing but him and the evesting pursuit of benefits!


    Benefits¡­ Benefits¡­ F*cking Benefits!


    Azmodeus nearly lost control of his emotions for a moment there as he finished up his dance with thest of the older nobledies. After which, he prepared to bid farewell to everyone before going on the hunt with post-haste!


    However, before that moment coulde around, a few visitors in clothing beyond luxurious walked through the open door at the front of the mansion.


    "..."  "..."


    When they saw the gloomy Duke walking down a flight of stairs, their eyes immediately lit up.


    "Ahh, how have you been, my dear friend, Doxing? Still grumpy over something, I see. Haha!"


    A man''s gruff voice reverberated, followed by raucousughter as a man with a rtively roundish figure¡ªwearing a bright red and white cape¡ªwalked up to where Doxing was.


    The Duke was still in a state of depression when he heard the voice of his King¡ªa voice that instantly took him out of his reverie as his eyes creased up and he shouted, "It''s you four, but you''re sote!"


    He had already made it over to the four neer''s as he outstretched his arms and gave the slightly taller King a great big hug.


    The King reciprocated in full as he gave him the burliest bear hug that one could give while saying, "It''s nice to see you again, Doxing!"


    "You as well, my king!"


    "Please, cut it with the formalities and just call me Jing Fu or big brother Jing!" The King released the hug and spoke a bit more with Doxing before he let the other three Dukes get some time with him.


    While they were doing that, he made his way toward the real reason that he came to this party¡ªthe big sore thumb in the ballroom¡ªa crimson-haired man with a demeanor befitting one who possessed the title of ''Blood-bathed War God''.


    "It has been ages sincest we met, Amonroth. And from what I remember, you practically ran away from me thest time we saw each other."


    The King was already right in front of the Marquis, speaking to him in a way that would make it seem as if they were old friends.


    "..."


    Azmodeus already knew where this conversation was going, and it was also the reason that hepletely dodged him when the Battle of Riveredge Pass concluded.


    On the subject of this battle, the result of this long-fought-out war with the Vermillion Phoenix Providence was the eventual victory on the Azura Kingdom''s side. This led to immense amounts of fame for those who helped make it possible!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 175: Perhaps He Likes To Sword Fight?

    ...¡­


    The cause of the overwhelming victory at Riveredge Pass was none other than the one who assumedmand over the Royal Army after the previous general had died. He was the one called the ''Crimson Terror'' or the ''Blood-bathed War God'', among many other titles.


    But regardless of which title was most often used, there was one thing that everyone knew about the recently dubbed Marquis Amonroth. And that was the fact that he knew nothing but the reaping of lives and the creation of rivers of blood!


    However, in the eyes of the King and other high-ranking nobles, he might as well have been their lucky charm. Which was why Duke Hollister, Duke Hemmington, Duke Doozle, and, of course, the King of the Azura Kingdom did everything in their power to get him on their side using the ''Arranged Marriage Tactic''.


    This was also why there were a few more guests at this party than just the old fogies¡­


    "Amon, my Love! You should''ve told me that you wereing to this party! If you did, I would''ve been here since yesterday!"


    The voice of a girl with long ck hair and yellowish brown eyes took everyone out of their stupors.


    "..."  "..."


    Their gazes focused on a woman around 5''6 in a dark green dress, who came rushing into the mansion with a fervish expression as she scanned the ballroom, looking for the only one in her eyes.


    When she saw the man whom her father was talking to, her eyes brightened up as she ran in his direction before leaping!


    Just as she was about to make contact with the tall, crimson-eyed figure, a feminine hand sped onto her well-sculpted face and stopped her in her tracks.


    *Tick!*


    A vein appeared on her smooth forehead as she asked in a venomous tone, "What do you think you''re doing, Sister Jia Lei?"


    "You shouldn''t be so unruly in the presence of so many people, Sister Nuan He. I''m simply helping you keep your image intact." Jia Lei looked into her friend''s eyes with a ''friendly'' expression as she held back the urge to throw her out right then and there.


    But with the entrance of a few more women, she was ultimately forced to set her friend down on the ground. Thereafter, the two of them stared at the three other women who tagged along behind Nuan He.


    The first woman was the daughter of Duke Hollister and had long silver hair along with a dazzling pair of green eyes.


    And then there was the daughter of Duke Hemmington¡ªa woman over a thousand years old who possessed long brown hair and yellowish eyes.


    Lastly, but not least, there was the daughter of Duke Doozle¡ªa woman who was not only as beautiful as her friends but also had a unique appearance. Considering that her hair was ck, medium-length, with one of her eyes ck and the other a deep silver, she was definitely an exotic beauty.


    However, no matter which woman it was, every single one of them, including Jia Lei and Nuan He, possessed a figure that had just the right amount of plumpness in all the right ces. They truly showed off their superior genes as daughters of the highest-ranked people in Azura!


    And everyst one of them had their eyes hone in on the same man at the exact same time.


    After which, as if on instinct, they all rushed toward him with a level of speed that far exceeded what they should be capable of exhibiting with their Gold-Rank Physical Existence Ranks.


    "Amonroth, it''s me! Su Ah! Don''t you remember all the things we did in the City of Battle Ridge??"


    "Don''t listen to her, Amon; I am clearly the one who knows you best! Especially after that ''sensitive topic'' you agreed to help me on¡­ teehee~"


    "You conniving bi*ch! What have you been doing with our Amon before we got here!?"


    Qui Lan was this close to jumping Duke Doxing''s daughter right then and there. Furthermore, it appeared like she wasn''t the only one thinking along those lines, as Jingyi Yaling also had murder on her mind.


    Even Nuan He was beginning to think that it would be best for all of them if they simply took Jia Lei out of the game right then and there.


    By this point in time, the king and absolute ruler of the ground they stood upon had been pushed out of the way by the quarreling girls.


    "..." "..." "..."


    He, along with all the other nobles, stared at this scene with bewilderment.


    "To think that the Marquis has already acquired the hearts of five women with some of the highest statuses in the Kingdom¡­ And it doesn''t even look like he''s interested¡­" King Jing Fumented on the matter with a face ripe with astonishment.


    "We must do something about this, My King¡­ I mean, we can''t allow him to stay uninterested¡­" Duke Hollister muttered in an exasperated tone.


    "Even without our coercion, our daughter''s have been actively going after him, and yet he hasn''t budged a single inch¡­ And it makes me wonder: Do you perhaps think that he swings the other way?... Perhaps he likes to sword fight, dangle with the forbidden fruit... graze upon the Divine scepter-"


    "We get the point, Duke Hemmington. And no, it doesn''t seem like he''s into that, as we have gained information that various beautiful women oftene to him in the mountains where his territory is located."


    Duke Doozle couldn''t believe the drivel that came out of Duke Hemmington''s mouth with all the nasty talk of ''swords''.


    He looked toward his King for guidance,pletely ignoring the input of the fuming Duke Doxing.


    He had been a daughter-con since the very beginning. And with all of his daughters staring at the Marquis with such infatuation, it wasn''t too surprising that he was seething in his spot while giving the man surrounded by women the most evil re he could muster.


    On the other hand, the King was too distracted with the subject concerning the alliance of Marquis Amonroth to care about the anger of his unusual friend.


    There was no other way to cement their alliance than with their daughters'' willingpliance...


    And when you included the fact that they were already head over heels for him the moment they caught a glimpse of his galiant figure, they just needed to get the Marquis to ept.


    But how¡­?


    ...¡­

 Chapter 176: The Kings Proposal

    ...


    The Duke''s and King pondered the matter of their alliance with Marquis Amonroth deeply as they thought over anything that might work. Eventually, Duke Doozle proposed something usible.


    He said, "I''ve heard rumors about the Marquis when he was in the Royal Capital selling all his spoils of war, and from what I hear, he will do anything for even the slightest amount of benefit."


    "Benefits?" They all questioned in unison.


    "Yes, benefits! If what is said about him is correct, then we just need to maximize his benefits!"


    Following Duke Doozle''s response, he started throwing around various ideas that could work. And eventually, the other Duke''s and King Jing Fu gave their own input as well.


    It was only after it had been 5 minutes since their daughter''s arrival that they put the n into motion.


    -


    "I already told you before we got here that I would be first!" Nuan He eximed while interlocking her arms with the aloof, crimson-haired man beside her.


    "You must be out of your mind if you think that I''m going to let you do it first! I shall be the one to do that thing!" Su Ah retorted, her arms locked with Amonroth''s, and her eyes ring at the woman getting a little too clingy with what was hers!


    "Surely you all jest-!" The other women were going to cut in as well, but before they could, King Azura interrupted, saying:


    "I know you all wish to enjoy the party, but we should really give the young Marquis some room."


    While he convinced the girls to let Amon get some air, he made sure to send a voice transmission to the man in question. He said, ''Go up to the third-floor balcony in a few seconds, as we have some things to discuss.''


    After which, the King managed to get the girl''s away from the center ballroom by telling them that the Marquis promised to dance with them all. Of course, they had to ''prepare'', so they left for a bathroom right away, all while quarreling even up to thest second they were still in view.


    While the various nobles'' daughters were doing that, Azmodeus and the King greeted a few more people out of courtesy before heading up a flight of stairs. They walked toward a dimly lit corridor that led to an overhanging balcony with a clear view of the numerous Spirit Ships outside.


    The moment they made it up there, it was discovered that the two of them weren''t alone, as behind the balcony doors, there were¡­!


    "Hello¡­ We meet again¡­"


    The 4 Duke''s!


    One of which looked like he didn''t even want to be here, but under the continued persuasion of his friends, he made the sacrifice¡ªa sacrifice that nearly killed him on the spot.


    "Oh, so it''s you four? Is this some sort of secret meeting of the Assembly¡­ Or?" Azmodeus''s eyes glossed over as he realized what was going on here, and that realization only made his expression lighten up even more than before.


    "..." "..." "..."


    The King and the Duke''s had forgotten how perceptive the young Marquis was, as it only made them understand that they needed him on their side, no matter the cost!


    Jing Fu wasted absolutely no time on that matter as he got right down to it and said, "We have a joint proposal for you, Marquis Amonroth, and this offer could mean extraordinary things for you as long as you ept it.


    The contents of this proposal are as follows:


    One: I will give you ess to the Storage Treasury, where you can pick any five things that tickle your fancy. And the four Duke''s here will give you ownership to any ten businesses they own, excluding the ones directly rted to their positions, of course.


    On top of that, we will also be giving you 500 Quintillion Azura''s from my side and 50 Quintillion per Duke, for a total of 700 Quintillion Azura''s.


    Furthermore, that isn''t all that we''ll be giving you, as we''ve heard that you have a knack for Alchemy, Formations, Arrays, Potion Refining, and Spirit cksmithing. With this information, we figured it would benefit not only you but the rest of the Kingdom if you took over the position as Arch Professor at the Royal Academy of Azure.


    If you do end up taking this position, you will not only be a figurehead who teaches the new generation and the old generation. But you will also receive the opportunity to acquire resources for each of these professions at a level that even I, as the King, can''t hope to give you.


    And with the full support of the Double Leafed Mithros Sect, you will be able to extend your influence and send out requests for more resources. We know you''ve already been doing but were limited due to your status.


    Additionally, you and your fief will also be allowed to expand yournds into the Forbidden West, which is where the extremely powerful Primeval Beasts live.


    But with your strength, I doubt they pose even the slightest threat. So how about it? Are you willing to ept the offer?"


    Not only King Azura, but the rest of the Duke''s¡ªbesides Duke Doxing¡ªwere expectantly waiting for an answer.


    However, before they received the answer they wanted, Azmodeus had something to ask first:


    "And what is it that I will have to give you in return? Nothing is free in this world; even I know that much."


    "..." "..." "..."


    King Azura and the Duke''s just knew the astute young Marquis wouldn''t be obtuse enough to ept a lucrative-sounding proposal like that, expecting nothing in return for their side.


    So in the end, Jing Fu stepped forth and responded, "The only thing we want from you is the marriage of our daughter''s to be left in your hands."


    "You want me to find husbands for your daughter''s¡­?" Azmodeus questioned with a raised brow and his head slightly tilted to the right.


    "...No¡­ We want you to take all of our daughter''s as your wives¡­" King Azura replied after pretending he didn''t hear anything previously.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 177: Until The Day They Die

    ...¡­


    "That is¡­ You know I don''t have a wife, do you not?" Azmodeus muttered with a crooked smile.


    "Yes, we do. Which is why this proposal is feasible, as having such a strong and high-ranking noble with no connections to the Kingdom itself only spells troubleter on down the road.


    This is why we have devised a way for not only that issue to be swiftly solved but also a sure-fire method to keep our daughter''s safe and away from harm.


    In addition, it will give us all peace of mind, as we will have yet another pir of the kingdom on our side¡ªa pir that will henceforth be dubbed ''The Sword of Azura'', assuming you ept the offer that is."


    The King held a shiny blue, golden medallion in his hands¡ªa medallion that depicted a dark blue demon with six arms and the face of a devil slicing up entire army''s using its overwhelming might.


    "This was what I had the Royal Forger''s prepare for you, and it is the object that will allow you to bypass the rule that no ''Non-Pure Blood'' Noble can be a Duke. This not only allows you to instantly acquire a status equal to a Duke, but it also makes it so that you can use authority that supersedes even my own in times of dire need.


    And along with your Arch Professor Title, as long as we confirm that you are indeed 2000 years old and possess more than 3 professions in the Meteor Rank, we can begin processing right away.


    As for your Physical Existence Refinement and Potion Master Rank, we just need to verify your Potion Mastery. After all, we are already well aware of the fact that you are of the Early-tinum Rank, putting you at the level of an Azura."


    Following the King''s words, a contract appeared out of thin air, as he said, "All you need to do is give a voice confirmation, and then you can sign this so none of us have the opportunity to back out of the agreement."


    Azmodeus looked at the quill and paper floating through the air using some form of spiritual stone conversion. After grabbing onto the items, he brooded over his options.


    Of course, it was all just a front, as he had long since decided what he would do in order to maximize benefits!


    After all, the marriage was technically nothing but words on paper, so nothing had to be upheld on his end. Furthermore, with the numerous benefits stated in the contract, there was absolutely no downside to having this Primordial Essence Clone obtain some goodies from this little outing.


    So after a few seconds of pretending to be deep in thought, he turned his head up and said, "I''ll do it."


    "Really!? You will-!?"


    "But only under one condition." He finished his words while staring at the hopeful expressions of ancient, archaic monsters who had been alive for tens of thousands of years.


    Peak-Diamond Rank and Early-tinum Rank¡­ Antiquated Monsters capable of evaporating singleyered infinity nes on a whim... Even singleyer infinity nes with infinite timeline continuum''s like the ones I destroyed the other day would stand no chance against these old dudes...


    People like this are practically begging me to stay connected to them one way or another¡­


    And since I have the upper hand in this conversation, I will take the utmost advantage of the cardsid out before me.


    An indiscernible sh of darkness shed past his crimson-colored eyes as he continued by saying, "There is one more thing that I want, and if you can fulfill this wish of mine, then I will take care of your daughter''s until the day they die."


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    Hearing the counteroffer made by the Marquis, they understood that he was no easy nut to crack, but in the end, what they wanted most was his absolute alliance.


    So without hesitation, they said, "Whatever it is that you want, we will give it to you! No matter what it is!"


    Azmodeus''s imperceptible smirk widened a little bit as he received the answer he wanted, and so he responded, "What I want is simple, really. I want the ability to send a clone out past the translucent barrier that prevents me from going past the Azura Kingdom''s borders."


    "You wish to send a clone out past the borders¡­?" Jing Fu inquired with a perplexed tone, his brows furrowed in confusion as he looked toward the Duke''s, only to see them just as puzzled as he was.


    None of them¡ªincluding the curmudgeon Duke Doxing¡ªcould fathom why it was that anybody wished to venture out past the Azura Kingdom¡­


    After all, once one made it past the ''Barrier'' set up by the God''s, they would instantly be highlighted on some form of 4 dimensional map/gps. Which would enable anyone in each territory to know who and where the said ''Invader'' was from.


    In terms of the Astral ne''s geography, the whole world was like a game of tic-tac-toe, with some locations being part of the ''red'' and some part of the ''ck''.


    To be more urate and true to this analogy, the whole world was split up into squares¡ªevenly cut squares in which the ''Square Holder''s'' (Typically Land Ruler''s) were able to open up a small hole in their respective ''Square world''.


    If one cut open a hole and entered the territory of a ''ck Square'' while originally being from a ''Red Square'', then all inhabitants of said ''ck Square'' would automatically receive information on your existence.


    This phenomenon might seem unusual to outsiders, but it was said that many, many years ago, the world was nothing but a t sphere-like object. Its entire dimensionality was determined by the Rules and Laws of a Second Layered Infinity Construct.


    And this ''Sphere'' was like this for an immeasurable number of years, far longer than the Ten Astral Principalities have been around.


    However, after countless billions of years passed within the void that encapsted the ''Sphere'', something began to change inside its clear blue exteriorposition.


    It was unknown how this change came to be.


    Some said it was because an object infused with the qualities of a Star Radiance Realm Expert fell from the endless void, and some say that it was a cause of due process.


    But regardless of the rumors that spread, the only two beings who knew the truth of the situation were none other than the ''Goddess of Light'' and the ''God of Darkness''. Both of whom were the very first existences to be born in the Astral ne following its transformation into a board of tic-tac-toe.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 178: Astral Planes History

    ...¡­


    One of the so-called ''God''s of the Astral ne'' was the Goddess of Light, a goddess who was seen as nothing short of a Queen on everything east of the Infinite Board.


    On the other hand, the God of Darkness was viewed as the ''Evil'' aspect of the Astral ne and was also the one who ruled over everything west of the centerline. Which included the Vermillion Phoenix Providence thaty at the edge of the two territories.


    In fact, one of the main reasons that the two single-leafed countries were always at each other''s throats was mainly attributed to the fact that one came from a ''Red'' square, while the other came from a ''ck'' square.


    With the tic-tac-to analogy, one must understand that the countless number of territories, kingdoms, empires, and sects ranked from a ''Single Leaf'' to a ''Triple Leaf''nd typically had an entire Square to themselves. This effectively made room for countless sovereignties, all of which were semi-subservient to either the ''Empire of Light'' or the ''Empire of Darkness''.


    Furthermore, each of these factions stayed on their sides of the scale, with all ''Red Squares'' gathered on exactly one half of the board and all ''ck Squares'' covering up the other half.


    Which was all to say that the Single-Leafed Kingdom of Azura and the Single-Leafed Vermillion Phoenix Providence were both on the very edge of the middle of the board.


    Now, with all this in mind, one might wonder how the Duke''s daughter¡ªwho barely managed to get away with a teleportation formation¡ªshould be expected to escape the clutches of a Goddess believed to be omnipotent.


    Well, the answer to this question was that there was no escape¡­


    To bepletely candid, the Goddess of Light could have long since snatched away Jia Lei and done as she wished with her.


    But in her eyes, there was no fun in doing something that boring, so the Goddess opted to give the mouse a chance to run, find allies, or whatever else she nned to do. Knowing full well that the mouse would get caught in the end¡­


    However, there was one way that not many knew about¡ªa way in which one could escape the pursuit of one of the two God''s¡ªthe ''Barrier of the Astral ne''!


    If one was able to sessfully pass the barrier and enter the opposing side of the board, then they would not only have their ''gps tracker'' shrouded under the influence of the other God, but they would also obtain a second chance¡ªa chance to live a different life.


    This was what Azmodeus had in mind when it came to dodging the nigh-omnipotent gaze of the Goddess of Light¡ªa Goddess who he could feel smirking at him even at this moment in time.


    Since you wish to y a game of chase, let''s y¡­


    Following these thoughts, he stared up at the bright, luminescent moon while talking to the King and Duke''s.


    Upon giving verbal confirmation that he would marry all their daughters and take care of them until the day they died, he saw them sign the contract they promised they would.


    After which, he walked away from the gathered Dukes with a solemn shadow, thinking about many things that could make or break his future.


    This Goddess is one who considers herself above all else, and since she''s so keen on producing some ''entertainment'', I shall make sure to maximize her enjoyment, all free of charge¡­


    A smile containing an indescribable number of emotions emerged on his expressionless face. But before it could make itself fully known, a feminine voice took him out of his reverie:


    "Hey, Amon! You still remember what we discussed before those dumb vixens got to the party, don''t you?"


    Jia Lei was waiting around a corner with her hands behind her back and a mischievous grin on her face. She was eemingly aware of the fact that her father had been talking to him on their balcony.


    "..."


    Azmodeus nkly stared at the cheeky woman before continuing his walk, ignoring her existence.


    "Y-You big meanie! Don''t treat me like thin air!" Jia Lei quickly caught up to his receding figure while berating him with a small pout.


    Azmodeus quickly realized that he wouldn''t be able to escape that girl so easily¡­


    He heaved a sigh before saying, "I''m not ignoring you. It''s just that I have something on my mind¡ªsomething important."


    "More important than me¡­?" Jia Lei inquired withrge puppy-dog eyes.


    "Yes."


    "..."


    "..."


    They looked at each other for a moment before Azmodeus continued his stroll, attempting to avoid the other girls who were actively searching for him.


    Jia Lei was taken out of her stupor with the sight of her idol once again leaving her behind. She forgot everything he said and hollered, "Hey, don''t go so fast! I''ming!"


    This woman can''t catch a hint worth a damn¡­


    Azmodeus just knew that the night would be a long one, and he was proven right when the other troublesome women eventually found them.


    But regardless of how many princesses or noble women he had to dodge like the gue, the night ultimately came to an end. And with the close of the party, the Dukes and King came by onest time to inform him of their end of the bargaining to fruition within the next three days.


    It was with this information that Azmodeus left the party after whispering sweet nothings into the ears of all thedies who decided toe for his heart.


    Since they wished to offer benefits on a golden tter, who was he to deny them?


    In fact, he even promised Jia Lie, Nuan He, and the rest of the Duke''s daughters that he woulde back to sweep them up off their feet and marry them within no time.


    Of course, this was the truth, with the only lie being that he had no intention of marrying any of them¡­


    One might wonder how he nned to get past the agreements of his deal with the rulers of the kingdom, but the answer was quite simple.


    He would fool them all and would keep on doing it until he either died or came out with every single benefit that could be obtained!


    .....

 Chapter 179: 7th Stage of Lunar Ascendancy

    .....


    The number of Traits and Physique''s of Azmodeus''s that possessed qualities of illusion and confusion numbered in the hundreds of thousands. And with all of them of the Comet Rank and above, there were many ways to put a blindfold over the vision of any number of Experts inside the Azura Kingdom.


    However, what exactly he nned to do in order to maximize benefits while barely putting anything into the bargain was to quite literally put everyone under one big illusion. A suggestive spell, one might call it.


    Although he didn''t possess the necessary capabilities to confuse those in the tinum Rank with 100% certainty of sess, he could still alter a few of their perceptions with slight suggestions to their minds.


    As for the women in the marriage agreement, there were a wide array of things he could do to make it seem like they were happily married.


    But to keep things simple, Azmodeus decided that he would brainwash them undetected, having them live their own little fantasies while robbing them blind!


    With all of this in mind, he moved away from the Duke''s Mansion, taking his Spirit Ship back to the wide expanse of rocky mountain ranges that he used as his Marquis Territory. And with theing of the Forbidden West being added to said territory, everything within millions of miles would be put under his jurisdiction.


    Countless buildings, towns, cities, and establishments have been created inside the ''Earth Morgrove'' over the years, all due to Azmodeus taking over management. And it was because of these various improvements to the infrastructure of his fief that all his citizens viewed him as nothing less than a god.


    This was part of step 1 for world domination¡ªto create amunity where all people, no matter if they were young or old, viewed him as the godsend savior they never knew they needed.


    To create a world where only he had the final say, there had to be a way for him to imprint his image in the minds of his loot bag farmers. So he gave them anything they could wish for, whether that be jobs, money, a stable lifestyle, ces to enjoy themselves, or even various love lives.


    This was all done for the sole goal of getting them to believe that he was their Messiah¡ªthat he was their God!


    And his purpose for this mass indoctrination¡­?


    There was only one thing he''d wanted for thest few hundred years, and that was¡­


    The Benefits!


    He would acquire an immeasurable amount of benefits as long as his citizens (ves) worked their entire lives for him and only him. Furthermore, they would do so under the guise that they were doing it for their own happiness.


    Everything from the ambience and color schemes down to the location of ''Earth Morgrove'' was manipted by Azmodeus to allow him to obtain all relevant benefits.


    Why the rough, rocky mountains?? For the rare metals and stone extraction!


    Why the solitary location of his fief? To keep all the citizens under the belief that their lives were superior to the way they previously lived!


    There were many things that went into the nning of the Conquest of the Astral ne, but the first and foremost objective was to gather strength and wealth.


    The strength was obvious, and the wealth was so as to gain more strength. Everything was done in order to rocket Azmodeus even further up the ranks!


    And it was with these well-thought-out steps in mind that he, along with all his Clones and Mirages, toiled away at indoctrinating more and more people with each passing day. From this objective, there was an improvement made to birth rates and even more ie.


    ...


    After 5 years of doing the work of the gods, Azmodeus had progressed his cultivation into the 6th Stage of Lunar Ascendancy!


    On the other hand, his Amonroth Clone was dubbed the ''Sword of Azura'' and ''Arch Professor'' of the Royal Academy of Azura.


    There was a rough period of time following this breakthrough as Amonroth was seen as a hindrance in the eyes of the nobles jealous of his fame.


    The father''smanded their sons and daughters, who were also students of the Royal Academy, to mess around with the Arch Professor. They even went so far as to pay off various Academy staff in order to make him give up.


    But no matter what they did or used as a method of intimidation, nothing even so much as fazed the aloof, crimson-haired man. And with his appearance and constantly increasing poprity, even the various noble children and staff betrayed their parents and contractors, taking the side of their favorite professor.


    After 10 more years passed, the students and staff of the Academy thought of Arch Professor Amonroth as nothing short of a divine genius¡ªone who would guide the younger and older generations into a new realm of discovery.


    At this point in time, Azmodeus had sessfully broken through into the 7th Stage of Lunar Ascendancy. He passed straight through the Late Moonlit Path Realm inbat power and achieved a new level of transcendent strength.


    For example, if he were to encounter another singleyered infinity ne in the Great Void, he could treat it and its infinite-time continuum as nothing more than something infinitesimally small or something akin to an author looking at something fictional.


    The difference between minor realms was simply thatrge. And the Late Moonlit Path Realm just happened to be one of the turning points that would allow one topletely transcend all previous concepts to an infinite degree.


    This was also one of the reasons why figures like the Goddess of Light viewed everything beneath her as nothing more than one big joke. After all, she had reached a point in strength where everyone besides the God of Darkness could notpare to even a single atom of her existence.


    Little did she know that someone cultivating inside a cave while conquering various aspects of the world was sitting right under her nose. A man who used so many shrouding spells that even she and all her omniscience were unable to see the bug ying around in her territory.


    It was this very ''bug'' that had just recently achieved the Middle-Moonlit Path Realm in all his professions after the 18-year mark passed.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 180: Changes So Far...

    ...¡­


    On the same 18-year benchmark, Azmodeus''s Potion Master Rank had achieved the Late-Diamond Rank, matching up to his Late-Diamond Physical Existence as well.


    By the 21-year mark, he had contracted another 30 million beasts with his Spirit Beast Tamer profession, allowing his total workforce (ve force) to tremendously improve.


    And when the 25-year milestone was right in front of him, the Royal Academy of Azura made him the Headmaster.


    Even the King, his daughter''s, and all the Dukes were present at the ceremony meant to celebrate his continued leadership of all generations.


    30 years after the Duke''s Assembly''s conclusion, Azura Sword Amonroth sessfully married the daughters of all high-ranking nobles within the Kingdom, effectively bing the glue that held the neutrality together.


    And with his advancement from ''The Sword of Azura'' to the ''Leader of the Azura''s'', he was allowed to takemand of the tinum Rank Experts of the Kingdom. All of whom saw him as their ''Blood-bathed Battle God''.


    With the takeover of a battalion consisting of hundreds of tinum-rank warriors who knew nothing but death, Amonroth cemented his position as the most important asset of the Azura Kingdom.


    Furthermore, after considering the fact that he married over 10 noble daughters of the highest standing in the kingdom, there was absolutely nothing that anyone could do in order to impede his inevitable advance to the peak of social status.


    It was with such a status that, after the 35-year mark, Azmodeus decided it was time to bring the Emonius Triade up in the rankings. After all, it was the organization in which his main body lived and umted strength.


    So with the continued flow of time, the Emonius Triade sessfully achieved the status of a first rate organization through the repeated alterations made by the one working behind the scenes.


    On a side note, Azmodeus broke through to the 8th Stage of Lunar Ascendancy, allowing his power to once again take a massive leap.


    It was because of these ''alterations'' that the organization became the ''Emonius Sect'' with over 100,000 disciples all working toward the goal of bing the very best Potion Master''s that they could be.


    With the innumerable amount of Star Stones being sent in from Azmodeus and his clones, the Emonius Sect soared in every aspect of the Potion Mastery field. At this point in time, they possessed thousands of Potion Master''s above the Silver Rank!


    This was not only due to the Star Stones but also because of the teachings of the ''Supreme Crimson Elder'' who lived on Fallen Immortal Mountain. Additionally, it was also because of the ''Crimson Witch'' who passed on the teachings of the Supreme Crimson Elder.


    Azmodeus had long since been offered the position of Sect Master. But he immediately declined, as that sounded like something more along the lines of what one of his Clones (ves) should be working toward.


    Such as the Azura Leader, Amonroth, who had acquired fame beyondpare in the Royal Capital, bing the fan favorite of even those who once wanted him dead.


    With his protection on the frontlines and constant teachings, along with all the improvements he made with his fief''s inventions and discoveries, life within the Royal Capital was at an all-time high. It achieved a level of prosperity never before seen in its long history.


    And with the ''Heroes'' from the Vermillion Phoenix Providence still hundreds of years away from getting the barrier between squares to open, there was no telling how far his advancements in every aspect would reach...


    ...


    Time passed by like a raging river, sweeping away everything in its unrelentless currents, as it had been 90 years since Jia Lei''s birthday party.


    Over this period of time, many things had changed as Azmodeus neared 400 years of age and achieved both the 9th Stage of Lunar Ascendancy and the Peak-Diamond Rank. This resulted in his overallbat power spiking up to the Later Stages of the Late-Moonlit Path Realm!


    Additionally, his professions had taken step after step within the Middle-Moonlit Path Rank, sessfully achieving the Late-Moonlit Path Rank, likely no more than a few dozen years out from reaching the next rank.


    On a side note, the residents of the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode made immense advancements in their cultivation as well.


    Yang Hua and Nao Long managed to advance into the 3rd Star Lunar Ascendancy Realm. While Bing Nu Shen, You Mei, and Lin Na lingered in the Peak Stages of the 2nd Star Lunar Ascendancy Realm, somehow getting surpassed by the two women who preferred to nap on Azmodeus than to cultivate.


    But when one took into consideration the degree to which theyprehended the Elusive Ascension Technique, it made a lot more sense that theirziness worked in their favor.


    As for Pan Nu and Rou Tian, they both achieved the 5th Star Lunar Ascendancy Realm, putting them far above the crowd when it came to the amount of effort put in.


    However, somehow, they weren''t the ones with the highest cultivations among the women. For that spot belonged to the eternally asleep Jue Mei, and Chi Wu!


    One was some form of alien cat with capabilities beyond anythingprehensible, while the other was discovered to possess a Spiritual Root called ''Concoction Amalgamation''.


    This Physique of hers was believed to be above the Moonlit Path Rank, and it was with this Physique that she was able to achieve the Later Stages of the 5th Stage Lunar Ascendancy Realm within such a short period of time!


    On the other hand, Jue Mei fermented her cultivation base inside the 7th Stage of Lunar Ascendancy a few years ago.


    That basically summed up the cultivations of everyone inside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode as time passed by quite peacefully.


    Everyone bothered Azmodeus while progressing in whatever it was they wished to pursue.


    Some of the girls even started to take missions outside of the cave, acting as special envoys of the Heaven Exploding Faction. They got things done with a thinking process far different from the critical and oftentimes cruel way that Azmodeus thought about things.


    All in all, everything leaned toward the direction of absolute conquest¡ªof Infinite Conquest!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 181: Half-Step Comets Passage Realm

    ...¡­


    The girl''s way of thinking was both a good and bad thing, as their kindness was still prominent in their personalities, leading to skewed decisions that may or may not have repercussions for the Loot Goblin.


    But so far, Yang Hua, Nao Long, Bing Nu Shen, and the rest of the Heaven Exploding Faction members have done really well in things like peaceful negotiations and some aspects of logistics.


    Overall, everyone had their purpose in the Heaven Exploding Faction, with most of that purpose leading them right back to thep of the one who led them around like puppies.


    It wasn''t like Azmodeus was intentionally doing this, but after millions of Traits were assimted into his existence, there were many things that he did instinctually. And one of those things just happened to be his passive ability to take advantage of anything presented before him.


    If there were benefits to be had, then it was almost certain that he would be chasing them down with everything he had¡­


    That was just the sort of man he had be, and it was also these quirks that would allow him to soar up to the infinite number of realms in the world of cultivation.


    However, before he and the rest of his ''Blood-bathed yandere''s'' resumed their prolonged cultivation sessions, he made sure to roll for the Physique of his graceful Chi Wu¡ªa woman who would do anything for him.


    After rolling dozens of times and spending countless amounts of Evolution Essence, the Physique was eventually obtained. Its Acquisition allowed his Singrity Physique to gain a few unique aspects rted to Potion Mastery.


    It also gave him a huge boost in cultivation talent¡ªenough of a boost that his talent finally broke through the bottleneck that prevented him from reaching the Peak-Moonlit Path Rank!


    And it was this very breakthrough that made it possible for Azmodeus to achieve a level of talent dozens of times better than it was before!


    Add that to the fact that he improved his Qi Gathering Formation Rune Array a few days ago, and his cultivation speed became many times greater than it was!


    These improvements to cultivation speed were extremely noticeable for a while. But after 30 years passed and he broke through the Half-Step Comet''s Passage Realm with all his ''Star''s'' filled up, it was made abundantly clear that far more talent would be necessary to break through into the Early-Comet''s Passage Realm.


    In fact, the gap between the Half-Step Comet''s Passage Realm and the true Comet''s Passage Realm was sorge that Azmodeus doubted whether he would have another breakthrough within the next century.


    With the average lifespan of a Lunar Ascendancy Realm Expert put into the equation, everything made a lot of sense. After all, even the weakest of Half-Step Comet''s Passage Realm Masters could live for hundreds of thousands of years without an issue.


    In Azmodeus''s case, that number was multiplied even further, as he was in possession of millions of Traits that improved his lifespan to varying degrees. All of which were bringing him to the utmost limits of every realm he achieved.


    Of course, this ''Lifespan'' waspletely rtive, as it was only in the main body''s timeline that his 10 million+ lifespan dwindled.


    If it were from the perspective of the numerous Primordial Essence Clones, then the wonky cosmic timelines affected them close to none.


    Speaking of the clones, they were currently trying to locate more realms to destroy in the Great Boundless Void of Space. Whichy in an infinitely stretching dimension beneath the Seventh Layered Infinity ne, Starry Expanse.


    But that didn''t mean that Azmodeus hadn''t felt the ever-progressing withering of the Law of Time, as he had witnessed the memories of mirror copies of himself¡ªmemories that depicted trillions of years of wandering the Boundless Void.


    So much solitude¡­ So much boredom¡­ A deep yearning¡­


    Through these experiences and indescribable feelings of surreality, Azmodeus was able to better understand the Law of Time. Subsequently, this enabled him to make massive improvements in hisprehension of the Space-Time Runes, even progressing them to Rank 2 in terms of Comic Law advancement!


    This not only made it so that he could confidently ce down the time bubble that he was previously forced to put away due to vtile energies and higher realm discrepancies. But it also allowed him to add the space aspect to a time bubble that contained a time dtion of 5:1 at an indefinite pace.


    Such an action allowed all residents of Fallen Immortal Mountain to stay encased inside a translucent and ethereal bubble of time.


    In other words, it was a barrier of time that allowed the Core Members of the Heaven Exploding Faction to once again get ahead of everyone else around them.


    Following yet another improvement to the aspects contained in the Space-Time Rune, increasing the time dtion to 6:1, Azmodeus went back to cultivating next to the sprawled-out sensual bodies of the various women inside his private chambers.


    Might as well not even have private chambers if they''re going toe barging in anyway¡­


    He heaved a heavy sigh before getting back to the eternal art of cultivating, hoping to make some advancements toward the Comet''s Passage Realm.


    -----


    The Lunar Ascendancy Realm (Major Realm 12):


    Once a cultivator has reached the peak of the Mahayana Realm, which includes the Half-Step Lunar Ascendancy Realm, one could begin to enter the Lunar Ascendancy Realm.


    The Lunar Ascendancy Realm was a realm where a Half-Step Lunar Ascendancy Realm expert must begin to convert their ''Spiritual Qi'' into a higher form of Qi. Namely, the ''Starry Qi''.


    Starry Qi permeates the entirety of the ''Higher-Level'' areas of Mortal nes of Existence.


    Once one has acquired a way to obtain ''Starry Qi'', one could begin to absorb it until there came a day when all of the ''Spiritual Qi'' contained inside one''s Dantain, Core, and Qi Cyclones transformed into a far thicker and more condensed ''Starry Qi''.


    After converting whatever it was that held your ''Spiritual Qi'' to a state of ''100% Starry Qi and 0% Spiritual Qi'', you would have officially broken through into the Lunar Ascendancy Realm.


    Upon which, you could begin to scale the minor stages of the Lunar Ascendancy Realm by condensing more of the ''Starry Qi'' within whatever is unique to your circumstances.


    The minor stages of the Lunar Ascendancy Realm go like this:


    1st Star Lunar Ascendancy Realm ¡ú [1 star filled in for whatever rtes to you, i.e. your Dantain Space will begin to look like a star is shining within it.]


    2nd Star Lunar Ascendancy Realm ¡ú [2 stars filled in for whatever rtes to you, i.e. your Dantain Space will begin to look like two stars are shining within it.]


    3rd Star Lunar Ascendancy Realm ¡ú [3 stars filled in for whatever rtes to you, i.e. your Dantain Space will begin to look like three stars are shining within it.]


    4th Star Lunar Ascendancy Realm: [4 stars filled in for whatever rtes to you, i.e. your Dantain Space will begin to look like four stars are shining within it. (The color of your Dantain Space will begin to darken at this stage)]


    5th Star Lunar Ascendancy Realm ¡ú [5 stars filled in for whatever rtes to you, i.e. your Dantain Space will begin to look like five stars are shining within it.]


    6th Star Lunar Ascendancy Realm ¡ú [6 stars filled in for whatever rtes to you, i.e. your Dantain Space will begin to look like six stars are shining within it.]


    7th Star Lunar Ascendancy Realm ¡ú [7 stars filled in for whatever rtes to you, i.e. your Dantain Space will begin to look like seven stars are shining within it. (The color of your Dantain Space will start to resplendently brighten)]


    8th Star Lunar Ascendancy Realm ¡ú [8 stars filled in for whatever rtes to you, i.e. your Dantain Space will begin to look like eight stars are shining within it.]


    9th Star Lunar Ascendancy Realm ¡ú [9 stars filled in for whatever rtes to you, i.e. your Dantain Space will begin to look like nine stars are shining within it. (The shine will be at an all-time high for this stage.)]


    Half-Step Comet''s Passage Realm ¡ú [All nine of your stars will begin to coalesce until theybine and begin to take on the shape of an illusoryet that stands in as your ''dantian space'' (Energy Storage will begin to grow exponentially!)]


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 182: Divine Retribution

    ...¡­.


    With the unimpeded advance of time, 60 years flew by in the blink of an eye.


    Due to a number of Physique''s that Azmodeus acquired over the long years of farming in the Astral ne and Boundless Void, his talent spiked up over and over again. This allowed him to reach the precipice of the Comet''s Passage Realm ahead of schedule.


    However, on the day that his breakthrough was on the verge ofmencing, he received baffling news that the Ruler of the Vermillion Phoenix Providence was on the move. Apparently, he nned to send out the Heroes and ''Vermillion''s'' ahead of time, all of whom were in and above the tinum Rank!


    It was quite obvious that they were nning to wage war with the Azura Kingdom after figuring out that they were progressing far faster economically than they thought they would.


    However, the moment that Tai Qui, the ''Phoenix Conqueror'' made it to the barrier between their ''ck Square'' and the Azura Kingdom''s ''Red Square'', they were prevented from passing through due to the time not being ripe.


    Following this prevention of advancement, Tai Qui flew into a rage and destroyed massive segments of his own territory while spouting profanities like ''I should''ve let Xinyi Hai and Xia Mu to do whatever they wished with that ursed Duke''s daughter while I had the chance!''. There were also a couple curses like ''That damn Goddess and her games!!!''.


    The Phoenix Conqueror ended up killing dozens of his own tinum Rank Warriors while in such a fury-fed state. And it was this action that led to his own vassals turning against him.


    Because of this, the Azura Kingdom was able to gain some respite from those who were allowed to pass through the barrier between Squares.


    One might wonder how it was possible for people to go through a barrier that was previously deemed ''impassable'', but the truth was that the barrier was only active for those who surpassed a certain level of strength.


    For those below the Later Stages of the Early-tinum Rank, like where Azmodeus was while he was fighting at the Battle of Riveredge Pass, there was no such ''barrier'' and simply looked like the rest of the air.


    This made it possible for those below a certain strength bracket to fight it out with each other. It was this way of fighting that decided who would gain the upper hand when the barrier between the two squares was fully opened.


    For example, a wide array of traps capable of wiping out tinum Rank Experts could be ced in the area where one was on the winning side.


    There were many other advantages that a Square Ruler could obtain, and those were all about to be avable for the Azura Kingdom. After all, the Battle of Riveredge Pass and its following battles were won due to the influence of Azmodeus and the residents of his Cave Abode.


    On a side note, Nao Long left the cave dozens of years ago, talking about showing off her strength for her mate in the battle between two countries. But Azmodeus knew that she just wanted to be bathed in blood like the crazy little Yandere that she was at her core.


    It wasn''t long after she left that the rest of the girls decided to join in on the battle as well, collectively murdering countless billions of lives. In a way, they tipped the scale of the ''Neutral Zone'' and gave the Vermillion Phoenix Providence enough trouble that they attempted to shatter the Neutral Zone.


    -----


    Neutral Zone.


    The Neutral Zone was the ce in which all the wars between two Square Ruler''s took ce, and it was the exact same in every single borderline of the infinite number of ''Square''s'' in the Astral ne.


    Furthermore, the most distinguished aspect of these Neutral Zones was that they were rumored to be indestructible. And when you included the trend of them being the prime location for war between two Square''s, there was only one oue for those who went against the ''Fun'' set up by the God''s.


    Divine Retribution.


    It was said that if one angered the heavens enough, then the gods would strike you down without any remorse, erasing all qualities of your existence.


    When the Phoenix Conqueror struck the Neutral Zone barrier. Thereafter, taking on the insults hurled at him by his own people, the ''Heavens'' had enough reason to eradicate the one who went against the fun of its two creators.


    A great rumbling and shaking urred not even a few days after the Phoenix Conqueror caused chaos in a fit of rage.


    The result of this quaking was a massive crater that stretched on for as long as the eye could see.


    The crater was festered with ludicrous amounts of the Mid-Mortal Law of Shock, and sparks could be seen flying around the area where the Royal Capital of the Vermillion Phoenix Providence used to be located.


    That day, a great figure possessing strength nearing the peak of the Middle-tinum Rank died a begrudged death. Along with his untimely demise, the rest of his territory devolved into chaos, as their strongest ruler had died and he wasn''ting back to give them salvation.


    The economy and stock market of the Vermillion Phoenix Providence hit an all time low as the social sses fell apart, people rose up in rebellion, and their world as a whole was on the verge of copse.


    All because a single man with a short temper decided to go against the will of the gods¡­


    Azmodeus was unsure if this was all a ploy by the Goddess of Light meant to intimidate him, but if it was war she wanted, then war she would get.


    From that day onwards, he held nothing back in his pursuit of points for his Physical Existence Rank. He killed everyone and everything that didn''t affect the economy of his money-making country¡ªa country in which he had already achieved a position surpassing even the King''s father and Ancestor''s.


    20 years ago, after making innumerable contributions to the Azura Kingdom and improving literally every aspect of the kingdom, the King, his father, and a few living ancestors in the Middle-tinum Rank figured it was only right to make him the ''Supreme Azura Overlord''.


    This unanimous decision made by them made it possible for Azmodeus to once again sink his ws deeper than ever inside the kingdom he lived in.


    It was unknown how far he could w away at the Astral ne before it had nothing left to give, but he sure as hell nned to find out...!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 183: An Eternal Dream

    ...¡­


    It wasn''t long after acquiring the highest position in the kingdom and ''living out a happy life'' with the various noble daughters'' that Azmodeus decided it was time to finish the indoctrination process of all the high-ranking figures yet to be affected by his illusion spells.


    However, it was no less than 30 years after the incident with the Phoenix Conqueror that Jing Fu, his father, Ancestor''s, along with the Duke''s and all relevant family members were forced into an illusion that they would never be able to escape.


    They lived in worlds that suited their ideals, all while ving away for the one who had the entire Azura Kingdom under onerge spell¡ªa spell that he nned to expand to the other Square''s as soon as another 200 years passed.


    For the residents of the Heaven Exploding Abode, especially for the one deemed the ''Most Monstrous Genius to ever be born'', 200 years flew by in brief segments.


    During the years that followed, Azmodeus managed to transform his ''Illusory Comet'' into a true ''Comet'' above his Dantian space, allowing him to achieve the Early Comet''s Passage Realm by the 40-year mark!


    For the next 20 years, he continued his cultivation, progressing it at a snail''s pace. So in the end, his cultivation was outshined by the advancements he made in his professions.


    His Alchemist, Formation, Rune, Array, Spirit cksmithing, Spirit Chef, and Spirit Beast Taming Professions had all reached the Half-Step Forger Rank, far outpacing even his cultivation base!


    On the other hand, his Potion Master Profession had made just as many advancements, achieving the very peak of the tinum Rank.


    This essentially made him the most proficient Potion Master in all of the Azura Kingdom!


    Add that to the seemingly unlimited level of knowledge he had imbibed over the years, and a freak capable of mass-teaching trillions of powerful Second-Layer Infinity Beings was made.


    Azmodeus had long since indotricated every living being inside the kingdom, which heter renamed the ''Heaven Exploding Sect''. And it was with this branishwahsing tactic that he could more easily teach all those within his sphere of influence, enabling the people of his empire to learn everything he threw at them.


    Through this action and over another 50 years, the Heaven Exploding Sect was able to acquire a force with over a trillion Diamond Ranked Masters and countless Experts proficient in every Profession that could be taught to them.


    With such a world-ending force created from brainwashing, power supplements recycled through transmogrification, and the stripping of the world''s natural resources, an army far beyond anything ever seen in a single-leaf square was created.


    This force was capable of ruling over the entire territory, including the Neutral Zone, all without having to deal with a single stump in their way.


    It was this very battalion of soldiers, all of whom would die for their ruler, that prepared everything they had for the day that the gap between squares fully opened. Upon which, they could then venture into the Vermillion Phoenix Providence and take out anything that stood in their way!


    This wasn''t baseless confidence either, as the number of experts on the side of the Heaven Exploding Sect trumped the power of the Vermillion Phoenix Providence 100 to 1. And with the death of their king and a majority of their masters in the Vermillion Royal Capital, there was absolutely no way that they could hope to stand against the far superior Heaven Exploding Sect.


    After another 20 years of nervously contemting theirplete surrender, they eventually gave in and allowed the eligible experts from the Heaven Exploding Sect toe into their country and annex thend ahead of time.


    They feared what would''ve happened if they let the timer of the gap between Squares close in on them, which was why they made such a drastic decision.


    In their eyes, this very decision was no different from giving up everything that their ancestors toiled away at building from the dirt up...


    But regardless of the Vermillion Phoenix Providence''s inhibitions following their surrender, it was far toote to back out of their agreement. And with the continued passing of time, every inch ofnd inside their country became part of the Heaven Exploding Sect, with all their leading Experts turning into nothing more than Inner Sect Disciples and Outer Deacons.


    It was through these actions that everything involving the constant state of war between two single-leafed countries came to aplete halt, leaving room for plenty of growth and prosperity.


    However, for the Loot Goblin, there was no such thing as ''Blissful Peace'', as he followed up the surrender of the Vermilion Phoenix Providence with the immediate indotrication of all their inhabitants!


    After another 30 years flew by, the previous members of the Vermillion Phoenix Providence gave up any ideas of rebellion. After all, they were brainwashed to the degree that treason would never cross their minds¡­


    Through these ruthless acts conducted by the merciless Crimson Devil Lord, his military force once again took a tremendous leap. Subsequently, all this took him straight to the level of power that one ruling over a double-leafed country would possess!


    Speaking of the rulers of leafed countries, Azmodeus took on the ''Square Ruler Stamps'' that the Phoenix Conqueror''s son and Jing Fu possessed.


    This made it possible for him to be the ruler of not only one single-leafed faction but two of them, effectively making him a double-square ruler!


    With the addition of his military force in the equation, it was only a matter of time before he forced his position up to that of a Double-Leafed Faction, such as the Sea-Bound Sect that Jia Lei was a member of.


    On a side note, it was also a sect that she climbed the ranks of even at this very moment, attempting to be a high-ranking member capable of assisting her ''Husband'' when the time for further annexation came around.


    On the subject of Jia Lei and the rest of the noble women, Azmodeus managed to get them into an eternal dream¡ªa dream where they happily lived out their lives with an exact copy of him and did anything and everything they wanted to do.


    Some even had kids with him in this mirror dimension of their own¡­


    There were even a few who had grown old and passed away before restarting their fantasy from the beginning again, all while doing anything and everything that Azmodeus and his clones ordered them to do.


    By this point in time, his emotions were slowly but surely showing that they were fading¡­ And such fading wentpletely unnoticed by even himself¡­


    But with his ambitions of reaching for more power until there was nothing left to reach for, such ''restrictions'' barely even phased him as life continued to echo throughout the vast ins of time.


    It let those of the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode experience many things at a pace over six times slower than everyone else.


    The world passed them by, and they were okay with that...


    ...¡­

 Chapter 184: Middle-Comets Passage Realm

    ...¡­


    One year was a long time for a mortal.


    100 years was enough for an entire lifetime to go by, but for those in the world of cultivation, such a period of time was not even enough for a nap.


    With 100 years having passed since the Divine Retribution was sent down by the heavens on the Phoenix Conqueror, many, many things had changed within the double-leafed faction that used to be made up of two single-leafed factions.


    And for those inside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode and Fallen Immortal Mountain, nearly 750 years were forever gone from the timeline...


    This resulted in countless improvements to the cultivations of every resident of said secluded area¡ªan area still located within a corner of the massive Emonius Sect.


    In 750+ years, Azmodeus''s cultivation had long since achieved the Middle-Comet''s Passage Realm. However, it didn''t stop with just that, as the Late Comet''s Passage Realm was right around the corner!


    It would likely be no more than a few weeks until he achieved the Late Comet''s Passage Realm¡ªa breakthrough that would allow his illusoryet to appear even more prominent than before.


    One might wonder how it took so long for the Monstrous Genius to reach such a stage, and the truth was that <1200 years to achieve the Late Comet''s Passage Realm was considered something that only those with extreme Cultivation Talent could aplish.


    With his Cultivation Talent progressing into the Early Forger Rank, it was only appropriate that his cultivation was at such a speed.


    Furthermore, one must remember that Azmodeus had yet to enter the Starry Expanse, leaving him as one of the only ones inside the Astral ne to have talent within the Forger Rank!


    This would normally not be possible unless one was lucky enough to be born with a high enough level Spiritual Root. But in his case, there was no limit to the degree to which his Cultivation Talent could be taken!


    After all, the number of people he assimted the Physique''s of came out in the thousands per day, with hundreds of millions of Mirror Mirage''s constantly on the lookout.


    There was no telling where his cultivation talent would be by the time he left the Astral ne. But by his calctions, it should take no more than 3 thousand years for his talent to achieve the Peak Forger Rank.


    And by that time, the whole Astral ne should be under his heel, so everything lined up just as he envisioned it would.


    But regardless of his continued advancements in cultivation talent, there were many other things that had tremendously improved over thest century.


    For one, his Battle Power reached the Peak of the Half-Step Forger Realm, and his Professions had all achieved the Early Forger Rank, allowing his ridiculous talent to once again rear its head!


    He progressed hisprehensions in his professions to insane levels, all through the nonsensical methods of reverse engineering secret manuals that he found after scouring the Astral ne and Boundless Void for innumerable years. Additionally, he had also improved his ability to research and create new concepts!


    Through this ceaseless action, a few Moonlit Path Realm books on Alchemy and Formations were found. And with the unrelentlessprehensions of a certain Peak Moonlit Path Realm manual called ''The Secret of the Golden Flower'', Azmodeus learned what was necessary for one to achieve the precipice of the boundary between the Moonlit Path and Forger Rank.


    It was with this extremely vague information about potential routes one could take in their constant progression of Alchemy that Azmodeus broke through the bottleneck that prevented him from reaching the Early Forger Rank!


    Furthermore, with the applications of reverse engineering and applicable infusion, he was able to utilize his knowledge of the Forger Alchemy Master Profession in order to take the leap with his other six professions as well!


    In a way, this made him the only person in the Astral ne to be of the Forger Rank in 7 different professions!


    Even so, there was no way in hell that Azmodeus would be content with the miniscule progress that he''s made so far. And with the advancement of his professions, he decided to put even more effort into everything he could think of, all while splitting the workload among all his clones and Mirror Mirages.


    In the end, it wasn''t only his main body working at 100% efficiency, as every single version of himself put themselves in a state of non-stop progress. They surpassed even Jue Mei, the alien cat, in terms of speed and effort put in.


    There was no end to the insatiable thirst for more power and knowledge when it concerned the one who all people of the Heaven Exploding Sect referred to as the ''Crimson Emperor'', one bathed in blood wherever he traversed.


    Nobody questioned his decisions, and no one had the gall to go against his words¡ªwords that might as well have been divine ordanes when they came out of his mouth.


    He was ruling as an absolute tyrant, one who cared not for social status or even the hierarchy, as the only thing that had been on his mind for the past thousand years was the pursuit of benefits!


    Besides the talkative girls who spoke of murder and yandere tendencies, the only thing that had ever been in his ns since the very beginning was none other than the benefits that could be obtained from anything that could be taken advantage of.


    There was really nothing else in his goals¡­


    He wanted more¡­ More and more until there was nothing left to acquire¡­


    It was with this mindset that he stood on a high reaching cliff that overlooked the whole world like there was nothing higher than him.


    "..."


    Azmodeus turned his cold, piercing gaze through the countless armored figures roaring at him from below the cliff, as this was the result of his efforts over thest thousand years.


    HOOORAAAH!


    The bellows of the Azura''s, Vermillion''s, and numerous other tinum Rank figures reverberated with utmost fervor, as not a single one of them possessed a countenance that wasn''t borderline insane.


    WAAAA!


    RUMBLE!


    Theirbined auras violently fluctuated, causing the deep valley they resided in to tremble and quake.


    As they became lost in their own fervor, the expressionless man above deeply pondered a topic of note while appearing like nothing short of an aloof god among men.


    After eradicating all the troublesome heroes of my sect, including the heroes who were after Jia Lei, only the Zealots are left.


    And it is with this unquestionably faithful legion that the next step truly begins¡­


    A step which will wipe the disgusting smirk off that Goddess of Sh*t watching an illusion of my territory from beyond the heavens.


    She sitspletely unaware that I''ve already put a blindfold over her conceited gaze...


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 185: Preparing For World Domination

    ...¡­.


    Azmodeus had a bit of trouble finding the heroes in hiding. All of whom managed to evade his sight using some form of special skill given to them by the Goddess of Light and the God of Darkness.


    These mysterious skills gave the ''Hero Hunter'' more than a small headache. But with the information garnered from heroes like Jia Lie and a few traps to lure them out of their shells, all of the god''s influence ultimately disappeared from the Heaven Exploding Sect.


    This left the Crimson Emperor as the only one worthy of reverence, with everyone his believer.


    Of course, the residents of his Cave Abode were excluded from the brainwashing, as it wasn''t like they needed it anyway. After all, even the brainless zealots were unable topare to the level of devoutness that the Yandere''s had for their ''Husband'' and ''Master''.


    Betrayal was out of the question, but just to be safe, Azmodeus kept a soul seal on their souls¡ªa seal that would allow him to know of any signs of danger or betrayal.


    Of course, he had belief in their loyalty and obsession, so their potential treason was the least of his concerns.


    But there was no such thing as being too cautious, as proven by a certain Overly Cautious Hero. So everything was done in order to ensure a path of absolutely nothing capable of stopping his advance to the peak of existence.


    It was such a way of thinking that kept him alive until this moment in time, and it would likely be the same for many, many years toe.


    However, in the present, the time to put his caution aside had arrived, as the hole between squares finally started to show signs of widening.


    It opened enough that even Peak tinum Rank Experts could walk through the thin purple fment without an issue.


    -


    "This is where step 2 will have its foundationsid down. And with the ruse being used on the Goddess of Light, the only unknown factor I have to worry about is the God of Darkness¡ªsomeone whom I know little to nothing about."


    Azmodeus whispered under his breath, a calctive gleam in his profound crimson-colored eyes as he looked at the elegant figures standing behind him.


    "Are you all ready to begin the ''Great Undertaking''? It will be something that willst for thousands of years, so it is necessary make sure that you''re ready for what''s toe," he asked with a voice oozing an indescribable number of emotions, his gaze flipping between the women who had joined him on this journey over a thousand years ago.


    *Whip! Whip!*


    A busty dragon woman''s tail whipped around a little as Nao Long, the Drake Terror, stepped forth with an innocent expression.


    However, her words were anything but innocent, as she clung to Azmodeus and shed her sharp, white teeth. After which, she asked, "Will I truly have a chance of bing a dragon if we ascend the Astral ne afterpletely conquering it?"


    "Why, of course," Azmodeus responded, his hand letting down soft pats on the woman''s head.


    "Will I be able to kill to my heart''s content?" She inquired with her tail indicating her steadily increasing anticipation.


    Azmodeus stared into the shining eyes of the adorable girl as he lightly lifted her chin up before replying, "I don''t see why not."


    "Then, what are we still doing up here, Husband!?" Nao Long leaped into his arms before unloading kisses on his cheeks as a deadly glint containing nothing but love and murder shed past her gaze.


    "And for the rest of you?" Azmodeus inquired after a moment of appreciating the look in Nao Long''s eyes.


    "..." "..." "..."


    Yang Hua, You Mei, Bing Nu Shen, Li Na, Chi Wu, Rou Tian, and Pan Nu looked between each other for a couple seconds before letting out light, heavenly giggles in quick session.


    Azmodeus''s expression nearly exhibited a small smile at their giggling as he said, "It looks like you all know what you want."


    Bing Nu Shen walked in front of the crowd before elegantly making her way over to his tall, almost demonic figure.


    After which, she put her slender arms against his halfway bare kimono-covered chest and bit her lower lip. She said, "Why are you even asking us something so ridiculous when you already know the answer to the question?"


    Bing Nu Shen stared into those deep crimson eyes of the man she fell in love with as her breath became a couple degrees hotter. This resulted in sensual steaming out of the wet, gooey hole thaty between her luscious red lips.


    Her body and all its bountiful goodness pressed up against his body, as she didn''t seem to have any intention of turning her lusty gaze away from his chiseled muscles and his even more impressive face.


    Yang Hua saw the desperateness of her master as she let out a soft sigh before gracefully walking in the direction of the man who had long since grown up from the kind yet distant boy she met inside the Yang Sect¡ªa boy whom she learned to love even more than she did before.


    Upontching onto Azmodeus''s left arm and sessfully acquiring his attention, she started to speak with a sophisticated voice unique to only her:


    "Despite her horniness, my master is right, Az, Az. After all, the eight of us would be right behind you, no matter where you n on taking us.


    And as for Jue Mei, I''m sure she would never even dream about leaving the Cave Abode she''s been cooped up in for thest millennium.


    Plus¡­ it was getting a little monotonous to stay inside the Cave Abode at all times of the day for years on end.


    And though we were able to achieve the tinum Physical Existence Rank and Comet''s Passage Realm due to your assistance, we would like to show you that we have unique uses capable of assisting you in world domination.


    After all, you are not the best when ites to peaceful pacts between our Sect and the other Square Territories¡­ La..."


    ...¡­

 Chapter 186: Go Forth! Conquer!

    ...¡­


    Yang Hua recalled a memory from dozens of years ago (outside time).


    It was a memory that involved Azmodeus dering war on the Single-Leafed Thousand Lotus Sect simply because he didn''t like the way they mocked the women of the Heaven Exploding Faction under their breath.


    She knew that he didn''t do it because he loved them, but there was a naive part of her that believed a piece of his existence felt the same way about her as she did about him.


    But in the end, such emotions were likely just her way of coping with the reality that her feelings would always be a one-way street¡­


    Even so, nothing would stand in her way of happiness!


    Furthermore, this was the same for all the other girls, for even if it took millions or billions of years, they would keep on persevering in their goal of bing capable enough to break Azmodeus away from his ''curse''.


    Even if they lost their emotions or even their lives in pursuit of this goal, they would strive forward with the sole objective of getting the emotionless man to reciprocate their nigh suffocating levels of love.


    Azmodeus was no fool and understood what went through the heads of these women. But in the end, all his emotions were fabricated by a portion of his Traits. None of them were any indication of what he truly felt in any given situation.


    Most of the time, this worked toward his advantage, as no one knew his next move. But when it came to the hearts of those close to him, there was nothing else he could do but attempt to emte what it was they wanted.


    After the 800-year mark, he even allowed their sexual advances to go through to him, which they were initially overjoyed about. However, upon seeing theck of response deep within his gaze, all of them discarded the idea of sleeping with him.


    Instead of instant gratification, they worked toward bing stronger¡ªstrong enough that no amount of indifference could ever hope to stop them from getting through to his heart.


    They didn''t care how long it took or how long they had to wait, for they would wait an eternity if it meant they could see the same overwhelming affection within his eyes while staring at them.


    They wanted the same affection that suffocated them every time he passed them by...


    -


    "..."


    Azmodeus scanned his gaze across the enamored women as he heaved a sigh that contained many emotions and yet none at all.


    After which, he watched them walk up and stand beside him as he weed a new stage in the long-thought-out n that would lead toplete world domination.


    "For those of you who understand what it is we will be doing when that gate fully opens up, I will keep it brief and tell you that there is only one path we can take."


    WAAAA!


    He unleashed his majestic and regal crimson-red aura, which was well into the Early Forger Realm. After which, he shouted, "There is only one path we can take, and that is the path forward!"


    HOOORAAAH!


    In between the hoorahs and fervent yells of the soldiers, Azmodeus continued by saying, "Go out and conquer! Take over every inch of space you can find! I want every Square within an octillion-mile radius under my heel before a hundred years from now! Can you do that for your king!?"


    OOOM!


    All of the soldiers released an aura that imitated their ruler''s aura, as they nearly broke the definition of sound with how loud they were shouting!


    "Then go forth! Show me what it means to know no limits!" Azmodeus bellowed out with a boisterous voice, his gaze looking through the crowd of soldiers with a heroic disposition.


    But beneath that heroism, therey a deeply concealed voraciousness¡ªa voraciousness that yearned for nothing more than to acquire the maximum amount of benefits he could from the Astral ne!


    He didn''t care that he could''ve ascended to the Starry Expanse over a thousand years ago! He didn''t give a damn that he surpassed the Astral Principality Princes in power level!


    Unless the Astral ne was depleted to a state of being termed ''barren'', he wouldn''t be leaving!


    This is the way¡­ This is the only way¡­


    Following his thoughts, Azmodeus led his troops into the barrier between worlds, letting them cause chaos and destruction in all the Squares!


    All of which opened their doors for the craziest and most power hungry being to evere to be...!!


    ...


    With the passing of time, a season could change or your neighbor next door could get married. However, for one man who didn''t care if he was termed a devil, the passing of time was nothing more than a cause for due process.


    It had been over 10 years since the conquest of the Astral nemenced, and so far, not a single Square Ruler stood a chance against even the weakest of Azmodeus''s Mirror Mirage''s.


    It didn''t take long after the deaths of the various Square Rulers for the rest of the territories to fall apart. After all, no one held a candle to the overpowering army consisting of millions of tinum Rank Experts and even a few hundred Adamantine Master''s.


    The number was staggering, and their strength was even greater, resulting in the defeat of not only single-leaf factions but also double-leaf factions!


    Everywhere the Crimson Emperor and his savage army passed by, death was the only thing left behind...


    Even surrendering wasn''t enough for you to escape the attacks of the ''Crimson Battalion'', as countless quadrillions of lives died at the hands of the Mirror Mirage''s.


    Speaking of the Mirror Mirages, they finished off any and all enemies using a special ''split method'', effectively taking advantage of loopholes in the Infinite Evolution System.


    Nevertheless, through the mysterious methods of Azmodeus, millions of Square''s fell under his advance, and 1% of that amount was in the Double Leafed category.


    Which was all to say that Azmodeus acquired immeasurable amounts of Physical Existence Points!


    However, with the help of the system and exponential spikes in ''value per point'' as one scaled the unit indicators of mathematics, these figures were converted into a manageable format.


    An example of said format was presented before Azmodeus as he hovered in the skies while watching the earth for billions of miles light aze in great congrations of dazzling fire and blinding streaks of lightning.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 187: Middle Comets Passage Realm, Stats

    ...¡­


    Trillions died with every passing second, and some were recruited. But for the one who set these massacres in motion, the only thing he seemed to care about were the constantly shing blue and golden lights in front of his exquisitely defined face.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed Quintillions of Astral ne Existences over thest few months. And with the usage of a technique called ''Astral Split'', the kills of the forces under your rule have been calcted in your rewards.*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 20.5 Septendecillion points in your aspect of Physical Existence Refinement!*


    *Ding!* *You have acquired the Physique''s of numerous beings through the applications of ''Roll for a Trait or Physique if the target has one I don''t already have''.*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 36+ million Low-Mortal Physiques, 20 thousand Mid-Mortal Physique''s, and over 25 million Traits ranking from the Sky Rank to the Forger Rank.*


    *Ding!* *Your Singrity Physique has improved by leaps and bounds, allowing it to achieve the Absolute Peak Stages of the Late Forger Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your Physical Existence Rank has achieved the Middle-Adamantine Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your ''Overall Combat Power'' ¡ú ''Battle Power'' has improved by leaps and bounds!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to check out the new and improved system interface?*


    "Yes, I would."


    Following a major increase in power and a resplendent sh of light, a system interface adorned with opulent gold outlines appeared in front of Azmodeus.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: ~1200/250,000,000] (Increased due to Physique''s and Traits with relevant boosts)


    [Cultivation: Peak Stages of the Middle Comet''s Passage Realm]


    [Cultivation V.2: Physique Existence Refinement ¨C Initial Stages of Middle-Adamantine Rank]


    [Overall Combat Power: Peak Stages of the Early Forger Realm]


    [Level: 227]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 9.5 Octodecillion Evolution Essence]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: ~10 Novemdecillion Evolution Essence]


    {[Stats:]}


    [Strength: 1.2 Octodecillion]


    [Speed: 1.8 Octodecillion]


    [Defense: 1.1 Octodecillion]


    [Qi: 2.5 Octodecillion]


    [Cultivation Talent: Middle Forger Rank]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Astral Split - Level 5] (S Rank)] ¡ú [0/10 Octodecillion]


    [Mirror Mirage - Level 5] (S Rank)] ¡ú [0/10 Octodecillion]


    [Various other Traits] ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [Overall Attribute Boost: S Rank - (Level 5)]


    {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters]}


    [Singrity (Absolute Stages of Middle Forger Rank)]


    [Various other Physique''s] ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [Overall Attribute Boost: Middle Forger Rank]


    {[Laws]} ¡ú


    ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [All 300 Low-Mortal Laws have beenprehended to 100%, sessfully achieving Law Coalescence.] ¡ú [All Low-Mortal Laws have be Star Laws; adding onto the alreadyprehended Star Laws leaves the host with 2,450 Star Lawsprehended to Level 4+] ¡ú [Comprehend all 3,000 Star Laws in order to achieve another, far higher state of Law Coalescence.] ¡ú [Have them reach Level 5 in order to attempt to evolve them into Peak Star Laws,monly known as High-Mortal Laws.]


    {[Weapon Comprehensions]}


    [Main Weapon] ¡ú [Sword] ¡ú [Primary Art: Iaijutsu] ¡ú [Late Forger Rank]


    [Plethora of other Weaponprehensions: All Mortal Weapons Comprehended to the Early Forger Rank and Above]


    [Reminder! Stats are rtive, and the exact value of each stat points scales upward! Don''t trust them to be at face value or in corrtion with your Battle Power!]


    ¡ª------------


    After looking over his system interface, Azmodeus turned his gaze upward.


    He found out that the area he was levitating over had already been destroyed because of the ongoing battle between one of his Adamantine Rank Generals and the leader of a Double Leaf Kingdom called the ''Water Federation''.


    It was a kingdom that was originally seen as peaceful and tranquil. However, that was just what they were willing to show on the outside, as its vast sea-likends were rife with heinous acts such as r*pe, cannibalism, and eating newborns.


    To be honest, Azmodeus did the quadrillions of inhabitants a favor by sending in one of his strongest generals, Urkan the sher.


    He made quick work of the geography, reducing protruding inds and violent seas to a giant field of craters¡ªmassive holes in the ground that spread outwards for tens of trillions of miles.


    On the topic of the size ofnd masses, Azmodeus had figured out that the double-leaf squares were significantlyrger than the single-leaf squares, even surpassing thetter by millions of times.


    Well, when considering that his own Heaven Exploding Sect immediately increased in size upon the ''Territory Value'' improving past a certain point, it made sense that the other high-level territories¡ªruled over by Adamantine Rank Rulers¡ªwould be the same way.


    -----


    Territory Value.


    It was something that could be amassed by the Squares of the Astral ne and utilized by those holding the Square Ruler''s Stamp''s.


    The Territory Value itself was intangible and couldn''t be quantified, at least not by the eyes of anyone below the Dwarf Star Transformation Realm. However, if a Square Ruler felt around for long enough, then they would begin to notice motes of energy floating in the air, swarming toward anything and everything inside a designated Square.


    There was nothing too ethereal about this Territory Value, but the color would begin to change if the value produced by high-level figures exceeded a certain point.


    For example, the Square Ruler''s inside of a Single Leaf Territory would see dark gray motes pervading their territories, while those of a Double Leaf Territory would view them as a very light shade of gray.


    And then there were the Triple Leafed Territory Ruler''s, which saw the Motes as resplendent gold. Of course, there were only two of such Triple Leafed Square''s, but the point still stood.


    On a side note, if one wished to advance their area from a single-leaf square to a double-leaf square, then one needed to amass thousands of tinum Rank Experts, along with a single Adamantine Rank Ruler.


    If this requirement was fulfilled, then one could sessfully have their square advanced to the very bottom of the Double Leafed Territories. And if one continued to develop their territory and forces, then it was highly possible for them to be a 2nd Tier or even a 3rd Tier Double Leafed Square.


    Of course, the chances of this were unlikely, as reaching the 2nd Tier required one to have countless Adamantine experts and a single Amethyst Rank Lord. While the 3rd Tier was even steeper, as one needed to have more than a dozen Experts in the Peak Stages of the Amethyst Rank and countless masters below that Rank.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 188: My Pity Is Immeasurable...

    ...¡­


    It was unknown what one needed in order to advance their territory to a Triple Leafed Square, and it was also unknown what came after the Amethyst Rank. But there was one thing that everyone knew about the advancement. And that was the fact that the Goddess of Light and the God of Darkness would never allow it.


    After all, to exceed the Rank beyond the 3rd Tier Double Leafed Square, one had to reach the realm that the two gods had achieved.


    And such a thing being possible would simply never happen.


    At least, that would be the case unless you had someone capable of shrouding every conquered Square into one big Square called the Heaven Exploding Sect.


    If one were able to evade the gaze of the gods. Well, let''s just say that they would be able to pull the rug from underneath the feet of the gods as long as they had time!


    And what did a certain Loot Goblin have in vast quantities?


    Time¡­


    I have time¡­ And with my absurd lifespan, I don''t see it going down in big chunks anytime soon¡­


    Azmodeus watched the Adamantine Ruler that he subjugated a few years ago take on a water leviathan a million times his size.


    Tsunamis sprouted out from thin air and world-sized meteors plummeted from the sky, resulting in massive amounts of destruction to the terrain.


    They say that when one achieves abat power inside the ner Forger Realm and sessfully forms a over their Dantian, they acquire the power to affect the fabric of reality on a world-level scale.


    This scale is, of course, dependent on the Seventh Layered Infinity ne, the Starry Expanse. But it also implies that no matter where one in the Forger Realm goes, they will never possess a Battle Power beneath the world-destroying level.


    With the energy value of a Seventh Layered World put into the equation, the amount of power wielded by those in the Forger Realm was... Astronomical¡­


    Azmodeus didn''t know how to further articte the point then to say that he, along with all Adamantine Rank warriors, were an infinite amount of times stronger than they were before their breakthrough.


    But even with an indefinite number standing in the way, Azmodeus managed to breach the gap with pure, unadulterated freakishness!


    In Essence, he maxed out his stats and decided that wasn''t enough for him, so he kept clicking the ''increase cheat'' button and has continued to do so until this very day!


    Nevertheless, in spite of his aplishments in all fields, there was still an ongoing battle between Urkan the sher and the opposing Adamantine Square Ruler, who went by the name of the ''Omega Leviathan''. So, he honed in on the fight and let it y out, all while sitting on a translucent chair, perusing the various system notifications that came in from inside and outside the Astral ne.


    -


    "How Dare You!?!?" A voice of great fullness bellowed out.


    The owner of said voice was a giant Leviathan-like behemoth standing in at over a million meters in height. He possessed a dark blue, spiky figure with a plethora of dangling light blue antennas covering his body from head to toe.


    This was the Omega Leviathan!


    One known as the absolute ruler of the Water Federation and also one in possession of strength far surpassing what those of the surrounding Double Leafed Territories could hope topare to!


    However, for Urkan, who had gone through many series of augmentations, this Leviathan served as nothing more than a big pile of meat used to hone his skills with a massive butcher knife.


    "You truly are a pitiful creature, Omega, for not understanding the greatness of my master right away¡­ My pity for you is immeasurable¡­"


    Urkan''s domineering 8-foot figure seemed to loom over the Leviathan, even despite the massive difference in size.


    The sher, who once ruled over a Double Leafed Territory, now served as one of the top generals of the Crimson Devil Lord''s ''Crimson Battalion''.


    On this particrly auspicious day, he wore ck and red armor with a metallic sheen to it. A few cone-shaped spikes protruded out of his shoulder tes, which just so happened to make his attire the signature getup for those in the Crimson Battalion.


    If one added that to his square face and menacing re, then his already imposing appearance was further entuated. Which, when put all together, created a man who stared at the sinuous gaze of a giant monster that seemed almost tiny inparison.


    "!!!!"


    The Omega Leviathan immediately became enraged upon seeing the sympathy in the human''s gaze as his aura violently fluctuated!


    WAAAA!


    The mountains and the seas evaporated; the sky came crashing down; the earth rose up and copsed back in on itself.


    It looked like the end of the world had arrived¡­


    And yet, Urkan simply stared at the temperamental Leviathan with a gaze oozing sympathy as he heaved his 10-foot-long butcher knife over his left shoulder de. After which, he said, "I will correct your ways."


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    He sprung upward like a broken coil, resulting in many sonic booms being produced on his way up.


    However, upon reaching a certain level of speed, the sonic booms came to an end, as instead of sound, light donuts emerged in his path.


    Eventually, those light donuts formed into something even more insane, as Starry cosmic circles enveloped his body like divine Halo''s aiming to railgun him far beyond the speed of light!


    "!!!!!"


    The Omega Leviathan watched the ant go through many transformations of travel. He couldn''t get a clear view of him, and by the time he understood that he was looking at mere afterimages, Urkan had already appeared right in front of his massive, scaly face.


    "This will show you the way¡ªthe way to your salvation," Urkan uttered with a sanctimonious tone as his butcher knife plummeted toward the forehead of the giant beast!


    "Nooo...!!!" The Omega Leviathan roared with a voice of unwillingness as the butcher knife flipped onto its dull side and whacked him across his head!


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Ear-dwafening explosions resounded as the enormous Leviathan was sent hurling in the direction of a continent thaty to the east of where his floating sea pce resided!


    CRACKA¡ªBOOOOM!


    Following onest explosion that eradicated all life on the Sealord Continent, the once shimmering Leviathan was reduced to nothing more than a heap of blood and bones.


    He was sprawled out within a pit that sank into the ground for a distance that seemed to stretch downward indefinitely...


    How did he end up here...?


    From the top to the bottom¡ªin but an instant...


    ...¡­

 Chapter 189: Damn Cougars!

    ...¡­


    FWIP!


    Upon teleporting over to the deep dip, Urkan stared at the slightly shiny objectying at the deepest depths of said pit.


    FWIP!


    He blurred once more and materialized in the air above a beast who was barely able to keep one of his convulsing eyelids open. But it was enough for him to see the tiny man looking down on him.


    The Omega Leviathan wanted tosh out in rage and devour the human whole, but he knew that attempting such a thing would just speed up his death. Instead, he decided toy there, awaiting the verdict from the man who served under one whom he previously deemed as nothing more than a fake king¡­


    "This is the price that you have to pay to learn your ce, and I hope you have a clearer understanding of where you stand, for if my master were the one to fight you... Well, let''s just say that he isn''t as benevolent as I am."


    Following Urkan''s words, the Omega Leviathan was able to catch a glimpse of the piercing crimson gaze that the Crimson Emperor used to watch their fight unfold, all while never leaving his throne.


    It was at this moment that the Omega Leviathan realized something¡­


    This was never an honorable duel to begin with¡­ Nor was it a battle between two ruler''s¡­ It was simply a way for the Crimson Emperor to pass some time¡­


    After this thought passed through his mind, he averted his gaze away from the aloof, crimson-haired man and instead looked toward the robust Urkan.


    "Can I acquire more strength¡­? Can I break through the bottleneck that has restricted me for millions of years?? If I join you, can I advance further¡­?"


    The Omega Leviathan seemed to be asking Urkan this question, but it was really directed toward the ethereal man sitting upon a throne built upon the blood of his enemies.


    "..."


    Urkan looked at his master for confirmation, and after receiving a light hand wave, he flipped his gaze back toward the desperate Leviathan. He said, "You will make a breakthrough within the next 3 thousand years if you join the Crimson Battalion, and you will continue making breakthroughs until the day our master deems you useless."


    "Is this truly the case¡­!? Within a mere 3 thousand years, I''ll be able to breakthrough into the Middle-Adamantine Rank!?"


    "My master never lies; now are you willing to bend the knee?"


    Urkan asked such a question, but he already knew the answer, for if a desperate man was pushed to the edge, there would be no more apprehensions left within his mind.


    And just as he expected, the Omega Leviathan morphed into his humanoid form before falling to the ground with a thud. "I shall serve the Crimson Emperor till the day I die! More strength is all I want in return!"


    Urkan lightly nodded his head. "Very well. From this day forth, you and the rest of your Double Leafed Faction will serve as a Vassal and Subsidiary of the Heaven Exploding Sect. Prepare your things and head over to the main headquarters for official registration as an Inner Elder."


    Following this promation, his figure started to fade away. But before he fully disappeared, he said, "Wee to the Heaven Exploding Sect, and do try not to tarnish our master''s name. For if you do, I''ll just have to kill you."


    FWIP!


    His figure ended uppletely vanishing from sight, and in his ce, he left a massive Leviathan¡ªan ancient creature who lost everything and yet gained even more within the span of a few seconds.


    "This is my chance¡­ I want to achieve a higher realm, and if this is what must be done in order for me to do that, then I don''t mind selling my soul to the devil¡­" He muttered with a newfound fire burning brightly inside his slitted eyes, driving him forward to a new world of opportunities.


    As he watched the expressionless man stare at him from upon his blood-red throne, he felt something enter inside him¡ªsomething that would allow him to advance straight into the Middle-Adamantine Rank if given enough time!


    "So many Refinement Potions of the Adamantine Rank¡­ And this Secret Manual, just what sort of insane level ofprehension speed do you need in order to write something so advanced¡­?"


    A new sense of reverence welled up within the Omega Leviathan as he looked over the contents of ''Physical Existence - The Way of the Body''¡ªa book that held an untold number of profundities. All at a level beyond what he could fathom.


    "It was the right choice to follow such a ruthless man¡­"


    That was thest thing he said before the screen turned to ck and no one else was left inside the rapidly regenerating pit.


    -


    "Hey, Az, Az!"


    A voice echoed throughout the vast, hallowed halls of the Divine Crimson Pce, as a woman with long ck hair and goldish-colored eyes came rushing toward a man in a crimson kimono.


    The man in question was trying to make it to his private cultivation chambers thaty to the left side of the Pce, where the Fallen Immortal Mountain was ced a few years ago.


    "..."


    Azmodeus wanted to keep walking without paying any mind to the girl rambling about a bunch of nonsense behind him. But after feeling something soft and squishy collide with his back, he heaved a sigh before turning around. Only to realize that the girl was glued to his back¡­


    "What are you doing, You Mei¡­?" He questioned, his brows slightly twitching as he resumed his approach toward his private chambers.


    "Hehe~ What are you doing~?" She asked in response, a mischievous grin ying on her lips as she nibbled on his neck.


    "..."


    Azmodeus was beginning to think that he lived with a bunch of vampires...


    As he turned around a corridor decorated with a number of bright,ntern-like ornaments, he caught sight of yet another one of such bloodsuckers.


    "Az, Az¡­"


    That was all Chi Wu said before making her way over to him, lifting You Mei off his back, throwing her out a nearby open window, and ultimately taking her ce.


    Azmodeus watched this go down with a nk expression as he wondered where You Mei ended upnding.


    But considering that the Pce was surrounded by a heavenly springke, he figured she was fine and persisted in his walk. This time, he moves a little faster so as not to attract any more cougars.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 190: The Crimson Terror

    ...¡­


    Luckily for Azmodeus, after making it across a lush, verdant garden growing a plethora of mysteriously potent herbs, he found himself at the entrance to Fallen Immortal Mountain.


    The mountain in question managed to keep its simple exterior over the years. Even while surrounded by an ostentatious-looking pce like the one that was set up in the new headquarters of the Heaven Exploding Faction.


    After spending so long in the Emonius Sect and elevating its status to a whole new level, Azmodeus figured it was time to move locations. Which was why he eventually decided to move into a pocket dimension called the ''Crimson Dimension''.


    It was a dimension that he created and ced down above a conquered Double Leafed Square, which used to go by the name of ''Lapson Althos''.


    This name was something that Azmodeus quickly changed to the ''Central Square'', aiming to keep things simple.


    The Central Square was the true headquarters of the Heaven Exploding Sect, while the Crimson Dimension was more of the Sect Leader''s home.


    Considering its grandiosity, it was befitting of the ce where the Crimson Emperor resided.


    But regardless of how nice it was, really only You Mei, Chi Wu, and the rest of the Heaven Exploding Sect''s Core Members stayed in it out of pure convenience.


    Azmodeus, on the other hand, preferred to stay in his Heaven Exploding Cave Abode and cultivate or hone his mastery over professions and runes.


    It was this very cave abode that he was ascending the steps of right at this very moment. But there appeared to be a straggler who took it upon herself to tag along¡­


    -


    "Weren''t you nning to explore the Evendale Square with Li Na and Rou Tian? Why are you here right now?" Azmodeus inquired, his strides already taking him to the wide entrance of his cave abode.


    Chi Wu squished her face to get away from his scent as she asked, "You don''t want me here¡­?" Her eyes glossed over as she wrapped her slender arms even tighter around his waist.


    Azmodeus thought over his response to this question...


    He eventually reached a conclusion and said, "Yes, I don''t want you here. I want to cultivate."


    "You say you want me to join you for all eternity??" Chi Wu''s beautiful blue eyes widened as she shed a brilliant smile before saying, "I knew you wanted to marry me, Az, Az. But I didn''t think you''d be this desperate¡­ You''re naughty¡­"


    "No, I said to go away."


    "Fine, fine, I''ll join you in your cultivation session, but only because you begged me to¡­" Chi Wu lightly shook her head, as she felt a little bad about the visible desperateness of her man.


    "Go away," Azmodeus murmured while getting into a lotus position on his specially made Rank cultivation mat.


    "You need to know some restraint, Az, Az. But since you insist, I guess I''ll sit in yourp and cultivate instead of cultivating over there." Chi Wu spoke these words while having already snuggled her plump butt into his crotch.


    "..."


    Azmodeus gave up on getting the woman to leave him alone.


    He realized that this cultivation session would be a test of mental fortitude on more than one level.


    But regardless of his troubles, time continued to pass inside the Crimson Dimension, and at a pace of 10:1, time flowed even slower in the outside world.


    ...


    Autumn became spring as 20 years passed by in the blink of an eye.


    Azmodeus achieved the Middle-Adamantine Rank a few years ago, allowing his body''s durability and overall fortitude to tremendously improve.


    Furthermore, his cultivation sessfully increased from the Middle Comet''s Passage Realm into the Late Comet''s Passage Realm, making his total Battle Power improve even further!


    On the note of his Battle Power, the system informed him that it had already surpassed the Early Forger Realm. This meant that he finally overcame the Battle Power bottleneck which prevented him from achieving a new level of strength!


    With this achievement, the amount of power he wielded extended further than any Square Ruler within countless Septillions of miles could hope topare to. And with the addition of his perpetually developing professions, there was no telling just where his value truly stood in the Astral ne.


    However, one thing was made certain, and that was the fact that he was rapidly gaining speed on the Goddess of Light.


    It may take hundreds of years, or it may even take thousands, but there would eventuallye a day when he would be able to wipe the conceited smirk right off her face.


    That day would not be today, and it would not be tomorrow, but it would most definitelye.


    Even so, Azmodeus still had to follow the order of due process and ovee the Tier 2 Double Leafed Square''s first. And it just so happened that one of his subjugated Square Rulers came back with some rather interesting information concerning one of such Tier 2 Double Leafed Factions.


    It was a Square that went by the name of ''Sunsmite Empire'' and contained a number of Amethyst warriors as well as countless Adamantine Experts.


    Now, this empire would typically be viewed as a problem for one trying to overthrow the hierarchy. But for one sir, Crimson Devil Lord, the distance between his Square and this 2nd Tier Square could be measured in the diameter of a universe2?.


    This meant many things for Azmodeus, but most of all, it indicated a target for which to strive toward!


    With all teleportation arrays going inactive in the Heaven Exploding Sect''s Territory, he had all the time in the world to exceed the level of a 2nd Tier Double Leafed Square.


    He had to surpass Squares that possessed Experts capable of rivaling those who had formed Dwarf Stars inside their Dantian Space¡ªAmethyst Rank Experts!


    Beings who were even qualified enough to eradicate 1 and a half Layered ne''s of Infinity if they so wished to!


    For reference, a 1? Layered Infinity ne was one that transcended the bounds ofyers of infinity like the world of Prometheus and the countless other worlds that were destroyed by Azmodeus on a daily basis.


    However, said ne''s were not yet at the level of a 2nd Layered Infinity ne like the Astral ne, as they were somewhere in between the middle of both ranks. One could even say that 1? Infinity ne''s were in the process of transforming into 2nd Layered Infinity ne''s.


    This was where the power level of those in the Dwarf Star Transformation Realm came into y.


    It was said that no matter how many Forger Realm Lord''s or Single Layered ne''s of Infinity one threw at a Dwarf Star Transformation Realm Expert, no amount of harm would be brought to thetter¡­


    In fact, the chasm thaty between the Forger and Dwarf Star Transformation Realms was many dozens of times wider than the difference between the Moonlit Path and Forger Realms. This usually meant that one had to spend tens of millions of years, if not hundreds of millions of years, in order to break through!


    There were, of course, a few exceptions to that statement.


    A few of such situations were those born to unique and mysterious races like the Starchild and Voidling Races. All of whom were rumored toe out of the womb in the Dwarf Star Transformation Realm, some even starting out in the realms beyond it!


    But regardless of where anyone in existence started their journey, they would all be surmounted by the Anomaly before long¡­


    That was his destiny¡ªthe destiny of the one who wouldter be known as the Crimson Terror¡ªone who would etch his name into the history books!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 191: Drug Lord

    ...¡­


    Time continued to elude those of the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode and Crimson Pce as another 10 years flew by like a fleeting shadow.


    Not many things changed within the Heaven Exploding Sect during this period of time, as members rose in ranks and members fell in ranks.


    On the other hand, the ''Master''s Wives'' and ''Disciple''s'' were very active in the progression of the sect.


    They not only passed on the teachings of the Crimson Devil Lord but also gave their own take and perspectives on various topics.


    With them working together in conjunction with the Mirror Mirage''s assigned to teaching duty, many improvements were made concerning the knowledge and power of the members of the Heaven Exploding Sect.


    This enabled the higher bracket of strength in the sect to improve past the Early Adamantine Rank into the Middle Adamantine Rank. Which also permitted the lower and middle power brackets to extend into the Late tinum and Early Adamantine Ranks!


    This just left the Trial and Outer Disciples, all of whom were spread across the Copper Rank to Middle tinum Ranks.


    Although their strength was not significant, it was still enough to warrant their contribution in any wars, which was quite substantial when one included the fact that there were countless quadrillions of them.


    Even so, the contributions made by the various members of the sect when attributed to the ceaseless warfare only amounted to roughly 65% of the total death rate.


    Excluding the loophole deaths made by Azmodeus''s split skill, which ounted for 100% of the deaths, 25% was due to the efforts of the murder yandere''s. Who, even when they had the option to take on a new subsidiary force, they still decided to raze the Squares to the ground, leaving them in states of being endlessly aze.


    Azmodeus med himself for their murderous tendencies. But in the end, everything they did only made him prouder of how far they hade from the girls who originally found it hard to take a single human life¡­


    At least, he assumed what he felt was pride¡­


    He didn''t quite know anymore, but something was telling him that he guided the girls down the right path¡ªa dark and deadly path. But still one that would allow them to understand exactly what was required for one to live in a world like the one they were born into.


    A world that permitted no leniency when it came to those who got in your way of survival...


    This way of thinking, along with acting upon such thoughts, led to Azmodeus keeping himself alive for over a thousand years¡ªcultivating, progressing, learning, applying, adapting, and, above all, evolving.


    The path of Infinite Evolution was a long one¡ªone that required a cultivator to make many tough decisions.


    But in the end, everything went toward a single goal... That goal being to survive.


    To survive and strive, evolve, strive some more, survive some more, evolve even further¡­


    It was a never-ending cycle, one that held no pause button until the day you died. But for Azmodeus, one who had lived countless lifetimes in the Boundless Void, it might as well have been routine.


    It was something that came as the natural cause for exponentially improving power increases.


    It was through applying the principles in this way of life that Azmodeus persisted in his cultivation. He aimed to achieve the Peak Comet''s Passage Realm before the hundred-year mark he set for himself arrived. (1000 years cave abode time.)


    ...


    30 yearster.


    A few things of note had changed over thest three decades. With the most distinctive one being that the Heaven Exploding Sect sessfully conquered everything that the Crimson Emperor set for the 100-year milestone.


    It was with this achievement that all of the soldiers who worked the hardest and aplished the most in the Crimson Battalion were awarded territories of their own.


    These ''Territories'' were, of course, the Square''s, with some of the generals with more renown being allotted upward of 1000¨C2000 Squares.


    One might think this was quite an exaggerated number. But with more than 100 million squares under the Crimson Emperor''s rule, such a feat was quite easy to aplish.


    It was through the awarding of Squares that Azmodeus not only cemented his position as a true monarch but also permitted the utilization of a strict hierarchy.


    It was a social structure in which the strong would strive while the weak would serve as mere stepping stones.


    This was the way of the world, and there was no point in altering something that wasn''t broken to begin with.


    Of course, Azmodeus would never allow his subjects and sect members to be restricted from improving their positions through effort, grit, and talent.


    With this in mind, harsh punishments were set in ce for anyone who wished to prevent others from reaching new heights out of jealousy or envy.


    The ones who enforced thesews were none other than the Core Female Members of the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode, as well as their direct subordinates, the ''Blood-Borne Syndicate''.


    The Blood-Borne Syndicate was a disciplinary faction created by Yang Hua, You Mei, and the rest over 15 years ago.


    Its purpose was to simply uphold order within the Heaven Exploding Sect. And with that job description, they were authorized to use any and all means necessary to make sure the Crimson Emperor''s rules remained unquestioned.


    So far, this disciplinarymittee of sorts has garnered quite the reputation as the most tyrannical faction to evere to be. But it wasn''t like Yang Hua or the rest cared about a title given to them by the weak and cowardly, so life continued as per usual¡ªlinear and constantly changing.


    With the passing of time, another 5 years flew by in the blink of an eye.


    It was during this period of time that Azmodeus attempted to jump from the Late Comet''s Passage Realm to the Peak Comet''s Passage Realm.


    There was no telling how he managed to improve his cultivation by so much within a short few dozen years, but it could likely be attributed to the fact that he consumed pills like they were going out style.


    Add that to the fact that he overdosed on Physical Refinement Potions and Low-Rank Star Stones, and you had yourself a Drug Lord!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 192: Vigintillions

    ...¡­


    There were plenty of supplements that the overpowered druggy used in order to speed up the process of bing stronger. Of which, included Qi Gathering Array''s, Qi Cultivation mats, 12:1 time bubbles, and, of course, the Starry Qi from the outside Void, which made all this possible.


    Overall, Azmodeus used absolutely every means avable to him, not even sparing Spirit Foods and unique spiritual herbs that couldn''t be made into pills.


    It was with this tenacious, power hungry drive that he was able to reach the precipice of the Peak Stages of the Late-Adamantite Rank, as well as the Peak Comet''s Passage Realm!


    On the subject of the progression of his realm, over thest few centuries (cave time), the sheer amount of Evolution Essence he acquired from the work his Primordial Essence Clones and Mirror Mirages did in the Boundless Void had exceeded any and all expectations.


    With the instant extermination of millions of Single Layered Infinity nes every day, the ludicrous degrees to which he received system notifications surpassed anything that his singr vision scope could hope to keep up with.


    As the numbers passed into the Vigintillions, with a total of 63 zeros at the end, nothing was stopping the perpetual advance of the man who aimed to ovee the value units ced before him!


    Though the value of each stat point differed, there would eventuallye a day when no more unit indicators stood in the way of the one who wished to transcend the very concept of mathematics!


    If math as a whole wishes to obstruct my path forward, then I might as well erase the concept altogether¡­


    Azmodeus was not one to ignore the opposition when it came to those who wanted to block his path to more power.


    No matter if they were mortals, gods, or even concepts themselves, there would be nothing capable of stopping his exponential advancements.


    Speaking of things that insisted on getting in his way, there was a 2nd Tier Double Leafed Faction that aimed to do that very thing. And in his mind, there was nothing more irritating than someone hindering his progress.


    To actively search out and destroy what I''m working to build¡­ The Sunsmite Empire is truly looking for an early grave¡­


    Azmodeus''s eyes, which hadn''t been opened in thest century, finally exposed themselves. And from within their blood-colored depths, a cold gleam emerged.


    His hair stood on end as the once-tranquil aura of his private chambers violently fluctuated, letting a fierce and deadly crimson aura leak out into the surroundings.


    Just as the intent of death nearly enveloped all those in the Crimson Dimension, the aura suddenly vanished. And along with it, the Crimson Emperor was no longer within his cave abode.


    It had been ages sincest he stretched his legs, and he felt that his sword mastery was getting a little rusty.


    He felt that this was quite unfair when considering that he made sure to do his daily thrusts into the ground every day...


    Such unrelenting sword thrusts using his sword intent granted him immense levels of swordprehension, enabling his Sword Law to be the first Level 5 Star Law. But other than that, there was no real practical application when it concerned the improvements made to real-life battles.


    And though his Primordial Essence Clones and Mirror Mirages were capable of honing these practical skills and bringing the fruits of such efforts back to his main body, there was just nobody of simr strength to him.


    Without a proper whetstone, where would the sharpening of one''s sword ur?


    So Azmodeus figured he would go about increasing his in-live fighting level in a different manner¡­


    -


    FWIP!


    A man of unparalleled beauty with long, flowing red hair and dark red eyes materialized in the air above a shrine of sorts.


    This shrine was called the ''Crimson Summoning Shrine'' and acted as the center hub for all of Azmodeus''s Primordial Essence Clones and Mirror Mirages.


    There was nothing special about the shrine, as it was smoothly paved with arge, circr, marble printed tablet at its very epicenter.


    It was above this tablet, filled to the brim with glowing yellow and green runes, that those of his clone lineage could share their memories with him.


    One might wonder why a massive, pired shrine to the north of the Crimson Pce was necessary for transmitting memories. But the truth was that Azmodeus figured out something extremely detrimental to his health a while back.


    That detrimental thing was the reality that his mind just wasn''t able to handle the mental load that came withpletely absorbing the memories of billions of clones. All of whom lived varying degrees of time depending on where they were stationed.


    So, after many years of studying andprehending various subjects, Azmodeus was able to sanction the creation of the Crimson Summoning Shrine.


    It was a shrine that enabled him to mass select and mass assimte memories to a scale that even the fastest supeputers weren''t capable of aplishing.


    This process still took some time, and it would have been faster if things likeprehension speed weren''t restricted in the Boundless Void, but it was far better than it would''ve been without it.


    It was with this shrine that, after a few months of re-summoning and assimting relevant or useful memories, Azmodeus finished glossing through billions of Mirror Mirages and Primordial Essence Clones.


    After which, he took his knowledge and digested it for another few months before ultimately deciding on the Primordial Essence Clone he would use in order to hone his sword skills.


    Considering that it wasn''t the same unless his main body''s direct line of consciousness was the one honing the skills, it was eventually decided that he would transmit half of every aspect of his existence onto the body of a Primordial Essence Clone.


    With this action, Azmodeus could not only feel the essence of the sword with every fiber of his being, but he could also revive himself with no bacsh through the use of the split half he''ll leave behind!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 193: Primordial Respawn, Sunsmite Empire

    ...¡­


    If all went well, then Azmodeus simply needed to find a strong enemy in and above the Peak Adamantine Rank, fight him or her to the death (likely die), and then get revived before starting it all over again.


    This was the game n, and with a set goal in mind, he headed out, informing no one of his departure and leaving his other half back inside his cave abode.


    "I''ve been stagnant for far too long. And what better way to alleviate stagnation than to fight those stronger than myself¡­?"


    With these words, his crimson-dyed kimono vanished past the line between dimensions.


    He saw a vast, expansive, and vibrant country the moment he left the Crimson Dimension.


    This was the Heaven Exploding Faction.


    It was something he created from scratch after having just left the Rank 7 River Serpent Sect in the Continent of Northern Spirits. And with its evolution into the Heaven Exploding Sect while in the Emonius Sect, there was no more stopping its development.


    The Heaven Exploding Sect became the faction that all inside its territory feared, revered, and, most of all, respected.


    It was this view generalized among the people that the Heaven Exploding Sect leaked out more than a little of the ''Power of Faith'' to those in the surrounding parsecs.


    Most of the factions that felt the immense power of faith were nothing more than 1st Tier Double Leafed Square''s, all of which were far weaker than the Heaven Exploding Sect. However, there was one faction in particr that caught wind of the power of faith.


    That faction was the 2nd Tier Sunsmite Empire!


    It was an empire with a history spanning trillions of years, possessing above-average power, even among those of the same rank.


    There used to be trillions of Squares that originally made up its territory, but after bing a Tier 2 Square, all of the Square''s became onerge square.


    All further annexed Squares simply added onto the area of the already massive territory.


    It was this very behemoth of an empire that the Unparalleled Crimson Devil Lord nned to overthrow. Not by using numbers and not by taking it slow, but through the simple act of fighting the strongest among them until he ultimately bes the strongest.


    With this n already set in motion, it was only a matter of time before the leaders of the Sunsmite Empire acquired a headache sorge that no amount of conquerednd could hope to save them¡­


    ...


    10 years passed since Azmodeus initiated his journey toward the Sunsmite Empire. And it was on the 3800th day since his departure that he finally made it to one of the many entrances to the Sunsmite Empire.


    However, contrary to the grandiosity he was expecting to see aftering into contact with the still-exposed barrier between Squares, there was nothing especially awe-inspiring about the Sunsmite Empire.


    There were a few pointed orange and red sun-like structures situated above a few tall mountains, as well as a few cities that seemed almost Aztec. But other than that, the vast grassy ins and spritely meadows were eerily simr to what his general territory looked like.


    The average Physical Existence Rank of the Square''s inhabitants was roughly the same as the minimum bench for his Heaven Exploding Faction as well.


    To bepletely candid, the only thing that truly stood out was the fact that instead of one single sun and moon that his Square had, the Sunsmite Empire had six suns and six moons.


    Furthermore, all of them pointed in every direction in an almost cartoonish way.


    Nevertheless, Azmodeus was not there to sightsee, so he phased through the barrier he just came in through before taking out something called a ''Primordial Respawn''.


    It was something that would allow him to respawn with a new Primordial Essence Clone right next to the territory of the Sunsmite Empire without having to once again make the 10-year trip.


    Something like this would typically not be possible and was far from the most viable option to take. But after making use of his Peak Forger Rank Professions, there were many ways to conceal and shroud the time that contained the framework of the Primordial Respawn.


    Azmodeus called this item the Primordial Checkpointer, and he would be using this key-shaped object in order to make his goal of infinitelying back to life aplete sess.


    "This spot should work," he muttered, his gaze focused on a deep hole in the ground that contained countless numbers of slimy feelers.


    It''s clearly some form of worm monster, which will be perfect for what I wish to use it for¡­


    He sent out his divine sense just in case, and after confirming that it was in fact a gxy-sized ''Mound Devourer'', the Primordial Checkpointer was chucked into the behemoth''s mouth.


    Its intermittent blinkers shed as it made its way into the pit of the beast.


    After which, an unusual energy shot out of Azmodeus''s hand; its purplish makeup caused the Mound Devourer to enter a state of forced slumber, effectively making use of a soporific-inducing spell.


    "With that out of the way and the behemoth not waking anytime soon, I can confidently head into the Sunsmite Empire."


    Azmodeus flew away from the gaping hole in the sandy ground as he blurred in the direction of a slightly translucent golden barrier.


    It was a barrier that normally prevented one from going into the square if they were past a certain power level.


    That was unless you just so happened to be going into a Square during the century when all the barriers were open for intrusion¡­


    FWAZIIP!


    Upon making it to the other side of the flimsy barrier, Azmodeus realized that no guards hade to intercept his intrusion, even though he knew that someone could feel his presence in their territory.


    It seems like security is extremelyx¡­


    Considering howrge the Square Ruler''s territory must be, it makes a lot of sense¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 194: Starry Law of Death, True Darth

    ...¡­


    Let alone guards; there weren''t even many popted areas around Azmodeus. And all of the inhabitants were below the Diamond Rank, which left very few options for guards capable of intercepting him.


    One might count themselves as one of the lucky few if this happened to them, but for him, it was simply uneptable¡­


    "To make this n go off without a hitch, I need strong opponents¡­" He softly murmured underneath his breath.


    He saw trillions of beings going about their days on horse-drawn carriages and vehicles simr to Spirit Ships.


    This simply won''t do¡­


    Following this thought, Azmodeus figured out that the nearest Adamantine Warrior was quadrillions of parsecs away, and there was no way in hell he would chase each individual opponent across the world. After all, there was no efficiency in that.


    So he did the most logical thing that one with his merciless power-hungry mindset would do when put in this situation¡­


    WHAAAZOOOM!


    Two intensely shing balls of crimson-colored light formed above his fingertips as he held them over his head like the god of the sun!


    These suns constantly switched between being a few centimeters and millions of meters in height as the balls of red fire condensed and expanded repeatedly.


    There was no apparent end in sight to their ever-increasing destructive potential!


    After they exceeded a certain degree of bone-searing heat, they were left to hover in the area at the size of two basketballs.


    Following this action, Azmodeus backed away a little bit before permitting the usage of an S Rank Trait called ''Replicate''.


    -----


    Replicate.


    It was originally a Trait used by a Gold-Rank species of monkey who liked to use this inherent trait to clone spirit bananas, but for Azmodeus, it was used for the sole purpose of¡­


    Whatever the f*ck he wanted to use it for!


    Whether that be the duplication of food or spirit materials, or even rare treasures and castles, there was absolutely nothing that stood in the way of mass duplication!


    Of course, most high-level things could only be duplicated once or twice, but that number for that specific rank of item improved over time as he, the user of said Trait, became more powerful.


    However, for things like attacks or energies, which were originally his to begin with, there was no telling just how many times they could be replicated¡­


    And that case was tested to its absolute limits by him as he aimed to take the big whales out of hiding by force!


    -----


    OOOM!


    Immense levels of regal Qi were being emitted from countless trillions of basketball-size crimson balls of energy rapidly spinning in the air.


    The one who conjured up these deadly attacks levitated in front of them all as he contemted how many points he would get from the absolute chaos about to ensue.


    "Hmm¡­ It shoulde out above a few Vigintillion¡­" Azmodeus mumbled while admiring the scene of dazzling crimson presented before him.


    Oh well, it doesn''t really matter what the calctions are, as it will happen regardless¡­


    Following this thought, he lightly flipped his palm, causing the miniature stars of untold proportions to fly out with unrelenting velocity.


    WHIZ! WHIZ!


    Trillions upon trillions of these crimson balls shot across the luminescent night sky, as a number of people and beasts were attracted by what they assumed to be some form of shooting stars.


    "What is that-?" A City Lord attempted to voice a question with a concerned expression. However, before he could even figure out what was going on, one of said shooting stars changed direction, rocketing straight for the massive Aztec-like city!


    CRACKA¡ªBOOOOOM!


    The citizens weren''t even allowed the time to disy shocked looks on their faces as the zing fireball touched base with the ground!


    The result of this terrifying disy of power was an explosion that evaporated everything within a radius of 100 parsecs!


    Even so, this wasn''t the only one of such devastating spells, as the first one was followed by the second one¡­


    After another huge crater was formed in the space that once housed thousands of world-sized cities, even more sprouted up in the surrounding areas.


    This caused an entire section of the Sunsmite Empire to sound like an active battlefield!


    "Since you all wished to provoke me, then I don''t mind doing the exact same thing¡­ In fact, I will go above and beyond¡­" Azmodeus uttered words bereft of emotion from atop the clouds, his ice cold gaze watching an immeasurable number of beings die with each further fireball that touched the ground.


    You have done nothing to wrong me¡­ But there is no room in my world for those who stand on the enemy''s side.


    That is all there is to it¡­


    He watched hundreds more suns hit the earth, incinerating numerous territories before the destruction was quickly drowned out by dozens more of the same explosions sounding out.


    "Death¡­ It''s one of many natural aspects of existence¡ªone that not only has a part to y in the cycle of life but also the cycle of samsara."


    Azmodeus seemed to approach the precipice ofprehending something that seemed out of reach when he had his clones do all the killing.


    "So this is death¡­" He turned his gaze upward and saw an incalcble amount of faint ck lines swirling around all of creation.


    For life toe into being, there must first be death¡­ For death and life go hand in hand...


    Neither able to escape the inescapable grasp of the other¡­


    WAAA!


    Something wasprehended by the Crimson Emperor in that moment, as he felt the essence of death at a much higher degree than before.


    This directly resulted in the substantial increase of the Starry Law of Death, which had stagnated at Level 1 for far too long.


    Furthermore, this improvement was not limited to just a single level up, as the Law of Death scaled straight up to Level 4!


    And with every death that followed the ceaseless raining of suns from the sky, more and more of the Law of Death wasprehended.


    At the rate it was improving, it wouldn''t take longer than a few minutes for thew to reach the very peak of Level 4, likely breaking through to Level 5 right then and there!


    WAAAA!


    However, before such a point came around, an abrupt phenomenon urred in the far-off distance, as a being of ultimate proportions was alerted by the destruction going on inside his territory.


    "It looks like the big fish has taken the hook¡­" Azmodeus muttered while staring at the overpowering aura being released by the one known as ''True Darth''.


    Before beginning this little murder spree, Azmodeus made sure to have a few of his Mirror Mirages absorb the memories of a couple Gold Rank Experts.


    It was through this action that he was able to learn of the location of the Diamond Rank Masters. And with the continued memory absorption of these Masters, he was able to climb thedder of executives, quickly finding out who the absolute ruler of this section of the Sunsmite Empire was.


    Which ultimately turned out to be the Regional Overlord known as True Darth, someone trusted by a high-ranking general of the Sunsmite Empire.


    This man''sbat power exceeded the Late Forger Realm, making him the perfect target to hone the skills of the Crimson Devil Lord!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 195: Fighting True Darth, The Grind

    ...¡­


    "You actually dare toe into thend gifted to me by the Emperor himself and tarnish it in such a way!? Are you looking for death!?"


    The grating voice of a manrger than a universe reverberated across the entirety of his fief.


    "..."


    Azmodeus listened to the words of the collosal man, as it wasn''t long before the owner of said voice sped onto the scene.


    True Darth was of a different species from a human, possessing features that were a mix between the blue titans of Norse mythology and therge, muscr men of Greek mythology.


    His attire was that of a white wave-like toga, simr to the ones worn by Greek gods ormoners. On the other hand, his dazzling sun headpiece was definitely more along the lines of one of the gods, as his grandiosity truly knew no bounds.


    But it wasn''t just his appearance that gave one the illusion that he was analogous to a god, as his size trumped a universe a billion to one!


    Furthermore, his aura was only something that one akin to a god should possess!


    And that wasn''t to even mention the fact that he was capable of flight¡­-


    Wait¡­ flight?? To be able to fly¡­


    Azmodeus already knew which direction his thoughts were about to veer in. He heaved a sigh before asking, "Not an Astral Leap Participant, but it seems like you''re from Earth, huh¡­?"


    "????"


    True Darth shot his menacing gaze toward the dust-like figure floating beneath him, as he never would''ve expected the intruder to say something like that.


    "Earth¡­ I faintly remember such a ce¡­ It was a world I lived in before ascending to godhood. That time was billions of years ago¡­" He responded with a reminiscent glint in hisrge, glowing eyes.


    He didn''t know why he felt the need to respond to someone who would undoubtedly die, but for some reason, hearing that word put him in a mncholic mood.


    Azmodeus understood this as well, but there was something that he was curious about, so he voiced his question while standing with his hands behind his back:


    "How many more heroes are there other than you?"


    "Heroes¡­? Well, there are-" True Darth was on the verge of instinctually answering the ant''s question, but after realizing what he had done, he snapped himself out of the suggestive spell.


    He shouted, "You actually have the audacity to influence the mind of a god!? Are you seeking your death ahead of schedule!?!?"


    Despite making it sound like there was an option somewhere in his words, his universe-sized fist plummeted toward the ant the moment he realized he was under the influence of a mind spell!


    "..."


    Azmodeus stared at the iing mes that molded the knuckles of the giant fiery red man.


    He figured his suggestive spell wouldn''tst very long on someone in the Peak Adamantine Stage, and his spections were proven true.


    "I guess I will need to try once more¡­"


    Following these words, a crisp, unsheathing sound echoed out, and a wide yet thin fment of sword Qi was unleashed in the direction of the behemoth''s fist.


    However, it served as nothing more than something to scratch the itch of True Darth, as it dispersed almost immediately after making contact¡­


    "Greet King Yama in the afterlife and tell him that True Darth was the one to take your life!!"


    An ear-deafening bellow was thest thing Azmodeus heard before his vision nked and his existence was destroyed¡­


    -


    Within a crevice of a Mound Devourer''s throat, a bright sh of golden red light erupted as a man with the same crimson hair and kimono as Azmodeus materialized from thin air.


    *Tap Tap*


    He gracefullynded on the ground, and the first thing he did was look back toward the small rune key lodged in a barnacle. After which, he shed a satisfied smile before thinking, ''Although it is not yet capable of rewinding time like a true game checkpoint, it is still able to respawn an exact copy of a Primordial Essence Clone, just as I envisioned it would.''


    Following this thought, his expression once again morphed to indifference as he leaped up from his spot inside the Mound Devourer''s mouth.


    He achieved levels of speed verging on meteoric stardom, all while causing not even the smallest amount of damage to the beast.


    The moment he made it a few billion parsecs in the sky, he turned his emotionless gaze in the direction of the crater-ridden Territory of the Regional Lord and thought, ''It''s time for round two¡­''


    FWIP!


    His figure blurred as he took out a sleek ck Rank sword and dashed straight toward where True Darth was leaving the area hit by his fist strike.


    The end result of this strike caused far more damage than Azmodeus did, as everything within a countless number of parsecs disappeared without a trace, leaving a vast gorge with its edges nowhere in sight.


    The grind begins¡­


    A voracious smirk nearly formed on his divinely chiseled face as he decided to attack first this time around!


    ...


    Like a ceaseless war, time passed in orderly fashion, leaving behind nothing but the echoes of the past in its unimpeded advance.


    5 years forever vanished from the Astral ne''s timeline.


    Azmodeus encountered True Darth millions of times, dying within an instant before rushing right back to fight without respite.


    No matter how many times the Regional Lord killed the cockroach, one more would just spawn right back in, attacking with even more force. And from what he could tell, the cockroach was improving¡­


    It seemed like an impossible thing to believe, but after crushing the bug with overwhelming might before doing it all again repeatedly, True Darth could most definitely feel the strength of the cockroach increasing¡­


    By the 1-year mark, Azmodeus could take on the initial force of the Regional Lord''s reality-severing strike.


    2 years: Azmodeus could survive the initial strike and a few nanoseconds of the force that came afterwards.


    3 years: He could survive the first strike with half his existence in shambles, but he survived nheless.


    4 years: A counterattack could be made ¡ú Dealt barely any damage.


    5 years¡­


    5 years was where it truly became interesting...


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 196: Killing True Darth, Finding Moldon

    ...¡­.


    "I remember something you said a few years ago¡­"


    A grating and croaky voice resounded from within a yawning gulf that extended for countless parsecs.


    In the midst of this gulf, a rapidly withering head stared up at the aloof man standing atop his nose with a disposition that definitely belonged to a different world.


    After getting a good look at the man with his dposing eyeballs, True Darth muttered in a self-deprecating voice, "You know¡­ I cared not for what you said during all the times you fought an uphill battle¡­ But after so many bouts, I think I finally get the phrase, ''To achieve peace, a great suffering must firstmence''."


    "..."


    Azmodeus turned his expressionless face down from the spinning moons as he wondered what it was that his loot bag had to say.


    Upon acquiring his killer''s attention, True Darth coughed out a dark ck substance before murmuring, "To achieve peace¡­ true peace¡­ one must first suffer¡­ you and me¡­ everyone must suffer¡­"


    The giant''s gaze trailed off to and, or rather, a truth that was so far away from his previous self, that it felt as if he had been aimlessly meandering through his long, long life.


    However, in his final moments, he was taken out of his enlightenment by the man who cut his life short.


    "You misunderstood the meaning behind my words¡­"


    "???"


    Azmodeus looked down at his bloodied and still regenerating body as he let out a breath containing manyplexities before saying, "What I said was not meant to define the peace of everyone¡­ It was meant to describe the suffering I will go through¡­ for peace¡­"


    True Darth seemed to understand something iprehensible in that moment. He said, "I see¡­ to suffer¡­ to obtain ''peace''... you must walk a very lonely path¡­"


    Even he himself had countless concubines andpanions to keep himpany on the solitary path of cultivation.


    However, this man is living a lie¡­ One riddled with holes¡ªone that doesn''t make any sense¡­


    Why go through so much trouble¡­? For something so pointless¡­?


    "...You will die alone¡­ You know that, do you not?" He asked with a voice on the verge of fading away.


    Azmodeus furrowed his brows as he grasped his sword before saying, "I know, but that is the path I have chosen for myself."


    The eyelids of the colossal man flickered for an instant as his gaze followed the sight of the man who vanquished him.


    "The moon¡­ All alone, surrounded by those simr, but still alone¡­ a shell¡­ and yet it''s so very beautiful¡­"


    True Darth''sst words whistled in the wind as the light forever vanished from his eyes.


    The rest of his existence blew into the breeze as a number of system notifications shed in front of the one who ended the life of the one who likely understood him the best.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed a Regional Lord of the Sunsmite Empire!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained additional Points due to True Darth being a Hero!*


    *Ding!* *You have gained 120 Vigintillion Points in your Physical Existence Rank!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 12 Vigintillion Stat Points in Strength, 14 Vigintillion points in Speed, 11 Vigintillion points in Defense, 18 Vigintillion points in Qi.*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has tremendously improved!*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power is one step closer to achieving the Half-Step Dwarf Star Transformation Realm!*


    *Ding!* *Your Physical Existence has made great progress within its Rank!*


    *Ding!* *You are one step closer to achieving a Peak Adamantine Rank body!*


    After perusing the various system notifications, Azmodeus decided to spend arge sum of his Evolution Essence in order to roll for one of True Darth''s Physique''s.


    The moment hended on one in particr, he immediately confirmed the roll.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have received the Peak Forger ''Giant''s Vestige'' Physique¡ªa physique that, after being assimted into the Singrity Physique, will enable the host to change his form at will.


    It will even allow for size adjustment to the degree of a singleyered ne of infinity ¡ª Additional strength boosts will be applied if in this form.*


    Azmodeus slightly nodded his head after gaining this new Physique, as it would definitely allow for easier travel when venturing into higher-level worlds.


    In particr, it were the worlds where humans were no longer measured in feet or inches but in higher units of height.


    Although he was nowhere near that level at this point, it was only a matter of time before he achieved such a level. And when that time undoubtedly arrived, Physique''s like this one would be quite useful when it came to blending in with the environment.


    Nevertheless, that was a topic for another time, as right now, the only thing he needed to be focused on was finding the next opponent with whom to further hone his skills.


    FWIP!


    His stalwart figure vanished from view as he shot in the direction of a certain location.


    It was a location where, through the scanning of True Darth''s memories, he could discern the approximate area where a Regional Lord on the verge of the Amethyst Rank resided.


    True Darth was a good sparring partner¡­ But I need something more¡­ Someone who will be able to take my punches for many, many years¡­


    Following this thought, he sped up his already unbelievably fast speed, zipping across the war tornnd at a speed far faster than light.


    There was nothing left in this area of the Sunsmite Empire, as thend was still regenerating and the organisms for countless parsecs had gone extinct. So it only made sense for him to find a new grinding spot, which was why he had his eyes set on finding the Regional Lord who went by the name of Moldon, the Poison Deity!


    ...


    After a few years of travel, Azmodeus Crimson arrived at the ce where the Poison Deity ruled. And it was upon touching base with the dark green grass covering the earth that he realized something peculiar.


    "Thend here... It''s all poisoned." He bent down and picked up a handful of the dark green grass.


    He watched it visibly melt in his hands, attempting to burn his skin with its acidity.


    It seems like this Moldon lives up to his title as one who the people and other Regional Lord''s call the ''Poison Deity''.


    However, what I don''t understand is why this powerful figure would poison his own territory¡­ Wouldn''t all the inhabitants here have died by now?


    That is, unless¡­-


    ...¡­

 Chapter 197: Lizardman, Nightshade

    ...¡­


    SHING!


    Azmodeus''s thoughts were interrupted by a de zing through the skies, aiming to lob his head right off his shoulders!


    However, contrary to the intent behind this sword strike, Azmodeus simply back-stepped a little, watching the poison-coated saber cleave arge chunk of the ground away from its roots.


    The people of this territory strive with the presence of poison¡­ They have adapted and evolved¡­


    He stared at the one whounched the attack and realized something else.


    "A lizard subspecies¡­ Some form of lizardman, maybe?" He turned his perceptive gaze up and down the 3-meter lizard in front of him, trying to better understand the peculiarities of this territory.


    "&$&(!:$)/$@#/"


    The lizardman swiveled his head toward the human while spouting a number of words that couldn''t beprehended.


    "It also appears like this one is in the lower intelligence bracket. Typically, I would be able to trante any Mortalnguages, but this one is not speaking anguage, just a bunch of gibberish."


    Azmodeus analyzed the appearance of the Lizardman, and he didn''t see anything too outstanding.


    The creature wore a worn-down leather tunic, a metal hat that it likely looted from a corpse, and a pair of chainmail pants that probably came from the same ce.


    As for the physical appearance of the Lizardman, his scales were green and dirty, while his tail was long and spiky. On the other hand, his eyes were beedy, and his face was sinuous, with no ounce of humanity within its expression.


    However, from the perspective of the Lizardman, it found the crimson-haired bipedal monster far scarier than anything it could hope to induce in another living being.


    Azmodeus noticed this as well, which was why he asked, "You''re scared¡­?"


    "+#+)$-$($(_#"


    The Lizardman screeched with its sinister voice as it jumped away from the human before making a run for it.


    "..."


    Azmodeus nkly stared at the fleeing Lizardman as it jumped through the dark green grass, racing toward what appeared to be a swamp.


    Even without understanding what it said, I could feel the fear in its voice¡­


    To be feared by a mindless monster¡­ I don''t know how to feel about this¡­


    Not that he knew how to feel much of anything anymore, but the actions of the Lizardman still left him in a profound state.


    After a few seconds of brooding over a whole lot of nothing, he heaved an inexplicable sigh before lightly tapping the handle of his sword.


    SHING!


    SLICE!


    An immeasurable number of thin sword arcs raced toward the Silver Rank Lizardman as well as the swamp it was trying to reach.


    The moment the sword arcs touched the Lizardman and what appeared to be its vige, everything within thousands of miles immediately evaporated!


    So as to not attract the attention of those higher in strength, Azmodeus minimized the damage this time around.


    He did this, not because he wanted to avoid confrontation, but merely because he wished to grind some more before ultimately attracting the Peak Adamantine Rank Warriors that resided in the Territory.


    On that note, he moved away from the crisscross-marked swamp vige and made his way deeper into the Sunsmite Empire.


    As he was doing this, a few system notifications rang out beside his ear.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed millions of Lizardmen ranking from the Copper Rank all the way to the Gold Rank.*


    *Ding!* *You have gained the appropriate number of stat points for your kills ¡ú > 5 Trillion*


    *Ding!* *You have discovered and killed new species, such as Lizard Mage''s, Lizard Priests, Lizard Warriors, Lizard Healers, and Lizard Berserker''s.*


    *Ding!* *Due to these kills, you will not only be awarded the appropriate number of Physical Existence Points, but you will also acquire a new booster!*


    "A new booster? On top of the one I get from Physique''s, Techniques, and Traits, the Infinite Evolution System decided to give me another one?"


    Azmodeus became a little curious over the words of the system as he waited for the next pop-up to appear.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have acquired the ''overall cultivation speed'' booster!*


    *Ding!* *As long as you keep on killing and finding new species and races to kill, you will elicit improvements to the cultivation speed booster!*


    *Ding!* *The overall cultivation speed booster is one that works in conjunction with the ''Cultivation Talent'' stat (Still waiting for Starry Expanse to reactivate the acquisition function). You will also have an indefinite limiter on the overall cultivation speed booster!*


    *Ding!* *Your overall cultivation speed multiplicative booster has improved from ''0x'' to ''1.15x''*


    *Ding!* *Continue to kill and evolve so you can improve the value of the multiplier!*


    "..."


    Azmodeus emotionlessly stared at the system screens as he couldn''t believe what he was seeing.


    "All I have to do is kill new organisms in order to acquire a vastly superior cultivation speed¡­ This is unbelievable¡­"


    He didn''t think he could be any more of a cheat, but apparently there was no such thing as impossible when it came to the level of cheat he could be.


    A soft sigh escaped his mouth as he realized that yet another cheat had been added to his rep sheet, permitting his mind to focus on what he originally nned to do.


    Time to find Moldon, the Poison Deity¡­ and kill him...


    ZIP!


    His figure zoomed through the skies at a speed bordering on insanity.


    After a moment of travel, he already found the Peak Adamantine Rank Warrior he would provoke in order to lure Moldon out of his seclusion.


    -


    "Who the hell are you, invader!? And are you the one who caused True Darth''s life signals to go dark!?" Arge, half-dolphin, half-human man questioned with a weary voice.


    This man was someone known as Nightshade, one who consumed so much Nightshade as a youngling that he eventually evolved his human form into what it was today.


    Along with this evolution came major increases in strength, as no one was capable of standing in his way on the path to absolute power!


    At least, that was the case until he encountered the Sunsmite Emperor¡ªa godlike figure who stopped him in his tracks without moving a single inch of his body¡­


    It was this same Emperor who recruited the downtrodden Dolphin man, authorizing him to be one of the Overlord''s who served under his high-ranking Heavenbreaker General.


    Nightshade also just so happened to be assigned to Moldon''s territory the moment the Crimson Terror decided to pay a visit¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 198: I Want Power For Power

    ...¡­


    It wasn''t until viewing the monster-in-human skin in person that Nightshade understood what it truly meant to be in the presence of a monstrosity¡­


    Their boutssted for a total of 2 years, and considering that Nightshade was only slightly stronger than True Darth, that was all it took for the infinitely reviving invader to get the upper hand and push him to a wall.


    "Who the hell are you, bastard!? And are you the one who killed True Darth!?"


    "..."


    Azmodeus listened to the first words he''d ever heard the taciturn Regional Overlord speak, subsequently causing a malicious smirk emerged on his face. "You wish to know if I''m the one who killed True Darth¡­?"


    "Yes! Were you the one who killed and burned a part of his territory over 6 years ago!?" Nightshade inquired with an unwilling voice, his slippery red fins weaving in and out of the innumerable sword shes being thrown his way, resulting in many bloody gashes forming on his skin.


    Azmodeus stopped swinging his sword for a moment as he lifted it high into the sky before responding, "I could tell you¡­ But I think it would be easier if you went and asked King Yama on my behalf¡­ True Darth would want it this way..."


    After making this apathetic promation, he focused on his sword intent, infusing his level 5 Low-Star Rank Sword Law as well as numerous otherws, allbined together so as to make something truly disastrous!


    WAAAA!


    Multicolored energy tendrils whirled and whipped around all over the ce as they slowly but surely condensed into iron-hard tendrils that extended upward to a distance that seemed insurmountable!


    "!!!" Nightshade retreated the moment the intruder started building up that insanity, as he couldn''t fathom what was going on!


    "This shouldn''t be possible! I have killed you millions of times! And not one of those times were you anywhere near this level of strength!!"


    He didn''t even entertain the idea of the invader improving his power to such a degree within such a short period of time. Instead, his mind thought up anything that could support the nonsense in front of him.


    "You truly are one with a shortsighted scope, aren''t you¡­?"


    "???"


    Azmodeus took the bewildered Overlord out of his reverie as his crimson-colored eyes emitted a piercing glow of resplendence, indicating the sheer number of Laws he had sessfullyprehended and mastered!


    "I shall help guide you to the truth¡­ And I will enable your mind to understand just how shortsighted you really are¡­"


    Following these words, devoid of emotion, he let his immeasurably powerful sword fall from the sky!


    RUMBLE!!


    The sky was separated, the clouds were undone, and the wind screamed in pain!


    At the very moment the whole world looked like it would be sliced in half, thew de sped up in motion, oveing all distance, as two segments of the boundless sky dipped into each other in the middle!


    "!!!"


    Nightshade attempted to dodge the iing strike, but there was no dodging what was impossible to escape the pursuit of¡­


    "Nooo¡­!!! Don''t kill me!!! After billions of years of life, I refuse to believe that this is my end!!" He screamed out in anguish as he felt extreme amounts of excruciating pain course through every fiber of his being.


    Azmodeus hovered in the air like a god gazing down at a pitiful peasant.


    He watched as his sword strike enveloped every ounce of the Overlord''s existence, consuming everything that he was.


    "Stop resisting and be part of my strength¡­" Hemanded with an imperious tone, and as if following his divine decree, Nightshade''s lifeforce faded away forever.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed Nightshade, an Overlord of the Sunsmite Empire in the Peak Adamantine Rank!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 2.5 Unvigintillion Points in your Physical Existence Rank!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 220 Vigintillion Stat Points in Strength, 250 Vigintillion points in Speed, 270 Vigintillion points in Defense, and 340 points in Qi.*


    *Ding!* *Your Physical Existence Rank is on the verge of breaking through to the Peak Adamantine Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has exceeded the bottleneck that prevented it from reaching the Half-Step Dwarf Star Transformation Realm!*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has touched upon a new territory, and if you continue progressing down this path, you will truly begin to understand the cost of power.*


    *Do you still wish to continue, Azmodeus¡­?*


    Azmodeus felt like that question sounded oddly human, but he still replied honestly, "I will continue."


    *...Very well, then the pain willmence¡­*


    Following these translucent words spoken by the Infinite Evolution System, Azmodeus Crimson''s main body as well as all his clones and Mirror Mirage''s felt something stab into them.


    It felt like thousands of small needles were injected into his skin, all of which transmitted ludicrous levels of pain to his pain receptors.


    They ignored the attributes of Traits, Physique''s, Laws, and anything else that wished to resist or alleviate the pain.


    "...Pain¡­ If this is the price I must pay in order to acquire more strength, then I will ept it."


    Azmodeus let the grimace on his face melt to a state ofplete and utter indifference as the calctive gleam in his eyes turned a few degrees colder.


    He treated the soul-wrenching pain as if it weren''t even there as he expressionlessly stared at the iing pop-up screens.


    *This is the first of many prices you must pay¡­ and all of your current costs will exponentially multiply with each further ounce of strength you acquire¡­. This is your decision, and it will only get worse from this point onwards¡­*


    *Knowing this, do you still wish to use the Infinite Evolution System in order to improve your strength? This will be yourst chance to de-assimte the system¡­*


    After hearing the question of the Infinite Evolution System, Azmodeus wondered why it was that he wanted to be stronger.


    He was willing to do whatever it took in order to increase his power, but why¡­? Why did he want so much power to begin with¡­?


    Was it out of pride? Was it greed or vanity? Maybe it was because of his conceit?


    No¡­


    Power¡­ A reason for power¡­


    Why should there be a reason to want something that governs the principles of existence¡­?


    Without power, life is meaningless¡­ and without the ability to grasp that power, life bes even more pointless¡­


    It was at this moment that Azmodeus knew why it was he wanted more power¡ªmore strength.


    "I want power for the power¡­" After uttering these words, he clicked the yes button presented before him.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 199: Fighting Moldon, The Poison Deity

    ...¡­


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *The Infinite Evolution System wishes the host luck on his journey through Infinite Evolution!*


    Following this system notification, no more unique pop-ups appeared, leaving Azmodeus emotionlessly staring at thin air.


    After a few moments of getting lost inside his own mind, he looked toward a dark gray aura in the distance¡ªan aura that was certainly alerted by the death of Nightshade.


    "The Path to Infinite Evolution¡­ One that never ends¡­" Azmodeus muttered with a listless gaze, his blood-colored eyes honing in on the rapidly approaching world-ending aura.


    The grind ends and begins again¡­


    He wasted no time and sped toward the poisonous aura, aiming to meet the vastly more powerful existence head on!


    ...


    Time¡­ Such an abstract and indecipherable concept¡­


    By the time that a year had passed since meeting Moldon, Azmodeus had died more than 10 million times, even surpassing the speed at which he died when fighting True Darth.


    It was during this year that Azmodeus understood the vast chasm thaty between the Peak Forger Realm and whatever midway realm Moldon had achieved in the Peak Adamantine Rank.


    ording to Azmodeus''s calctions, it was highly probable that he would need more than 20 years to surpass this opponent.


    With the amount of time he had left before the barrier between Sqaure''s closed, not many options were left for him to choose from¡­


    However, after 3 years of fighting the Poison Deity and being disintegrated into goo dozens of millions of times, Azmodeus finally figured out exactly what it was that he should do.


    And after cing down something he liked to call the ''Primordial Checkpoint Connector'', he was able to directly teleport from outside the Sunsmite Empire; this would stand true even if the barrier permanently closed for the century!


    This was all done for the sole objective of sticking it out for the long run!


    Azmodeus nned to spend the next indefinite period of time inside the Sunsmite Empire, all while the other half of his main body and his vast numbers of clones persisted in the grind!


    The grind was perpetual! It was a way of life, not a choice!


    It was with this very drive and pushing force that Azmodeus never stopped battling Moldon.


    By the 5-year mark.


    "Just die, you damn human!! Fuc*ing die!!!"


    WAAAA!


    SHING!


    A de attempted to resist the immense level of power emitting from the Poison Deity. However, itsted little more than half an instant before being overwhelmed by a far stronger poisonous aura!


    "Just Die!!!" Moldon bellowed out while throwing countless more attacks with a special Forger Rank horsetail whisk.


    WHIP! WHIP!


    Immeasurable levels of green energy swirled and congregated together, creating a massive maelstrom of destruction that shredded and melted the earth for many Septillions of parsecs!


    The previously poisonous surroundings became even more insidious; there was no end to the amount of harmful substances rapidly melting gxy-sized mountains and cities.


    Thend was corroded and the sky turned a nasty green, while the one who took on the full force of these dazzling whishes had long since had his body liquidated and sunk into the dirt.


    Even so, the Poison Deity didn''t appear to be done just yet as he vehementlyshed out with unrelenting force, causing the rest of his territory to melt away.


    "DIE!!!" He roared with an unbelievable amount of anger oozing from his raspy voice.


    Just as he assumed the cockroach was finally dead, a figure with long flowing red hair and eyes¡ªwearing a simply adorned kimono¡ªmaterialized in the airspace behind his collosal figure.


    Moldon shot his goatee and long horse face in the direction of the spec of dust releasing a deep red aura. He shouted, "How the hell are youing back to life!?!? Why won''t you die?!?"


    Azmodeus stared up at the infuriated godlike man as he apathetically responded, "Ie back to life for the sole purpose of the grind. For even in death, the grind never ends."


    "What does that even mean, you bastard!?" Moldon''s expression practically exploded in anger; his brows furrowed so deeply that he might''ve popped a blood vessel at the rate he was overheating.


    -


    Explosions of untold proportions ceaselessly resounded from where the two endlessly battled.


    This urred mostly because Azmodeus tried out many Traits and Technique''s, including size maniption Traits and Physique''s.


    On the note of improvements, his Low-Star Law of Death advanced to Level 5 long ago and was already extremely far into said level.


    It bordered on the zenith that sat between the Low-Star Law of Death and the High-Star Law of Death.


    Furthermore, that wasn''t the only Law that had improved by leaps and bounds. After all, with the unending farming of innumerable amounts of lives during his bouts with the Poison Deity, a myriad of lives were reaped, with a good chunk of them happening because of his residue attack energy.


    It was through these unintended, beneficial actions that Laws were rapidly advancing inprehension.


    This was not only due to the individualprehensions of Azmodeus but also because a new feature of the Infinite Evolution System was activated after taking on the second round of costs for his strength.


    This was the additional reward he obtained after enduring the excruciating pain that quite literally never stopped being inflicted on him. At least, that was the way he viewed it.


    This ''reward'' in question was the ability to absorb a partial amount of the Laws from those he killed!


    Though the inhabitants of the Astral ne were typically born without Laws and lived their entire lives never making use of them, upon breaking past a certain Physical Existence Rank, Laws of the Astral ne started to naturally assimte with their bodies.


    And what did this mean for the Loot Goblin¡­?


    It meant that he had acquired another massive source of loot!


    And there was no way in hell he would allow even the tiniest piece of loot to escape his clutches!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 200: Killing Moldon, Half-Step Dwarf Star Transformation Realm

    ...¡­


    With the unrelentless advance of time, Azmodeus fought the Poison Deity without respite¡ªfighting, dying, fighting, evolving, dying, fighting¡­


    The cycle was endless, and after the 10-year milestone passed, yet another breakthrough was made in his strength. And though it wasn''t enough to enable him to gain the upper hand, it was enough for him to survive longer than an instant.


    This breakthrough in question was something one would''ve never expected to increase his battle power to a point worth mentioning. As it was neither his ever-progressingws nor his cultivation that had taken a leap¡­


    It was instead the Spirit cksmithing Profession advancing to the very peak of the Half-Step Dwarf Star Transformation Rank that allowed his strength to make a massive jump!


    This was, of course, due to the fact that he made a new weapon¡ªone that far outssed what the Overlords of the Sunsmite Empire possessed.


    After all, for the vast majority of Experts, their weapons, spirit treasures, or life treasures were typically one rank beneath the rank of the owner, sometimes even 2-3 ranks below.


    But for Azmodeus, who had a cultivation in the Comet''s Passage Realm, said cultivation base was far overshadowed by his Professions, all of which were in or nearing the Half-Step Dwarf Star Transformation Rank!


    It was one of the products of said professions that permitted such arge improvement to his strength.


    The main ''product'' he used was a sleek ck and golden katana with a light crimson shade. It was a de currently being held over his shoulder.


    It was with such an intimidating demeanor that he looked up at a fist that blotted out the sky¡ªa fist that drizzled insidious, green liquids onto the ground that it was about to pummel to oblivion.


    "I will die, but I definitely gained a little more from this life¡­-"


    BOOOOOOM!


    Azmodeus''s nonchnt voice was interrupted by the apocalyptic fist making contact with the earth, vaporizing everything for an uncountable number of parsecs!


    Time to begin anew¡­


    His thoughts faded out as he unleashed everything he had in his arsenal. But regardless of what he threw at the limitlessly powerful fist, none of it even worked to slow it down.


    "DIE!!!"


    Moldon roared, his gigantic fist pushing even further into the ground, eradicating all life and mountains for who knew how many parsecs.


    As Azmodeus''s body disintegrated into a big pile of mush, he awoke in a new wless form inside the same Mound Devourer he had respawned in many millions of times.


    "The grind starts and ends in this spot¡­" He muttered as his figure blurred at an even faster speed than thest time he died.


    He had reached a level of speed where the surroundings looked like an iprehensible blur of colors.


    The degree at which he moved in flight surpassed the concept of three-dimensional speed, achieving levelspletely out of the world!


    Even so, it mattered not how fast he became, as the Poison Deity would kill him all the same, swift and precise, with overwhelming force.


    It didn''t matter how fast he was, for Moldon would always be faster, and any increases in strength had even less of an impact on oveing this hurdle.


    However, with all things in life, there was always a way. And the way to ovee this obstacle set before him was to simply go along with the flow of time¡­


    ...


    By the 15-year mark, Azmodeus was able to narrowly survive the first attack of Moldon.


    And when 25 whole years passed, he was sessfully able to counteract the all-powerful god of poison!


    Until, finally¡­ The 30-year etch in time:


    The Poison Deity wound up with the same fate as True Darth and Nightshade¡­


    "Why¡­? I don''t understand¡­! Why were you able toe back to life so many times¡­!?"


    The dissonant, indignant voice of Moldon resounded as he attempted to crawl away from the being who had scaled his body up to the same enormous size.


    Half of his once-dazzling physique was missing, with his eyeballs dangling out of their sockets and his ostentatious robes in tatters¡­


    His appearance was nothing short of that of a god who fell from the highest levels of heaven all the way down to the very depths of hell.


    "..."


    Azmodeus watched the mighty Half-Step Amethyst Rank Overlord w away at the mountains, clouds, and cities as he killed countless beings while making a futile attempt at fleeing.


    "For your assistance in helping me be stronger, I will allow you to die an easy death. That is the least I could do¡­"


    "No, wait!!! Please don''t kill me!! I''ll do anything you want, even if you-"


    SHING!


    A crisp, unsheathing sound echoed out as a clean cut was made right down the middle of Moldon, separating two halves of his existence with a vibrant red line.


    This line trailed his body from the head all the way down to his pelvis.


    Following this absurdly precise cut, numerous more emerged on just about every inch of his body. Subsequently, this caused his decrepit, dposing figure to morph into a well-sculpted piece of modern art.


    It wasn''t long after these slices were made that the surrounding environment followed the exact pattern of shes. In return, the earth for as far as the eye could see turned into aplex and intricately woven spiderwebbed cracked sculpture.


    When the aftermath of a simple attack ultimately ended uping to a close, a number of bright blue and golden screens appeared in front of Azmodeus''s face.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed the Half-Step Amethyst Rank Regional Overlord, Moldon, the Poison Deity.*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 2.8 Duovigintillion Points in your Physical Existence Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your Physical Existence Rank has taken arge step within the Peak Adamantine Rank!*


    *Ding!* *You have gained 45 Unvigintillion Stat Points in Strength, 43 Unvigintillion points in Speed, 52 Unvigintillion points in Defense, and 65 Unvigintillion potions in Qi.*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has drastically improved!*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has achieved the absolute peak of the Half-Step Dwarf Star Transformation Realm!*


    .....

 Chapter 201: Only One Fate Awaits Them

    .....


    *Ding!* *Would you like to roll for a Physique or Racial Trait of the being you just killed?*


    "Yes, keep on rolling until I acquire that Physique he was using to better connect with the Law of Poison on a much deeper level than I''m capable of."


    Following this request, and after a few dozen rolls, the physique Azmodeus wanted finally appeared.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have obtained the Half-Step Dwarf Star Transformation Rank ''Poison Resonance'' Physique.*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to keep it or keep on rolling?*


    "Keep it."


    *Ding!* *You have fully obtained the Poison Resonance Physique!*


    *Ding!* *Your Singrity Physique has taken one more step toward the absolute peak of the Forger Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your overall Battle Power has moderately improved!*


    After all of the system notifications finished ringing out, Azmodeus turned his gaze toward his next target.


    It was someone who went by the alias of Heavenbreaker, and also someone who stood near the very peak of the Sunsmite Empire''s hierarchy!


    There was a faint feeling Azmodeus could sense within the air¡ªa feeling that told him the Heavenbreaker knew of what he had done to one of his direct subordinates.


    And through that sensation, a deeply rooted killing intent could be felt¡­


    "You wish to make an enemy of me¡­?" Azmodeus''s gaze frosted over as he responded in full, unleashing a killing intent capable of traversing any amount of distance.


    OOOM!


    Their intangible killing intents seemed to battle one another in mid-air. Subsequently, numerous animals and organisms in the vicinity dropped dead like flies.


    It wasn''t until the killing intent of the Heavenbreaker was overwhelmed by Azmodeus''s far more lethal killing intent that the deaths finally stopped urring.


    "..."


    The one who won this small bout didn''t appear to be too happy about what had just transpired.


    He could feel that something was wrong...


    Something isn''t right¡­ Why does the Heavenbreaker possess such ackluster killing intent¡­? Is mine simply superior? Or is there something wrong on his side¡­?


    He pondered the matter while having already morphed back into his 2-meter-tall human form.


    After a few seconds of hyper-contemting the subject, a conclusion was eventually reached. Or rather, two different conclusions were brought to the table.


    He''s either in the process of breaking through¡­


    Or someone... or something is distracting him from interfering with the deaths of his Regional Overlords¡­


    Azmodeus was inclined to believe that it was thetter option. After all, breaking through into a rank that even the Emperor had not broken through was highly unlikely.


    If that''s truly the case, then my¡­ my loot¡­


    His eyes turned a deep shade of crimson as he grew blood-red bat wings from his back, all while his focus never left the fluctuating killing intent originating from a far-off location of the Sunsmite Empire.


    "Someone actually dares to try and take my loot before I can get to it!?" He roared with a voice oozing intense hatred, exhibiting a level of emotion previously thought to be impossible for the aloof devil.


    WAAAA!


    His aura intensified a billionfold as the skies turned into a blood-red sea!


    Even the ground caved in under the immense pressure being emitted from his blurry, demon-like figure!


    "This is uneptable¡­!!"


    Following a soul-wrenching shout that bypassed what little remained of his emotions, his immeasurably long demon wings pped as he zed into the skies at a speed beyond insanity.


    "Truly Uneptable!!!"


    Azmodeus''s enraged shouts could be heard over every inch ofnd he passed above as his demonic figure sped through the skies at exponentially increasing speeds. For those below, it looked like he transformed his existence into something akin to a ming Phoenix!


    As he zed through the skies at speeds surpassing any known limiters, thend and beings below his direct line of sight were eviscerated to bones and ash. In turn, they transformed into the fuel that would allow the Azmodeus to go even faster!


    Furthermore, with the immediate order to improve the killing efficiency of all clones, the amount of strength he gathered by the millisecond rendered the person he was at the veryst instant nothing more than weak trash!


    With every passing second, he passed his previous self, and with every parsec he beamed over, the rate at which he exceeded his previous limits grew beyond belief!


    He utterly refused to allow what should''ve been his loot to die before he got to it first!!


    There was no way in hell anyone would take what was rightfully his!!


    "This is a sin punishable by death!!"


    His emotions spiraled out of control as the obsession over loot took control of his critical thinking, transforming him into an absolute killing machine!


    No matter if it were a human, a beast, or even those of other races, nothing was able to escape his thirst for power and loot.


    In the Boundless Void, in the Astral ne, in the Single Layered nes of Infinity, there was absolutely nothing capable of averting the eventual fate that awaited them all¡ªdeath and assimtion.


    It was through this action that, in the span of half an hour, the degree to which Azmodeus efficiently farmed loot increased countless fold!


    With resultsing in massive amounts, all the clones and members of the Heaven Exploding Sect spread out and murdered with even greater fervor.


    "For those who wish to stand in my way¡­"


    Azmodeus''s apathetic voice echoed out across time and space as he slipped through a tunnel in space and arrived in an area that looked as if an intense battle had just concluded.


    His venomous gaze scanned over the various corpses and craters as he eventually found what he was looking for.


    It was only after confirming it with his own crimson-colored eyes that he fell to the ground next to a half-mauled corpse that wore shiny golden armor.


    "For those who wish to stand in my way¡­ Only one fate awaits them¡­" His devil-like eyes hardened to an unbelievable degree as he pulled out his crimson-red katana and looked in the direction of a slight fluctuation in space.


    .....

 Chapter 202: Nothing Is Capable Of Preventing Your Assimilation

    .....


    After finding hints of the one who fled the scene through a tunnel in space, Azmodeus''s breath froze over.


    His rage was overshadowed by an overpowering darkness¡ªone that held nothing in its deep, inescapable orbit.


    "The fate that awaits all who impede my advancements to Infinite Evolution¡­ Death. Death is all there is."


    It was in this moment that his aura went through another substantial change, as it developed into something truly terrifying¡ªsomething that held no rage or indigence and neither forgiveness nor respite.


    However, that was exactly what made this aura so terrifying¡­ As there was nothing contained within its energy waves¡­ It was as if it, along with the owner of the aura, didn''t even exist.


    It was this very quality that made his serene, swirling crimson aura so horrifying¡­


    Additionally, it was this metamorphosis in aura that caused his blood red and gold katana to go through a change as well, bing something far superior to a simple weapon only meant to serve.


    WAAA!


    The katana wiggled and squirmed as its metallic surface elongated and extended out before curving into the shape of a crescent at the tip.


    It was only after the shape of this truly devastating weapon fully formed that Azmodeus was able to get a good look at something different from both a Treasured Weapon and a Life Treasure.


    "A bonded-weapon¡­ Likely activated by my intent¡­" He coldly analyzed the overbearing crimson scythe ced in front of him as he eventually outstretched his hand.


    "Very well¡­ I shall upgrade you for all of eternity¡­ And in return, you shall kill anything that I wish you to¡­"


    BZZzztt¡­!


    The Scythe vibrated mid-air before it flew into the clutches of Azmodeus of its own volition.


    "..."


    It seems like this one is more interested in the killing part than the upgrading part¡­


    This realization helped him understand that the Scythe truly was something born of his intent. And it was with this understanding that he walked away from the war-torn battlefield with an 8-foot long scythe looming over his head.


    "I say it''s time we begin the hunt¡­" Azmodeus nearly let a wide creepy grin emerge on his face; however, it was quickly repressed by his emotion dullers.


    BZZzztt¡­!


    Sanguinary seemed to agree with such a bloodthirsty notion as it oozed oppressive killing intent all over the ce.


    "Sanguinary¡­ That is your name¡­"


    Azmodeus had a sh of realization go past his eyes as he looked toward the scythe, which possessed a very befitting name.


    "Sanguinary¡­ for death¡­ Are you ready¡­?" He questioned while having already taken wide strides toward the slit in space.


    BZZzztt¡­!


    "That is good," said Azmodeus as he passed through the tunnel in space-time, chasing after the one who killed the Heavenbreaker¡ªhis loot.


    For taking my loot away from me, you shall simply be the loot yourself¡­


    ...


    A few years passed in the blink of an eye as Azmodeus hunted the mysterious figure who killed the Heavenbreaker.


    It was on one day in particr that the Loot Goblin finally caught up to the killer. However, this only happened after traveling through a wormhole that led to an ind in the middle of nowhere.


    "You chase me¡­ Why¡­?"


    A voice that sounded foreign and oddly crackly echoed throughout the sandy beaches as a figure that had no physical form, with two static, spiraling eyes, turned in the direction of a crimson-haired, immortal-like man.


    "I have chased you simply because you stole what was mine." Azmodeus''s response came after a moment of scrutinizing the inhuman appearance of the one who stole his kill.


    "What was yours¡­? I have not stolen anything of yours¡­"


    Azmodeus heard the robotic words spoken by the figure that faded in and out of reality as his brows furrowed. "You actually have the nerve to say that you did not steal something of mine??"


    The figure analyzed the expression of the one who exhibited killing intent as its entire spiraling body spun around a little faster. "Cannot Compute¡­ Cannot Compute¡­"


    After repeatedly mumbling the same phrase over and over again, the mysterious being had its head spin around in circles before eventually extending into the air. As its three-meter-long body increased to over four meters in height, Azmodeus''s brows furrowed in disgust.


    Following this inexplicable action, its head finally finished spinning around as its purplish eyes morphed into a deadly red warning signal.


    "Yyou shaall be exterminated!!!"


    It screeched with a voice capable of shattering even the most robust of ss screens; its head continued to freak out and spasm as its face warped into something straight out of an SCP lore episode.


    "..."


    Azmodeus watched the freaky being spasm and slowly crawl off the sand hill it was on. Contrary to expectations, he figured it was better this way.


    "If you were a fully functional existence, then I would''ve had to go through a lot of trouble in order to get to the killing you part, so this is a much more preferable scenario."


    Azmodeus lobbed his long, intimidating scythe over his left shoulder as a cold gleam shed past his eyes before the sand beneath his feet slightly vibrated.


    That was all it took for his body to sling around like he had attached himself to an object of centrifugal force. Then, at supersonic speed, his figure blurred at a degree far surpassing the concept of motion, defying any and all applicablews of physics.


    "For taking away my loot and not giving me anything in return, I shall take your life as remuneration." Azmodeus uttered with a voice so cold that the moment his face neared the enemy, even the air around his zing figure froze over.


    "Screech!!!!"


    The mysterious existence stopped speaking anyprehensiblenguage altogether as its body spun and twisted in every direction imaginable, turning into something that seemed like it came from a different level of dimensionality¡­


    "You truly think that dancing around like a monkey will save you from your penance¡­? For taking my loot, nothing in existence is capable of preventing your assimtion."


    .....

 Chapter 203: A True Monstrosity

    .....


    Azmodeus stretched his scythe off to the side as stupendous levels of crimson Qi tendrils built up on its razor-sharp surface.


    WAAAA!


    In the span of an instant, the scythe''s edge shed forward at a speed that exceeded anything previously disyed. And it took even less time for the scythe to reach a distance less than a hair''s breadth of the monstrosity.


    "Screetch¡­!!!!"


    Following a screech that became increasingly unnerving, the fabric of space that surrounded the ind was warped and molded into a shape capable of eliciting fear from even the strongest willed of warriors!


    "..."


    Azmodeus didn''t even know how to describe the terrifying thing he saw before him, as it was a face¡ªa face that exuded levels of terror beyond anything a mere Forger Realm Existence could muster.


    While in the midst of his thoughts, and before he even knew what happened, his scythe was thwarted with a slight movement made by the ethereal entity.


    Then, with overwhelming force, it shed down at a speed that transcended anything Azmodeus was capable of unleashing!


    It looks like this loot bag will be a tough one¡­


    That was thest thought he had before his existence evaporated into nothingness. After which, the area around where his body once stood simply disappeared¡­


    The sand, the ind, the ocean, the, the universe¡ªeven reality itself¡ªvanished.


    All that was left within the 1? Layered ne of Infinity was the rapidly morphing entity¡ªan entity that possessed might far surpassing anything a Forger Realm Expert was able to exhibit.


    "..."


    After a few seconds of the entity standing in a nk white dimension, its fluctuating body wiggled and teleported in the direction of its next target.


    However, before it could move even an inch, a crimson-robed figure phased into the empty dimension and smashed into the absurdlyrge body of the entity.


    SLASH! SLASH!


    Azmodeus shot out apocalyptic attack after the next, holding back absolutely nothing in his strikes.


    But regardless of how much effort he exerted, all it took was a freakish head spin and a minor fluctuation for his existence to once again evaporate.


    However, he wasn''t anywhere done with the entity!


    Azmodeus left his second Primordial Checkpointer and returned to where he died at an even faster pace than before.


    Grind¡­ Keep on grinding until there is nothing left to grind¡­


    Give me all the loot¡­


    Azmodeus called upon his Primordial Essence Clones and Mirror Mirages, absolutely refusing to permit the escape of any loot across the Omniverse!


    The clones heeded the call of the main piece of their existence, as even the other half of his main body was forced to leave his retreat and head in the direction of a 2nd Tier Double Leafed Sect called the Assassin''s Bureau.


    This Sect was where the absolute best farming spots were located!


    It was only after everyone increased their farming tactics even further that Azmodeus turned his cold gaze toward the entity trying to leave the vacated dimension.


    "For your treason against the concept of Loot Acquisition, no matter how many times I need to die, I will ultimately be the one to kill you."


    Azmodeus''s promation sounded out while he was in the process of unleashing a bloody scythe arc.


    SWISH!


    The arc made contact with an atom of the exponentially growing entity, and although it wasn''t able to cause any serious damage, it was still able to make a miniscule scratch.


    And for him, that was enough to see himself surpassing the monstrous entity¡­


    Though that time would not be now, or even within the next few dozen years, it would most definitely happen. And that was all the reassurance he needed to ceaselessly return from the dead and fight without end.


    ...


    Like the passing of the seasons, 120 years shed past everyone in the Astral ne.


    This day not only marked Azmodeus''s 3000th birthday, but it also stood as the day that his uphill battle with the entity finally came to a close.


    He may have died billions of times over thest century, but with the advancement of his cultivation into the Early Meteor Shower Realm, he was able to ovee the insurmountable enemy!


    However, it wasn''t just his cultivation base that enabled him to surpass this extremely difficult enemy. After all, his now-Early Dwarf Star Transformation Realm Professions and Half-Step Amethyst Physical Existence Rank also had their parts to y.


    Furthermore, when one included the progression of all 2,999 of his Low-Star Laws to the zenith of the 5th Level, it was no surprise that he was eventually able to ovee the mysterious entity.


    It would''ve been far easier to defeat the Entity if thest Low-Star Law had been discovered andprehended. But unfortunately for him, thest Low-Star Law was one that hid from the general view of all living beings.


    Nevertheless, that was a topic for another time, as right now, Azmodeus Crimson stood before a starry-like kneeling existence that transcended all previous notions of size limiters.


    While reaching sizes that surpassed even that of a 1? Layered ne of Infinity, it acted as if it were above it all...


    -


    "..."


    Azmodeus observed the entity squirm and visibly glitch out as his cold gaze honed in on the two enormous eyes emitting an unusual form of gray energy.


    "Error!! Error¡­!! Error!!!" The Entity repeated with a maniacal terror contained within its colorful, whirlpool eyes.


    "You say that over and over again¡­ Even after a hundred years of fighting, the only things you''ve said were ''Error'' and ''Cannot Compute''... why is that?"


    Azmodeus took slow, calcted steps toward the convulsing slug-shaped creature as he leaped up off the ground without causing even the slightest ripple. After which, he sped onto one of the many spider wings connected to the Entity''s back.


    He followed up this action by ripping off this immeasurably long wing, and he did it as easily as pulling up a loose weed.


    "Esceetch¡­!!!!"


    It stretched with the same soul-piercing scream that Azmodeus had long since be ustomed to hearing.


    .....

 Chapter 204: 500 Years, 50 Amethyst-Rank Warriors

    .....


    "..."


    Azmodeus held the infinitely long wing within his grasp as he whipped it around a little bit before pping the Entity with its own appendage.


    Such an action caused the spasming existence to freak out even further as it rolled and spun around in a circr motion, attempting to squash the error!


    However, no matter what futile things it did, nothing phased the godlike man in the slightest. On the contrary, he lifted an arm that produced a red Qi shield capable of taking on the full strikes of the Entity without any problem.


    In fact, the energy being emitted from the shield was so potent that the Entity was actually the one to take damage every time it tried to roll over, resulting inrge segments of its body being erased from existence!


    As this was happening, Azmodeus tested out everything he could think of when it concerned the appendage he wielded like a whip.


    The conclusion of this little experimentation session was that these weird appendages appeared to be some form of transmitter that absorbed energy from some unknown area of the Astral ne.


    To possess this level of energy and treat the life and death of this creature as if it mattered not¡­


    Is it one of the two Gods¡­?


    At this shocking discovery, Azmodeus returned his focus back to the Entity.


    He figured he should put it out of its misery and see what the system tells him about its existence.


    After understanding what he would do next, Azmodeus lifted his enormous scythe into the air before vertically shing down on the slug that was still thrashing around in ce.


    SHING!


    "Esceetch!!!!"


    The Entity let out one final cry before its infinitely wide existence was erased from the Astral ne.


    From its death, a number of system notifications bombarded Azmodeus''s vision.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed the Warped Emperor of the Sunsmite Empire¡ªa being in the peak stages of the Early Amethyst Rank!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 310 Trevigintillion Points in your Physical Existence Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your Physical Existence Rank has taken a huge step toward breaking through into the Early Amethyst Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to assimte the stats or roll for an ability of the being you just killed?*


    "Assimte."


    *Ding!* *You have gained 25 Trevigintillion Stat Points in Strength, 31 Trevigintillion Points in Speed, 27 Trevigintillion Points in Defense, and 39 Trevigintillion Points in Qi.*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has drastically improved!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to spend Evolution Essence in order to roll for one of the Warped Emperor''s abilities?*


    "The Emperor of the Sunsmite Empire¡­" Azmodeus muttered while feeling an immense boost to his strength.


    After a moment of brooding over the matter, he looked back at the translucent blue screen and responded, "I would like to roll."


    Following hismand, a multi-colored roulette materialized in front of his face and started to spin.


    After cycling through thousands of different Racial Traits and Physiques, it eventuallynded on¡­


    *Ding!* *You have rolled for the Early Amethyst Rank Physique ''Void Amalgamation''. Would you like to keep it or keep on rolling?*


    "Keep it."


    *Ding!* *You have fully obtained the Void Amalgamation Physique!*


    *Ding!* *Your Singrity Physique has tremendously improved within the Half-Step Amethyst Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has moderately improved!*


    *Ding!* *You have amassed over 999 Trevigintillion Evolution Essence in your Evolution Essence Bank. Would you like to spend it on leveling your Traits into the SSS Rank from the SS Rank?*


    Azmodeus pondered the question for a few seconds before replying, "Yes, but make sure to allocate whatever remains into my level and Physique''s. Try to evenly split it across all aspects of my existence."


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have Ranked up all of your Traits from Level 5 of the SS Rank to Level 1 of the SSS Rank!*


    *Ding!* *You have leveled up your existence from the Mid 200''s to Level 265!*


    *Ding!* *You have Ranked up all of your Phsyqiue''s from the Late and Peak Adamantine Ranks to the Half-Step Amethyst Rank, allowing your Singrity Physique to make the leap into the Early Amethyst Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has improved by leaps and bounds, enabling your strength to cross the threshold between the Early and Middle Dwarf Star Transformation Realm phases!*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has fermented itself inside the Middle Stages of the Middle Dwarf Star Transformation Realm!*


    *Ding!* *You are beginning to near the absolute peak that the Astral ne can withstand before copsing underneath the weight of your might!*


    *Ding!* *It is rmended that the host ascend from the Astral ne within the next 10 thousand years (cave time), for unknown consequences are in store for the host if this is not aplished.*


    Azmodeus perused the iing system notifications as he realized that the amount of time he had left topletely drain the Astral ne of its loot was cut even shorter.


    If I am to obtain absolutely every benefit that I can from the Astral ne, then I''m going to need to speed up the development and annexation steps of my n.


    10 billion Squares is nowhere near enough to overthrow the tyrannical Empire''s I wish to surpass¡­


    At this thought, he wasted no time and put the next segment of his many-step n into motion.


    With the death of the corrupted Sunsmite Empire, Azmodeus should be able to seamlessly conquer and annex the rest of the Sunsmite Empire Territory, all of which was perfectly in view with his improved divine sense.


    "The grind has ended¡­ And now it is time for it to begin again, as the grind is perpetual and evesting."


    ¡­


    Time passed like a shadow, fleeting and evanescent, as 500 years (cave time) flew by in the blink of an eye.


    After 50 years, the Astral ne had gone through various substantial changes. Not only had the Heaven Exploding Faction annexed another 1 trillion Squares, but they had also managed to take over 35 different 2nd Tier Double Leafed Squares, enabling their forces to improve by leaps and bounds!


    On the subject of force improvements, the number of Amethyst-Rank Warriors who were willing to submit to the Crimson Emperor amounted to a grand total of 50!


    This may not seem like a lot whenpared to the hundreds of millions of Adamantine-Rank warriors in their ranks, but it would only take a single Amethyst-Rank cultivator to eradicate every single Adamantine-Rank warrior.


    Furthermore, they wouldn''t even need to expend very much effort in order to aplish it¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 205: Early Meteor Shower Realm Peak, Law Of Syneresis

    ...¡­


    Everything previously mentioned went to show just how vast the chasm between Major Realms truly was, which stood true even if it was of the Physical Existence Path and not the typical Qi path.


    Nevertheless, the increase in battalion power was just one of many things that had tremendously improved over thest 50 (500) years.


    For one, Azmodeus''s cultivation had advanced from the Early Meteor Shower Realm to the Absolute Peak Stages of the Early Meteor Shower Realm!


    That may not seem like that much of an improvement. But when one realizes how many hundreds of thousands of years it would normally take someone to advance within the Meteor Shower Realm, they would quickly understand just how ludicrous it was to advance so far into a minor stage within a mere 500 years¡­


    Furthermore, that wasn''t the only aspect of Azmodeus''s existence that had gone through major alterations, as his Physical Existence Ranks sessfully overcame the gap between the Half-Step Amethyst Rank and the Early Amethyst Rank!


    Subsequently, this made him the 56th Amethyst Rank Expert within the Heaven Exploding Sect!


    This sort of progress would normally be impossible for even the greatest of heavenly geniuses to aplish, but Azmodeus was no normal Heavenly Genius¡­


    With the continued improvements in his various professions, he was able to better utilize said professions in order to drastically increase the rate at which he made progress in both his Physical Existence Rank and Cultivation Realm.


    One might wonder how far his Professions had improved over this period of time to be able to allot so many insanely high boosts. And the answer was that his Formation, Rune, Array, Spirit cksmithing, Spirit Chef, Beast Tamer, and Potion Master Professions sessfully made the jump from the Middle Stages of the Dwarf Star Rank straight to the Peak Stages of the Dwarf Star Rank!


    This permitted far more efficient approaches to a multitude of ways in which one could improve their profession usage times, such as the time it took to concoct a pill or forge a Dwarf Star Weapon.


    In addition, it also allowed for insanely high quality levels, as even the most basic of things that Azmodeus made far surpassed anything that a 2nd Tier Double Leafed Square could hope to produce!


    Even so, nothing ever seemed to be good enough for Azmodeus...


    He not only progressed in his cultivation, Physical Existence, and Professions, but he had also made great strides in the study of Time-Space Runes, achieving a level of proficiency that allowed his Fallen Immortal Mountain''s time bubble to achieve a time dtion rate of 20:1.


    Though such advancement only came recently, it still meant great things for the relentless pursuit of seclusion that the first half of Azmodeus''s existence was caught in.


    On a side note, over the many years that passed for those residing in the Crimson Dimension, many things changed in the cultivation bases of the women who surrounded Azmodeus.


    For one, Yang Hua, Nao Long, You Mei, Li Na, Bing Nu Shen, and Chi Wu improved their cultivation to the Middle Stages of the Comet''s Passage Realm. On the other hand, Pan Nu and Rou Tian took their cultivation even more seriously and made it into the Late Comet''s Passage Realm!


    However, even under the guidance and resources provided by Azmodeus, it would still take at least three thousand years for them to breakthrough into the Early Meteor Shower Realm.


    After all, besides the amount of effort and grit they exerted when cultivating, there was only one real way for their cultivation efficiency to improve. And that was with the constantly advancing products that came from the ceaseless development of Azmodeus''s Professions.


    And then there was the mysterious Alien Cat¡­


    A cat who underwent some form of metamorphosis that changed something fundamental within her existence.


    This ''change'' caused her fur to be an even deeper shade of white, and that wasn''t the end of it, as the most noticeable change was the fact that her cultivation speed had increased by an utterly ridiculous degree!


    In fact, she was no more than a few dozen years (cave time) away from breaking through into the Early Meteor Shower realm!


    And though that didn''t seem like much when stacked up against the freak that was Azmodeus Crimson, it was enough to warrant her the title as the second most talented being in the Crimson Dimension!


    However, unbeknownst to Azmodeus and the rest, this little kitty had woken up from her slumber a few dozen years ago. And when she saw the true cultivation of the man she once mistook as an immortal, she realized that she needed to up her game, which was why she initiated the second phase of her Reckoning.


    But even with the boost that she received to her cultivation talent, there was no catching up to the freak of nature. And she realized that as well¡­


    Jue Mei didn''t know why she was so concerned about not being able to catch up to a mere mortal. But, in her heart, she knew that she couldn''t give up so easily, which was why she nned to activate the third phase of her Reckoning ahead of schedule.


    Little did she know that she, along with the rest of the inhabitants of the Crimson Dimension, would soon be left in the dust by the one their minds always seemed to veer toward.


    One might wonder why this was stated with such certainty, and the truth of the matter was that Azmodeus was about to achieve something that no one besides the two gods had aplished on the Astral ne.


    The 3000th Low-Star Law¡­ The Law of Syneresis¡­


    WAAA!


    Azmodeus''s thought stirred as the Qi within a countless number of light years outside the Astral ne flowed into Fallen Immortal Mountain''s airspace. Then, with even greater immensity, it all swirled toward a crimson-haired man.


    It was this very man who was currently in the midst ofprehending the Law of Syneresis¡ªaw that essentially served as a higher form of the Law of Coalescence.


    Furthermore, it was due to the activeprehension of this Law that the Qi within and around Fallen Immortal Mountain was thrown into disarray. And it was also because of this Law that a particrly auspicious phenomenon began to materialize inside the Crimson Dimension...


    .....

 Chapter 206: God Of Light, God Of Darkness

    .....


    The phenomenon inside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode was that of a dazzling crimson red devil¡ªone that possessed a disposition so domineering that even the scariest of demons in the world would cower in fear upon bearing witness to this absolute monstrosity.


    Its size was immeasurable, and its proportions could be clearly seen, yet not seen all at the same time. It was almost as if the illusory Devil belonged to a different ne of reality¡ªa ne of reality vastly transcending the one we live in.


    However, it looked like this devil was not satisfied with its existence being witnessed by merely those in the Crimson Dimension, as it extended its terror-inducing form outside of the dimension, enveloping the Emonius Sect before moving onto what was once the Azura Kingdom.


    It didn''t take long before the illusory Devil was clearly visible over all the various teaus and Squares that made up the Heaven Exploding Sect. And it didn''t stop with just that, as even the countless squares outside the bounds of the Heaven Exploding Sect bore witness to the phenomenon conjured up by an evil man¡ªa man adored by all¡ªa man attempting to achieve something truly game-changing.


    Azmodeus wished to furtherbine his aspects of existence, and the very core of his being would not allow a single thing to ignore this momentous asion. Even the bugs and ants were not spared.


    The two gods were no exception to this phenomenon, as there was a resplendently lit location deep within the Kingdom of Light.


    Inside this luminescent space, there were an abundant number of spiraling, iridescent pirs that appeared to stretch upward for infinity, and at the very center of these pirs, therey an ostentatiously decorated mansion.


    Jewels and crystals of utmost resplendence hung off the overhanging shillings and unnaturally ced statues of a woman who possessed unparalleled beauty.


    All of these statues were ced on top of the mansion, and inside this opulent mansion, which possessed an even more glitzy interior, therey a room.


    It was a room that seemed almost ordinary whenpared to the rest of thevishly white and gold mansion. And it was inside this very room that a woman who looked nothing short of divine awoke with an abrupt opening of her cross-shaped, pupil-centered eyes.


    "So he has awakened, huh¡­? The one that man spoke of¡­"


    Her voice was soft and melodic yet contained a certain degree of lethality as she flipped her golden gaze across the simple dressers and chairs she kept within her private quarters.


    When her mesmerizing eyes finallynded upon a dresser that had a barely visible file shine through one of its drawers, she elegantly lifted her curvaceous body off the bed. In return, this caused her perfectly plump curves to ricochet a bit from the abrupt movements.


    The Goddess of Light was truly fit to be called a god, as no one would lie and say that she wasn''t beautiful, for there was no way to deny the long blonde hair that molded her wless face and milky white pillows to an almost perfect degree.


    Her hair was so long and gorgeous that it even touched upon those two plump mountains that she carried around on top of those child-bearing hips.


    However, even with such a divine appearance, there was no emotion present within those two dazzling, criss-crossed jewels attached to her face.


    With such a dull expression, she gracefully walked over to the file and opened the drawer a little further before taking it out and reading over its contents.


    After a few seconds of perusing the unknownnguage inside the paper document, the Goddess of Light let out a surprisingly pleasant ancient sigh from her perfectly red lips. She parted them even further and said, "It looks like nothing can be discerned about his awakening.


    But considering ''his'' personality, it''s not a surprise that he prepared this thoroughly, even going so far as to block my divine sight¡­"


    She heaved another sigh before giving up on any further discernment. After all, the Awakener would being to her, and she knew that for certain.


    So, in the end, she turned her sophisticated countenance back in the direction of her California king-sized bed and proceeded toy back down and resume her deep slumber. Then, withplete elegance, she patiently awaiting the day the Awakener appeared in front of her.


    After all, they had a lot of things to talk about¡­


    ****


    Meanwhile, in a pitch-ck space within a castle that closely resembled the residence of Count Drac, a shadowy figure of untold proportions faded through a cobble-stoned coffin. After which, he materialized in a humanoid-like form on top of hard, cold brickyed ground.


    "..."


    After making his presence known, this figure shot his head in a certain direction outside the confines of his castle.


    An imperceptible gleam shed past his red, misty eyes as he appeared to be thinking deeply about something.


    It was only after a few seconds of contemtion that his gaze glossed over. "It looks like the time is nigh," he said.


    Upon uttering these words, his tall slightly muscr figure blurred.


    FWIP!


    He appeared atop his limitlesslyrge castle, overlooking the deep night that enveloped his city below.


    The cool night breeze blew his long, snowy white hair in the wind as he looked in apletely different direction.


    "After so many eons of preparation, the time finally approaches¡­ For us to be one¡­ For the cycle to be broken¡­ Those princes above¡­ They will pay dearly for underestimating us¡­


    Your birth¡­ your creation¡­ your destiny¡­ Everything will one day align, and when that happens, you will understand¡ªyou will ept.


    After all, everything has a price, does it not¡­?"


    The ashen-faced God of Darkness stood atop a pointed tip of his castle, unmoving and lost in his own thoughts, pondering something that even the Goddess of Light would not be able toprehend.


    However, such brooding didn''tst forever...


    As he watched the moon rotate a little further inside the pitch ck, star-speckled nket that enveloped it, he vanished from view, disappearing into the twilight night.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 207: Middle Meteor Shower Realm, Comprehended Law of Syneresis

    ****


    Meanwhile, in and extremely far away from the Kingdom of Darkness, a man with long crimson hair sat in a lotus position.


    He was cultivating inside the same cave he had been in for what felt like an eternity.


    "..."


    It was at a moment when the full moon reached its peak that Azmodeus abruptly awoke from hisprehension of the Law of Syneresis.


    The Law of Syneresis¡ªa High-Starry Law that one was not normally able toprehend until they reached the Star Radiance Realm, or whatever the equivalent of such a realm was.


    It was this veryw that Azmodeus attempted and sessfullyprehended while still inside the Middle Meteor Shower Realm¡­


    That''s right¡­ He had advanced in his cultivation, progressing past the Early Meteor Shower Realm, all because of hisprehension of the Law of Syneresis!


    This all went to show just how stupendously overpowered a High-Star Law was for someone not normally able to utilize its capabilities.


    It truly is too bad that I''m not able toprehend more High-Star Laws until I leave the Astral ne¡­


    Azmodeus heaved a soft sigh.


    Although theprehension of his 3000th Low-Star Law, which also acted as a High-Star Law, was quite an amazing de, it still wasn''t enough to satisfy the insatiable appetite that he had for more power.


    Furthermore, due to the Law of Syneresis being a higher form of coalescence, it caused all of his Low-Star Laws tobine and transform into the singr Law of Syneresis.


    This meant that he now only had a single Law to his name¡­


    Unless he ascended to the Starry Expanse and derived the higher forms of all his previous Low-Star Laws, he would forever be left with only one Law!


    If he were being honest, that was a rather grim thing to think about¡­


    He was, after all, a hoarder of anything numerical, and for something so amazing to be barred from having a high numerical value was simply uneptable!


    There were many things that went through his head when pondering this matter, but his thoughts were swiftly interrupted by the mming of his Cave Abode door.


    BANG!


    Following this loud, almost explosive bang, nearly a dozen girls came rushing into the Cave Abode!


    Nao Long was the first one to scan the surroundings with that curious gaze of hers. Then, after finding her target, she leaped through the air!


    *Piang!*


    Shended in thep of the peacefully cultivating man as she snuggled her plump butt in its rightful spot. After which, she looked up at the aloof man with expectant puppy-dog eyes.


    A dragon¡­ yet also a dog¡­?


    Azmodeus had a peculiar thought pass through his mind as he turned his piercing gaze away from the silly dragon girl.


    He found himself observing the equally anticipatory expressions that the various women of his Crimson Dimension were making.


    "Do you all wish to know what I was doing in here¡­?" He asked with a slight shake of the head.


    "Yes¡­"


    "Yes!"


    "I would like to know."


    Yang Hua, Li Na, Bing Nu Shen, You Mei, and the rest gave varying responses, as even Azmodeus''s two disciples left their seclusion.


    They aimed to understand what crazy stuff their master had done this time.


    "..."


    Azmodeus knew that he would not be getting away from the women this time around. After all, they knew where he lived¡­


    So, in order to maintain a continuously peaceful cultivation environment, he reluctantly told them about the Law of Syneresis and his immeasurable disappointment in the fact that he wasn''t able toprehend morews.


    Their response to such ludicrous drivel was:


    "A monster¡­" They muttered in unison, immense awe present within their shining gazes.


    To be acquainted with a man like him was truly the most mystical thing that ever happened to them, but they didn''t know how to properly express their awe¡­


    However, with the next words toe out of his mouth, they seemed topletely forget what it was they were thinking about:


    "I seem to have made another breakthrough in my Formation Rune Array Profession, and I need to be acquainted with the new rank. So would you all like some Half-Step Star Radiance Items-?"


    Before he was even able to finish voicing his question, all of the women found themselves huddled right up beside him, seemingly wondering why he asked such a silly thing.


    "..."


    Azmodeus let another sigh escape his mouth.


    Thesezy bums truly only knew how to leech off of him. But in the end, making stuff for them only served to better progress his diversification when making items for people with varying personalities.


    Such a way of improving his professions was far better than making things on a far more general scale. So it truly only benefited him when it came to expending a negligible amount of resources in order to improve his versatility.


    It was with such a way of thinking that he got straight to making use of his Half-Step Star Radiance Professions.


    He aimed to get everyone up to the current equipment level before he resumed his next cultivation session. Which, at the rate he crafted, should take no more than a few years.


    Furthermore, considering that this was in Cave Abode Time, not even a few months would have passed in the outside world.


    So it was with an industrious mindset that he concocted, cooked, forged, and inscribed until the equipment level of both himself and the girls was at the current maximum.


    Even so, Azmodeus would always create something better for himself, due to the fact that he knew what suited him more than what suited those around him.


    His equipment and the girl''s may be the same on the surface, but they were nowhere near the same level, for in the right hands, trash could be turned to gold.


    And in the case of Azmodeus Crimson, all he yearned for was power and gold, so of course every single one of his equipment pieces would inherit those Traits.


    But of course, the one piece of equipment that would forever remain above the rest was none other than Sanguinary¡ªthe Scythe bathed in the blood of its enemies!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 208: 2000 Years, Late Meteor Shower Realm

    ...¡­


    Azmodeus''s scythe was something that transcended the ranking system, even possessing power that only something of the Star Radiance Rank should have.


    It was with such strength at its disposal that Azmodeus''s Battle Power had an additional power boost applied to it, rocketing said Battle Power straight into the peak stages of the Middle Dwarf Star Transformation Realm!


    At the rate that he was progressing, it would likely be no longer than a few thousand years (cave time) that he would be able to contend with those in the Late Amethyst Rank without much of a problem.


    Additionally, if things went well over the next 8 thousand or so years, he should be able to reach the deadline set by the Infinite Evolution System, which was to ascend the Astral ne.


    Of course, he vehemently refused to ascend unless hepletely dried the Astral ne of everything it had.


    But, for that to happen, he first needed to surpass the power level of the two gods!


    However, before he took such arge step, there was one important thing that he needed to do. And this important thing was, of course, to utterly annex any and all 3rd Tier Double Leafed Squares and 2nd Tier Squares.


    But for such a thing to happen, his forces and overall strength would need to tremendously increase.


    A few hundred million Adamantine warriors, along with a couple hundred Amethyst Rank Experts, were nowhere even close to what one had to have in order to exceed the overall power of a 2nd Tier Double Leafed Square.


    So, first and foremost, the 2nd Tier Squares would need to be devoured and assimted at a rapid pace, all while Azmodeus continued the never-ending grind inside his cave abode.


    It was with this n that everything was set in motion.


    All Primordial Essence Clones and Mirror Mirage''s were informed to speed up their annexation tactics, and they were also advised to use any and absolutely every means avable to them.


    On the other hand, Nao Long, Yang Hua, Bing Nu Shen, Chi Wu, and the rest of the girl''s headed out into the world.


    They resumed their bloodbathes, all while giving Azmodeus even greater amounts of points in his Physical Existence Rank.


    Having so many psychopathic yanderes to lead your sect battalions was quite an unexpectedly fortuitous decision on his part, as every war in which they participated produced insane margin boosts for his strength!


    With all of them seemingly working in seamless cooperation, everything was on a set path toward gathering the absolute maximum number of benefits for Azmodeus Crimson!


    It was with this very setup that the secluded immortal sat within his Cave Abode, allowing the world to pass him by¡­


    ...


    With the flow of time, civilizations could rise and fall. And in the case of a certain Crimson-eyed cultivator, his civilization was on the rise, as there seemed to be nothing capable of impeding the advance of the ''Most Tyrannical Empire to evere to be''.


    100 years forever disappeared from the Astral ne''s timeline.


    Over this period of time, the number of Squares that Azmodeus and his forces were able to annex and assimte had long since surpassed any countable number, as their efficiency had improved to an utterly insane level.


    2000 years¡­ That was how long had gone by for those in the Crimson Dimension. And with so much time having passed, it came as no surprise that Azmodeus sessfully broke through into the Late Meteor Shower Realm.


    Inparison to Jue Mei, it meant that the gap between them grew even wider!


    This was where the effects ofprehending the Law of Syneresis were truly beginning to show.


    Even if the mysterious alien cat somehow found a way to achieve her 3rd phase of Reckoning even earlier than expected, it was unknown whether she would be able to catch up to the rocket attached to Azmodeus''s ass.


    After all, the rocket was rocketing him straight to the moon of power leveling, and even Elon Musk couldn''t stop him!


    Furthermore, it wasn''t merely his cultivation that had improved by leaps and bounds over the years, as his professions made great strides within the Half-Step Star Radiance Rank, allowing them to achieve a state bordering on perfection.


    However, for Azmodeus, the grind was evesting, so with these ''minor'' achievements, he resumed the grind, nning to make his breakthrough into the Middle Amethyst Rank quite soon.


    ¡­


    Within the next 500 years (cave time), Azmodeus was able to make the leap from the Early Amethyst Rank straight into the Middle Amethyst Rank.


    It was with this breakthrough that his Battle Power improved from the Middle Stages of the Late Dwarf Star Transformation Realm to the Peak Stages of the Late Dwarf Star Transformation Realm.


    It was such an increase in strength that skyrocketed him right to where even the strongest of Late Amethyst Rank Experts would be stuck for billions of years.


    I''m return, this enabled him to have the minimum required strength to begin making moves on 3rd Tier Double Leafed Square''s!


    Although he would not be able to do anything drastic under the watchful eyes of Peak Amethyst Rank Experts, he could still hope to make significant moves when it came to progressing his ''Takeover n''.


    First and foremost, he could disguise himself as one of the Elders of a 3rd Tier Faction, blend in with their society, and do whatever was necessary in order to uproot them from the inside out.


    And with the use of a few SSS Rank Stealth Traits and Dwarf Star Transformation Rank Physique''s, this could be an extremely viable n.


    Furthermore, there was another benefit to possessing strength within the Peak Stages of the Late Dwarf Star Transformation Realm. And that was the fact that one could begin to see the ''Truth'' of the world.


    Though this ''Truth'' was still very limited for Azmodeus, it was enough to permit his eyes to see the ''lines'' that made up the Astral ne.


    These ''lines'' were called the ''World Lines'' and they were present in every inch of the world, contained within every aspect.


    They were even assimted into the very fabric of space and time itself¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 209: World Lines, Emonius Sect Started To Float

    ...¡­


    World Lines were rtively simr to Death Lines in a way.


    They were viewed as abstruse concepts, only able to be seen and unable to be touched with the human form.


    There were rumors that the two gods could interact with the World Lines and even bend them to their will, but such rumors were based almost entirely on spection and held little to no concrete evidence to back them up.


    In spite of this information, something absurdly unusual urred inside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode 300 years after Azmodeus broke through into the Late Amethyst Rank.


    It was unknown how or why it happened, but the crimson-haired terror was currently interacting with a series of world lines¡ªworld lines that held up absolutely everything in his territory.


    Going off that note, the extent of the world lines and also the extent of his control over them were unable to exceed the territory termed the ''Heaven Exploding Sect''.


    This is so odd¡­ to be able to pull upon the strings of the world and bend them to my will¡­ This is undoubtedly the power of the gods¡­


    Azmodeus''s thoughts stirred as he lightly tugged upon arge world line¡ªa world line that connected the Emonius Sect to the rest of the Heaven Exploding Sect.


    The lines themselves were iridescent, nearly invisible in color, and when he pulled upon thergest of the lot, something truly spectacr happened¡­


    WAKAZOOM!


    An indescribable ringing sound echoed throughout the Emonius Sect and subsequently the Crimson Dimension!


    The nigh limitless expanse of the sect''s territory was quite literally uprooted from the ground, taking with it everything that the Sect ruled over!


    Simply tugging on a singr world line resulted in the Emonius Sect lifting up off the ground and transforming into a vast assortment of floating inds, their distance immeasurable, and their grandiosity even more so.


    "The Emonius Sect is no longer a part of theyer of space-time that was synced up with the ground and has now acquired its ownw of space and time¡­"


    Azmodeus observed the mystical floating world above.


    The waterfalls pouring off into the world and the various flying spiritual creatures left for quite the awe-inspiring view¡ªone that could easily allow the Emonius Sect to be one of the 7 wonders of the world.


    However, it wasn''t merely the mesmerizing appearance of the Emonius Sect that left him in a trance, as it was also because of the fact that the time dtion of the Emonius Sect changed from its previous 1:1 ratio to a 4:1 ratio.


    This not only meant that those inside the Emonius Sect could cultivate four times as fast as everybody else, but it also meant that they had gained their own independent timeline!


    And to obtain that on such arge scale with such a time ratio should be¡­


    "Impossible¡­" Azmodeus softly murmured; his graceful figure stood atop the highest point of Fallen Immortal Mountain, staring up at the sight before him.


    As he marveled at the phenomenon he incidentally created, a few powerful figures from the Emonius Sect came flying down from their now-floating continent.


    There were a total of six of them, and they were the Six Supreme Elders of the Sect, one of whom was the previous Headmaster of the Emonius Triade.


    All of their Physical Existence Ranks were in the Peak Adamantine Rank, and though they weren''t considered top experts in the Astral ne, they were still able to rule over a countless number of 1st Tier Double Leafed Squares.


    However, in the middle of their cultivation sessions, they were abruptly awoken by a loud rumbling. And when they came to, they realized that their sect was now an uncountable number of miles off the ground!


    Of course, they freaked out in the beginning, but upon remembering that there was only one person capable of causing such a thing, they sighed in relief and used their ''flight devices'' in order to make their way to the one who supported their sect from the sidelines.


    -


    "It seems like you all are doing quite well for yourselves, huh?" Azmodeusmented with both of his eyes shut tight, his posture sophisticated and immacte.


    While speaking to the elders, he analyzed how the various world lines interacted with the one that escaped the ''World Line Net''.


    "..." "..." "..."


    All six of the Emonius Sect Elders saw the unparalleled appearance of their backer and immediately fell to the ground.


    Thud! Thud! Thud!


    After six consecutive thuds resounded, the previous headmaster of the Emonius Triade stepped forth and said, "Master! This act of the gods must surely have been your doing, right!?"


    He panickedly pointed in the direction of the floating continent as an unknown number of emotions spiraled inside that wizened head of his.


    "..."


    Azmodeus turned his cold gaze down from the Emonius Sect as he temporality closed off the gap of dimensions that he opened up for the elders to enter his Crimson Dimension.


    After which, he focused on the previous headmaster and said, "I was indeed the one to cause your sect to detach from the ground."


    "If that is so, master¡­ then we must¡­"


    Azmodeus was sure that they would have a negative opinion to voice about the forceful extraction of their sect, but contrary to his expectations¡­


    "We must surely thank the master for this great boon!"


    Thud!


    The previous Headmaster hit the ground with his head, causing blood to draw as his expression morphed into a fervent one, filled with untold levels of reverence.


    Thud! Thud! Thud!


    "We thank the master for this great service to our sect and will work our entire lives in hopes of repaying you!"


    The rest of the six Supreme Elders bashed their foreheads against the hard, rocky surface!


    They tried their best to follow the example set by their leader, as none of them were willing to look unfilial in front of their master.


    "..."


    Azmodeus scrutinized this sight with a slight hint of exasperation building up within his heart.


    He released what felt like the trillionth sigh today.


    .....

 Chapter 210: Peak Meteor Shower Realm

    .....


    Following an exasperated sigh, Azmodeus refocused his crimson-colored eyes on the Emonius Sect and said, "You may make use of the higher time dtions and Qi density, but make sure not to be overly reliant on the advantage you now have over other factions, alright?"


    "We understand, master! We will never be overly reliant on the great godly gifts that you have bestowed upon us!"


    The 6 Supreme Elders kowtowed even deeper into the mountain.


    Their heads were beginning to resemble what ostriches looked like when they dug their heads into the sand.


    Nevertheless, after getting out his words, Azmodeus ignored the Supreme Elders and paid attention to the numerous reactions urring in every part of therge world line.


    The world line itself had disconnected from the rest of its kind, evolving and developing in a way that could go in any number of directions.


    After a while, the Supreme Elders eventually left, allowing him to stand atop his mountain in silence, discerning anything and absolutely everything he could from the ''Rouge World Line''.


    However, upon understanding that he would need to allow more time to pass to gain a better understanding of the active changes of the Emonius Sect, Azmodeus decided to head back into his Cave Abode.


    He nned to cultivate and wait out the time variable.


    But on his way back into the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode, he was unexpectedly surprise attacked!


    And it was by none other than¡­


    "Az, Az! Hungry! Wanna go for some sushi!?"


    Nao Long¡­


    Azmodeus lightly shook his head before zoning out the busty dragon girltched onto his back, continuing his strides toward his trusty cultivation mat.


    And just as he was about to make it to his safe haven, Nao Long popped her head over his broad shoulder. With a pouty expression, she grumbled, "You''re supposed to respond to me, you big dumb shtupid meanie!"


    She nibbled on his neck with her razor-sharp teeth, trying to prate the iron-like skin that encapsted his body like a natural sheet of armor.


    "..."


    Azmodeus ignored the biting and asional tail whacks as he sat down in a lotus position on his cultivation mat.


    He immersed himself in the evesting pursuit of more strength, caring not for the fact that a troublesome dragon woman refused to leave his side.


    Those soft, milky white pillows pressing up against his back were enough to have a monk give up celibacy, but for the stoic Crimson Devil, it was simply another trial that he was supposed to ovee.


    So with a hardened mindset, he put all his effort into cultivating, aiming to reach the Peak Meteor Shower Realm within the next thousand years.


    ...


    1000 yearster.


    After one thousand years of cultivating inside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode, Azmodeus was not only able to further solidify his illusory Meteor Shower in the Peak Meteor Shower Realm, but he was also able to improve his professions past the bottleneck that restricted them from achieving the Star Radiance Rank!


    It was with these substantial breakthroughs that breaking through into the Peak Amethyst Rank was made even easier. After all, being able to concoct Star Radiance Rank pills was no joke when it came to increased power progression.


    All in all, everything was going just as Azmodeus envisioned it.


    In fact, his expectations had been exceeded!


    Nevertheless, there were a few rather troublesome guests that came by on this rather ordinary day. And they were none other than two high-ranking members of the 3rd Tier Mystic Cloud Dominion and Azure Sky Pce Square''s.


    From what Azmodeus could tell, they hade with the goal of discussing a peace treaty with the Heaven Exploding Sect¡­


    These ones are quite proud and dignified¡­


    But in the end, no amount of pride will save you from those stronger than yourself¡­ And for these two in particr, they seem to be well aware of the fact that I n to devour their Squares whole, which is why¡­


    His thoughts trailed off toward the end as he shot his fierce gaze in the direction of the cave''s entrance, watching two rather showy figures walk in.


    One wore a monocle and possessed the bearing of a mighty noble, clearly ustomed to the high life in the Azure Sky Pce. While the other one was a woman with long auburn-colored hair, wearing a morous dress that suited her appearance to a T.


    "So, you two havee for¡­?" Azmodeus asked a question he already knew the answer to, all so as to inte their egos even further.


    And just as he expected, the man wearing the monocle stepped forth with a haughty countenance and dered, "This one is from the Azure Sky Pce, and it tis I that hase from and beyond the clouds, going through many obstacles and hurdles-"


    "Sure, sure¡­ but cut your speech short. After all, money is time, and time can be better spent cultivating." Azmodeus interrupted the prolonged speech of the sophisticated man as heid his face against his chin, awaiting the overreaction of the two visitors.


    Of course, he didn''t have to wait long, as while the man was frozen in ce, the woman from the Mystic Cloud Dominion snapped out of her stupor and shouted, "Do you know who we are!? You ugly-"


    She was about to call Azmodeus ugly, but she stopped in her tracks the moment she saw the ungodly appearance of the one who single-handedly dered war on two 3rd Tier Squares.


    "Y-You¡­" She had no clue what to say anymore.


    A slight blush formed on her face and her thoughts veered in apletely different direction than what the mission demanded.


    "Miss Ming¡­"


    The man from the Azure Sky Pce looked at the expression the woman he loved was making. Thus, fury overtook his central train of thought, causing his aura to violently fluctuate!


    WAAA!


    The interior of the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode shaked and quaked, and one would think that the furniture and appliances would break apart. However, contrary to that belief, none of them were affected in the slightest.


    After all, they were all fortified by a Star Radiance Rank Spirit cksmith. And there was no way a mere Peak Amethyst Rank Expert would be able to shake their foundations.


    The Expert in question realized this as well, which was why his anger spiked even further, eliciting him to make a rash decision.


    And also a dire one¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 211: Jump In A Hole And Die!

    ...¡­


    "Die, You Bastard!!" The Azure Elder roared with a booming voice, causing the cave abode and even the Crimson Dimension itself to shake!


    "Sit down."


    That was all Azmodeus needed to say for the muscles and bones in the Azure Sky Pce Elder''s body to crack and break apart as he fell to the ground with a loud thud, terror written across his face.


    "Understand one thing, visitors from afar." Azmodeus began with a voice devoid of emotion, sessfully garnering the full attention of the Peak Amethyst Rank Experts.


    After gaining their full focus, he continued by saying, "This is not your turf, and it sure as hell is not a ce where you can act as unruly as you please. So if you wish to walk out of here with your lives intact, I suggest you learn some courtesy."


    OOOM!


    His crimson-colored aura was majestic and regal; it was at a level where there was no way two newly ascended Peak Amethyst Rank Experts could hope to resist.


    It was with such an intimidation tactic that the two Experts gave up any hope of assassinating the Crimson Devil Lord while his guard was down. After all, there was never a moment when his guard was down¡­


    "Do you now wish to discuss what you came here to talk about, or do you want to take a path of no return¡­?"


    Azmodeus''s raspy voice was calm and cordial, but just the intent behind it was enough to send chills down the spines of the two conceited Elders¡­


    However, upon realizing that Azmodeus''s patience was running thin, the Elder from the Mystic Cloud Dominion took a few steps in front of her and passionately said, "I shall follow any rule ormand that the magnanimous Lord has for me!"


    "!!!"


    The monocle-wearing man opened his eyes as wide as could be!


    The thought of his partner and spouse submitting so easily never would''ve crossed his mind.


    "Ming Ming¡­-"


    "Shut up, you stupid Change Pu! This conversation does not concern you! Go jump in a hole and die!" Miss Ming rudely interrupted the voice of her husband as she visibly spat in his direction.


    "..."


    Change Pu watched his wife of 500 million years spit on his face as fury once again bubbled up inside him.


    However, it was quickly put out by an overwhelming level of sadness and depression.


    It was with a disparaged expression, oozing sorrow, that he lifted up his right arm and shot out a blue de of light, prepared to take his own life right then and there.


    SHING!


    However, before it reached such a point, an even faster de of light intercepted the advance of his own!


    "W-Why did you stop me! Let me die-"


    He was going to berate the Crimson Devil Lord for stopping his de. But before he even finished his sentence, the de of light that shattered his own made aplete U-turn, subsequently impaling the depressed man right in the throat!


    "W-Wha¡­?" He gurgled through bloody teeth as he turned his anguished expression in the direction of the one who took his life.


    I wasn''t actually going to kill myself¡­ I just wanted to put on a show for my wife, which would''ve caused her to feel suicide guilt, enabling the both of us to stay together forever¡­


    His thoughts swirled around inside his head as his wide eyes focused on the state of trepidation that his wife was in.


    In no time at all, ge personally witnessed her trepidation morph into infatuation as she looked at the aloof, crimson-eyed man like a mortal standing in awe before a god.


    Damn it¡­ I knew I should''ve had a harem¡­


    The thoughts of the Elder from the Azure Sky Pce faded out, and he died while having lived a life of regret.


    On the other hand, the female Elder from the Mystic Cloud Dominion was living her best life as she clung to the thighs of the Crimson Devil Lord, attempting to get into his pants.


    But little did she know that he was slowly but surely sucking the memories out of her brain, extracting everything he would need to know to understand the intricacies of the Mystic Cloud Dominion.


    The memory extraction process was a tad bit moreplicated for stronger cultivators like those in the Peak Amethyst Rank, so it took far more time and required direct physical contact.


    It was this mandatory process that forced Azmodeus to touch the head of the zealot girl, all while turning the inside of her head into a messy slushy.


    This process took no longer than 5 minutes, and by the time it was done, Miss Ming was left sprawled out on the ground with all her brain juices oozing out of her ears.


    "..."


    Azmodeus sat down in a nonchnt way, perusing the newly acquired memoires.


    While this was happening, a number of system notifications went off in his head, informing him of everything he gained after killing two Peak Amethyst Rank Warriors.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed a Peak Amethyst Rank Elder from the Azure Sky Pce and a Peak Amethyst Rank Elder from the Mystic Cloud Dominion!*


    *Ding!* *You have acquired tremendous amounts of points in your Physical Existence Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Calcting points!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 115 Quinvigintillion Points in your Physical Existence Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your Physical Existence Rank has taken major strides within the Peak Amethyst Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has taken one more step toward reaching the Peak of the Half-Step Star Radiance Realm!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to roll for an ability of the beings you just killed, or would you like to Assimte their existences and have their strength be your own?*


    "Assimte."


    *Ding!* *You have acquired 22 Quinvigintillion Stat Points in Strength, 28 Quinvigintillion Points in Speed, 31 Quinvigintillion Points in Defense, and 48 Quinvigintillion Points in Qi.*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has moderately improved!*


    *Ding!* *You can use up 1/10 of your Evolution Essence in order to upgrade all of your Traits into the 3rd Level of SSS Rank. Would you like to do it?*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to use up another 1/10 of your Evolution Essence in order to upgrade all of your Physique''s into the Half-Step Star Radiance Rank?*


    Azmodeus listened to the most recent system notifications as he thought it over for a moment before deciding to pay the cost.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *All of your Traits have been upgraded from the 2nd Level of SSS Rank to the 3rd Level of SSS Rank, allowing your strength to improve by arge margin! But at the cost of more of your emotions¡­*


    *Ding!* *Your Physique''s have all been upgraded from the Peak Dwarf Star Transformation Realm to the Half-Step Star Radiance Realm, enabling your strength to take another huge leap! But at the cost of losing more of what makes you human¡­*


    ...¡­

 Chapter 212: 1500 Years, Middle Star Radiance Rank Professions

    ...¡­


    WAAA!


    Azmodeus felt a wave of power wash over him!


    However, he also felt a newfound sense of emptiness, almost as if he had lost something important to him, but he couldn''t quite recall what that something was¡­


    Nevertheless, that weird sensation was swiftly put to the back of his mind as he focused on the billions of years of memories still being sorted through.


    After a few minutes of looking over all of the different memories, he eventually found the only relevant things he needed in order to effectively undertake the 3rd Tier Mystic Cloud Dominion and Azure Sky Pce Square''s.


    Which essentially boiled down to the number of troops at their disposal and what cultivation all of said troops were at.


    From these parameters, Azmodeus was able to learn that the Azure Sky Pce had millions of Amethyst Rank Experts!


    85 of them were in the Peak Amethyst Rank. And of those 85, 5 of them were at the very peak of the stage, having lived tens of billions of years.


    This made them older than the universe that Earth resided in!


    It was with this information and some simr data about the Mystic Cloud Dominion that Azmodeus had everything he needed in order to take the Squares over from the inside.


    Furthermore, with the fragile and high-ranking identities of both deceased elders within his hands, he had just the disguises he could morph as¡­


    With such a train of thought, Azmodeus made his idease to fruition!


    He had one of his Primordial Essence Clones be Change Pu and one of his Mirror Mirages be Ming Ming.


    It took no longer than an instant for two mirror copies of the two Elders to materialize in front of him. And with the memories already imnted in their brains, they knew what they had to do.


    So, it was with ease of mind that the two of them lightly nodded their heads before vanishing from sight, heading toward an azure pce in the sky and a kingdom that sat atop the clouds.


    After they fully disappeared from view, Azmodeus nced at a few iing system notifications.


    All of them came from the work being conducted by his clones in the Boundless Void, as they exterminated countless 1st Layered and 1? Layered nes of Infinity on a daily basis.


    Effectively, they rendered entire realities nothing more than the materials to which were used on building up the monstrosity known as the Crimson Devil.


    Quinvigintillions of Evolution Essence were being obtained every minute, and with trillions of Mirror Mirages at work, that number was only increasing exponentially.


    It wouldn''t be long before Azmodeus acquired the necessary Evolution Essence needed to level up to 300, and when that moment came around, a new system function was promised by the Infinite Evolution System.


    He had no clue what the specifics of this new system function were going to be. But if his spections were correct (and they usually were), then he would no doubt be even more overpowered than he already was¡­


    Though he had no idea how he could get any more broken, the Infinite Evolution System would sure as hell find a way.


    However, before that point came around, Level 300 needed to be achieved.


    And to do that with the ''farming spots'' currently made avable to him, well, it would be hard¡­


    Even so, Azmodeus always finds a way, and this obstacle would be no exception.


    In fact, he already had something in mind, but to bring his n to fruition, he would need to have his Heaven Exploding Sect as the strongest force in the Astral ne.


    And to do that, he would need to defeat the¡­


    The gods¡­


    Azmodeus opened his profound, crimson-colored eyes for a split second.


    He seemed to be deep in thought about something.


    However, after a moment of pondering many different things all at once, he closed his eyes as fast as they opened, returning to his cultivation session.


    Azmodeus aimed to achieve the Half-Step Moonlit Path Realm before another 3 thousand years passed by.


    He also nned to advance in his Physical Existence and Profession Ranks as well. But in the end, cultivation would always be the top priority.


    ...


    Time flew by like a swift arrow through the sky as 1500 years vanished from the Astral ne''s timeline.


    By this point in time, Azmodeus had sessfully advanced half his professions into the Middle Star Radiance Rank!


    On the other hand, his Cultivation and Physical Existence Rank were only a few steps away from making it to the goal that he set for them.


    It was also during this period of time that the Emonius Sect became the Emonius Continent.


    In turn, this made it the centermost ce for allmerce inside the Heaven Exploding Sect, even having its influence extend beyond the Sect!


    On the other hand, the Azure Sky Pce and Mystic Cloud Dominion gave in under pressure and conceded all their territory to the Crimson Emperor.


    Though that happened nearly 1000 years ago, bing nothing more than a distant memory¡­


    Of the more recent des, the conquering of 3rd Tier Double Leafed Squares like the Green Ground God Sect and Wood Deity Sect were far further on the trending topics scale.


    Many of such 3rd Tier Squares had been annexed over the years, as millions of 2nd Tier and countless 1st Tier Squares faded into oblivion¡­


    Of course, from oblivion, the Crimson Emperor pulled them back up and remodeled them in the image he envisioned.


    It was with actions like these that the overall power of the Heaven Exploding Sect exploded upward!


    It never looking back at the small organization it once was and entered a new age of tyranny!


    An age where there was only one true ruler¡ªone who cared not for those unrted to potential benefits.


    With the continued development of the Heaven Exploding Sect set into motion, time ceaselessly passed for all those who resided inside the Astral ne.


    And for those outside the Astral ne, time passed by in evenrger quantities¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 213: Half-Step Moonlit Path Realm, 5 Thousand Years

    ...¡­


    1500 yearster.


    A few years ago, Azmodeus sessfully broke through into the Half-Step Moonlit Path Realm, and with this breakthrough came the illusory silhouette of a moon above his Dantian Space.


    Furthermore, it wasn''t only his cultivation base that made tremendous progress, as the rest of his Professions made it into the Middle Star Radiance Rank!


    On the other hand, his Physical Existence Rank advanced into the Half-Step Starshire Rank, which was what the final and most powerful Physical Existence Rank was designated as!


    It was also the rank that the Goddess of Light and the God of Darkness were in, meaning that if he managed to achieve the same rank, he would be on the same level as those who ruled over the Astral ne¡­


    Nevertheless, that was a time for a not-so-distant him, as there were many other things to discuss about what had changed in thest 3 thousand years.


    One example of said changes was the vast improvements made in Jue Mei''s cultivation base.


    She had not only rocketed straight up to the Late Meteor Shower Realm, but she also managed to go through the 3rd phase of her Reckoning!


    With the 3rd phase of her Reckoning going through without a hitch, along with a slight change in her fur color, there was also a substantial improvement made to her cultivation talent and Battle Power!


    On the subject of her talent, it had most definitely surpassed the standard for a Star Radiance Expert, and had likely exceeded even the realm beyond the Star Radiance Realm.


    However, no matter what level of talent she obtained, it would never be able to stack up to the pill gobbling, exp grinding loot goblin that was Azmodeus¡­


    After so many thousands of years of silently watching each other advance and strive within their respective fields, Jue Mei came to realize the reality of her situation.


    That reality being that she would never be able to surpass the Crimson Emperor in terms of cultivation speed¡­


    Though she hated to admit that fact, it was simply foolhardy to continue believing that she would one day be able to ovee the monstrosity that she originally mistook as an immortal when they first met¡­


    But regardless of the reality of the situation hitting her in the face, that didn''t mean she would be going any easier in her cultivation. In fact, she started to cultivate harder than ever before, igniting a spark that she thought she had lost long ago!


    With such fervor and determination, she improved by leaps and bounds in her cultivation with each passing day, far exceeding what the past unmotivated her was able to aplish!


    Even though she highly doubted she would ever catch up to Azmodeus, there was also a part of her that believed she stood a chance. And it was that slim part of her that told her to keep pushing forward, using every ounce of her talent and effort in order to ovee the odds!


    Cultivation was inherently an art that one practiced so as to defy their fate, and if one feared away from defying what was ''certain'', could they truly be called a cultivator!?


    After countless eons, and having lived through so many years that no definite number could hope to calcte her age, she finally found something to push her forward.


    And that something just so happened to be what was pushing Yang Hua, Nao Long, and the rest forward as well¡­


    After all, there was no better thing to strive for than something that was out of reach. And what was further out of reach than Azmodeus?


    The answer was subjective, but in this particr scenario, he was the epitome of perfection¡ªthe epitome for which all looked up to and aimed to be like.


    However, in the case of Chi Wu, Bing Nu Shen, You Mei, Li Na, and the other girls, they didn''t want to ''be'' Azmodeus; they wanted to ''be with him'' in every sense of the word.


    It was this very goal that caused the girls to push themselves to their absolute limits, permitting no amount ofziness when it came to cultivation.


    It was because of such drive and determination that the women of the Crimson Dimension managed to advance into the Early Meteor Shower Realm!


    In fact, Yang Hua and the other girls were only a few steps behind Pan Nu and Rou Tian, as the gap between them was slowly but surely closing.


    Of course, these massive advancements did note overnight, as they put their all into cultivation for thousands of years, even reducing the amount of time they cuddled (bothered) Azmodeus.


    The results of those ''sacrifices'' and efforts definitely showed, but there was something even more monumental than the fact that all the girls made great advancements in their cultivation.


    And that was the sheer amount of Tier 3 Squares that had been conquered and annexed over the years, because the number was staggering¡­


    With just Tier 3 Squares alone, the number had already surpassed the thousands, and it was growing more and more with each passing day.


    However, when it came to Tier 2 Squares, the number exceeded the trillions, reaching a level of conquest previously thought to be impossible!


    On the other hand, the far weaker Tier 1 Double Leafed Squares were annexed at an utterly unbelievable rate, outperforming any past notions of how fast one could conquer the numerous Squares of the Astral ne.


    But regardless of the advancements made by the Heaven Exploding Sect, Azmodeus continued to ceaselessly cultivate inside his cave while his Primordial Essence Clones and Mirror Mirages handled everything in the outside world.


    ¡­


    2000 yearster.


    By this point in time, the Heaven Exploding Sect started to encroach upon the direct territory of the God of Darkness and Goddess of Light.


    The Crimson Emperor and his various clones made quick work of anyone who stood in their way, even rendering Peak Amethyst Rank Experts as nothing more than loot bags or future ves.


    With the perpetual progress made by Azmodeus during his infinite grinding session, his Early Moonlit Path Realm cultivation base did wonders when it came to overwhelming any number of Tier 3 Squares.


    If not for the fact that such high-level Squares were bing scarce, then it was highly likely that billions of them would''ve already been conquered and annexed.


    However, from the ones he did manage to overtake, thousands of Peak Amethyst Rank Warriors joined his side, while thousands more resisted and met their just ends.


    With such a massively expanding force at the Crimson Emperor''s beck and call, it wouldn''t be an understatement to state that inside the Astral ne, no one below the two gods was his match!


    With his Battle Power at the true peak of the Half-Step Star Radiance Realm, his individual Battle Power also went unrivaled.


    Ever since killing the corrupted Emperor of the Sunsmite Empire, no decent challenge hade his way¡­


    Of course, there were a few who managed to kill him. But of that minority, he ultimately came out on top after a few thousand deaths, needing nowhere near the amount of time he once needed to ovee a stronger foe.


    Nevertheless, today was quite the special day for those in the Heaven Exploding Sect, as the Supreme Elder¡ªthe one who ruled over the Sect from the shadows¡ªwas finallying out of seclusion.


    He nned to give a Dao speech to all those who were among the Core Disciples and Elders...


    ...¡­

 Chapter 214: The Supreme Elder

    ...¡­


    "Have you heard??"


    "Heard what, Junior Brother Mo?"


    "You know! The thing!"


    "What thing!? Just spit it out!"


    "Of course I''m talking about the Dao Discussion that will be set up and organized by the Grand Elders and the Supreme Elder!"


    "The Supreme Elder!? That elusive figure who lives on Fallen Immortal Mountain inside the Crimson Dimension!?"


    "Yes, that is the one! And today, he will-"


    The chatter among the Core Disciples of the Heaven Exploding Sect could be heard from various areas of the Emonius Continent.


    The Dao Discussion seemed to be the focus of everyone''s attention.


    And this was for good reason, as the Dao Discussion could be the chance that any number of disciples needed in order to breakthrough their bottlenecks!


    There was no telling the level of benefits that one could acquire if they participated in such a Dao Discussion, as the insights of someone so elusive and ethereal as the Supreme Elder were invaluable.


    The crimson-haired man in question was currently walking through the wide, expansive halls of the Assembly Pce.


    As he walked past all his in-name disciples, he paid no heed to their gawks and stares, passing through the vast number of corridors in the Assembly.


    It was only after his otherworldly figure vanished from view that the dumbfounded expressions on the disciples returned to normal. Thus, they snapped out of their stupors and rushed in the direction that their Supreme Elder was heading in.


    "We must allow the Supreme Elder to bestow his knowledge upon us!"


    "I am willing to sell my entire fortune in order to obtain a chance at listening to the Supreme Elder!"


    "I wish the Supreme Elder would do this and that to me, with his handsome face... and those hands¡­"


    "But you''re a dude, brother Xiao¡­"


    "Brother Xiao wants to have a battle of the swords again!? Does he know no restraint!?"


    The Core Disciples discussed among themselves as they followed behind the Supreme Elder, all while conversing about each other''s swords.


    Even so, they eventually made it into the Main Assembly Hall.


    Upon getting a good view of thevishly decorated ornaments that adorned the opulent, golden-iid walls of the room that seemed to stretch on for infinity, they realized that they were the only ones standing.


    "Let''s hurry and sit down while we wait for the Grand Elders to begin the Dao Discussion." One of the newest Core Disciples whispered as he made discreet strides toward the nearest open cultivation mat.


    It wasn''t until he sat down in a cross-legged position that the rest of the neers followed his example and found their seats as well.


    They looked on at the shining purple podium, which was where 10 Grand Elders stood in still motion, seemingly waiting for the arrival of someone.


    FWIP!


    A figure with eyes as red as a pool of blood and a face beyond divine materialized in the air above the podium.


    His arrival caused everyone to go wide-eyed.


    Seeing as most of the Core Disciples had never seen their Supreme Elder in person, and after assuming that he was some wrinkled, wizened old man, only to find out that he looked like this...


    It was quite a surreal experience, to say the least.


    Almost all of the female Core Disciples had a deep crimson blush form on their pristine faces as they swooned at the thought of getting a little closer to their absurdly handsome Supreme Elder.


    At the same time, the ones toward the back of the room cursed those closer to the front, as they regretted ever bing acquainted with those back-stabbing whores!


    Meanwhile, Azmodeus had already fully formed his physical self, scrutinizing the tens of thousands of Core Disciples of his sect.


    All in the Adamantine and Amethyst Rank¡­ not bad¡­ but not yet worthy to be my loot bags¡­


    His thoughts took an interesting turn as he waited for the Grand Elders to snap out of their reverie and begin the introduction of the Dao Discussion Lecture.


    It didn''t take long for such a thing to happen, as the Grand Elders let out hearty coughs before starting to delve into the profundities of the Adamantine and Amethyst Physical Existence Ranks.


    They also went on to exin how inventions theorized and created by the Supreme Elder, such as the Flight Device, could assist each of them in a wide assortment of ways.


    After roughly 2 years of discussing various rudimentary topics with the Core Disciples, the Grand Elders let the Supreme Elder take the reigns.


    Azmodeus stopped forth and opened up a whole new level of immersion for the disciples.


    He spoke ofplicated and abstruse topics, all while dumbing them down to a level that even toddlers could understand.


    It was with such a well-thought-out and thorough method that even the Grand Elders gained some insight into the Dao, let alone what the far weaker Core Disciples gained.


    All in all, the first ever Dao Discussion hosted by the Supreme Elder was aplete sess!


    However, after a total of 10 years passed since Azmodeus took his ce on stage, the Dao Discussion ultimately came to a close.


    "..."


    Azmodeus was prepared to leave the venue via teleportation. But before he got the chance, two very familiar women got up from their cultivation mats and approached him.


    "Rou Tian and Pan Nu¡­" He uttered their names while expecting the headache that was toe.


    And just as he predicted¡­


    "Master!" They both eximed in unison as they fluttered over to his stalwart figure and grabbed a hold of his arms.


    Azmodeus''s eyebrows twitched a little as he felt those four soft pillows press up against him.


    "Do my disciples not have some studying to do? I gave you a fullyprehensive tablet on the Moon God Steps footwork manual, depicting how to progress from level 1 to level 14, which is where I am at. And I wonder how far you two have progressed?"


    "..." "..."


    Rou Tian and Pan Nu started sweating buckets after hearing what their master said.


    They had only advanced from level 1 to level 7 over the span of 500 years¡­ which was less than a twentieth of the time that their master took to achieve the same thing¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 215: Middle Moonlit Path Realm

    ...¡­


    "Erm¡­ listen, master, there was a mishap in the-" Rou Tian attempted to exin herself. However, she was quickly interrupted by Azmodeus, saying:


    "Are you trying to tell me that my insights were wrong¡­?" He asked with one of his brows raised.


    "N-No! It isn''t that, master! It''s just that... w-we¡­-"


    Pan Nu spoke on behalf of her sister disciple. But, in the end, she couldn''te up with a reasonable thing to say and wound up fumbling toward the end.


    "If you have time to make up excuses, then you have time to cultivate, so get back to your studies. And I expect you to be at Level 9 in the Moon God Steps by the 1500-year mark. Is that understood?"


    Rou Tian and Pan Nu stared at the smiling expression on their master''s face and knew that they stood no chance in hell when it came to getting one over on him¡­


    So, in the end, they gave up on their subtle romantic advances and decided to try again at another time. They muttered, "We understand, master¡­" before letting go of his arms and proceeding to walk back to their cultivation rooms with dejected looks on their increasingly beautiful faces.


    Those girls truly will be the death of me¡­


    Azmodeus''s thought seemed to emte his exhaustion as he dragged his body away from the Dao Discussion venue, teleporting to his trusty Heaven Exploding Cave Abode.


    Upon making it back to where the other half of his existence was peacefully cultivating, he phased through his body as they quickly became the same existence once again.


    "It truly does feel different when I''m two split existences at the same time¡­"


    He slightly opened his crimson-colored eyes and made an interestingment before returning back to the evesting pursuit of cultivation.


    Azmodeus aimed to reach the Middle Moonlit Path Realm before making it to the center territories of the two Triple Leafed Squares.


    With a time dtion difference of 30:1, his original system rmendation of ascending the Astral ne within 10 thousand years was subsequently increased to 30 thousand years.


    With such a long period of time to continuously progress down the long road of cultivation, there was no telling just where his path would end up leading him.


    But there was one thing for certain, and that was the fact that the path of Infinite Evolution was one that never ended¡­


    ¡­


    2500 yearster.


    Azmodeus sessfully advanced into the Middle Moonlit Path Realm ahead of schedule.


    Furthermore, he was on a straight-arrow path toward the Late Moonlit Path Realm!


    However, even with such major improvements made to his realm, he couldn''t seem to bridge the gap that prevented him from possessing the Battle Power of someone in the Early Star Radiance Realm.


    It looked like the Star Radiance Realm was yet another major turning point for a cultivator.


    Even so, such a wide chasm between Major Realms only further solidified Azmodeus''s resolve to be stronger¡ªstrong enough that no bottleneck in existence could hope to impede his path to Infinity.


    Nevertheless, many other things had changed after this 2500-year time period.


    For one, Azmodeus''s Physical Existence Rank made great progress within the Half-Step Starshire Rank. And it would likely take no more than a few thousand years for his Physical Existence to break past its bottleneck and achieve the true Starshire Rank!


    Of course, that moment was still quite a whiles away, as the more immediate of the alterations just so happened to be rted to his professions and Runeprehensions.


    First and foremost, his professions sessfully advanced from the Middle Star Radiance Rank to the Late Star Radiance Rank, enabling his overall auxiliary effectiveness to improve a countless fold!


    And then there were hisprehensions in a wide assortment of Runes, with the most important ones being the Rune of Time and the Rune of Space.


    Both of them reached a sufficient degree for a 40:1 time dtion ratio to be made possible!


    It was with this very ratio that those inside the Crimson Dimension were able to get even further ahead of everyone else.


    Yang Hua, Nao Long, and the other girls were able to advance their cultivations to the Late Meteor Shower Realm, making them geniuses in their own right!


    On the other hand, Jue Mei, the most talented of the lot, was on the precipice of breaking through to the Moonlit Path Realm, putting her tens of thousands of years ahead of the gang!


    Even so, not a single one of them could ever hope topare to the freak that was the Crimson Devil, as it would be no longer than 4 thousand years before he''s able to attempt a breakthrough into the Late Moonlit Path Realm.


    And when that point came around, his Battle Power should undoubtedly be in the Star Radiance Realm¡­


    ¡­


    With the whisking of the wind and the changing of a woman''s clothes, 4000 years vanished in the blink of an eye.


    For those inside the Crimson Dimension, it may have been 4000 years of peace and tranquility. However, for those outside Azmodeus''s little circle, it had been 100 years of exponentially increasing tyranny¡­


    The Crimson Emperor walked over the corpses of those who got in his way, as no one was spared from his limitless pursuit of Infinity.


    Even the members of his own Heaven Exploding Sect would receive no forgiveness if they disobeyed his words. And it was through this truly equal delivery of punishments that he achieved true equality for all those inside his boundless expanse ofnd.


    There eventually came a point in time when the people of the Heaven Exploding Sect assumed that they''d finally get a break from their ruthless leader. But, in the end, it turned out that he had simply retreated into his Cave Abode, preparing to breakthrough¡­


    The denizens and members of the Heaven Exploding Sect didn''t dare to imagine what their ruler would be like after his breakthrough, and to be honest, none of them wished to imagine it¡­


    Most were fearful of Azmodeus, and some adored him in a blind, mindless manner.


    There were even a few with far more sinister intentions¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 216: Traitors

    ...¡­


    It was one of the predominant sinister thoughts of the Sect members that eventually materialized into a concrete n¡ªa n that involved not only countless lives but even the massive territory that they ruled over in the Astral ne.


    With such a n set in motion, a few of the Grand Elders of the Heaven Exploding Sect aimed to take advantage of the situation and kill their Sect Leader while he was in the midst of breaking through.


    There were a total of 35 Grand Elders in on this n to kill their merciless ruler.


    Of those 35, over 20 of them were in the very peak stages of the Half-Step Starshire Rank, while thest few were infinitely close to reaching the Early Starshire Rank.


    Every single one of these figures was old and wrinkled, had archaic dispositions, and had clearly been around for longer than the universe''s lifespan.


    Furthermore, they also just so happened to be the conquered Kings, Emperors, and Sect Leaders of a number of Tier 3 Squares.


    In fact, some of them were also heroes who transmigrated from Earth, with most of such transmigrators having long forgotten what their lives were like on Earth¡­


    But regardless of their inconsequential memories of a tiny blue rock in space, today they came together with the sole purpose of killing the one who dared to enve them!


    -


    "So, what is the n here, Senior Kang? Should we just go straight into the Crimson Dimension and take his head right off his shoulders? Or¡­"


    An antiquated voice resounded inside an enclosed pocket dimension that sat to the west side of the Emonius Continent.


    Within this location, 35 shadowy figures were centered around a wide, circr table¡ªa table that floated above the ground using something other than Qi or science.


    From those 35 shadowy silhouettes, the one who spoke first was known as Elder Gao, and he was one of the weaker among the group, also making him one of the youngest.


    On the other hand, the one he was talking to had a gray beard so long that even his shadow-shroud spell was unable to conceal its length.


    This very man stepped forth and said, "There is a route that all in existence must take. And for our goals toe to fruition, we must go about this in a conservative way."


    "We assume you have something in mind, Elder Kang?" A different figure inquired with a slight vibration of his shadowy shroud.


    "Yes¡­ I think I do have something in mind¡­" Elder Kang''s neutral expression turned cruel and sadistic as he sent out his divine sense to a limited degree and saw a divinely beautiful woman with long blonde hair.


    "..." "..." "..."


    The other Elders honed in on where Elder Kang was looking, as they immediately knew what it was that he wanted to do in order to bring out the one known as the Crimson Emperor.


    "But to do this¡­ Wouldn''t the Crimson Emperor need to have emotions¡­?" One of the Elders brought up the question that all of them were thinking about.


    At this question, Elder Kang''s decrepit figure trembled a little as his cruel smirk grew even wider. "You all may not know this, as you don''t get out much, but I oftentimes see the Crimson Emperor catering to the needs of the women he surrounds himself with. They even asionally go on walks and talk about various things."


    He paused for a moment as his smirk touched the edges of both his ears. And it was only then that he continued by saying, "Now, why would he bother himself to do such a thing if he didn''t have the smallest modicum of emotion within him¡­?"


    "!!!" "!!!"


    The eyes of the Grand Elders brightened up, as they only now realized how subtly soft and lenient their leader was with thedies of his Crimson Dimension.


    Following this realization, they looked toward the sinister Elder Kang and figured this n might actually have a chance of seeding¡­


    Now, what was this n, one might ask?


    Well, it was none other than the kidnapping and forceful ra*ing of Chi Wu and any other woman they could find.


    The reasoning behind this action was to elicit extreme amounts of rage within the Crimson Emperor, for if they could aplish that, he would immediately fail his breakthrough and suffer serious bacsh.


    It would be enough bacsh that no amount of godly items could hope to save him before his untimely death turned into a reality.


    With these evil thoughts swirling around inside the crooked minds of the Elders, they got right down to it as they licked their crusty lips and blitzed out of the pocket dimension, shattering the Crimson Dimension''s elusive barrier in but an instant.


    After which, they stretched out their hands, aiming to take away Chi Wu and Li Na with their w-like palms!


    However, before such a thing could ur, two feminine voices devoid of emotion echoed out in the surroundings:


    "What fools¡­"


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    In that instant, the Grand Elders felt the fear of death creep up their spines as they saw two women shoot their emotionless gazes in their direction, their spiraling eyes emitting nothing but disdain.


    "You truly thought that our husband would be unable to predict that you pesky heroes and washed-up trash woulde and kick him down while he''s at his weakest?"


    Chi Wu watched the arrogant Grand Elders retreat a countless number of miles, as she never could understand why her husband wished to keep these idiots around.


    And it was only just recently that she truly understood why they were useful¡­


    "Your memories¡­ My husband says that they are useful, and with all of you here, everything is made a lot easier," she uttered with a voice devoid of emotion, her piercing gold eyes peering into the Grand Elders souls.


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    The elders vividly felt their souls being sucked away from their bodies, as nothing was making any sense!


    "You aren''t supposed to be this strong! So how-!?" Elder Kang was swiftly interrupted by Li Na, saying:


    "You fools truly are stupid¡­ How can anyone be this stupid¡­?" She lightly shook her head before vanishing from her spot, feeling that exining things to these mentally handicapped people would be too difficult.


    Chi Wu heaved a sigh at the take her younger junior sister had on this situation, as she reluctantly decided to exin things herself.


    After all, everyone deserves a chance to know why they would be dying¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 217: Rebellion Quenched

    ...¡­


    With a voice colder than ice, Chi Wu said, "Have you not wondered why my husband, who''s a Star Radiance Expert, put weak enough barriers around the Crimson Dimension that even you all could break in?"


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    The eyes of the Grand Elders widened in disbelief.


    Now that they thought about it, it shouldn''t have been possible for them to get into the Crimson Dimension!


    Their disbelief only increased further, as Chi Wu disappointedly shook her pretty head before saying, "And did not a single one of you even think to consider why your divine senses ''went unnoticed'' in the space that my husband rules over like a god?"


    "..." "..." "..."


    The Grand Elders were starting to piece things together as their disbelief transformed into an overwhelming sense of fear!


    We have been ying on the palm of the Crimson Emperor, dancing around like dumb little monkeys¡­-


    "Furthermore, did none of you bumbling buffoons ever wonder why my husband allowed you to live and serve as Grand Elders? Why did he do nothing to enve you right from the beginning?" Chi Wu interrupted their thoughts with a ridiculing tone as she pointed toward the floating sigils and runes scattered around the exterior of the Crimson Dimension.


    "Tell me, what is it that you all see?" She asked.


    "...Runes-"


    "Correct," Chi Wu interjected. "And do you know what most of those Runes are capable of doing?"


    "..." "..." "..."


    The Grand Elders thought the matter over for a moment before realizing something, as they opened their mouths agape and stuttered in unison, "Seal-breaking runes¡­ Our memory seals¡­ the Goddess''s influence¡­"


    They had truly fallen into the trapid out by the Crimson Emperor!


    He was after their memories, and to acquire said memories, he had to get rid of the seals that the Goddess of Light set inside their minds.


    If he rashly decided to open up their memory bank without first getting rid of this seal, then it was entirely possible that all of their memories would be erased within an instant.


    And then there was the fact that their memories couldn''t be unsealed without their explicit consent, so Azmodeus had to find a way to make a loophole.


    Which was why he devised the n of using himself as bait, all in order to trick the Grand Elders into walking into his Crimson Dimension of their own volition.


    Now, what was the result of this little loophole, one might ask?


    "Your memory seals were broken, and my husband no longer has any reason to keep you around, so you will be dispatched of." Chi Wu spoke in a way that said this was the absolute truth.


    While uttering these words, she continued to take their souls away from their bodies.


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    The Grand Elderspletely understood how foolish they were as they attempted to flee with their lives. However, it was already far toote¡­


    "With the temporary power granted to me by my husband, I shall help you all understand just how stupid it was to think you could defy your one true ruler."


    Chi Wu''s voice reverberated across time and space as the world lines seemed to bend to her will, which resulted in the immediate stun lock of all the Grand Elders.


    They froze in ce with horrified looks on their faces as they visibly watched their lives sh before their eyes. And with no way to escape the iridescent chains that restricted them, there was absolutely nothing they could do to stop the inevitable.


    "Do make sure not tomit the same foolish mistake of going against my husband in your next life, for in this life and the next, you will be reincarnated within the Astral ne. Which is to say that even in death, you will serve your Lord eternally."


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    The Grand Elders heard the words uttered out of Chi Wu''s mouth, as they didn''t even feel like living anymore!


    They just wanted to escape the grasp of the Crimson Devil Lord!


    But unfortunately for them, there was no escaping that which was inevitable¡­


    WAZOOOM!


    Chi Wu finished up the absorption of the Grand Elders as she held their existence fragments in a soul container, waiting for Azmodeus to get done with his breakthrough before handing them to him.


    As her figure started to fade away, a slightly creepy giggle escaped her luscious red lips. Then, without restraunt, she squirmed in ce while imagining all the head pats she would receive from her husband for this job well done.


    ***


    Meanwhile, inside the isted private cultivation quarters of the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode.


    WAAA!


    Condensed Qi rapidly swirled around within the interior of the cave, relentlessly bombarding a bloodied crimson-eyed man.


    It looks like this breakthrough is quite a bit more substantial in terms of how much more pain I have to go through in order to acquire greater power¡­


    Azmodeus''s thoughts sounded inside his head as he extended one of his hands in front of him.


    After which, he activated Qi at the tip of his fingertips. Then, he¡­


    SLASH!


    *Spurt!*


    He stabbed himself right in the gut, causing blood to stter all over the ce!


    "This should help to nullify the pain. After all, past a certain pain threshold, you either ck out, die, or can no longer feel any more pain. And though the time frame for this resistance is quite brief, it will be enough for my concentration to stay on the matter at hand."


    Azmodeus''s disgruntled voice echoed out inside his private quarters as he spat out a mouthful of blood,pletely ignoring the soul-wrenching pain being transmitted to him from the System and the breakthrough.


    Normally, a breakthrough would not be very painful for a high-level cultivator. That was unless you just so happened to be breaking through with so many Physique''s, Traits, and Laws under your belt¡­


    In the end, everything came with a price. And the price for such insane Battle Power was a steep one¡­


    To understand why this was the case, one must understand just how vast the chasm between Major Realms truly was.


    Even the most talented of Heavenly Geniuses in the Starry Expanse would find it nearly impossible to bridge the gap between a single major realm after the Meteor Shower Realm.


    And yet Azmodeus had done just that and more, as he could confidently say that he could fight someone nearly three major realms above his own without even breaking a sweat!


    In fact, that gap would likely be farrger than that if the Astral ne hadn''t restricted the increased progression of various aspects of his existence.


    Nevertheless, none of that mattered for the current him, as the only thing on his mind was passing through the hurdle between the Middle and Late Moonlit Path Realms¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 218: A Large Obstacle

    ...¡­


    After nearly 10 years of cultivating inside his cave abode while on the brink of death, Azmodeus finally made it through the bottleneck, enabling him to sessfully breakthrough into the Late Moonlit Path Realm!


    Along with such a breakthrough was a tremendous improvement to his Battle Power, as the Dwarf Star Transformation Realm was utterly outssed. And in its ce came a Battle Power in the Early Star Radiance Realm!


    One might think that this would be sufficient for Azmodeus. But, in the end, he was a loot goblin above all else.


    ''Loot'' was a broad term that could be interpreted in many different ways, but for him, it just meant that he would in no way tolerate any benefits escaping his grasps.


    For no matter if he had to go to hell and back, the benefits of every situation would always be his!


    It was with this very mindset that, immediately following his Qi Cultivation Realm breakthrough, he went straight into improving his Physical Existence into the Starshire Rank¡­


    Azmodeus would not settle until all immediate benefits were his, and with the momentum from his Qi cultivation breakthrough still active, the breakthrough process for his Physical Existence was made far easier.


    Although he still ended up as a bloody pile of meat and bones aftermencing his Physical Existence rank-up as well, it was all worth it in the end.


    After all, at the end of a 5-year time skip, his body waspletely transformed from its previous dull color into a far more resplendent starry shade, making him resemble a certain sparkly vampire¡­


    Of course, Azmodeus made sure to tone down the shine upon realizing the simrity. But that wasn''t the main point of this breakthrough, as it was instead the fact that¡­


    *Ding!* *Your Physical Existence Rank has advanced from the Half-Step Starshire Rank into the Early Starshire Rank!*


    *Ding!* *With this breakthrough, your Battle Power has tremendously improved, allowing it to advance from the ''Initial Stages of the Early Star Radiance Realm'' to the ''Middle Stages of the Early Star Radiance Realm''*


    Azmodeus had no clue if this drastic increase in strength was enough for him to ovee the two gods, but with Sanguinary in hand, there was no doubt that he could give them a good fight.


    And a good fight was good enough for him. After all, he could alwayse back from the dead and fight on for Infinity¡­


    He cared not if he lost, and he couldn''t give a damn how many resources he had to spend in order to keep bringing himself back to life, for in the end, he would win¡­


    And with every win came an immense amount of benefits¡ªbenefits far exceeding what was used up in acquiring them.


    It was this very line of thinking that caused Azmodeus to no longer fear death, as what was the point in fearing something that would be inevitable either way?


    There was no point, and he understood this, which was why he instantly set out for the Kingdom of Light and the Kingdom of Darkness, not even bothering to tell the women of the Crimson Dimension.


    They would eventually find out either way, and with the main half of his primary existence still cultivating inside the cave, there truly was no need.


    Of course, they would not think about it like this, but they were just moochers, and moochers held no sway over the one they were mooching off of!


    Obviously, they weren''t entirely resource consuming leeches, but in Azmodues''s mind, they might as well have been¡­


    Nevertheless, forgetting the topic of mooching, the Crimson Emperor discreetly left his Heaven Exploding Cave Abode with one half of his Primary Existence, a Primordial Essence Clone, and a number of Primordial Respawner''s.


    He made sure to grab just enough Primordial Respawner''s and Checkpointer''s to be able tost him quite a while, as they eventually ran out of juice after a few million deaths.


    And though the limit of this ''item death'' was constantly increasing with the countless profession improvements being made, it still wasn''t at the level where only one would be sufficient for such arge, likely drawn-out bossfight.


    Azmodeus was soon proven to be correct in his spections, as a truly disastrous monster prevented his advance into the deeper parts of the Holy Capital of Light¡­


    ...


    A total of 20 years passed by in the outside world, and it took 18 years for Azmodeus to reach the boundlessly expansive Capital of Light from his Heaven Exploding Sect.


    Though he may have been traveling at a speed surpassing all reason, it was undeniable that the distance between the two vastly different ces was nigh insurmountable.


    Furthermore, it likely would''ve taken longer if he hadn''t used all of his footwork techniques and Traits in conjunction, effectively enabling him to exceed any past notions of speed.


    However, upon making it to the grandiose front gates of the Capital of Light, he quickly came to realize that there would be one more obstacle before he made it into the towering, heaven-like city...


    The city itself possessed towers that stretched upward for infinity, as well as clouds that enveloped the countless shiny castles and towers like a grand white cover.


    There were even a number of mythical beasts soaring through the blue skies¡ªbeasts that looked eerily simr to Kun Peng.


    However, that wasn''t even the end of it, as there were unicorns and dragon hybrids, all in possession of slight bloodline traces of the real deals. Additionally, if their sizes were any indication of their authenticity, then any mortal would open their eyes wide and naturally assume they were in the presence of living gods!


    Of course, none of these mythical creatures were the real deal.


    Although they were farrger than universes and carried around a bearing beyond otherworldly, they were merely of the Middle to Late Amethyst Rank.


    Their strength was likely no greater than the foot guards that stood watch on the Emonius Continent.


    And then there was the fact that one beast¡ªa beast mightier than them all¡ªtook all the limelight and made it his as he stared down at a tiny crimson-eyed human.


    It fixated on a human who originally thought he would go unnoticed until eventually making it to where the Goddess of Light resided¡­


    But boy was Azmodeus wrong in that assumption...


    ...¡­

 Chapter 219: Comparing Sizes, J?rmungandr

    ...¡­


    "A pet of the gods¡­?"


    Azmodeus was currently face-to-face with an absolute behemoth!


    Its size outmatched even the limitlessly expansive Heaven Exploding Sect, achieving levels of grandiosity never thought to be possible!


    With its sinuous face and countless sharp, dark green scales, there was no telling just how much damage this thing could cause if it ever made it to the Heaven Exploding Sect¡­


    Even so, it was neither the appearance nor the intimidating disposition of the giant serpent that left Azmodeus in a slightly excited state, as it was instead the fact that its aura had firmly nted itself inside the Early Star Radiance Realm!


    This likely made it one of the very few Star Radiance Realm Experts within the Astral ne!


    Usually, one would be terrified upon encountering such a monstrosity, but for Azmodeus, the serpent only meant one thing¡­


    "Loot¡­" He muttered with an unknown glint shing past his blood-colored eyes.


    FWIP!


    He vanished from his spot, scaling the enormous serpent in but an instant!


    It took no longer than half a nanosecond for his aloof figure to blur across the top of the serpent''s forehead as he chipping off a few of its scales due to the after-wind produced by his immense speed.


    Upon making it to the very top of the giant serpent, Azmodeus''s gaze froze over as he pulled back his right hand, summoning forth Sanguinary.


    BZZzzzz¡­!


    Its sleek ck and red edges intensely vibrated as the degree of sharpness emanating from it was enough to slice the higher-level fabric of space without even trying¡­


    Furthermore, with the additional strength and sharpness-boosting runes inscribed into the sides of the scythe, there was no telling just how much damage it would be capable of dealing if it ever came into contact with another existence.


    Unfortunately for the existence in question, Sanguinary had an insane level of power course through its surface, all of which was transmitted from its host, partner, and master, Azmodeus.


    WAAAA!


    Numerous crimson-colored energy tendrils shot off the scythe in great amounts. Such an action was quickly amplified with the size distortion of its host.


    OOOM!


    Azmodeus''s size erged to an infinite degree as his aloof, immortal-like frame loomed over a miniscule section of the giant serpent like a divine god!


    It seems like I am still quite a ways away from being able to match up against something sorge...


    Even with my Low-Star Law of Size Amplification and Gargantuan, there is no hope in ever transcending the limits of a 1? Layered ne of Infinity¡­


    His thoughts stirred as he suddenly realized something afterparing sizes¡­


    That something being the fact that the¡­


    The Serpent Beast exceeds the limit imposed upon anything with a natural, inherentw below the High-Star Rank.


    And for something to be able to reach this size, they either have to be born with a High-Star Law or somehow acquire it along the way.


    But in both scenarios, it simply means that a loot bag in possession of a High-Star Law has walked right up to me and offered itself up on a golden tter¡­


    Who would I be to deny the addition of apanion for my oh-so-lonely Law of Syneresis¡­?


    With this sinister thought in mind, his focus returned to the building up of energy on his scythe.


    He was prepared to eradicate everything in the Capital of Light if it meant he could obtain the loot before him!


    ¡­


    Approximately 20 years after Azmodeus''s first encounter with the Guardian Beast known as ''J?rmungandr''.


    In their first bout, the fight ended the moment the J?rmungandr noticed his existence, as it opened its gaping mouth and released some form of green energy using mysterious means.


    For the following fights, the J?rmungandr brought him outside of the Capital of Light, as extreme levels of damage were being inflicted upon thends, and that was simply uneptable for the Guardian Beast.


    Even so, after taking the battle elsewhere, the degree of damage to the surroundings only exponentially increased, forcing the J?rmungandr to take the fight to the skies.


    This worked out quite well in reducing the overall damage done to the topography. However, a new problem quickly arose as fire and lightning rained from the skies.


    With the sheer amount of energy contained in each erratic element, there was no way for any living being or object to survive the initial strikes.


    Furthermore, the level of destruction showed no signs of slowing down, as universe-sized fireballs and acid spheres plummeted down from the heavens, leaving all mortal existences as nothing more than sheep to the ughter¡­


    By the 5-year mark, countless Tier 2 Double Leafed Squares were eradicated, leaving in their ce enormous craters of immeasurably wide distances.


    With the passing of the 10-year milestone, there was no longer anything unscathed within a radius of an uncountable number of gigaparsecs.


    And by the 20-year mark, the topography of the immediate Kingdom of Light''s vicinity was reduced to rubble¡­ with innumerable lives having been lost in the crossfire between two godlike figures¡­


    Many Amethyst Rank Experts attempted to stop the fight between their Guardian Beast and an unknown man. But whether they were in the Early Amethyst Rank or Half-Step Starshire Rank, none of themsted even half an instant in the face of the two hegemony''s overwhelming auras.


    Even if they did end up making it within talking distance of the two battle-crazed beings, it was highly unlikely that either of them would listen to reason¡­


    All they could do was watch¡ªwatch as their Kingdoms and Squares were razed to the ground with every stray thunderbolt or fireball that came their way.


    After 25 years left everyone in its shadow, a total of 5 million+ Amethyst Rank Experts gathered around arge metallic dome as they stared up at the constantly shing sky.


    Watching as the whole world lit aze, they mumbled among themselves...


    "To live so many billions of years... only to have everything torn down within a mere few decades¡­"


    A Half-Step Starshire Rank Master heaved a defeated sigh as he personally watched his empire get slowly melted by a dazzling beam of green light.


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 220: Vanquishing J?rmungandr

    ...¡­.


    "I know what you mean, Emperor Ku¡­ My Empire was vaporized less than 10 minutes ago¡­" A different Half-Step Starshire Rank Expert muttered with furrowed brows.


    It wasn''t only these two who were in simr situations, as every single one of the 5+ million Amethyst Rank Experts lost everything¡ªand they lost it all within an instant¡­


    "Same, I t-"


    Just as someone else was about to speak up, a stray arc of crimson-colored Qi blitzed toward therge metallic dome!


    SHING!


    The Star Radiance Rank dome was sliced in half as it exploded and turned into dust, subsequently causing the deaths of all the Amethyst Rank Hegemony''s.


    After which, a number of unexpected system notifications appeared in front of Azmodeus''s bloodied face.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed 5 million+ Amethyst Rank Masters!*


    *Ding!* *Due to various attribute and stat boosters, numbering in the ''1,000,000x+ range'', you have obtained extraordinary amounts of Physical Existence Points!*


    *Ding!* *Due to the fact that a good chunk of the beings you just killed were heroes, the amount of Physical Existence Points you just obtained has been further multiplied!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 10.8 Octovigintillion Points in your Physical Existence Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your Physical Existence Rank has once again made great strides within the Early Starshire Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Due to a rpse in the system''s functions because of too much OP, the ''Cultivation Speed Booster'' has been stagnant over thest 10 thousand+ years.*


    *Ding!* *Because of your most recent kills and all those that came before, your Cultivation Speed Booster has improved from the ''1.15x'' rate to the ''458.5x'' rate, allowing your cultivation booster to tremendously affect your cultivation talent and efficiency!*


    Following all of these system notifications, Azmodeus stopped for a moment to look over them.


    While doing so, he felt a massive increase in his cultivation speed hit him all at once!


    Although it came a littlete, this will help greatly in the days toe, as after ascending the Astral ne, only countless more hurdles will be left in my way¡­


    And to ovee those hurdles, I will need to be stronger¡ªfar stronger than the current me-


    FWAZOOM!


    His thoughts floated around inside his head before he was suddenly interrupted by the J?rmungandr swinging around its immeasurably long tail, aiming to slice up everything as far as the eye could see!


    FWIP!


    Azmodeus swiftly sh-stepped as he appeared an uncountable number of GigaParsecs away from his previous location.


    He continued to peruse the rest of the system notifications while watching the world light up with an effulgent eruption of green Qi.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte the stats of the beings you just killed or roll for their abilities?*


    "Do the usual."


    *Ding!* *You have gained 1.5 Octovigintillion Stat Points in Strength, 2.2 Octovigintillion Points in Speed, 1.2 Octovigintillion Points in Defense, and 3.8 Octovigintillion Points in Qi.*


    *Ding!* *You have acquired numerous Physique''s, with a multitude of them in and above the Dwarf Star Transformation Rank.*


    *Ding!* *You have obtainedprehensions in a plethora of Star Laws, allowing your understanding of the Laws and the subsequent Law of Syneresis to increase even further!*


    *Ding!* *Your Singrity Physique has drastically improved within the Early Starshire Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your High-Star Law of Syneresis is close to achieving Level 2¡ªthe expected level-up date at the current rate of exponential progression ¡ú 20 thousand years (cave time).*


    *Ding!* *You have received arge number of Racial Traits ranging from the Sky Rank all the way to the Star Radiance Rank.*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has improved by leaps and bounds!*


    After looking over the most important of the pop-ups, Azmodeus felt an immense wave of strength wash over him.


    He figured that it wouldn''t be long before he achieved the Absolute Peak Stages of the Early Starshire Rank!


    Moreover, onsidering that the J?rmungandr was of a simr level of power, it wouldn''t be much longer till he imed this loot bag for himself¡­


    It was with such aspirations that he resumed his attacks on the giant serpent, unleashing sword arc after sword arc before ultimately dying.


    After which, he spawned in at the nearest Primordial Checkpointer and shot straight toward the serpent, allowing no respite for his rapidly growing body!


    With this routine battle set in motion, time continued to pass for those inside the Astral ne.


    ¡­


    80 yearster.


    It was on this day, which started out like all the rest, that Azmodeus finally lobbed the slithery head right off the neck of the mighty guardian beast, rendering it in a state of helplessness.


    Although such helplessness wouldn''tst for long with the insane regeneration of J?rmungandr put into the equation, it still allowed enough time for Azmodeus to grab hold of its Essence Soul and extinguish it right then and there.


    Of course, he had the option to make the battle a long and drawn-out one, but there was no longer a point¡­


    After all, he acquired the necessary strength to ovee the Guardian Beast, and he could do so without much effort on his part.


    This was all to say that he achieved the utmost peak of the Early Starshire Rank, making him the third strongest being in the Astral ne!


    Nevertheless, upon the death of J?rmungandr being confirmed, a number of system notifications materialized in front of him.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed the giant Omniverse Devouring Serpent known as ''J?rmungandr the Terrifying''*


    *Ding!* *You have killed one of the 7 Guardian Beasts of the Astral ne! The other six will begin to hunt you down, as you will not be able to escape their pursuit unless you permanently leave the Astral ne.*


    "There are six more of them, huh?" Azmodeus spoke with a nonchnt voice while standing atop the immeasurably long corpse of his loot bag.


    However, his thoughts were quickly interrupted by more system notifications ringing out inside his head.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 65 Duotrigintillion Points in your Physical Existence Rank!*


    *Ding!* *The number of points you received was sorge because the J?rmungandr had an extremely high Existence Value.*


    ...¡­

 Chapter 221: Meeting The Goddess Of Light

    ...¡­


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte or roll for an Ability?*


    "Assimte."


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 1.8 Duotrigintillion Stat Points in Strength, 1.4 Duotrigintillion Points in Speed, 2.2 Duotrigintillion Points in Defense, and 3.5 Duotrigintillion Points in Qi.*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has tremendously improved!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to roll for any abilities of J?rmungandr?*


    "Yes, roll until I acquire the High-Star Law it was using. After which, roll again until I get the Physique that made its scales so robust."


    Following this request and a few dozen spinster¡­


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You havended on the High-Star Law of Aggrandizement!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to keep this Law or roll again?*


    "Keep it, and keep on rolling for the Physique."


    *Ding!* *You have fully assimted the High-Star Law of Aggrandizement, making it so that you now have 2 High-Star Laws in your arsenal!*


    *Ding!* *You havended on the Early Starshire Rank ''Serpent God'' Physique. Would you like to fully assimte this Physique or keep on rolling?*


    "Fully Assimte it."


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have fully assimted the Serpent God''s Physique, permitting your Singrity Physique to take a major step forward within the Early Starshire Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has moderately improved!*


    After all of the system notifications finished ringing out, Azmodeus moved away from the rapidly falling corpse of the J?rmungandr.


    Of course, he made sure to absorb its body and assimte its existence. Then, with swift movements, he vanished from sight, heading straight toward the grandiose castle in the distance.


    This was where the Goddess of Light lived, and it would also be where he nned to kill his first god¡­


    -


    After a few seconds of flying over the innumerable shiny buildings and outriggers, Azmodeus Crimson found himself at the enormous front gates of the Pce of Light.


    Just as he was about to rush in uninvited, a heavenly voice resounded from inside the confines of the Pce:


    "You have finallye, Awakener¡ªthe one deemed to be the key to the future by that man."


    "???"


    Azmodeus looked all around him and even followed the voice back to its source with his divine sense. However, no matter what method he used, he couldn''t find out what had produced the voice.


    But with simple deductive reasoning, he was naturally able to understand that the melodic voice originated from the one known as the Goddess of Light.


    It was with this understanding that he asked, "Why do you speak as if you know everything about me?"


    A light, heavenly giggle came back in response to this question. After which, the Goddess of Light responded, "Well, that is naturally because I do know everything about you."


    "You do?" Azmodeus questioned with a raised brow.


    If she knows about the system, then I''ll need to kill her even faster than I originally nned¡­


    His thoughts took a turn for the insidious as he would not hesitate in the slightest if this woman was truly telling the truth.


    However, his expression became far more rxed with the next words spoken by the Goddess:


    "I know almost everything about you, as even your moles are unable to escape my divine sight. But there is one thing I am in the dark about¡­"


    "And that is?" Azmodeus inquired with a voiceced with hidden killing intent.


    He prepared Sanguinary if things developed in the direction he thought they would.


    But contrary to his expectations, the Goddess of Light said, "I am unaware of the intricacies concerning the God of Darkness and yourself¡­"


    Her tone became a little irksome toward the end, as the matter of her counterpart was quite a sensitive subject.


    The God of Darkness¡­? What does he have to do with me? And why does she speak as if I and that god have a close rtionship??


    Question marks went off inside Azmodeus''s head, but he refused to show his confusion in front of a potential enemy, which was why his expression remained emotionless from beginning to end.


    "You likely have no inkling of what I''m talking about, but that does not mean you must remain ignorant. After all, everything in this world is rted to you, and since the beginning of time, it has always been that way."


    The Goddess of Light took him out of his reverie as he turned his head up toward the slowly opening golden gates, digesting the information that he just received.


    This world is rted to me¡­? Why is it that everything she says has so many underlying meanings??


    Azmodeus was starting to believe that this god took him as a joke, but upon receiving the warmest wee he could imagine, there were not many options left for him to take.


    I will go meet this Goddess myself, and if everything turns out to be an borate ploy cooked up by her and the other god, I''ll simply kill them both and be done with it¡­


    Azmodeus was a cautious one, and with a countless number of precautions set in ce just in case of his eventual deaths, there was absolutely no way whatever scheme this Goddess had in mind could permanently kill him.


    It was with this ease of mind that he took swift strides into the limitlesslyrge pce, aiming to figure out what the Goddess of Light meant when she said those cryptic words.


    -


    Upon making it through a number of ostentatiously adorned corridors and shimmering rooms, Azmodeus ultimately found himself in front of an open door.


    The door itself was nothing special; its edges were carved in the shape of a 3-meter-tall door with a rtively simple design, and it was average in grandiosity.


    However, it was whaty on the other side of the door that truly stood out¡­


    A Goddess, huh¡­


    Azmodeus couldn''t help but agree that the ungodly beautiful woman who graced his sight was truly worthy of her title of Goddess.


    But if she gets in my way, I''ll kill her all the same.


    His eyes darkened for a split second before they returned to their normal crimson color as he proceeded to jar the door open a little further.


    After which, he was able to get a full picture of the divinely gorgeous woman in front of him.


    She had long blonde hair and eyshes, as well as a well-endowed figure. Gracefully sitting on her rather ordinary bed, she stared in his direction with a dazzling smile ying on her luscious red lips.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 222: Goddess Of Light Revelations

    ...¡­


    "Youe to a woman''s home without calling in first, and then you intrude into her bedroom as if it were the only natural thing to do." The Goddess of Light lightly giggled while holding a dainty hand up to her mouth, an action that subsequently caused her milky white breasts to jiggle a little.


    "..."


    Azmodeus looked at the dangerous woman before him, as he knew from experience that any woman with ''assets'' that big would definitely turn out to be bad news.


    "Ho~?" The Goddess of Light stopped the creasing of her crossed eyes as her expression morphed into one of amusement. "I don''t bite, you know?"


    *Pat Pat*


    She softly patted the area of the bed right next to her, clearly inviting the Crimson Emperor over to her side.


    "You wish to know more about your connection to this world, do you not?" She questioned with an amused glint in her sparkling eyes.


    Azmodeus was originally apprehensive about getting any closer to the woman, but with the next words toe out of her mouth, he immediately found his way to her side.


    "Ho~ you truly are an interesting one, Azmodeus~"


    The Goddess of Light''s naturally seductive voice dripped into his ears, as it was only then that he fully understood how dangerous this woman was.


    But regardless of his cautious nature, he wanted to understand what exactly it was that she was talking about earlier¡­


    She is stronger than me, and I don''t wish to wait thousands of years to beat her before extracting her memories by force¡­


    At times, he was an impatient person, and right now just so happened to be one of those times.


    Therefore, he locked eyes with the divinely beautiful goddess and asked, "Why?"


    "Why what, my dear~?" The Goddess of Light inquired with a tone oozing mature charm. Her slender arms and plump breasts inched ever closer to the stoic Devil, seemingly working as divine weapons.


    This woman is undoubtedly ying with fire, but I will allow it¡­ for now¡­


    Azmodeus decided to tolerate the fox-like goddess as he peered even further into her deep golden pools and said, "Tell me why it is that I have a connection to the Astral ne. Additionally, inform me of the specifics of said connection."


    Following his response, yet another melodic giggle escaped the goddess''s mouth as her lusty body ricocheted even harder than before.


    "You, who are likely the most important person in the Astral ne, someone even above the Ten Astral Princes, has no idea about your importance.


    If this isn''t a joke, then I don''t know what is¡­ Hai, but since I am in quite the good mood today, I will answer your question. Furthermore, I will also tell you why I had those heroese after your little girlfriend¡ªthe Crimson Witch, a person whom you know next to nothing of her past¡­"


    The Goddess of Light likely would''ve startedughing again if not for the fact that they were on quite the time crunch.


    "???"


    Azmodeus had no clue what was going through her mind, but he still wished to understand more, so he permitted the ceaseless pping of her gums.


    The Goddess raised one of her light golden brows at this clear disy of disdain, as she found this man more intriguing by the second.


    "First of all, you should already know that I was the one who summoned the heroes¡ªto both your world of Prometheus and the Astral ne¡ªbut do you know why it was that I created different systems for them? Variegated systems that gave them the natural assumption that they were created by different organisms?"


    "...I do not know¡­-" Azmodeus attempted to respond, but he was swiftly interrupted by the goddess, saying:


    "Precisely, you have no clue! Isn''t that so funny??" She giggled a little bit as her eyes creased even further, turning into two brilliant crescent moons that taunted Azmodeus.


    ¡­Is this woman looking to die an early death¡­?


    A vein formed on his forehead as his facial features twitched for a second. After which, he dangerously muttered, "And what is it that''s so funny?"


    WAAA!


    His aura violently fluctuated as the boundlessly expansive pce was nearly overwhelmed!


    The Goddess of Light calmed the nerves that were quite active as ofte. Then, she said, "You don''t have to be so nervous all the time, you know? It''s not like I''m your enemy¡­"


    "You''re not my enemy¡­? The heroes you sent surely beg to differ," Azmodeus replied with a reminiscent gleam in his blood-colored eyes, vividly recalling the hero loot bags that came after him for thousands of years.


    Someone had clearly been leaking his location to the various heroes, including the Grand Elders who recently rebelled. And the prime suspect in this leakage was none other than the Goddess of Light-


    "You''re wrong," she interjected, her tone holding various underlying meanings. "I sent them after you to help you grow, just as that mysterious force is doing. And although I don''t have any idea who this ''mysterious force'' is, I know for certain that strong enemies will only help you be stronger. And what better way to assist your growth than with countless heroes on the chopping board?"


    "..." So she isn''t the one who gave me my system.


    Azmodeus figured that was the case, but he still had to hear it for himself, and with the recent words spoken by the Goddess of Light, his suspicions were confirmed.


    However, there was one point of concern brought up by this topic.


    That point being¡­


    "Why would you do such a thing? To summon heroes from Earth, only to send them out to their deaths. Why did you do it?"


    "That''s a good question¡­ Why did I do such a thing...?"


    The Goddess of Light attempted to recall the reason she went through so much trouble, but she just couldn''t remember¡­


    However, as if her confusion was all just an illusion, her eyes unfogged and she said, "I did it for the future¡ªfor the future of us all."


    Azmodeus wasn''t able to notice the unusual phenomenon urring within her gaze. He asked, "For the future? The Astral ne''s future?"


    "Yes¡­ the future of the Astral ne¡ªa Second Layered ne of Infinity lorded over by the ''True 10 Astral Prince''s'' and their dogs¡ªthe 7 Guardian Beasts¡ªone of whom you''ve already killed," the Goddess of Light responded with aplicated tone, her eyes flickering slightly as she looked through the confines of her pce, catching sight of six surging auras emanating in the distance.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 223: The Amulet From The Past

    ...¡­


    "The 10 True Astral Prince''s? Different from the ones inside the Castle of Benevolence, located within the interpass between dimensions?"


    Azmodeus''s inquisitive voice took the Goddess out of her thoughts as she focused back on him and responded, "The ones you witnessed after leaving the Astral Trial Lotive were nothing but the puppets of the True Ten Astral Prince''s¡ªbeings capable of rendering even 3rd Layered ne''s of Infinity as nothing more than scrap metal."


    "3rd Layered ne''s of Infinity¡­ ne''s of Infinity thatpletely transcend 2nd Layered ne''s of Infinity¡­" Azmodeus muttered with an inexplicable intent contained within his raspy voice.


    "Exactly. And it is those sorts of nonsensical existences that have their eyes set upon the ''Faith Value'' of the Astral ne."


    The Goddess of Light continued her retelling with an oddly mncholic tone, seemingly recalling something that happened in her distant past.


    But that didn''t stop her from continuing her exnation, as she said, "I have been around for a few dozen Epoch, with each Epoch equaling 10 trillion years, and even after such a long period of time, not once was I unaware of the presence of the 10 True Astral Prince''s. After all, their presence can be felt in every inch of the Astral ne, with their existences truly omnipresent.


    In fact, it is highly likely that they are listening in on this very conversation¡­ But in the end, it matters not, for their power is unquestionable by all lower existences. In their eyes, anything in and below the Star Radiance Realm is worth no more than dirt¡­


    For dozens of Epochs, I have tried to get the attention of those who I assume created me and that God of Darkness...


    But, in the end, it was all for naught, as no amount of effort in the world will ever be sufficient to garner the attention of our creators.


    And it wasn''t until just recently, when you were born in the world of Prometheus, that I received a premonition¡ªa premonition that told me of your part to y in escaping the giant bird cage that is quite literally a ying board of the gods¡­"


    "..."


    Azmodeus digested the overabundance of information as he got the gist of the situation.


    And it was only then that he asked the question of the day. "What is my part exactly? Why was my birth the deciding factor in your revtion?"


    The Goddess of Light had a great many emotions swirl within those golden eyes of hers as she looked deeply into the existence she had been waiting for for what felt like an eternity.


    It was a few short moments after this that she eventually said, "Your birth¡ªone riddled with mystery and the unknown¡ªwas also the telling of a new age for those within the Astral ne¡ªan age of prosperity and growth. That is your destiny, Azmodeus."


    My destiny, huh¡­


    Azmodeus remembered the faint silhouette of his mother and what she said in that letter all those years ago, as he wondered if this was truly his destiny¡­


    However, that line of thought was erased as quickly as it came. After which, he shook his head and said, "No, that is not my destiny."


    The Goddess of Light didn''t immediately refute his words, as she simply sat in ce, gazing into his two deep crimson abysses.


    "No matter how many times I bear witness to it, I''m always left in awe at your uniqueness, as you are undoubtedly the only one of your kind," she remarked with that same radiant smile stered on her wless face¡ªa face bereft of imperfections.


    "...Thanks, I guess?" Azmodeus responded after a moment, his thoughts veering toward the six auras that the goddess felt not too long ago.


    They''re strong¡­ Far stronger than J?rmungandr¡­


    For some reason, that thought seemed to excite him, as he wished to know how many years it would take for him to reap the loot that should naturally be his.


    The Goddess of Light noticed the slightly fluctuating emotions of her guest, as she understood that the conversation needed to be cut short. Thus, she said, "You may not be able to understand at this point in time, but in theing years, you will realize why it is that I said your destiny is intertwined with that of the Astral ne and even the Starry Expanse above...


    However, for now, before I vanish away from this ne of existence, I wish to impart upon you the thing that your parents left for you all those years ago. Please take out the amulet that your master gave you, for it is the activation key."


    "The amulet? You know of my master?" Azmodeus questioned, as he wasn''t aware her understanding of his past extended so far.


    "We don''t have the time for questions, Azmodeus. You must trust me on this one and take out your amulet before it''s toote," the Goddess of Light replied with a rushed tone, her crossed eyes flickering a little, almost as if she were trying to resist something.


    Azmodeus quickly realized the seriousness of the situation, so he opted to leave the questions for when he saw her again.


    Instead of uselessly chattering, he took out the dark red amulet, dangling it in front of the goddess.


    Just as she was about to reach out and grab it, he took the amulet back toward him and emotionlessly said, "Let me be clear on one thing, Goddess. I don''t trust you; I don''t trust anybody." His voice became a little indecipherable at this part. Then, with the same gusto, he said, "The only reason I''m going through with this proposition is because I know I can kill you if you cross me.


    So don''t think you''re special, and don''t assume we''re friends¡ªbecause we aren''t."


    The Goddess of Light observed the swirling pools of blood honed in on her existence as she felt a little tingly in her lower area for some reason¡­


    This man¡­ He is¡­ something else¡­


    She attempted to calm her growing urges, as now was truly not the time for such drivel. And it was with a lucid mind that she said, "Very well, we may keep our rtionship merely tonic... for now."


    Her voice came out in an inaudible way toward the end, as she was quite good at concealing her emotions with that fake smile she wore like a permanent charm.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 224: Excalibur, The Abrupt Departure Of The Goddess

    ...¡­


    "..."


    Azmodeus felt something off, but that didn''t stop him from handing over the red amulet in his grasp. "Don''t make me regret my decision."


    After uttering these words and sessfully passing on the amulet, he saw the smiling goddess take something out of an unknown space, causing a round sapphire-like ring to fall onto the soft bed.


    ZIP!


    The ring was lifted up off the bed using some form of psychic power. Then, after bringing it close to the amulet in her other hand, an effulgent reaction erupted from in between the two mysterious objects!


    BLING!


    Everything in the room was enveloped in a bright purple array of colors, as theyer of space that connected the room to the Astral ne seemed to disconnect for a second.


    It was only after a few moments of the purple light prevailing that it eventually died down before being reced by a faint, illusory silhouette of a miniature sword.


    The sword was eastern and resembled something thin and ethereal, with faint hints of the Dao emanating from its image.


    "This is your destiny¡ªthe Ring of Saphron and the Amulet of the One-Eyed Red God¡ªone which was given to your master and the other given to your father. In fact, he was the one who personally asked me to pass this onto you once I recovered my memories¡ªa recovery that only urred the moment you were born in Prometheus."


    The Goddess of Light informed Azmodeus of the history behind the two separate objects, as he utilized his absurdprehension speed in order to digest everything being thrown his way.


    My father¡­ What does my father have to do with my ''Destiny''? And where does my master have a part to y in everything?


    Even with his ludicrous level ofprehension, he still couldn''t understand things without enough context. And seeing as most things were left out of the picture for him, there was truly nothing he could do at this point in time.


    "This sword." The Goddess of Light interrupted his thoughts as she extended her slender right arm and grabbed the miniature materialized sword from thin air. "This was meant to be yours since the very beginning, as it was what your Father, Mother, and One True Master wanted you to have."


    "My One True Master?"


    Azmodeus wasn''t following, but he wasn''t allowed much time to ponder the matter, as the sword was thrown in his direction, forcing him to react with lightning-quick reflexes and catch it before it sliced his throat!


    After sessfully preventing his death, he red in the direction of the goddess, preparing to kill her for attempting such a thing. But when he looked at where she once was, all he saw was the ce where her plump butt was imprinted.


    "You only need to know one thing, dear Azmodeus."


    A dissonant female voice echoed out through time and space, as the goddess had one more thing to inform him of before fully vanishing from the Astral ne.


    "You only need to know the name of the sword¡ªa sword that will be with you till the end of time¡ªa sword that will reap so many lives that no amount of cleaning can hope to erase the deaths that stain its existence¡ªa sword that goes by the name of... Excalibur!"


    WAAAA!


    Reality itself seemed to resonate with the uttering of those words, as there was no denying the existence of something beyond the very concept of existence!


    "This will be yourpanion and partner, and with the addition of Sanguinary, you will have two weapons that will always be by your side."


    Azmodeus thought over the words of the goddess as he looked down at the small, emblem-like sword within his left palm.


    "However, with the giving of this emblem, there is no longer any time left for the two of us, so this is where I bid you farewell, my dear Az."


    With the uttering of these words, her voice forever faded from the timeline as she was transported to some unknown area outside of the Astral ne.


    Following her departure, there was only a crimson-haired man left in her pce, as the rest of the guards and staff mysteriously disappeared.


    "Excalibur¡­ What a name to call a sword for someone as devilish as I¡­" Azmodeus remarked with a slight hint of snarkiness, as he found it all too funny.


    But regardless of what he thought about its name, there was really only one thing he cared about.


    And that thing was the benefit!


    Considering the quality of this sword, I would say I benefited quite a lot from this little encounter.


    Although I didn''t end up reaping that Goddess loot bag in time, this sword more than makes up for it¡­


    And with the impending arrival of those six, I should be able to more thanpensate for this slight loss of Physical Existence Points¡­


    With this thought in mind, Azmodeus erged the dark red and ck sword emblem, resulting in its size instantly extending to around 6 feet, making for a truly badass longsword/greatsword/Nagikatana-type weapon.


    Furthermore, when it was stacked up right alongside Sanguinary, no one in the Astral ne could deny the daunting aesthetics of the Crimson Emperor.


    It was with this very appearance, alongside his long crimson hair and flowing robes, that he blurred from his spot, shooting straight toward the first of the six pulsating auras!


    The being he was aiming to kill first was some form of Kyrin and possessed strength in the early stages of the Middle Star Radiance Realm, likely owning more purity in its blood than the J?rmungandr.


    This will be the first of six massive loot bags, and since I like to do things in order, I will start with the weakest of the lot¡­


    Following this nonchnt thought, Azmodeus sped up his advance, hoping to reach the Kyrin before the 50 year mark passed.


    Although the beast''s strength was significantly stronger at this point in time, with more than 2000 years of cultivating inside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode to look forward to, the gap between them would only lessen.


    It was this way of thinking that ultimately led to him only needing 180 or so (outside years) to kill and obtain the loot from the Kyrin.


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 225: Killing All The Guardians

    ...¡­.


    Following the death of the mighty Kyrin, an Azure Dragon interrupted Azmodeus''s moment of reveling in the loot as it used its aura in the Late Stages of the Star Radiance Realm in order to overpower the savage mortal.


    But after a brief period of roughly 200 years, the Azure Dragon was no more¡­


    And then came the ck Tortoise¡ªa mythical beast that survived a little bit longer than the Azure Dragon before eventually dying after another 220 years passed¡­


    Following the death of the ck Tortoise, there were the White Tiger and Dragon Koi¡­ before there finally came a point where no more of the Guardians were left alive on the Astral ne.


    With the deaths of all the Guardians and the disappearance of the Goddess of Light, only one being remained to oppose the one known to themon folk as the Tyrannical Crimson God¡ªa figure infamous for the utter destruction and chaos that followed him wherever he went.


    But for those in the rapidly expanding Triple Leafed Heaven Exploding Sect, Azmodeus was revered as an absolute god, with his words unquestionable and his image unmatchable.


    The subtle mind washing of all members of his sect was aplete sess, and while listening to the iing system notifications garnered from the killing of the Demon Dragon, he sprang up like a broken coil, heading toward the Kingdom of Darkness.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed thest guardian of the Astral ne¡ªa beast that not only had a cultivation base equivalent to the Late Star Radiance Realm but also had a major role to y in the continued running of the Astral ne.*


    *Ding!* *An appropriate amount of Physical Existence Points will be allotted to the host for this great aplishment on the Path of Tyranny.*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 105 Googols in Physical Existence Points!*


    *Ding!* *Your Physical Existence Rank has improved by leaps and bounds, allowing it to cross the gap between the Middle and Late Starshire Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your Physical Existence has firmly nted itself inside the Late Starshire Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte or roll for the Abilities of the being you just killed?*


    "The usual, if you don''t mind."


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 28 Googol Stat Points in Strength, 35 Googol Points in Speed, 25 Googol Points in Defense, and 50 Googol Points in Qi.*


    *Ding!* *You have gained a countless number of Physique''s through repeated rolls!*


    *Ding!* *You have gained a countless number of Traits through repeated rolls!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained your 12th High-Star Law¡ªthe Law of Emancipation¡ªa Law addition that has allowed yourprehension of Laws to take another step forward.*


    *Ding!* *Your Singrity Physique has had its Rank increased by leaps and bounds!*


    *Ding!* *Your Singrity Physique improved into the Late Star Radiance Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has improved by leaps and bounds!*


    Following the ringing of the various system notifications, Azmodeus decided to check up on his system interface for the first time in a long time.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: ~24,000/3,500,000,000,000] (Increased due to Physique''s and Traits with relevant boosts)


    [Cultivation: Half-Step Forger Realm (Initial)]


    [Cultivation V.2: Physique Existence Refinement ¨C Late Starshire Rank (Early)]


    [Battle Power: Late Star Radiance Rank (Peak)]


    [Level: 278]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 10.5 Trigintillion Evolution Essence]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: ~ 999+ Googols of Evolution Essence]


    {[Stats:]}


    [Strength: 250 Googols]


    [Speed: 260 Googols]


    [Defense: 220 Googols]


    [Qi: 350 Googols]


    [Cultivation Talent: Peak Star Radiance Rank]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Astral Split - Level 5] (SSS Rank)] ¡ú [0/10 Octodecillion]


    [Mirror Mirage - Level 5] (SSS Rank)] ¡ú [0/10 Octodecillion]


    [Various other Traits] ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [Overall Attribute Boost: SSS Rank - (Level 5)]


    {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters]}


    [Singrity (Late Star Radiance Rank)]


    [Various other Physique''s] ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [Overall Attribute Boost: Peak Star Radiance Rank]


    {[Laws]} ¡ú


    ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [All 300 Low-Mortal Laws have beenprehended to 100%, sessfully achieving Law Coalescence.] ¡ú [All Low-Mortal Laws have be Star Laws; adding onto the alreadyprehended Star Laws leaves the host with 3000 Lawsprehended to Level 4+] ¡ú [All Low-Star Laws havebined and transformed into the High-Star Law of Syneresis.] ¡ú [Adding that onto the host''s other 11 High-Star Laws leaves the host with 12 High-Star Laws, all of which are on the precipice of Level 2.]


    {[Weapon Comprehensions]}


    [Main Weapon] ¡ú [Sword] ¡ú [Primary Art: Iaijutsu] ¡ú [Peak Star Radiance Rank]


    [Secondary Weapon] ¡ú [Scythe] ¡ú [Primary Art: Crimson Death] ¡ú [Peak Star Radiance Rank]


    [Plethora of other Weaponprehensions: All Mortal Weapons Comprehended to the Early Star Radiance Rank and Above]


    [Reminder! Stats are rtive, and the exact value of each stat points scales upward! Don''t trust them to be at face value or in corrtion with your Battle Power!]


    ¡ª------------


    After getting a good look at his system interface, Azmodeus figured it was time to dump all of his Evolution Essence into his level, Traits, Physique''s, and Laws.


    He wished to know just how much stronger he could be before encountering the God of Darkness!


    BING! BING!


    Following the dumping of countless amounts of Evolution Essence, an entirely different system interface appeared in front of him, informing him of a few rather interesting things.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: ~24,000/8,500,000,000,000] (Increased due to Physique''s and Traits with relevant boosts)


    [Cultivation: Half-Step Forger Realm (Absolute Peak) (Can breakthrough at any time)]


    [Cultivation V.2: Physique Existence Refinement ¨C Late Starshire Rank (Early)]


    [Battle Power: Late Star Radiance Rank (Peak)]


    [Level: 278]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 999+ Googols Evolution Essence]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: ~25 Googols of Evolution Essence]


    {[Stats:]}


    [Strength: 999+ Googols]


    [Speed: 999+ Googols]


    [Defense: 999+ Googols]


    [Qi: 999+ Googols]


    [Cultivation Talent: Absolute Peak Star Radiance Rank]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Astral Split - Level 1] (SR Rank)] ¡ú [0/1 Googols]


    [Mirror Mirage - Level 1] (SR Rank)] ¡ú [0/1 Googols]


    [Various other Traits] ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [Overall Attribute Boost: SR Rank - (Level 1)]


    {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters]}


    [Singrity (Late Star Radiance Rank)]


    [Various other Physique''s] ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [Overall Attribute Boost: Absolute Peak Star Radiance Rank]


    {[Laws]} ¡ú


    [12 High-Star Laws: Level 2] ¡ú [Extreme Attribute Boost.]


    [For the host''s convenience, the previous Law section and below have been simplified (temporary).]


    ¡ª------------

 Chapter 226: I Am... You

    ...¡­.


    Following the perusing of the system interface, a few peculiar pop-ups appeared in Azmodeus''s vision, informing him of a few changes being made to the Infinite Evolution System.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *Due to the host having achieved all the prerequisites for reaching the next level of System Ascendance, the Infinite Evolution System has given your system interface a reboot. Subsequently, this has caused the stats to change to a unit indicator of ''Star Essence Value'', and this will remain until you achieve the Low-Universal Realm, where it will then change to a new value indicator.*


    *Ding!* *Your past stats have all been switched to <0.1 Star Value.*


    *Ding!* *Your Traits have been upgraded past the SSS-Rank, achieving an entirely new Rank called the SSR rank. Continue advancing to understand exactly what this rank and the proceeding ranks mean for you.*


    *Ding!* *Your Evolution Essence Bank will no longer be measured using the Mortal measurement system.*


    *Ding!* *Your Evolution Essence and Physical Existence Points will now be measured in the same ''Star Value'' as your stats. But instead of Star Value, it will be stated as Star Points and Star Essence for the convenience of the host.*


    *Ding!* *Your High-Star Laws have achieved Level 2, which means that your Laws have progressed past the limit of the Astral ne.*


    *Ding!* *It is rmended that the host ascend before the world copses under your might.*


    -


    After all of the system notifications finished ringing out, Azmodeus focused on the pitch-ck world before him, as he had one more major thing to aplish.


    The God of Darkness¡­ What is your connection with me¡­?


    He brooded over the matter for a moment before his mind veered in a different direction.


    As my Starry Qi has already been converted to a higher form of Moonlit Essence, and having sessfully exceeded the 99,998 marker, I can confidently breakthrough as soon as I consolidate my cultivation a little more¡­


    The Forger Realm¡ªthat is my goal.


    Following this train of thought, Azmodeus zed over the vast number of shadowy buildings and establishments, rushing toward thergest castle with post-haste!


    I have no time to waste, as a new level of power is right before my eyes¡­


    His speed only increased as he rammed through protective barrier after protective barrier, pretending as if they didn''t even exist.


    It was only after another few minutes of flying that he eventually reached his destination.


    Upon passing through countlessyers of the darkest of castles, he was greeted with the site of a dark gray coffin¡ªa coffin thaty against a brickyered wall of the vampire-like castle interior.


    "You havee¡­"


    A voice that sounded like it originated from many points in time rang out inside the dimly lit room as the coffin lid was pushed open.


    From inside the crickley coffin, a man over 2 meters in height emerged.


    *Piang!*


    His incalcbly heavy figurended on the surface of his castle as the whole ce shook for an instant.


    "..."


    Azmodeus scrutinized the gothic, baggy, royal-like appearance of the God of Darkness, as he was mildly surprised by the way he looked.


    And his surprise only further deepened when the god spoke once more:


    "You are just as we envisioned you to be, though it looks like your run has taken quite a few more twists and turns than the others did."


    "???" Question marks went off in Azmodeus''s head as he stared at the neutral expression of the god, wondering what exactly he meant by those words.


    "Azmodeus, you must understand something before we begin the uprooting of the 10 True Astral Princes¡ªsomething that not even the Goddess of Light is aware of," the God of Darknessmented with a raspy tone, his crimson-colored eyes honing on the core of Azmodeus''s existence.


    Azmodeus was stillpletely in the dark on what this god was talking about. But after figuring there was no harm in hearing out his loot, he said, "You may say what you wish, but you will not escape like the Goddess of Light did, for my loot storage is feeling empty."


    He no longer had the luxury of sparing any potential loot, as the most recent spending spree put him in dire straits. And if thisrge loot bag wished to say something before being assimted, he didn''t mind hearing him out.


    "..."


    The God of Darkness had an imperceptible glint sh past his eyes as his ashenplexion regained a little of its former luster.


    "Tell me, Azmodeus Crimson. Do you know how a world is created?" He inquired with an ambiguous tone, his voice fluctuating even more out of reality.


    Azmodeus was perplexed by the question, but upon taking a seat on the only two pieces of wooden furniture in the room, he said, "I assume there are manyplexities in creating a world-"


    "No, do you know what it takes to create a world like the Astral ne¡ªto set up everything in a certain way, making sure that everything lines up in a direction that will only lead to one singr objective?" The God of Darkness interrupted Azmodeus while speaking in puzzles and riddles, all while his deep, blood-red gaze never left the extraordinarily handsome man before him.


    After a moment of analyzing every aspect of his existence, he heaved an inexplicable sigh before saying, "Tell me, do you know how hard it was to create you?"


    "!?!?" Azmodeus had his eyes open wide for the first time in what felt like an eternity as he abruptly got up off his chair.


    However, upon realizing that his miniscule emotions were spiraling out of control, he reigned them in before sitting back down. After which, he asked, "What do you mean¡­?"


    The God of Darkness lifted his decrepit, pale index finger in the air before aiming it in his direction and responding, "You, the Crimson Emperor, Azmodeus, or otherwise known as Azmodeus Crimson, are someone created by me, for I am¡­ I am you."


    "!!!!"


    WAAAA!


    Azmodeus''s aura could no longer remain in control, as he nearly evaporated the castle and everything within a limitless number of miles!


    But before such an event came to pass, the God of Darkness waved his hand and dispersed the Peak Star Radiance Level aura as easily as breathing...


    ...¡­

 Chapter 227: The Truth, An Inescapable Past

    ...¡­


    "What¡­??"


    Azmodeus was even more confused than before, as he never would''ve expected the God of Darkness to be so strong, especially when considering that the Goddess of Light was only of the Late Star Radiance Rank.


    It was this realization that led to him setting down Primordial Checkpointers in locations even further than where they were previously ced.


    One world-shaking discovery after another may have been thrown in front of him, but he refused to allow himself to lose his cogent state of mind.


    "..."


    The God of Darkness stared at the crimson-haired man trying his best to control himself, causing the god to inwardly smirk.


    He is truly better than all the ones that came before¡ªone worthy to inherit everything that we lost in the battle with the 10 True Astral Princes, oh, so many years ago¡­


    Following this thought, he focused on the topic at hand and said, "I will be frank with you and tell you that your existence is akin to an experiment¡ªan experiment conducted by versions of yourself from a future yet toe to pass."


    "...Me from the future¡­" Azmodeus muttered with a tone of disbelief.


    "Yes, I was thetest in line of Azmodeus''s¡ªsomeone who came from a time period so far into the future that nothing of today is still left the same in my time."


    The God of Darkness waved his hand once more as he conjured up numerous dark/white lights, attempting to disy the long vicissitudes of time.


    He allowed a seemingly unlimited number of memories to sh by, depicting events that have not yet happened.


    From those memories, Azmodeus was able to understand that nothing the God of Darkness said was in jest, as these memories were of him¡­


    All the way down to his birth and the very first moment he obtained the system¡ªa system that the Goddess of Light was somehowpletely unaware of, even though she knew almost everything about him.


    "Do you now understand why it is that I havee here?"


    Azmodeus was taken out of his thoughts by the inquisitive voice of the God of Darkness, as he wasn''t sure how he should digest everything recently transmitted to him¡­


    However, after a moment of hyperthinking, he calmed his nerves and said, "I now know that you and I are the same, but I don''t understand the Goddess of Light''s involvement in the Astral ne¡­ Why does she know so much, and what is her purpose¡­?"


    "The Goddess of Light¡­"


    The God of Darkness seemed to recall faint memories from long ago. Then, with an ancient tone, he said, "I was the one to create her in my run, and she was created for the sole purpose of finding and assisting the version of me capable of achieving what I could not.


    You see, in the beginning of my run, I took a simr path to yours. But after meeting the Demon God, Lord of the Demon Empire, in the same manner as you met me, I was unable to ovee what the Demon God asked of me¡­


    It was because of this failure and the countless failures that urred before me that I opted toward a different approach¡ªone that had a high-risk, high-reward oue.


    You see, all of us had the Infinite Evolution System awaken when we died in the Yang Sect, and after a few years of evolution, we eventually ended up meeting the one who came before¡ªa version of ourselves that ruled over the world just as you''re about to achieve.


    In my case, it was the Demon God. However, unlike you, the Demon God had no exterior rival¡­ He was the unrivaled #1.


    It was this very existence¡ªsomeone who transcended the Star Radiance Realm¡ªthat asked me to achieve or pass on what he could not¡­ what none of us could achieve¡­


    After I followed the same line of defeat as my predecessor, with the Ten True Astral Princes sealing off all routes of escape, I decided to veer away from the usual options that we take¡­


    I created the Goddess of Light and yed with the strings of fate enough that you didn''t encounter me within the first ten thousand years.


    With the Goddess of Light working against you on the outside and helping you on the inside. Then, to also have my intangible presence looming over your other shoulder, you were given just enough pressure to activate a yearning for power that none of us ever had¡­


    You may not understand what I''m talking about, and you may never truly understand. But just know that the Goddess of Light was a copy of an existence I caught a glimpse of in a crack between dimensions.


    And as I was the only one to get so close to what the 10 True Astral Princes hid from us, I was the only one to receive something other than eternal solitude¡ªI received the opportunity to create and manipte the Goddess of Light¡ªthe only person capable of deriving and creating systems from a higher ne of existence¡­!


    She was supposed to be our salvation¡ªthe salvation who would lead us one step to whoever or whatever created the Infinite Evolution System and gave it to us!


    But in the end, nothing ever goes right in our lives¡ªour excruciatingly long and lonely lives¡­


    All versions of Azmodeus met people, befriended a few, and even married women of both Prometheus and the Astral ne.


    However, there was never meant to be any happiness for us, as our path to power was blocked¡­


    The women around us died to limited lifespans, and those we met along the way became one with the dirt below our soles¡­


    Even so, we continued to try¡­


    My predecessors lived out their lives,sting a number of Epochs, all in hopes of oveing our eternal curse or finding someone who would.


    But even after so many years of trying everything all of us could think of, nothing ever worked¡­


    Jue Mei refused to interfere in the matter¡­ No gods answered our calls¡­ No one heeded our pleas for help¡­


    The Gods abandoned us, the people despised us, the world wanted us dead, and this cage kept us trapped here¡­


    We were forced to live out lives filled with a mental form of torture far more painful than the measly pain inflicted upon us by the Infinite Evolution System''s ''Cost for Power''¡ªa power that was restricted to us from the very beginning."


    The God of Darkness''s voice became indescribable after reaching this part of the retelling.


    He ascertained the reaction of the younger version of him and was surprised to find out that his expression emitted nothing but indifference and unwillingness.


    He is truly different from the rest of us¡­


    There might be the slimmest chance that he does the impossible and aplishes something that the rest of us could only uselessly grasp at¡­


    The God of Darkness had an untold number ofplex emotions sh past his ancient gaze as he walked over to a nearby window seal and looked up at the full moon.


    He wondered exactly how he ended up alone and on hisst legs¡­


    But regardless of his resistance against a fate already set in stone, he turned his rapidly decaying face in Azmodeus''s direction. Then, he said, "You are different, not because of yourpanions or power, or even your talent, but because of one simple thing¡­ You were born with the world against you right from the get-go.


    And without any room for respite like the rest of us had, your will stands the highest chance of oveing the restrictions set in ce by the Ten Astral Princes."


    Azmodeus was still immersed in the previous words of the God of Darkness when he suddenly realized that the god in question had started to visibly dry up and ke off into the air.


    Just as Azmodeus was about to ask about his condition, the God of Darkness spoke first and said, "You are different¡­ You will be different¡­.. Promise me that you will be different¡­.. I don''t know how much more we can take of this eternal suffering¡­"


    His voice became strained toward the end as it started to crack and disperse into the infinite void of nothingness.


    Although Azmodeus was still in the process of hyperprehending everything being said, he had the necessary lucidity to respond, "I will achieve greater power, and I will never stop my search. This will remain true for far longer than an eternity¡­ Absolutely no one will prevent this eventuality. That much, I swear to you."


    After hearing the invigorating response uttered by Azmodeus Crimson, a smile nearly formed in the God of Darkness''s cracked face. "I do hope you remember the promise you made today¡­" He muttered.


    ~Whoosh~


    With a mncholic breeze simr to the one that started it all, the God of Darkness forever vanished¡­


    His life had been nothing but an eternal nightmare¡ªa nightmare that was now no more¡­ as he finally became¡­ free.


    It was a sense of freedom that transcended all limitations and forced a smile upon the once-handsome face of one who tried to escape the cycle.


    "..."


    Azmodeus watched the God of Darkness disappear, as he couldn''t help but recall his promise¡ªa promise that he would either achieve or die for.


    It was with this resolve driving him forward that he blurred away from the Kingdom of Darkness.


    His whole existence moved him toward the next step on the path to Infinite Evolution.


    End of Volume 2.

 Chapter 228: Tyrannical Emperor, Genocide

    Beginning of Volume 3. (Starry Expanse)


    ...¡­


    With the passing of time, many things could change, and that stood true whether a single day or even a year had passed.


    However, for Azmodeus Crimson, time flew by in waves, taking everyone else in its unrelentless currents.


    5,000 yearster.


    5000 years¡­ What sort of concept was that?


    It was enough time for multiple civilizations to rise and fall, but for Azmodeus, it was just another result of due process.


    He had sessfully broken through to the Early Forger Realm a few thousand years ago.


    Since that moment in time, he made great progress within said realm, even reaching a point where he only needed at most 3000 years to make another breakthrough.


    On a side note, his Battle Power had taken leap after leap, as it reached a state called ''Half-Step Sr Dynasty Realm'' a few hundred years prior.


    Additionally, his professions made advancement after advancement, even reaching the precipice of the Sr Dynasty Rank!


    In fact, it would likely be no longer than a few more years before he should be able to ovee the tremendous bottlenecks set out in front of him.


    However, in the meantime, there was something quite important happening for not only him but also for the rest of the Astral ne.


    With this specific thing being the¡­


    Coronation Ceremony of the One True Ruler of the Astral ne!


    That''s right! After hundreds of years of continued effort, the day when Azmodeus finally quenched all thoughts of rebellion came around.


    With the destruction of thest of the stragglers from the Kingdom of Light and the Kingdom of Darkness, there was no longer anybody left to stand in the Crimson Emperor''s way.


    His tyranny spread far and wide, reaching every ear of the Astral ne, as people feared and cursed him. But above all, they revered him¡ªthey revered what he stood for¡ªthey revered what he would be!


    This reverence bordering on insanity was also the leading reason for countless countrymen of the Astral ne gathering at a venue¡ªa venue that stood atop the highest insurmountable mountain in the world¡ªa mountain so grand that it was said a Sr Dynasty Realm Expert came down from the heavens and ced it down himself!


    The Mountain of Cryon!


    It was this very mountain that would serve as the ce where everyone, no matter their gender or race, would bear witness to the birth of a true ruler.


    A ruler who would allow the Astral ne to usher in a new age of prosperity!


    At least, that was how it was supposed to go¡­


    -


    "Where is the Crimson Emperor? Was he not supposed to be here already?"


    "I have no idea where he is, but we went through the trouble of gathering every well-known master at this location. There were countless Half-Step Starshire Rank Experts who had to travel for an uncountable number of parsecs in order to reach the venue¡­"


    "I sure hope he gets here soon, as the foreign experts are getting a little restless while mixed up with those from the Red and ck territories¡­"


    Various voices echoed out from the limitlesslyrge t teau that sat atop Cryon Mountain as everyone looked to one another for answers.


    And that was when it happened¡­


    SHING!


    A crisp, unsheathing sound reverberated through time and space, as it felt like the entire world was on the verge of copse!


    "What the hell was that-!?" The Half-Step Starshire Rank Experts attempted to exim in disgruntlement, but before they even got the chance to p their gums¡­


    CRACKA¡ªBOOOOM!


    A sword arc unlike any other blitzed down from the heavens as its radiant crimson resplendence shattered the very concept of time and space, rendering every form of protective barrier or talisman as nothing more than futile resistance!


    The Half-Step Starshire Experts weren''t even able to open their eyes wide in astonishment before the sword arc had already cleaved Cryon Mountain in two, subsequently taking the lives of everyone gathered at the coronation venue!


    BOOOOOM! BOOOOOM!


    A couple more absurdly loud explosions rang out not long after the first one, as the two split pieces of Cryon Mountain were diced into countless pieces before evaporating in mid-air.


    It was only after the dust and sut dispersed from the surroundings that a figure of immacte regality materialized above the destruction.


    He overlooked the unfathomably deep craters like a high god from the Divine Realm!


    After his aloof figure appeared, a few more people emerged from differentyers of space, all of whom phased right next to him, seemingly awaiting his words.


    Thankfully, it didn''t take long before Azmodeus said, "This is the way of the world, and their strength will be better used as my own. It was only natural that I killed them."


    Following his divine deration, he turned toward the plethora of beautiful women, all of whom were looking at him with varying gleams in their eyes.


    Just as he was about to say something else, a busty dragon girl stepped forward and outright leaped into his arms!


    "Az, I think we should kill even more people! After all, these creatures reproduce faster than we can kill them!"


    Nao Long hugged the side of his neck as she swung around in circles with an oddly mesmerizing glint in her green eyes¡ªa glint that oozed impossible levels of killing intent.


    "Yes, I say we go and find the organizations that these worms came from and eradicate all their nine generations!" You Mei chimed in with a few bouncy hops in mid-air, quickly finding herself snuggling up against Azmodeus with that same deadly look in her gaze.


    "They truly don''t have any value left, so why bother leaving them alive?" Bing Nu Shen inquired with a graceful smile, her well-endowed figure elegantly walking over to the expressionless, crimson-haired man.


    "I agree¡­"


    "Seconded."


    "I''m hungry¡­ Are there any desserts left in that venue¡­?"


    Chi Wu, Li Na, and Yang Hua agreed with their fellow sisters as they got a little closer to the man they dreamed of dancing in blood with.


    "It is fine to kill all these useless sperm worms, but could I get a bit more experience this time around?" Pan Nu interjected the current conversations with an agitated tapping of her icy blue, lightning-streaked sword.


    "Junior Sister Pan Nu, we all know that your ''experience'' is just an excuse you tell yourself so as to pretend like you''re master''s little saint, but it isn''t fooling anyone, so why even bother?" Rou Tian included her input as well.


    Making sure to entuate her assets while taking furtive nces at her master, she used her slender arms to push up her plump breasts from below.


    "..."


    Azmodeus was going to make this a teachable moment, but all these women ever seemed to care about was murdering more things,pletely overlooking the reason for which they killed them.


    I kill for greater strength¡­ But these women kill just for the sake of killing¡­


    He heaved an exasperated sigh upon thinking about how crazy these women were, as he didn''t know how he ended up with this sort of group aspany¡­


    But regardless of his vexation, he soon put his focus on the innumerable system notifications currently bombarding his vision.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 229: Time For A Little Weeding?

    ...¡­


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed a countless number of Half-Step Starshire Rank Experts and an even greater numbers of Amethyst Rank Experts.*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 0.2 Star Points!*


    *Ding!* *Your Physical Existence Rank has drastically improved!*


    *Ding!* *Your Physical Existence Rank has achieved the state of ''Absolute Peak Half-Step Divine Rank''!*


    *Ding!* *Upon achieving the Divine Rank, you will have reached the maximum rank of your Physical Existence and will thus gain an extreme boost in your stat multiplier!*


    *Ding!* *Your Cultivation Boost Multiplier has made great strides due to the killing of so many powerful existences.*


    *Ding!* *Your Cultivation Boost Multiplier has improved to a rate of ''23,450x''*


    *Ding!* *Your Basic Attribute Multiplier has surpassed the 1 Billion Mark!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte or roll for an Ability of the beings you just killed?*


    "The usual."


    *Ding!* *You have absorbed a vast number of Physique''s, resulting in your Singrity Physique reaching the ''Absolute Peak Half-Step Divine Rank''*


    *Ding!* *You have gained arge number of Traits!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to upgrade all of your Traits to Level 2 of SSR Rank?*


    "Yes."


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *Your 500 Septillion+ Traits have all been upgraded to Level 2 of SSR Rank!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 0.2 Star Stat Value in Strength, 0.3 Star Stat Value in Speed, 0.2 Star Stat Value in Defense, and 0.4 Star Stat Value in Qi.*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has tremendously improved!*


    *Ding!* *Infinite Evolution System will now transmit the price for such power to the willing host.*


    -


    Azmodeus felt an intense wave of pain wash over his existence as he clenched his teeth and adjusted to it as best he could.


    However, with the additional wave of emotion dullers hitting him from all sides, that pain quickly subsided as it was overwhelmed by yet another level of indifference.


    After all of the system notifications finished ringing, he decided that it was time to level himself up to Level 299, preparing for the moment that he finally ascended the Astral ne.


    BING! BING!


    Following a few button clicks and another wave of power washing over him, he opened up his system interface, getting a good look at the final time he''ll see it before his ascension.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: ~29,000/120,500,000,000,000] (Increased due to Physique''s and Traits with relevant boosts)


    [Cultivation: Early Forger Realm (Late)]


    [Cultivation V.2: Physique Existence Refinement ¨C Half-Step Divine Rank (Absolute Peak)]


    [Battle Power: Half-Step Star Dynasty Realm (Absolute Peak)]


    [Level: 292]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: < 0.1 Star Evolution Essence]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: ~1.8 Star Evolution Essence]


    {[Stats:]}


    [Strength: 0.8 Star Value]


    [Speed: 0.9 Star Value]


    [Defense: 0.7 Star Value]


    [Qi: 1.2 Star Value]


    [Cultivation Talent: Absolute Peak Star Radiance Rank]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Astral Split - Level 2] (SR Rank)] ¡ú [0/~0.1 SEE]


    [Mirror Mirage - Level 2] (SR Rank)] ¡ú [0/~0.1 SEE]


    [Various other Traits] ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [Overall Attribute Boost: SR Rank - (Level 2)]


    {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters]}


    [Singrity (Absolute Peak Half-Step Sr Dynasty Rank)]


    [Various other Physique''s] ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [Overall Attribute Boost: Absolute Peak Half-Step Sr Dynasty Rank]


    {[Laws]} ¡ú


    [12 High-Star Laws: Level 2] ¡ú [Extreme Attribute Boost.]


    [For the host''s convenience, the previous Law section and below have been simplified (temporary).]


    ¡ª------------


    After getting a good look at his revised system interface, Azmodeus flipped his apathetic gaze across all the girls of his Heaven Exploding Cave Abode. After which, he said, "We will be ascending soon, so prepare everything before we go. And try to drain the Astral ne of everything it has; don''t leave a single de of grass left uncut, understood?"


    "Yeah, yeah, Az, we will make sure to kill and plunder all the empires before we head out into a vaster world!" Nao Long responded on behalf of all the women as she rubbed her soft cheeks against his face, seemingly in her own little reality.


    Azmodeus ignored the clingy dragon woman as he looked in the direction of the limitlesslyrge Emonius Continent.


    The infinite grind for the Astral ne ising to a close, but with the closing of one door, another one is always opened up¡­


    And whether the 10 True Astral Princes stand in my way or not, it will make no difference, for in the end, nothing shall impede my path to Infinity¡­


    Following these thoughts of affirmation, he lightly shook both Sanguinary and Excalibur, causing both of his intimidating weapons to quickly shrink to the size of tiny medallions.


    After which, he grabbed them and attached them to his flowing red robes, leaving the miniature scythe on his left side and the miniature sword on his right side.


    FWIP!


    His figure vanished after this action waspleted.


    He and the other girls left the barren airspace, nning to drain the Astral ne down to the bone¡­


    ¡­


    In the blink of an eye, 200 years forever disappeared from the Astral ne''s timeline.


    During this substantial period of time, Azmodeus had turned 35 thousand years old, while the rest of the girls weren''t too far behind or ahead of that number.


    Over such a lengthy period, the Astral ne had long since lost everything that made it function like a normal ecosystem.


    The Crimson Emperor and his Sect raided, piged, and killed anything in sight!


    The core female members of the sect had kill counts surpassing the octillions, and that was with them ''Holding back a little''.


    And then there was Azmodeus, whose kill count could no longer be measured with the mortal numerical system¡­


    They had truly taken the Astral ne for everything it was worth, as no lives, treasures, or materials escaped the insatiable grasp of the Crimson Emperor. And by the 199-year milestone, there was no longer anything but barren wastnd for as far as the eye could see¡­


    No matter if it were the previous Kingdom of Light or Kingdom of Darkness, or even the small Single Leafed Squares, nothing was left unscathed after the tyrant devils of the Heaven Exploding Sect passed through.


    They screamed ludicrous phrases while praising Azmodeus, speaking of the ''New Age'', all without an ounce of independent thought inside their minds¡­


    The countless members of the Heaven Exploding Sect were sessfully turned into mindless zealots that only knew how to follow orders. Thus, no one was allowed to disobey the divine decrees handed down from the Crimson Emperor''s messengers.


    Azmodeus did not need people with their own way of thinking or beliefs. He only needed tools for which to use like the gue, as they spread throughout thends, conquering, enving, brainwashing, and annexing wherever they went.


    The number of braindead zombie-like subordinates had grown sorge that their leader figured it was time to do a little weeding to celebrate his ascension¡­


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 230: Destroying The Astral Plane, For Loot

    ...¡­.


    "All Hail The Mighty Crimson Emperor¡ªone bathed in the blood of his enemies¡ªThe One True Ruler of the Astral ne!!"


    HOOORAAAH!


    Passionate shouts could be heard from every corner of the limitlesslyrge Emonius Continent!


    All of the Heaven Exploding Sect Members were back at the Sect HQ on orders of their leader, so such noise was to be expected.


    "..."


    Azmodeus flipped his apathetic gaze across all those who were once above him in strength. And he would normally feel a sense of happiness... but for some reason, he didn''t¡­


    *Ding!* *The host will slowly but surely lose all of his emotions if he continues down the path of Infinite Evolution¡­*


    He recalled the message that the Infinite Evolution System sent him all those tens of thousands of years ago, as a sense of mncholy nearly welled up inside him.


    However, it was swished away as quickly as it came, causing a wave of coldness to once again overwhelm his blood-red gaze.


    After which, he erged Sanguinary and Excalibur. Then, he said in a booming voice, "You all are my loyal subjects. And as such, you would be willing to do anything for me, would you not?"


    It took no time at all for everyone in the crowd to go crazy as they screamed in unison, "Yes!!!!"


    At this response, a cold gleam shed past Azmodeus''s eyes as he let out a breath of cool air.


    *Thud!*


    He stood up from his starry throne and uttered, "Very Well¡­"


    SHING!


    "Then please kindly die for me."


    WAKAZOOOOM!


    The whole world split in half, from the ground floor to the center of the ne, all the way up the clouds above!


    Scythe arc after Sword Arc were unleashed in every direction of the Emonius Continent!


    An untold number of lives were lost with each causal swing. And as Azmodeus''s arms started to look like nothing more than erratic blurs, the damage finally registered¡­


    SHING! SHING! SHING!


    The continent was sliced up once¡­ twice¡­ thrice¡­ again and again¡­ over and over¡­


    A plot ofnd that was quite literally boundless, with too many diverse biomes to count, was reduced to perfectly diced-up chunks of earth as all of the zealot sect members died with radiant smiles on their crazed faces¡­


    "This is how it must be. And though you may have been useful for the longest time, your use has unfortunately expired¡­ I have no need for useless tools¡­"


    Azmodeus spoke these emotionless words while swinging around his scythe and long sword.


    Not stopping with just the destruction of the Emonius Continent, even thends below the rapidly falling Continent were reduced to a disastrous state.


    WHIZ! WHIZ! WHIZ!


    Azmodeus''s swings were only bing increasingly violent as he started to encroach upon the Early Sr Dynasty Realm in Battle Power. And it didn''t take longer than a few minutes before he truly did achieve a Battle Power in the Sr Dynasty Realm!


    RUMBLE!


    Everything in the Astral ne violently shook!


    Intense Astral Winds were produced from every further strike unleashed, resulting in the rapid deterioration of the topography.


    Before long, every sliver of residual energy conjured forth universe-sized natural disasters, as tsunamis drowned Square after Square, and violent lighting/fire tornadoes destroyed everything they touched!


    ¡­


    After a few more hours of exponentially increasing destruction, everything for as far as a Sr Dynasty Realm could see was no more¡­


    The red side of the boundlesslyrge tic-tac-to board was vaporized, and everything on the ck side was left in a state no better than the red side¡­


    However, despite the absolute destruction akin to a super atomic supernova having touched base, there was one plot ofnd in the midst of it all that was left untouched by the harsh levels of radiation.


    Or rather, there was a mountain¡­ a mountain that left a vastly contrasting image when surrounded by death and destion on all sides.


    -


    Fallen Immortal Mountain.


    After the absolute disy of power by the Middle Forger Realm Azmodeus, there was only one thing that remained in the Astral ne¡ªa life treasure that had been around since the beginning of his journey.


    It was this very mountain that housed eight divinely beautiful women, an adorable alien cat, and a crimson-haired man, all of whom were in the process of ying a game of Monopoly.


    As the world burned and the Crimson Emperor''s Primordial Essence Clones and Mirror Mirages eradicated even the microscopic bacteria, the one who caused it all moved his car piece around a t game board.


    While doing so, he simultaneously looked over his system notifications without a care in the world.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed an immeasurable number of inhabitants inside the Astral ne!*


    *Ding!* *You have destroyed a vast number of treasures, ranging from the Common Rank all the way to the Star Radiance Rank.*


    *Ding!* *A good chunk of the treasures you destroyed possessed Traits and Existence Value.*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 4.5 Star Essence Value from all the treasures you destroyed!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 105 Star Essence Value from all the living organisms you killed!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte the Stats or roll for the Abilities of the things you erased from existence?*


    "The usual¡­"


    *Ding!* *You have gained 6.5 Star Stat Points in Strength, 8.9 Star Stat Points in Speed, 9.5 Star Stat Points in Defense, and 12.5 Star Stat Points in Qi.*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has tremendously improved!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 40.5 Star Stat Points in Strength, 37.6 Star Stat Points in Speed, 42.5 Star Stat Points in Defense, and 55.8 Star Stat Points in Qi.*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has drastically improved!*


    *Ding!* *You have received a countless number of Physique''s and Traits from all the beings and items you erased. Would you like to Assimte them into your existence?*


    Azmodeus was surprised that he could acquire additional loot from all the treasures he destroyed, but he still swiftly responded, "You can set the item acquisition rates to ''The Usual'', same as you did with living organisms."


    Following this request, a bright blue and golden light shed as a number of pop-ups materialized in thin air.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 231: Playing Monopoly In The Apocalypse

    ...¡­


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have obtained more than 100 Nonillion Traits and Physiques, ranging from the Common Rank to the Star Radiance Rank.*


    *Ding!* *Your Singrity Physique has increased by leaps and bounds!*


    *Ding!* *Your Singrity Physique has taken anotherrge step within the Early Sr Dynasty Rank!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 106 Star Points from all the beings and treasures you destroyed!*


    *Ding!* *You received both Star Evolution Essence and Star Points simply because you eradicated the rules that govern the rudimentary aspects of the Astral ne (Still beneath the 10 True Astral Princes).*


    *Ding!* *Your Physical Existence Rank has advanced by leaps and bounds, achieving a state where it''s on the verge of breaking through into the final Divine Rank.*


    *Ding!* *To breakthrough to the Divine Rank, you will need more than just immense amounts of Star Points, as you will also need the core of a 2nd Layered ne of Infinity.*


    -


    Azmodeus looked over his system notifications. Quickly, he learned that he was now able to obtain Star Evolution Essence from ces other than the Boundless Void¡ªa void thaty directly underneath the Astral ne, still putting it under the jurisdiction of the 10 True Astral Prince''s.


    Even so, that was just one of many things that had changed, as the most important matter of notice was the fact that an opportunity to reach the Divine Rank had been presented before him.


    And there was no way in hell he wouldn''t acquire this benefit before breaking past the influence of the Astral Princes and entering the wide world beyond!


    Those of me from different points in time couldn''t ovee the Astral Prince''s¡­ but I will not end up with the same unwilling fate as them¡­


    No matter what price I have to pay, I will escape this bird cage and evolve in the Starry Expanse¡­


    And then I''ll ascend the Starry Expanse and do the exact same thing on a higher ne of existence¡­


    I will repeat this process for all eternity¡­ and I will never stop this pursuit of greater power¡­


    One might think that Azmodeus''s most distinctive feature was his unparalleled appearance or absurd level of cheat-like talent. But they would be wrong.


    The part of him that most affected his path forward was neither his physical appearance nor his talent, as it was instead his¡­ Unrivaled Will!


    There was nothing in existence that could cause his will to waver, whether that be the gods, beautiful women, or impassable obstacles.


    For in the end, his will would negate them all, leaving him as the only one worthy of Absolute Transcendance!


    That was Azmodeus¡ªthat was the Loot Goblin!


    One who left a sea of blood wherever he walked¡ªone who knew not how to be merciful or lenient to those who got in his way to Infinite Evolution!


    It was this lofty existence that was in the midst of an intense game of Monopoly with those cheeky women he surrounded himself with¡­


    -


    "Hey, Az, Az! I think you should look over there for a second while I check the board and make sure that everything is looking okie dokity!"


    Nao Long bounced her voluptuous figure on top of Azmodeus as she attempted to distract him in every way possible, all for the sole goal of¡­ cheating!


    "..."


    Azmodeus nkly stared at this shameless woman, as he should''ve figured that she would have nefarious intentions in mind when ying this sort of game.


    Furthermore, it looked like she wasn''t the only one aiming to cheat their way to victory, as Yang Hua and You Mei fidgeted in ce, seemingly conflicted about how low they could go.


    "Are you all really doing this right now¡­? I thought we promised each other to y fair and square to celebrate the end of the world¡­" Chi Wumented from the side as she gracefully sat on her knees while watching a few sneaky hands hide some y money behind their backs.


    "I-I don''t know what you could possibly be talking about, Senior Sister¡­!"


    You Mei immediately went on the defensive, as she incoherently stuttered while swinging around her long ck ponytail.


    "...I wasn''t even talking about you¡­ but seeing as you have quite the sum of money stuffed inside your bosom, it seems like you''re no better than the rest¡­" Chi Wu remarked with a light clicking of her tongue and an eye roll.


    "W-What are you saying, Senior Sister!? I have done no such thing¡­!" You Mei rebuked, sweat raining down her porcin-like forehead in great amounts as she fiddled with her bosom.


    She tried her best to hide the y money she sneaked from the stack...


    Chi Wu simply sat there and watched the shameless woman stash everything even deeper into her chasm¡ªa chasm that separated two mountains of white pudding.


    "Shameless¡­ pervert¡­" She murmured with an immense amount of disdain in her golden gaze.


    "Hai!? You shouldn''t needlessly nder good people, Senior Sister! How could you say such things about little ol me!?" You Mei spoke with an aggrieved tone, her sparkly eyes flickering erratically.


    One might''ve believed this little act of hers, if not for the fact that Monopoly y money was still slipping out of her smooth slopes, blowing into the air in the form of a money rain¡­


    "..." "..." "..."


    Everyone expressionlessly stared at the utterly shameless woman. During which, she still tried to y the innocent act, even while money was quite literally flying out of her bosom.


    "Erm¡­ What are you all looking at¡­? Have I gotten more beautiful or something!?" You Mei shot her head in the direction of the aloof, crimson-haired man as she schooched onto hisp and said, "I think I''ve gotten prettier, Az, Az! Won''t you check the area in between my cleavage to verify this spection of mine?? Pretty please??"


    She entuated her well-endowed breasts as even more Monopoly money shot out of her vast chasm.


    Just how much money did she put in there¡­?


    Azmodeus was beginning to be a little curious about how she fit so much in such a tight space, but his thoughts were quickly interrupted by a flying karate chop!


    A karate chop aimed right at the noggin of the shameless pervert!


    *Bonk!*


    "Owiee¡­!" You Mei immediately backed away from Azmodeus as she held the top of her head and rolled around on the ground, attempting to alleviate the pain.


    "You should learn how to be less shameless, my disciple," Bing Nu Shen said with a light shake of her head.


    "B-But Master¡­! That was too much pain for such a small thin-"


    *Bonk!*


    Bing Nu Shen took out her trusty bonking stick and once again whacked her second-youngest disciple across the head, causing her to roll around with even more fervor than before.


    "Don''t talk back to your master; get back to your studies. If I remember correctly, you have still yet to reach level 7 of the Divine Finger Sword¡ªa finger technique given to us by our husband and also a technique that everyone beside you has gotten to level 7."


    Upon hearing the lecturing of her master, You Mei had her little ahoge strand bend down.


    Thereafter, she sat on the floor with a defeated look on her face and arge red bump on her head.


    As master and disciple went through a couple exchanges with each other, Azmodeus was going through a simr sequence of events with his disciples, all while continuing to y Monopoly.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 232: Ten True Astral Princes

    ...¡­


    "How far have you two gotten inprehending the Ice Lordling and Holy Sanctuary Arts that I personally created for the both of you? They''re techniques that suit your attributes to an almost impossible degree, so I assume you two have progressed quite a bit."


    Azmodeus looked toward the nervous countenances of Rou Tian and Pan Nu as he awaited their responses.


    "..." "..."


    Both of said disciples were currently freaking out on the inside as they looked at each other, expecting some help that they''d never receive¡­


    They wished to dy the inevitable for as long as possible. However, upon seeing the impatient glint in their master''s eyes, they knew that no respite would being their way¡­


    "Y-You see, Master, there was an incident and-" Rou Tian attempted to speak on behalf of both of them, but she was swiftly interrupted by Azmodeus, saying:


    "There''s no point in lying to me. But since you two seem alright and there is plenty of free time with the end of the world, the two of you should have free calendars to delve into those techniques for the next, let''s say¡­ 10 thousand years."


    "!!!" "!!!"


    "Master, you can''t do this to me! I need to see what sweet shops are still left around-" Pan Nu was the first to let out a light holler, as she identally fell backward out of fright, causing her plump breasts to ricochet.


    Of course, Azmodeus ignored this alluring sight and said, "There are no ''but''s'', my dear disciple. And since you wish to have sweets so badly, I will permit you to spend the next 15 thousand yearsprehending the Low-Star Laws and High-Star Laws that I gave you a book of insights in."


    "Mast-" They attempted to talk back once more, but upon seeing the dangerous glow in their master''s eyes, they instantly backed off and entered a glum state.


    Rou Tian and Pan Nu enjoyed the cultivation grind quite a lot, but without new sweets to eat, what was even the point of living on¡­


    However, in the end, they eventually got over their gloomy morasses. During which, their master made sure to give them enough choctes and apple pies tost a few lifetimes.


    Moreover, with the promise of allowing them toe out of their rooms every once in a while, they no longer had any qualms about cultivating for the next 15 thousand years.


    However, with the end of the world in sight, it was highly likely that things would get rowdy, potentially shortening that 15 thousand years to a far shorter period of time¡­


    That was made even more abundantly clear when 10 near-transcendent auras suddenly materialized in the air above where the Emonius Continent once stood.


    WAAAA!


    The sheer amount of energy emanating from 10 separate worm holes was enough to increase the decay of the Astral ne...


    A mere 2nd Layered ne of Infinity could never hope to stand up against the might of the 10 True Astral Princes!


    It wasn''t long after the wormholes formed that an ancient, ear-deafening voice boomed out from the wormhole at the forefront:


    "Who was the one audacious enough to defy our will!?"


    OOOM!


    With just the mere release of this illusory figure''s voice, everything within a countless number of megaparsecs was vaporized!


    It was this very voice that caused everyone inside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode to go silent as they all looked toward the nonchnt, crimson-eyed man. Of whom, even at this point in time, sat on his knees while sipping on herbal tea.


    He remained utterly unresponsive to the chaos happening outside his peaceful mountain.


    However, after a moment of gauging the unfathomable power levels of the 10 True Astral Princes, he suddenly opened up both of his eyes as a cold gleam passed through them. After which, he said, "Their power is far beyond my own, so I assume everyone knows what they must do?"


    All of the women simultaneously looked at each other as they nodded their heads before turning back toward Azmodeus and saying, "We understand."


    Azmodeus observed their stone-faced expressions. Quickly, he understood that they were locked in. And it was only then that he emotionlessly uttered, "These conceited princes will soon understand how foolish they were to trap me in arge exp farm¡­"


    FWIP!


    Following these words devoid of emotion, his figure vanished from its spot as everyone else spread out inside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode, seemingly getting to work on something vastly important to their n¡­


    -


    To conquer the world, one must be willing to throw away their humanity¡­


    To be the strongest, one must do whatever is necessary¡­


    And to ascend your limits is to be born anew¡­


    Azmodeus looked toward the 10 absurdly powerful existences looming over everything below. knowing that he stood no chance of beating them, he simply stared.


    Even if he put down Primordial Checkpointers, it would make no difference. After all, no amount of leveling in the Astral ne or Boundless Void could erase the chasm thaty between himself and the 10 Astral Princes.


    Which all went to say that in the end, there was only one option made avable to the man who wished to defy the destiny of those who came before¡­


    These Existences¡­ They see themselves as the absolute top of everything¡­


    To ovee people like that without the necessary strength¡­ there is only one path forward¡­


    ZIP!


    Azmodeus blitzed through the skies at speeds surpassing any known parameters as he shot toward the leading Astral Prince.


    The Astral Prince in question, along with the rest of them, had already caught sight of the ant flying at them. Thus, they domineeringly gazed at the audacious lower life form.


    "So you are the one who caused all this destruction¡­? You are¡­ ahh¡­ So it is another version of him¡­"


    The leading Astral Prince spoke with a cryptic tone as he analyzed the crimson-haired man before him.


    After a moment of scrutiny, a wide, creepy smirk formed on his stoic face. Then, he said, "You are truly nothing but a fool¡­ One would think that those presented with an impossible task would eventually give up¡­ but you never do¡­"


    ...¡­

 Chapter 233: A Grand Trick, Covering The Eyes Of The Astral Princes

    ...¡­


    "???" "???" "???"


    The other Astral Princes looked toward their leader with confused expressions, as they didn''t know what he was talking about.


    "Did you divine something, Elder Marvoth?" One of them inquired.


    Marvoth turned his ridiculing face away from Azmodeus and responded, "Yes, it seems like the Laws of Time have been altered, and it wasn''t merely a single time that it happened."


    "You''re saying-"


    "Indeed, this one is a byproduct of an ant time traveling using some form of rune¡ªa rune that has somehow escaped our sight." Marvoth finished the words of the second eldest prince, as the intrigued gleam in his eyes only intensified.


    "But for something to pass by our sight¡­ they would have to possess outside assistance¡­ and to do something like that, it would have to be at the very least a Star System of Rank 3 or higher¡­ Are you sure we can handle the repercussions of interfering in the ns of such an illustrious organization?"


    One of the youngest of the Astral Princes, Reckoth, brought up a very logical question. After all, getting past their divine sight should normally be impossible¡­


    *Sigh¡­*


    An archaic sigh escaped the cracked lips of Marvoth as he lightly shook his head. "You are too young and inexperienced to understand the intricacies of divination, Reckoth. As this ant has already used time travel on multiple different timelines, causing parallel versions of ourselves quite a lot of trouble."


    "T-This is¡­" Reckoth mumbled while frozen in ce.


    He never would''ve expected a mere low level mortal to go against them so many times!


    "You needn''t worry about anything, for in the end, this bug will alwayse back using some mysterious means. Still, it is best we erase him from this timeline, restore the damage done, and leave him for the next versions of ourselves."


    Marvoth''s iridescent aura fluctuated a little bit as the screen of divine light covering his body had a number of energy tendrils extend outward.


    He nned to do the exact same thing that all past versions of him did, which all essentially followed the principle of ''If he''s not here, then how is it my problem?''.


    The normal sequence of events for the plethora of Azmodeus''s would be the arrival of the 10 True Astral Princes after achieving a certain level of strength or renown.


    Thereafter, the Astral Princes would kill the one who dared interfere in their ''Faith Value'' farm.


    But before the Azmodeus in question could die, he would activate a one-time-use time rune, sending him back a random number of years. But, it would be at the cost of his lifespan¡­


    However, this time around, Azmodeus decided to destroy everything in the Astral ne, simr to what a couple versions of him had done.


    But different from before, instead of activating the time rune, he would do something else¡ªsomething that could be seen as utterly insane to an outsider.


    But to him, there was nothing more sane¡­


    -


    "Tell me, why is it that people struggle for more power, status, or strength?"


    "???" "???" "???"


    The 10 True Astral Princes looked toward the ant who decided to speak.


    They never would''ve expected a mere low mortal to have the capabilities to withstand their auras, let alone speak up in their presence.


    Even so, they weren''t beings who stayed easily surprised for long. Thus, the immeasurablyrge cosmic body of Marvoth moved a step forward before he got on his knees and tilted his head a little to the right.


    "Why do you speak, nuisance? Are you not afraid?" He asked as his faceless fment of light morphed into a dark red color, followed by a horrifying expression emerging above his malicious smirk.


    Universes and Cosmos could be seen swirling around inside that enormous head of his, as they all came together with the sole purpose of inducing terror in the ant!


    However, contrary to Marvoth''s expectations, Azmodeus did not even flinch in the face of such a monstrosity, as he once again asked, "Why do people struggle for more than they have? Why do they do something that the masses view as futile? Tell me¡­ why?"


    "...."


    Marvoth''s scary expression froze for a second. Then, he got up from his crouched position, subsequently causing his face to return to the nk state that it was before.


    "You ask such pointless things, ant. But since you insist on being a bother till the very end, I will answer your question before I devour you." He spoke with an indecipherable tone, his spiraling cosmic eyes focused on the tiny man.


    He attempted to understand how it was that the ant managed to escape into a different timeline upon encountering other versions of himself.


    But even with his divine sight in full activation, he couldn''t discern what exactly made it possible for someone so weak to disconnect from timeline after timeline¡­


    Nevertheless, he still decided to say, "People yearn for more because it is only natural! It is only natural to want to be better! And no matter what must be done, people like me will always pay the price¡­!"


    Marvoth seemed to recall something from a past long gone, as an indescribable glint shed past his star-filled eyes.


    And when he turned his face down toward the mortal, he saw a simr look in his eyes¡­


    It was this very look that caused him to dart his gaze toward a certain direction in space, as he realized right then and there that he had been yed the fool!


    "How!? How did you escape our tangible line of sight!? A clone¡­ this is¡­ a Life Treasure¡­" Marvoth shouted with fury evident in his voice as he tried to grab the mountain in the distance.


    "It''s toote¡­ Your negligence was your folly, and it will also be the reason for your death¡­" Azmodeus spoke with a cold, cid tone as he watched the aftershadow of Marvoth move toward the other half of his main body.


    "You know, the oue might''ve been different if you looked outside of the world that you assumed only revolved around you. But in the end, I guess your will wasn''t strong enough¡­" Azmodeus muttered.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 234: I AM ATOMIC

    ...¡­


    "Tell me, was it not unwise of you to ignore a possible case of ''outside help''...? Because the truth is that I truly did receive the assistance of someone else¡ªsomeone you couldn''t possibly hope to fathom...


    And although I have to give up this half of my existence, it''s a small price to pay for the opportunity to figure out where your main bodies are located.


    And that brings up thest and final note toment on when concerning this sorry disy of dominance¡­


    Why did you bring your clones down to this world? Instead of using your far stronger main bodies like all the other timelines, you decided to use these flesh bags¡­ It truly does confound me.


    But regardless of the circumstances that led us up to this point, I bid you all farewell. Until next time we meet¡­


    Do try to live out the best of your days until I return, for when I do¡­ it shall be yourst."


    Following these words oozing of killing intent, a bright sh of light erupted from around his body, rapidly expanding and engulfing everything in the vicinity!


    WAAAA!


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    An explosion unlike any other was unleashed from the tiny body of Azmodeus, subsequently forcing all of the Astral Princes to look away from their agitated leader and see an imperceptible smirk form on the face of the one they once saw as an inconsequential bug.


    "Before I go, let''s see how you all fare against the science behind a technique that incorporates the aspect of exponential explosive potential."


    Azmodeus''s voice dripped into their ears as they saw the rapidly expanding light be even faster at engulfing the entirety of the Astral ne, quickly reaching a point where the whole world was covered in a radiant array of purple/crimson colors!


    It was only after achieving this level of grandiosity that the crimson-haired man lifted up his right hand from inside the center of the light.


    His other hand grasped the extended hand. After which, runes and sigils of unbelievable proportions lined his arms and body from head to toe!


    OOOM!


    The sigils lit up in great splendor, as all at once, the purple/crimson returned to its source.


    After which, Azmodeus slowly uttered three robotically crackly words of untold pandemonium¡­


    "I¡­"


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    The 10 True Astral Princes had a bad feeling about what was about to ur as they leaped at the Crimson Devil Lord with their extremelyrge bodies.


    However, just as Marvoth was toote to stop the Fallen Immortal Mountain from passing through a rift in space-time, none of them were able to prevent the inevitable.


    "A.M¡­¡ª"


    RUMBLE!!!


    The Astral ne could no longer hold up against the level of power emanating from Azmodeus, as everything, whether that be space, earth, time, or even reality itself, started to break and crack!


    CRACK¡ª


    BOOOOOOM!


    The fment of reality that held two infinite spacetimes together started to visibly shatter!


    "Stop him, you damn fools!!!" Marvoth bellowed at the top of his lungs, as he had already given up on chasing the Fallen Immortal Mountain through the uncertain territory of a rift in spacetime.


    But no matter how loudly he called out, the damage had already been set in motion¡­


    The whole world seemed to freeze for an instant as the evil smirk on Azmodues''s face widened to both ears. Then, without fare warning, the sigils of his body exploded in majesty as he uttered, "I¡­ Am¡­¡ª"


    "¡ªA.T.O.M.I.C.¡ª"


    "Nooo¡­!!!!" Marvoth roared, his hands moving to save the Astral ne.


    CRACKA¡ªBOOOOOM!


    But in the end, all was for naught¡­


    A level of energy beyond humanprehension erupted outward from Azmodeus as the molecules that made up the explosion rapidly split up and multiplied.


    It took less than a fraction of an instant for him to die, as his body was used as a nuclear fissure, resulting in the immediate erasure of¡ªeverything.


    There was no buildup, and there was no steady destruction¡­ It was simply the end of existence, and it happened in an instant¡­


    The Astral ne, the Boundless Void, variousyers of infinity¡­ It mattered not what stood in the way of the explosion, as it disappeared all the same¡­


    ***


    Meanwhile, in an expanse of nothingness and yet everything all at once, a certain mountain traveled through time and space, aiming to reach a world beyond.


    And inside this mountain, there were nearly a dozen divinely beautiful women, all of whom surrounded a man of even greater beauty.


    "It looks like hiding our bodies and, subsequently, our auras inside that concealing array was the right move to make." Li Namented from the side while trying her best to calm the nerves that were still on edge because of the constant scans made by the Astral Princes during their escape.


    "Yes, it was quite taxing on our psyches, but it''s finally over. So, why don''t we focus on the future instead?" Chi Wu lightly nodded her head while looking out at the vast expanse of shing lights passing by the mountain.


    "..."


    Azmodeus abruptly opened his eyes when she said this, as he focused on his inner world.


    "It''s finally here¡­" He softly murmured while looking at a basketball-sized sphere of sorts.


    "What is that?" Yang Hua inquired from the side.


    Azmodeus looked toward the curious woman leaning over his shoulder as he said, "It''s the core of the Astral ne. And it''s also what will allow me to break through into the Divine Rank."


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    Yang Hua, Nao Long, and the rest of the girls looked at him with wide eyes, as they couldn''t believe what they were hearing!


    "You''re saying this iridescent ball is the core of a 2nd Layered ne of Infinity!?" They questioned in unison, their eyes analyzing the seemingly normal-looking ball of light.


    Azmodeus held a firmer grasp on the ball of light as he responded, "Yes, and I assume the Ten True Astral Princes will be absolutely livid after figuring out that they can no longer restore the Astral ne to what it once was."


    He couldn''t help but feel a slight sense of amusement at this realization, as he could already imagine the rage-filled looks on their faces.


    But regardless of his input on the matter, the fact was that he managed to sneak the core of a 2nd Layered ne of Infinity. And he did it right under their noses.


    This would surely elicit a manhunt, with the sole objective of the Astral Princes being to take his head off his shoulders¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 235: Entering The Starry Expanse, A Goddess...?

    ...¡­


    Well, if it weren''t at least this much of a challenge, then it wouldn''t be any fun to see what they look like when Ie to assimte their strength as my own.


    An evil smirk formed in Azmodeus''s inner self.


    He would surely be met with adversity after adversity in the days toe, which would most definitely lead to¡­


    Loot!


    Since the day he acquired the Infinite Evolution System, the only thing he''d ever wanted was loot!


    And with the ascension into the Starry Expanse right in front of him, that meant that new and wondrous loot was ready for the plucking!


    With these thoughts in mind, Azmodeus sent out his divine sense. As a result, he was weed with the sight of countless starry objects zing in the wormhole between dimensions.


    "It''s only through destruction that the most beautiful of things can be born¡­" Bing Nu Shen mumbled from the side.


    The space they were in was a truly mesmerizing one¡­


    "Indeed." Azmodeus spoke with a hint of awe, not because of the picturesque view but because this was the narrow tunnel that would lead him to untold levels of loot.


    And what could possibly be better than loot¡­?


    This question need not be answered. Instead, he put his arms behind his back and uttered, "Based on the energy fluctuations inside this wormhole, we still have quite a while before making it to the Starry Expanse. So, everyone should focus on cultivation. After all, it is unknown what we''ll find upon crossing into a new world¡­"


    With these words of prudence, he watched the girls wipe off the sweat on their foreheads as they moved toward the lounge area of the cave abode, which was where they typically cultivated.


    After sitting down on various cultivation increasing mats, they got right down to it and began focused cultivation sessions.


    Azmodeus inwardly smiled at this sight, as the girls were finally learning the way of a true ascetic. And for him, that meant some peace and quiet-


    *Plop*


    A busty dragon woman found her way onto hisp, as any notions of peacefulness were thrown straight out of the nearest vacuum of space!


    Forget everything that I said before¡­ These girls are truly incorrigible¡­


    A deep sigh containing a multitude of different emotions nearly escaped his mouth before being quickly subdued by his emotion dullers.


    I can''t even sigh properly anymore¡­ What a time to be alive¡­


    Azmodeus didn''t know how to properly quantify not being able to do something as simple as releasing air from one''s mouth, but sometimes it was better to not understand something¡­


    Nevertheless, like all things in life, his outlook was swept away by the long waves of time, as even inside a wormhole between two transcendent realities, time passed just the same as on the outside.


    ¡­


    15,000 yearster.


    Azmodeus sessfully broke through into the Divine Rank, allowing his physical body to go through a massive qualitative change.


    Thereafter, his skin took on a sheen akin to a universe, dazzling and unparalleled in all its splendor!


    With this important breakthrough, the Core of the Astral ne was lost upon absorption, but the price was definitely worth it when one considered how much his physical strength improved.


    The past shadow of his previous self was no longer in sight, as this breakthrough resulted in a strength increase sorge that even Middle Sr Dynasty Realm experts would find it hard topare!


    That all went to show just how major a breakthrough into the Divine Rank truly was!


    After all, in all of existence, only he was in the Divine Rank!


    Although his Qi Cultivation Base had not improved much during this period of time, his Physical Existence having achieved the maximum rank more than made up for it.


    With my cultivation inside the Late Forger Realm and my Physical Existence within the Divine Rank, along with my Iaijutsu and Crimson Death Technique at the Middle Sr Dynasty Rank, I should have enough strength to begin trudging through the Starry Expanse¡­


    With this thought in mind, Azmodeus sent out his divine sense and saw the same scene of the Fallen Immortal Mountain spinning around in circles while floating through the endless wormhole.


    However, there was something different about the view outside the mountain this time around.


    Instead of there being no change in scenery, there was something different¡­


    They say that when one is on their deathbed, they will see a bright golden light in a tunnel¡ªa golden light that is said to lead one into the afterlife¡­


    That was the only thought on his mind before everything inside the wormhole violently vibrated as the lone mountain was pulled into the golden light at the end of the tunnel!


    Although they say that¡­ They never said it would be so violent¡­


    Following this thought, Fallen Immortal Mountain and all its inhabitants were shot into the tunnel of light, with their destination up to destiny to decide.


    ¡­


    It has been approximately 15,235 years since Azmodeus and gang were transported into the wormhole betweenyers of reality.


    It was on the first day of the new year that a quaint little vige was thrown into an uproar, as a giant mountain quite literally fell out of the sky and ttened their Ancestral Mountain!


    "What the hell was that!?" The Vige Chief''s son eximed.


    His fun-time with a ve woman was interrupted by a rumbling sorge that it felt like the whole world was flipped on its head.


    "Who dares to interrupt the smexy time of this young master!? Truly Courting Death!" He shouted from the top of his lungs as he stormed out of his luxurious Viking-style house, heading straight toward the chief''s residence.


    "I will have my father exin this disturbance to me! For this is truly uneptable!"


    With this intent in mind, he took lofty strides toward where his father should be, utterly ignoring the screams and cries of all the peasants.


    Don''t these dirty plebs know when to be quiet while in the presence of awesomeness!?


    A vein appeared on his forehead as he was about to vehemently berate themoners for speaking in his presence.


    "You fuc-"


    However, just as he started to speak, a sight beyond words fluttered down from the skies like a heavenly goddess!


    .....

 Chapter 236: Supernova...?

    .....


    "A Goddess¡­"


    The Vige Chief''s son could no longer keep his jaw up off the ground. Then, with dead eyes, his expression morphed into one as if he had just caught a glimpse of the afterlife.


    What elicited this reaction from him was none other than Yang Hua fluttering down from the skies with a graceful, otherworldly countenance. And for a Void Refining Realm cultivator like the Vige Chief''s son, seeing someone like her was beyond what his frontal lobe could endure.


    This resulted in him staring at Yang Hua with an expression that looked as if nothing were left inside his head¡­


    "???" Yang Hua passed by the re*arded-looking man as she walked to a nearby gazebo and waited for the rest of her group.


    Luckily, she didn''t have to wait long, as a man who could only be described asing out of a painting flickered into existence.


    Along with him came seven other divinely beautiful women, all of whom observed their surroundings with curious gazes.


    "So this is the Starry Expanse¡­" Bing Nu Shen muttered from the side, looking at the topography that didn''t appear to be too different from Prometheus or the Astral ne.


    In the end, she got bored of the lush green forests and fertile dirt hills as her ck eyes seemed to hone in on the most dazzling thing around.


    "..."


    Azmodeus felt the intense gaze bore into his back, but decided to ignore it and focus on the new environment they found themselves in.


    The first thing he did was extend his divine sense. And while there wasn''t much of note initially, as it reached further, he realized they were in a city, within a kingdom, on a continent, all situated on a....


    "It appears that we''ve found ourselves on a inside a vast sr system."


    He revealed the contents of his discoveries just like that. After all, he felt no need to withhold anything from the girls.


    This openness was warmly received by Nao Long and the rest, as they shed lovely smiles before huddling around him, oozing obsessiveness.


    "???" Did they not hear what I said¡­?


    No¡­ They just don''t care¡­


    Azmodeus realized that the girls didn''t truly care about where they ended up¡­ They only cared that he cared¡­


    These women¡­ sigh¡­


    Sometimes, he wished they would just leave him alone and go their own way, but he knew deep down that such a thing would never happen.


    And that was what scared him¡­


    The women followed behind a man that would never be able to reciprocate their feelings, and they did so with no ulterior motives¡­


    They just wanted to be loved.


    But that is not possible for someone like me¡­ To love is to feel, and to feel is to go against the path of Infinite Evolution¡­


    Azmodeus heaved aplex sigh before setting aside the matter altogether. Instead, he focused his attention on the matter at hand.


    It seems like my divine sense is limited to around that of a sr system''s diameter, which roughly trantes to the name of my Qi Cultivation Realm.


    If my realm is truly the deciding factor of my divine sense limit, does that mean the amount of strength I can disy is around the same?


    He wasted no time dwelling on the subject as he sent out a strand of sword Qi. Then, he watched it blitz upward at speeds far slower than what they were in the Astral ne.


    After the crimson-colored sword Qi exceeded the atmosphere of this foreign, it shot off through the star-speckled void of space.


    Eventually, it reached a distance where therge green and brown turned into nothing more than a dot.


    It was only after achieving such a distance that the sword Qi lightly fluctuated, ultimately leading to space rippling around the edges of the sword arc.


    Until the sword arc eventually¡­


    CRACKA¡ªBOOOOM!


    Exploded!


    Nearby cosmic objects were sent flying in every direction, as even nearby asteroids and smalls in the explosion''s st radius evaporated!


    Nothing in the surrounding 3 light years was able to escape the utterly devastating explosion!


    And by the time that the explosion''s aftereffects came to a close, all that was left in that part of the Starry Expanse was arge, rapidly reconstructing plot of void.


    It was this very result that left Azmodeus in a contemtive state.


    He was able to confirm his suspicions.


    It looks like my power is truly limited to what the real-life representation of my Battle Power would be.


    Considering that my Battle Power is still within the Middle Sr Dynasty Realm, a few light years of damage should be my limit. And if I wish to surpass said limit, I will need to continue increasing my strength.


    It was this thought that brought up another matter of concern for Azmodeus. After all, this was extremely limited in strength, with their strongest forces being in the Comet''s Passage Realm.


    Even Yang Hua, You Mei, Chi Wu, and the other girls were in the Moonlit Path Realm, making them far stronger than the apex forces of this.


    This would normally be a good thing for a starter location, but Azmodeus was not normal¡­


    I want stronger enemies¡­ I want to die and die until I win¡­ And after I win, I want to find even stronger enemies and kill them as well¡­


    He was not willing to let any loot escape his grasp, but if the loot was too weak, what was even the point?


    Supernova¡­ I could supernova the entire sr system¡­


    This genocidal thought entered his mind, but it didn''t sit for long, as killing everyone within such a small radius would give far less than vaporizing a 1st Layered ne of Infinity.


    That was just bad business¡­


    So what to do¡­? What is the optimal direction I should take in order to acquire more resources¡­?


    Azmodeus was about to give up on the matter for now, but something¡ªor rather, someone¡ªwas able to clear up his foggy path ahead¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 237: My Women!

    ...¡­


    "W-Who are you!? And why are you standing next to my woman- err, I mean women! Why are you breathing in their presence, you little plebeian!? Are you not aware that this Young Master has connections with the Starry Federation!?"


    The Vige Chief''s son snapped out of his stupor a couple seconds ago, but upon seeing another man around ''his women'', that earlier confusion was reced by immense rage!


    He was someone who always got what he wanted! There was no one daring enough to deny his ''authority''! And no matter which far-off ce these neers came from, he would always be the superior one-!


    *Spurt!*


    A dainty hand went straight through the chest of the Young Master!


    "Tsk!"


    Nao Long looked at the hideous creature with a disdainful gaze.


    It was with such immense disdain that she pulled her hand out of the pig, taking with her both his heart and Essence Soul.


    "You wanted our hearts, so I think it''s only fair that you give up your own." An evil smile emerged on her wless face as she crushed the throbbing heart right in front of the disbelieving eyes of the Young Master.


    "Y-You¡­ witch¡­"


    That was all he could get out of his bloody mouth before falling to the hard, cobblestoned roads with a loud thud. Which, as a result, caused his excessive amount of jewelry to break off his neck and roll around the streets.


    "It looks like he couldn''t handle our love." Li Na giggled a little before noticing that a number of the town''s citizens saw what happened to their young chieftain.


    "Ahhh! Murder!! Someone has murdered the Young Chieftain!"


    "What!? Someone actually has the balls to do such a thing in broad daylight!?"


    "Please! I''m begging you, senior sister Mu! Have my seed before we all die to the aliens! I promise that our children will be healthy and strong!"


    "Eww! Who the hell are you!? Just die!"


    Chaos ensued among the townsfolk, as there were even a few ''unique'' dialogues that got mixed somewhere in between¡­


    "...Should we do something about this?" You Mei asked with her head tilted at a cute angle.


    "No, just let them be," Azmodeus nonchntly responded while looking over the memories that the adorable dragon girl brought back to him.


    At this moment, Nao Long looked a whole lot like a cute puppy dog bringing a bone back to itspanion¡­


    Nevertheless, after scanning through the couple thousand years of insignificance that was the Young Chieftain, Azmodeus was only able to understand a couple things.


    One of those things was that cultivation was a lot easier to progress in while inside the Starry Expanse.


    Even this moron, with a cultivation talent inside the Sky Rank, was able to achieve the Late Void Refining Realm within a short 2200 years, which is utterly absurd¡­


    This topic led to him wondering how fast he himself could cultivate. But before that point came around, a new farming spot would need to be found.


    After all, he wouldn''t be able to peacefully cultivate without multi-tasking¡­


    However, with a certain memory from the Young Chieftain, Azmodeus was able to learn of something quite interesting.


    It seems like that moron didn''t lie when he said he had connections with the Starry Federation. And although he severely exaggerated this ''connection'', at least I have a lead to a good farming spot.


    Many useless things were found in the memories, but there were also a number of useful points of note.


    For one, this was called Kyros, and it was the 12th in line among dozens ofs within the sr system of Erebus.


    The Sr System of Erebus was a direct subsidiary of the farrger Sr System of Valeria. And it was thetter sr system that would be the key to reaching the Starry Federation.


    And it just so happened that the Young Chieftain''s father was someone rted to the Lord of the of Kyros, Lord Magnus.


    As long as I can willingly have Lord Magnus hand over the key to the long-distance spatial formation that connects the two systems, I''ll be able to directly reach the Sr System of Valeria. And I can do so without the need for prolonged interster travel¡­


    With these calctive thoughts in mind, Azmodeus phased toward the Chief''s Residence, aiming to brainwash him into aplishing something for his soon-to-be master.


    FWIP!


    Azmodeus materialized inside the Chieftain''s wide, borately decorated mansion. After which, it took no more than 2 seconds for the target to be found.


    "Who the fuck are you-!?" The Chieftain, in all his chubby glory, wasn''t even able to finish his exmation as he was pulled out of the woman he was suffocating with his fat rolls.


    Immediately after this abrupt action urred, his shlong was cut off and diced into a plethora of different pieces!


    "Ahhh!!! You fucking bastards!!!" The Chieftain hollered, excruciating pain visible through the fat encapsting his face.


    Following this action, which was meant to help all his victims cope with what happened to them, Azmodeus pulled the 400-pound man up by his sparse strands of hair. Then, with an icy stare, his blood-colored eyes took on a darker shade of red.


    "You will go to the Capital City of Kyros, and you will request a meeting with Lord Magnus. After aplishing this, you will have him sign his name on this piece of paper. I don''t care how you do it, but it must be willing on his end." Azmodeus shed a piece of golden-outlined paper, as it was what would allow for ''Willing Cooperation''.


    Lord Magnus must not read the contents of this contract, but he will still sign it anyway. Make this happen, and then ram your head against a random wall of the Capital. Kill yourself and be done with it." Azmodeus ced the contract in the chubby hands of the Chieftain.


    Following the voicing of these directives, the eyes of the Chieftain glossed over for a second as drool leaked down his fat lips¡­


    After a moment or two of his ''condition'' getting progressively worse, his entire hostile demeanor took aplete 180 as he fervently said, "I will aplish this, Master!!"


    FWIP!


    His corpulent figure vanished not long after these words, and he wasted no time in achieving his sole purpose in this life!


    Now that the first step is out of the way, I just need to sit back and wait for the results to bear fruit.


    This train of thought was followed by the passing of time as Azmodeus and the girls explored this corner of the world, waiting for the Chieftain''s mission to seed¡­


    .....

 Chapter 238: The Time To Take A Sh*t

    .....


    A few weeks passed by in the blink of an eye as Azmodeus and gang toured the Kingdom of Youkster as well as the surrounding nations.


    And it was on the day they entered the Empire of Xogrove that word came back from the Chieftain.


    So it was a sess¡­


    Azmodeus inwardly smiled, as this was good news. And if it didn''t end with this oue, he would have had to kill the Chieftain before sending out a clone using his face.


    But he wasn''t sure if such an action would go against the  Lord''s own volition'' rule, so he ultimately decided against it.


    Not that it mattered anymore, as the mission was a sess and Lord Magnus was nowpletely under his control. And with such control, Azmodeus went straight to work, getting him and the girls to the''s royal capital.


    It was there that they saw a huge, modern-like city as well as arge golden-green pce with various ancient tapestries hanging off its countless edges.


    This pce sat in the very center of the Royal Capital and was where the king, ministers, and high officials resided.


    However, less than a few hours ago, thest of the high-ranking executives were put under the influence of Azmodeus''s branishwahsing. Which was to say that the''s capital, as well as the itself, was forced underneath his heel within the span of 3 weeks¡­


    Kyros, a that managed to stay under the rule of Lord Magnus for more than 40 million years¡­ A like that was upheaved in the time that one took a sh*t in the world of cultivation¡­


    In spite of this immense achievement, the Crimson Emperor''s focus was in an entirely different dimension as he looked toward the robust, muscr man kneeling before his throne.


    A ruler was turned into a mindless ve, and a new ruler ced his rump upon another man''s throne. There was nothing more humiliating than this, and it was very likely that Lord Magnus was crying tears of blood on the inside.


    But regardless of what may or may not be, Azmodeus cared not the slightest bit as he turned his fierce gaze down toward the lion-maned man.


    He was someone who shot out praise after praise in the usurper''s direction!


    "You may stop now."


    "Yes, your Majesty!"


    The Lord hit the shiny ruby floors with his face, causing absurd levels of blood to leak from his forehead.


    Azmodeus ignored this urrence as he lightly waved his hand, beckoning the Lord to stand up ande a little closer.


    At this point, the Lord was nothing more than a lowly dog. So, of course, he dly followed themands of his ''benevolent'' master. And it was after following thetestmand that he was met with an irrefutable order:


    "You will open up the spatial formation that connects the Sr System of Erebus to the Sr System of Valeria. After which, you will splice it wide enough to fit a human person through."


    "!!!"


    "Your Majesty! This action will lead to serious consequences for Erebus, as interster travel is only used to get messages from Ruler''s in one system to another syste-" The panicky voice of a wizened minister resounded but was swiftly interrupted by a de to his throat.


    SHING!


    *Spurt!*


    A head flew off its shoulders as a minister in the Comet''s Passage Realm died with disbelief strewn across his wrinkled face.


    "I don''t care¡ªI don''t care what anyone has to say. Just get it done."


    Azmodeus left no room for discussion as his frigid voice dripped into the ears of all those present in the throne room.


    He was analogous to that of a devil giving his divine decree...


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    Those with shallow branishwashing effects were fully converted right then and there, as they fell to the floor with feverish expressions, resulting in bloody spiderweb cracks spreading throughout the triple-reinforced ruby surface.


    "We will heed the orders of his Majesty! There will be no room for failure!"


    Following this zealot-like shout from all those inside the throne room, everyone vanished from their spots.


    Heading toward the relevant locations to aplish their tasks, they did whatever was necessary!


    Some even went to far-offs, aiming to use their connections in order to get the Lord''s on their leige''s side.


    FWIP! FWIP!


    With the disappearance of thest few Royal Advisers, as well as Lord Magnus, Azmodeus was left atop his hollow throne, analyzing things within his psyche.


    However, his alone time was quickly interpreted by the materialization of eight women, all of whom looked as if they walked straight out of a fairy tale.


    The women of the hour... Azmodeus muttered inside his mind.


    "Az, Az!"


    Like usual, Nao Long was the first one to make it over to the solemn crimson man as she leapt into the air, letting her airbags catch some wind.


    It took no more than a split second for her to make it to hisp, iming her designated spot, all while wagging her tail like a happy puppy dog.


    Azmodeus softly petted her long ck hair while thinking of the benefits of a good stress reliever.


    But when there was one, there would naturallye two and three, as Pan Nu and Rou Tian were the next ones to make their way over.


    "Master, I think you are being a little too lenient on the citizens of this, as I vote we just kill them all and be done with it!" Pan Nu spoke with a righteous expression while swinging around her holy stick of justice, otherwise known as a Sr Dynasty Rank Halberd!


    "As much as I hate to admit it, I do agree with Junior Sister on this one, as the best thing to do would be to kill them all and bathe in their blood. And maybe use an absorption technique to take away their strength." Rou Tian mumbled thest part, as it was clearly of lesser concern than upholding a higher kill count over her Junior Sister.


    "..."


    Azmodeus nkly stared at his mentally insane disciples as he wondered where he went wrong in his teachings.


    Or maybe I did a good job at teaching¡­?


    He himself was on the verge of insanity, so it was no surprise that he was confused about the veracity of his disciple''s lunacy¡­


    Whatever... All I know is that yet another long day is ahead of me¡­


    Azmodeus sighed a little before proceeding to entertain the girls, waiting for the 10+ Lords to fall under his rule.


    .....

 Chapter 239: A Breakthrough Is Nigh

    .....


    Approximately 3 months after Lord Magnus was forced under the heel of the Crimson Emperor.


    Inside a dazzling pce in the center of Kyros''s Capital City.


    "So, it''s done?"


    A raspy voice that sounded like the voice of the devil echoed out inside the pce''s throne room as a man of unbelievable proportions sat atop his bone-covered throne, nonchntly looking down at the kneeling servants.


    "Y-Yes, Your Majesty! Lord Magnus, as well as Lord Chronic and the others, have managed to get Lord Marmom under your absolute rule!"


    One of the servants stopped forth from among the crowd and answered the question voiced by his Emperor.


    "..."


    Azmodeus put his hand to his chin as he thought over his next course of action.


    The transportation formation is ready¡­ but it is unknown what I will meet upon making it to the Sr System of Valeria¡­


    He didn''t wish to get caught in a trap immediately after entering a new system, but he refused to stay behind in this low-level area. And considering the fact that he couldn''t leave behind his main body, there was only one path forward.


    "You may prepare the Star Fleet. We are going to evacuate this entire system, head straight into the wormhole, and then take over the Sr System of Valeria."


    "!!!"


    "But, Your Majesty! Is that truly a wise thing to do!? If we splice the riftrge enough to fit our entire Star Fleet, the Erebus System will implode in on itself! Everyone will die-"


    "Doesn''t matter. Just get it done." Azmodeus spoke with a non-negotiable tone as his piercing gaze saw into the souls of all those present.


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    The various servants and high officials bowed with even greater reverence. "We will get this done, Your Majesty!" they shouted in unison.


    FWIP! FWIP!


    They vanished from their spots, heading toward various segments of the Royal Capital, aiming to evacuate the entire capital and leave everyone else to fend for themselves.


    "This is not a world for the soft, and if you aren''t ruthless enough, you will die." Azmodeus softly murmured a quote from a set of memories he absorbed from a hero.


    While doing so, he thought about the loot waiting for him on the other side of the wormhole.


    Nothing will escape my grasp, and if I need to be the devil to make that happen, then so be it¡­


    His thoughts trailed off as he blurred from his throne, phasing in the direction of Fallen Immortal Mountain¡ªa Life Treasure that he ced down right outside the Royal Capital.


    It was there that he met the core founding members of his sect, the only ones who survived the countless massacres conducted inside the Astral ne.


    Yang Hua, Nao Long, You Mei, Li Na, Bing Nu Shen, Chi Wu, Rou Tian, and Pan Nu were the only surviving members of the sect. Furthermore, they were also the only ones still left alive after theplete destruction of Prometheus and the Astral ne.


    Did Azmodeus care about the uncountable number of lives he reaped from major nes of existence?


    Was there even the smallest shred of remorse left within his bones after the murder of an infinite number of living organisms??


    No.


    He felt nothing.


    Death meant nothing to him.


    Death was merely the natural course of things, and if one had any qualms with him over his merciless killing sprees, then they had not yetprehended the true meaning of life.


    But regardless of that fact, there was something far more pressing inside the mind of the Crimson Emperor.


    "The time for a breakthrough is nigh¡­" He muttered while lying underneath a pile of sensual womanly bodies.


    They had decided to dogpile him a couple hours ago. But since it didn''t affect his cultivation speed, and considering that it would likely be more trouble to get them off, he simply ignored them.


    However, in the midst of this little group sleeping session, the Elusive Ascension Technique assisted Azmodeus in reaching the very peak of the Late Forger Realm!


    This would''ve normally not been possible in such a short amount of time, but with the improved Qi density in the Starry Expanse, cultivation was made a whole lot easier.


    It was this very cultivation speed improvement, as well as the returned cultivation talent stat acquisitions, that allowed his cultivation efficiency to increase by leaps and bounds!


    After effectively enabling him to go from the beginning of the Late Forger Realm all the way to the peak of said realm within 4 months, his cultivation talent told him it was time for a breakthrough.


    And who was he to deny a breakthrough??


    It was with this rhetorical question that he let the Starry Qi flow in from the outside world, allowing his 99,999,999 Moonlit Essence to make the jump into the 9-figure milestone!


    Moonlit Essence was the evolved form of Starry Qi but was only able to stay present inside the body of a cultivator. Additionally, it was also what dictated how much energy storage and strength one held within the bounds of each minor realm.


    For example, someone in the Late Forger Realm would have a Large sitting over their Dantian, and they would also possess Moonlit Essence valued between 10,000,000 and 99,999,999. However, what one might think to only be a difference of 10 was actually farrger than that.


    Qualitative change.


    The World of Cultivation was full of it, and the Moonlit Essence within one''s body was no different.


    The further one progressed, the greater the value one''s existence became.


    This was all to say that within the Forger Realm, every breakthrough was a major one, and for Azmodeus, that difference was made even bigger.


    -


    OOOM!


    Insanely high-quality Qi particles swirled around inside the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode as Azmodeus attempted to do something that would normally be seen as impossible for his young age.


    And he somehow managed to go through his breakthrough with eight girls piled up on top of him. Furthermore, he was able to do so without waking up a single one of them!


    It all went to show just how much willpower he held over the control of the elements. And it was this very control that forced his body to adapt, as the Qi produced 10 times the results with half the quantity...!


    .....

 Chapter 240: The Fall Of Kyros, Erebus Goes Supernova

    .....


    The breakthrough is almost there¡­ But I will need a bit more time if I wish to convert my Large into a Huge¡­


    With this intent in mind, Azmodeus focused on absorbing the Qi.


    As a result, his body underwent ludicrous levels of damage, even causing his skin to fry and ke off.


    His physical body was being deep-fried, while his Nascent Soul and Essence Soul were being seared alive, all because he wished to make use of every active Qi particle¡­


    However, the pain made no difference for him, as the amount inflicted on him by the Infinite Evolution System far outweighed anything that exterior forces could hope topare with.


    It was with such grit that he pushed through the breakthrough, ultimately reaching a point where the Qi around his body reached its zenith. And it was only after this point that the Qi coalesced at the center of his body before abruptly bursting outward!


    WAAA!


    Regal crimson-colored Qi tendrils shot off his body like rouge alien tentacles, as Fallen Immortal Mountain and the Crimson Dimension were enveloped by the aura of a singr man!


    After reaching such a point of Majesty, Azmodeus recalled his aura as the eerie tentacle phenomenon urring outside his Cave Abode came to a sudden halt. After which, it was sucked back toward its source like lint underneath the pull of a vacuum.


    The moment the aura returned to its host, a breakthrough was made, as the Crimson Emperor sessfully crossed the 100 Million Moonlit Essence threshold!


    This breakthrough has increased my Battle Power by quite a substantial amount¡­


    He clenched and unclenched his fists, feeling extreme levels of power coursing through his veins.


    It was unknown where exactly his strengthy without looking at the system interface, but it was definitely beyond the limits of the Middle Sr Dynasty Realm!


    This boost in strength is a good one, but I feel as if I can obtain even greater strength.


    At this thought, he suddenly recalled what the system said about achieving Level 300 and the relevant boosts that came along with such a milestone.


    If I can level up to 300, then I can unlock a new system feature. And if it''s anywhere as good as the Primordial Essence Clone feature, my strength is sure to make anotherrge leap.


    Azmodeus wanted to level up to 300 right then and there, but he knew that nothing around him could possibly give him enough Evolution Essence.


    However, it was unknown if that would still be the case after making it to the Sr System of Valeria¡­


    Valeria¡­ I will see just how many benefits you hold in store for me.


    A creepy smile nearly crept up Azmodeus''s face as he looked out at the star-filled sky, seeing nothing other than the benefits that every light in the void of space kept safe just for him...


    ¡­


    With the passing of time, many things could change. And that was true for the passing of a day or the passing of a million years.


    However, for the Elusive Azmodeus Crimson, it only took 10 hours for the whole system of Erebus to be flipped on its head!


    The Star Fleet of Kyros took all the citizens into his ships while leaving everyone outside the capital to die.


    Furthermore, it wasn''t only the of Kyros that made suchrge movements, as thes of Arcoon, Siversife, B-39, C-64, and various others were subjected to the same abandonment tactics.


    No matter which habitable it was, not a single high-official or Royal Capital citizen was still left on their surfaces¡­


    Those outside the highly populous areas were beyond confused by the actions taken by their government, as it didn''t take long forplete and utter chaos to ensue.


    It was pandemonium no matter where one looked, as shops were ransacked, towns were burned to the ground, women were ra*ed, men were ra*ed, and nukes wereunched¡­


    The world of Kyros was the first to fall, as its surface area was turned into 90% fire, while the remaining 10% was nothing but radiation and gunk.


    Azmodeus called for the immediate ssing of the, as bread crumbs were still bread crumbs.


    The was blown to smithereens, and the one who caused it was the one to benefit the most.


    After the destruction of Kyros, the next to go was the neighboring of D-25¡­


    The status of D-25 was simr to how Kyros was before it devolved into pandemonium, with the only difference being that giant meteor-sized sea creatures had dug their way up from the''s core. Afterward, they took over all surface civilization.


    From what Azmodeus could gather, these sea creatures had apparently been there for billions of years, biding their time, waiting for the opportune moment to emerge on the surface and conquer the world.


    And they did just that. Well, at least for a few hours¡­


    However, when a crimson-robed man fluttered down from the heavens and snatched one of them away like a helpless doll, they instantly realized that their dreams of world domination were nothing but a fool''s folly.


    The crimson-haired man snatched away one of their own before lightly waving his hand, erasing the from the Void of Space like an artist stroking a brush across a piece of paper.


    The sea creatures ruled the for a total of 47 minutes¡­


    That was the end of their grand and glorious destinys, as the Crimson Emperor moved onto the next series ofs, ultimately cleaning the System of Erebus of all it had.


    The amount of Evolution Essence he gained was negligible, but something was better than nothing, and leaving a te with food still on it was bad manners.


    It was after these casual genocides of billion-year old civilizations that Azmodeus moved the Crimson Dimension and the Star Fleet toward the wormhole.


    This was the wormhole that led one right toward the Sr System of Valeria, and it was also the path to more loot.


    It was for the singr reason of finding a broader path to infinite evolution that he forcefully spliced the wormhole, sticking the million-ship fleet into the gap in space-time.


    Although the fit was a tight one, everything worked out in the end.


    That was as long as you ignored the audible screaming of the Sr System of Erebus, as it was quite literally being stretched like malleable y.


    Think of a b*tthole, and then imagine a 5-foot wide firecracker being stuck up said b*tthole.


    This was what the Sr System of Erebus was feeling at that moment. But for Azmodeus, he couldn''t care less.


    I''ve never killed a Sr System before, but I''m sure it will give quite a few hefty loot bags¡­


    With this thought on his mind, he traveled through the transit between two points in space, all while ignoring the Erebus System going supernova in the background.


    .....

 Chapter 241: Shoot A Death Beam

    .....


    A total of fifteen days have passed since Azmodeus entered the wormhole between sr systems, and it was on this auspicious day that a bright blue light shed at the end of the tunnel.


    "I thought it was supposed to be golden¡­" He softly murmured.


    Shortly after thisment was made, he, along with the Star Fleet, phased through the sh of blue light, reaching a whole new area!


    In this area, there was nothing in the immediate vicinity. However, if one looked farther out, they would see a vast number of shiny objects, all of which hovered around an extremelyrge shiny object.


    "I assume that is the Central Space Station of Valeria?"


    Azmodeus voiced his question to a captain kneeling behind him. And the Captain''s response was, "Yes, My Liege! That is the Central Space Station of Valeria, and it is also the ce where mostmerce is conducted within the system!"


    Following this differential answer, the captain of Kyros Star Fleets'' lead ship moved a few steps forward. Quickly, he made it to a dashboard that had a plethora of blue screens scattered across it.


    After tapping a few buttons on the dashboard, the lead ship sped up its advance as it shot toward the Central Station, achieving speeds far surpassing light speed.


    "Captain, how about you fire a death beam right at that Central Station?"


    Azmodeus interrupted the concentration of the Captain with a baffling question, thus causing him to identally push an elerator a little too hard out of fright.


    "W-What was that, My Liege¡­? I surely must''ve heard wrong, because I swear I just heard you say to shoot a death beam at the Central Stati-"


    "Yes, that is exactly what I said." Azmodeus interjected with a hand to his chin as he lifted his other hand off the red satin cushion he sat on. After which, he pointed to the rapidly expanding Space Station. "So, can you do it or not?"


    "!!!" The Captain could feel the killing intent from miles away, as even the other staff were scared silly by the natural presence of their absolute ruler.


    There was nothing anybody could do to deny his rule. And there was also nothing that could be said to refute his words¡ªthe words of the Crimson Emperor¡­


    It was this constantly present realization that forced the Captain to his knees as he cried out, "I would never even entertain the idea of going against our Liege! Just give the order, and your personal Star Fleet of a million will get it done!"


    Azmodeus''s lethal aura dispersed at the utterance of these words."You know what you must do."


    The Captain felt shivers tingle down his spine as he nervously bowed in reverence. "V-Very well¡­" He stuttered before passing on the order to his subordinates.


    After a few minutes of themands being received by all those relevant, the once-lively aura of the Star Fleet took a turn for the worse as everyone knew what they had to do.


    Even though they would be exterminating the lives of an untold number of people, when they recalled the divinely handsome face of their ruler, all their doubt washed away like the sand on a shore.


    It was with such a level of blind faith and devotion that the Captains of over a million StarShips opened up ss containers before pressing down onrge red buttons. After which, pure destruction and chaos ensued¡­


    -


    "Hey, do you see that in the distance, Ming Pao?" An executive of the Central Station inquired with a puzzled gleam in his eyes.


    "Hwat?? I don''t see anything, Fan Xiao! Are you sure you aren''t going blind from all that paperwork you have had to do to make up for on your days off!?"


    Ming Pao put his hands to his forehead like a sailor on the lookout. But upon seeing nothing of notice yet again, he berated his junior once more.


    However, in the midst of their banter, what Fan Xiao saw a second ago made itself clearer than ever, as blots of multi-colored light sprouted up from countless different directions, all of which were over 500 Light Years away.


    But for the world-destroyingser beams made by a highly advanced civilization like the prosperous Erebus, such a short distance was unable to stop the inevitable destruction that was to follow.


    And when one included the fact that the Star Fleet sat just out of range of the Central Station''s sensors, absolutely nothing could stop the grind¡­


    "Fire."


    With the nonchnt uttering of words that could mean the deaths of countless lives, all of the StarShips simultaneously shot out beams of death. Every single one of the beams coalesced in the middle of a point in space, ultimately forming a monstrosity beyondprehension!


    What would it be like to see death shooting straight toward you, and as the life faded from your eyes, you realize that there was absolutely nothing you could''ve done to prevent such an oue?


    Well, for high-ranking executives of the Central Station¡ªexistences inside the Forger Realm¡ªthis was exactly what they felt.


    If it were just a few death beams, then the Station''s shield could deflect the damage, or they could take care of the beams themselves. But what was happening at that moment was beyond the expectations of anyone even remotely involved in politics.


    They were in a neutral zone! Somewhere that even the Gctic Lords would not act unruly in!


    No one could''ve possibly ounted for an entire Sr System falling under the rule of a pathologically insane man!


    But it was far toote for regret, as death looked all the Station''s inhabitants in the face. And with the shing of a light so unbelievably bright that the sun paled inparison, everything paused for a second.


    After taking a moment to register the damage, the world resumed as Fan Xiao and his friends evaporated at a visible pace, quickly turning into skeletons before being further reduced to dust particles. And when even the dust particles were unable to withstand the searing heat, no trace of their existence was left within the world of the living.


    They perished¡­


    Everyone perished.


    .....

 Chapter 242: I Should Just Kill Them All

    .....


    The Central Station of Valeria and all its inhabitants were eviscerated down to the veryst atoms. And in their ce, there was a giant sphere of empty void¡ªemptiness that took up a surface area farrger than a star, even verging upon the size of a Sr System.


    Following the copse of everything within a set area of space, Azmodeus received arge number of system notifications.


    It was only natural that he took the time to look over them while watching the empty void of space fill up again.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have eradicated the Central Space Station of the Sr System of Valeria. And it is because of this grand achievement that you have been allotted a massive boost to your gains!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 35 Star Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *Your Star Evolution Essence Bank has taken a massive leap in total value!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte the Stats or roll for the abilities of the beings you just killed?*


    "Do the usual."


    *Ding!* *You have obtained a vast number of Physiques ranging from the Sky rank all the way to the Dwarf Star Transformation Rank!*


    *Ding!* *You have progressed in your High-Star Laws by quite the substantial amount!*


    *Ding!* *The Law of Syneresis is beginning to approach Level 3!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained arge number of Racial Traits ranging from the Sky Rank all the way to the Dwarf Star Transformation Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your Singrity Physique has taken anotherrge step toward the Late Sr Dynasty Rank! Continue killing, and a breakthrough wille your way!*


    *Ding!* *You have gained 15 Star Stat Value in Strength, 17 Star Stat Value in Speed, 18 Star Stat Value in Defense, and 24 Star Stat Value in Qi.*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has drastically improved!*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power is beginning to approach the Peak Sr Dynasty Realm!*


    Following the ringing of all these system notifications, Azmodeus nced up from his satin cushion.


    He watched as the faint aura around his body spiked up in immensity!


    "Yet another decent boost is Strength¡­" He inwardly smiled before refocusing back on the matter at hand.


    There will surely be repercussions for these actions, and from what I can feel from the distance, there are arge number of Dwarf Star Transformation Realm Experts currently on the move.


    And though they won''t be any trouble, there are sure to be more and more of them thate after I dispose of the current wave¡­


    I have a faint feeling that the Dwarf Star Transformation and Star Radiance Realms are far from the limit for the Valeria System.


    I sense something truly terrifying making its presence known¡­


    He flipped his gaze across vast chasms of space, and on the other side of an enormous red star, something started to awaken.


    What this something was¡­ Azmodeus had no clue¡­


    But he knew that it spelled trouble for his farming tactic. And that was simply uneptable.


    If I wish to maximize gains, then I will need to take care of whatever lies dormant on the other side of the star. But to do that, I will need to figure out a way to beat the entity, and to aplish such a thing, I will need far more strength than I presently possess.


    Even though Azmodeus was confident in his strength, he was not stupid. The entity behind the star was something extremely ancient, and it was also something prone to active explosions.


    At least, that was what Azmodeus could deduce from the reactions it had to the earlier explosion. And this would also support the reasoning behind theck of security at the Central Space Station.


    The top experts in this system are clearly afraid of whatever that entity is. Furthermore, it seems like even after so much damage has been done to their territory, they don''t dare make any rash moves¡­


    Azmodeus found this all quite mysterious, but if he wished to get to the bottom of this unusual quagmire, then he would need to improve his strength. And to do that, he needed a few willing whetstones.


    Luckily for him...


    "Who dares to cause trouble in the territory of our Lord and Master!? Do you have a death wish!?"


    Three immense auras of untold regality materialized in front of the Star Fleet as they looked toward the lead ship with ferocious gazes.


    Azmodeus, on the other hand, nkly looked at the unexpected visitors, wondering just how he should go aboutpleting the next step in his n of conquest.


    And that was when it hit him!


    I should just kill them all.


    Following this extremelyplex thought, he phased from his position.


    While shooting straight toward the opposing forces, he did not n to even give them the time to form a thought as he sted their existences from the timeline!


    After three system notifications rang out inside Azmodeus''s head, he moved toward his next target, which would obviously be the strongest forces rushing toward his location.


    I will send out a few Primordial Essence Clones as well as some Mirror Mirages and see how far they can tread the waters¡­


    He wished to understand just how deep the power hierarchy of the Valeria System went. And to do that, the optimal method was to use his handy, dandy clones, all of whom were d to go on murder sprees.


    FWIP! FWIP!


    With the summoning of over 100 Primordial Essence Clones, as well as hundreds of trillions of Mirror Mirage''s of the SSR rank, everything was set in ce. And with themand given by the main body, all of them dispersed, quickly darting toward their targets.


    With all the pieces put in motion, the only thing I need to do is sit back and wait¡ªwait and see what that mysterious entity''s response will be.


    Following this train of thought, Azmodeus phased back toward his Star Fleet, making himselffortable in the captain''s seat.


    However, hisfort was swiftly interrupted by a different kind offort hitting him in the back¡­


    .....

 Chapter 243: Bathe In The Blood Of Da Enemies!

    .....


    "Az, Az!" Nao Long cried out while pressing her voluptuous body on his, her slitted dragon eyes practically glowing as she looked out at all the explosions happening in the distance.


    "Can I go and kill a few worms as well!? Pretty please with the cherries on top!?" She practically begged while crawling up hisp like a proper seductress. "I haven''t fought anything in so long, and I wish to get back onto the battlefield¡ªbathe in the blood of my enemies and all that good shtuf!"


    "..."


    Azmodeus turned his apathetic gaze toward the dragon girl making sneaky moves on his body.


    Thinking about her question, he figured it wouldn''t harm anyone to send her and the other girls out...


    After all, everything they killed would only give him more loot, so he had no qualms.


    Following through with this thought, he grabbed the busty dragon woman by her tail before throwing her out into the vacuum of space. "Have fun, and try not to die," he said with a small smirk stered across his face.


    "W-What da hell was that for, you big meanie!?" Nao Long attempted to send out her voice in the void of space, but utterly failed in the end as she got sucked into the engine of a nearby ship.


    BOOM!


    The ship blew up from the stubborn dragon girl as metal shards and human body parts scattered across the star-speckled sky.


    Azmodeus even saw a stray eyeball float past the lead ship.


    Sigh...


    He heaved a sigh before enjoying the iing system notifications.


    Whatever¡­ As long as I benefit, I don''t care about any small idents like this one.


    He was a very simple man, and when he saw Nao Long transform into her true dragon form, he couldn''t help but expect the loot that was toe!


    ROOOAARRR!!


    Nao Long soared through the skies with a bodyrger than a star!


    She blitzed toward a group of Dwarf Star Transformation Realm Masters, taking thempletely by surprise as she gobbled them up in one bite!


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    Terror spread across the battlefield as Nao Long, the Dragon Terror, unleashed dragon breath after dragon breath in the direction of hundreds of Dwarf Star Transformation Realm Experts, turning them into ash within an instant!


    "It seems like that silly dragon has be stronger over thest few years¡­"


    Azmodeus watched his Starry Evolution Essence steadily increase before suddenly feeling the presence of seven other battle-hungry women¡­


    "Death and blood, right?"


    "Mhmm¡­" Yang Hua, Li Na, and the others bobbed their heads in unison as their insatiable gazes never left the shing blots of light happening across all locations in the void.


    Azmodeus lightly shook his head at their response. After which, he picked them up in the same way as Nao Long, except he flung them by their legs instead.


    "Have fun," he said while throwing out Bing Nu Shen.


    After which, he sealed off all the holes made in the captain quarters,pletely ignoring the horrified looks on the faces of all those who survived the breach in the airlock.


    "My Liege, do you have any orders for us?" The Lead Ship''s Captain looked toward his ruler with shining eyes, clearly expecting some sort of divine order to be sent his way.


    And in a way, his dream came true¡­


    "...Every single one of you will split up into groups made of 1000 ships, with each group being termed a battalion. Afterward, each battalion will be sent toward a few designated spots on the star map. With every single spot being a that you will either conquer or destroy." Azmodeus pulled out a colorful map and made copies of it using hisprehension of essence.


    "The ones marked here and here will be where we set up a new economy. And in the new economy we create, only I will have control over the flow of resources, not some useless Central Space Station."


    "!!!" "!!!"


    The Captain and the rest of the crew suddenly realized something in that moment.


    It appeared that their Liege had more in mind when he ordered the destruction of the Central Space Station!


    How far does the Master think ahead!? Just how deep do his ns go¡­!?


    The Captain was left in a state of astonishment, as everything the Crimson Emperor did was not without reason. And it took him until now to understand that universal truth.


    He did not murder for no reason (only the Yanderes did that). On the other hand, he killed for benefits!


    What benefits did destroying the Central Space Station give him, one might ask?


    Well, to be frank, it wasn''t much¡­


    However, Azmodeus was not in it for the immediate benefits. He wished to take the long road, slowly but surely assimting the ecosystem of Valeria into his own, remaking it into what he envisioned it to be.


    Only after fully acquiring every single ounce of benefit from an area can he move onto the next area with a clear mind. And to do that in Valeria, the simplest method would be to monopolize the economy, have everyone rely on his existence, brainwash them, and then finally destroy the entire y board!


    Which, by his calctions, should take around 20 years.


    Of course, there would always be a few unknown variables, such as the mysterious entity hiding behind therge red star. However, there would usually be a counter to everything, and Azmodeus was not one to give up without first trying his utmost.


    You may be a sneaky little bastard, but I will be the one toe out on top. After all, the top is for those who survive¡­


    And I am the only one who will be left alive at the end of time.


    Upon uttering these emotionless words inside his head, he went back to cultivating, waiting for the results toe back from the Primordial Essence Clones and Mirror Mirages.


    ...


    With the passing of time, entire civilizations could rise and fall.


    As for the Heaven Exploding Sect, the passage of time indicated repeated rises, for there was no stopping its advance to the very peak of every area it transformed into tumultuous chaos...!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 244: Erasing Dozens Of Solar Systems

    ...¡­


    20 yearster.


    Over the past 20 years, Nao Long and the girls murdered everything in sight, unleashing manmade death beams like they were going out of style.


    Almost every single within the massive Valeria System had a huge agping hole drilled through its center one way or another.


    And with the millions ofs inside the system in question, everything was beginning to look like a big assortment of Swiss cheese.


    That was especially the case when one noticed therge red sun located at the very center of the sr system¡ªa sun that was over 10 thousand light years in diameter¡ªa sun that was now in shambles¡­


    "What did I say from the very first moment we noticed each other''s presence...?"


    A raspy voice echoed out from a deep pit located in a miniscule part of the star.


    Simr to how a human looked at a worm, a man with long, flowing crimson-colored hair gazed down at a massive dragon-like creature.


    "....."


    The creature itself resembled a dragon, but if one were to be more urate, its frame was more analogous to that of a snake¡ªa serpent with a long, world-sized horn at the front of its sinuous head.


    This snake was the entity that Azmodeus sensed when he arrived in Valeria. And it was also the thing with which he had been fighting for thest 5 years, trading blows like two gods of the sky.


    In the beginning, the entity overwhelmed the young, immortal-like man with no question about who was going to win.


    However, with millions of respawns made by Azmodeus, and with each one allowing him toe back even stronger than before, there was absolutely nothing that the entity could do to prevent the inevitable.


    With the final stroke being made less than a few seconds ago, the entity was put on itsst legs.


    Half its existence faded in and out of reality while the other half slowly decayed with the death of the red sun...


    For the entity, the red sun acted as a source of power, and it was also what allowed its power to reach the Peak Sr Dynasty Realm.


    But with everything in life, there was always a catch. And the catch in this particr scenario was the tethering of the entity''s soul to the essence of the sun, effectively making it where the entity no longer had its freedom.


    And for many billions of years, it was content with that fact.


    At least, that was until it met an existence that defied all logic¡­


    "You know that I am not the stongest in this star quadrant, do you not¡­? There wille a day in the not-so-distant future when beings far stronger than I appear in this backwater location. And when they do¡­ Hahahaha!"


    The entity started to cackle like an absolute lunatic as it shot immensely powerful fire out of its enormous mouth.


    "..."


    Azmodeus stared down at the existence that had clearly lost its mind. Realizing how far gone it was, he lifted up Excalibur and Sanguinary.


    "I know you heard what I said all those years ago. And it is for this reason alone that I give the loot bag that didn''t run away an easy death¡­"


    After uttering these words, he let his divinely powerful weapons plummet toward the giant entity, causing the very fabric of space bent and caved in under the pressure!


    "Hahahahha!! You will die once a Gctic Lord catches wind of what you have done here! That much, I guarantee!"


    The crazed ravings of the entity were unable to prevent itsplete erasure, as the moment Sanguinary touched base with its body, the red star was no longer able to withstand the pressure!


    WHAKAZOOOOM!


    The massive red star had its epicenter copse in on itself as it started off with a small crack before rapidly expanding, reaching the core of the star in an instant!


    After a few moments of silence, the whole world instantly came back to life, and everyone within the Valeria System was blinded for but an instant!


    Following the dispersion of the immensely bright light, everyone assumed it was all over.


    But unfortunately for them, the destruction of a star was not one with a tranquil aftertaste¡­


    Before the residents of the Star System were able to gauge the severity of the situation, a full-powered supernova sted out from where the red star once stood, obliterating everything in its path!


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    The Star Radiance and Sr Dynasty Realm Experts noticed the disturbance in time. But before they could escape their seclusions, their existences were wiped from the face of the Gxy¡­


    With the radiation and supernova bursts of energy reaching every inch of Valeria, it ultimately ended up extending beyond the reach of the Sr System, approaching the borders of the next system.


    Following the vaporization of Valeria, the Sr System of Mosher was the next to follow...


    Everything from the strongest of Sr Dynasty Realm Experts all the way down to the weakest of cultivators was unable to see death wash right past them...


    With the destruction of Mosher, Echosomber was the next to be evaporated¡­ Then there was Boofer¡­ Sumeria¡­ Ockon¡­


    Dozens of Sr Systems were forever erased from the Gxy of Neverdye, leaving nothing but a trail of fire and destruction in their wake¡­


    And while this was happening, Azmodeus sat within a highly fortified Crimson Dimension, looking over all the pop-ups appearing in front of him.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have erased dozens of Sr Systems within the Are Quadrant of the Neverdye Gxy!*


    *Ding!* *Your Starry Evolution Essence multiplier for relevant increments has improved the amount you gained by a massive margin!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 350 Starry Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to use up this Starry Evolution Essence or save it in your Starry Evolution Essence Bank?*


    "Save it for now."


    Azmodeus did not yet have enough Starry Evolution Essence to reach Level 300, so there was not much of a point in spending the rest. That was especially the case when one saw that his Traits and Physiques were at an expensive bottleneck themselves.


    His Traits were at Level 5 of the SSR Rank, while his Physiques were on the border between the Peak Sr Dynasty Rank and the Rank that came after.


    Of course, all of these non-corporeal walls would be broken in due time.


    However, that time was not right now¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 245: An Actual Universe In A Dantian...?

    .....


    "..."


    Azmodeus sent his divine sense outside of the Crimson Dimension. Upon which, he got a good look at all the destruction he caused.


    Such a sight got him to thinking¡­


    I expected a supernova to do quite a massive amount of damage, but I didn''t think an artificially made one could manage to evaporate over 35 Sr Systems.


    Performing this recent series of actions got him wondering how he could best make use of this new battle tactic.


    While his battle-crazed nerves stirred, a number of system notifications rang out in the background.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 135 Star Stat Value in Strength, 145 Star Stat Value in Speed, 150 Star Stat Value in Defense, and 180 Star Stat Value in Qi.*


    *Ding!* *You have killed a servant of a powerful Gctic Lord!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 1300 Starry Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 945 Star Stat Value in Strength, 960 Star Stat Value in Speed, 870 Star Stat Value in Defense, and 1150 Star Stat Value in Qi.*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has moderately improved!*


    *Ding!* *You have received over 100 million Physiques of the Comet Rank and above. Around 2,000 of those Physique''s are of the Sr Dynasty Rank.*


    *Ding!* *Your Singrity Physique has taken another big step toward reaching the absolute peak of the Sr Dynasty Rank.*


    *Ding!* *You have received over 10 million Traits. Around 1500 of those Traits are of the Sr Dynasty Rank.*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has tremendously improved! But at the cost of losing more of what makes you human¡­ The pain will be increased appropriately.*


    Azmodeus felt a painful sting hit him from all directions. But like usual, he gritted his teeth and endured the pain.


    He did so while listening to the rest of the system''s notifications sound out.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have received a massive increase to all of your High-Star Laws due to the Law Assimtion function.*


    *Ding!* *Your original 12 High-Star Laws have increased to a grand total of 75 High-Star Laws!*


    *Ding!* *The Law of Syneresis is now capable of deriving the Laws that went into its creation. Would you like to expend a constant amount of Starry Evolution Essence in order to derive your Low-Star Laws into High-Star Laws?*


    Azmodeus wasted no time on this question and immediately responded with a yes. After which, a few more pop-ups appeared in front of him.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have decided to begin derviving the High-Star Law of Syneresis, all so as to slowly acquire the 3000 Low-Star Laws that fell into obsoletion after your ascension. After the Laws be High-Star Laws, they will go throughrge qualitative changes, which will include a name change.*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has tremendously improved!*


    *Ding!* *Your all-round basic attribute booster has taken another massive leap, causing it to cross the x1 billion threshold.*


    *Ding!* *Due to all the powerful beings you have killed, your Cultivation Speed Booster has improved past the x10,000 mark, allowing your Cultivation Talent to achieve the Early Neb Veil Realm ahead of schedule.*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has moderately improved!*


    It was only after all of these system notifications finished ringing that Azmodeus was able to catch a breather.


    However, everything was worth it when the power boosts washed over him, resulting in slight fluctuations in his aura!


    "It seems like I have reaped just about everything there is in this tiny part of the Are Quadrant, so that means it''s time to move onto the next location."


    His breakthrough into the Dwarf Star Transformation Realm was on the horizon, and if he wished to move onto a higher-level area with stronger foes, then he would definitely need to make a breakthrough.


    Of course, when Azmodeus had something in mind, he set his entire existence into aplishing it, which was why he immediately vanished from his spot.


    FWIP!


    When he reappeared, he found himself inside a dimly lit cave abode. And inside this cave abode, there was a mirror copy of himself peacefully cultivating.


    His main body slightly jarred open one of his eyes as he, the Primordial Essence Clone, was pulled into his source.


    Now that the Valeria System and the surrounding systems are out of the way, it''s time for the next part of the n tomence.


    With this thought bing reality, Azmodeus started gathering the surrounding Qi, aiming to make a breakthrough into the Dwarf Star Transformation Realm!


    ...


    Like sand inside an hourss, time switched from one side to another, taking with it everyone in its confines.


    40 yearster.


    This was half a lifetime for a mortal, but for Azmodeus and the blood-bathed yanderes, such a period of time was less than a nap.


    However, it was within this small span of time that Azmodeus sessfully made a breakthrough into the Dwarf Star Transformation Realm!


    This breakthrough was not an easy one, as he had to convert his 10 billion Moonlit Essence into 0.1 Star Essence, which required tremendous amounts of effort. But in the end, it was all worth it, as this metamorphism of energy allowed not only his strength to increase but also his energy storage.


    For reference, 0.1 Star Essence contained over 1 million times more energy than 10 billion Moonlit Essence, meaning that Azmodeus could now fight on for billions of years without needing a break!


    Of course, he would never need to expend such a period of time with the current level of him and his opponents, but it was important to keep an unexpected energy-draining scenario in mind.


    However, all of that was excluding the fact that he now had a literal star inside his Dantian Space!


    The star itself was not big in the slightest, but it still left one wondering what would one day be of his Dantian Space¡­


    Would it turn into an actual universe? Or even gain the capability to produce living organisms?


    It was unknown if either of these things would actuallye to pass, but Azmodeus would sure as hell find a path that led to such an oue. After all, he wanted to know just why the Ten Astral Principality Princes tried everything in their power to amass more of the power of Faith-


    .....

 Chapter 246: Dragon Evolving To Infinity?

    .....


    "Azzy Poo!"


    A feminine voice interrupted Azmodeus''s thoughts as a very familiar figure came rushing through the entrance of the cave abode.


    *Piang!*


    A hopscotch and a jumpter, a dragon woman now sat on thep of a man just trying to cultivate.


    "Nao Long¡­"


    Azmodeus felt like he was saying that name a lot as ofte. But it was undeniable that she was typically the one to barge in uninvited.


    Even if he told her not to disturb him while he was cultivating, she would simply punch him in the arm before sitting her rump right where she wanted it to be.


    Sigh¡­


    Azmodeus heaved a tired sigh before listening to the dragon woman go on about how she loved her new dragon form and also how much she wanted to kill some more people.


    It looks like her body has fully developed upon adapting to the aura of the Starry Expanse, as even her assets have grown appropriately.


    Upon taking a momentary nce at her mounds of pudding, he wondered just how muchrger they could be.


    If Azmodeus were to put it into words, then it was almost like he was watching living beings grow up fromrge babies torge adults. Or rather, from moderately-sized pudding cups to the whole damn pudding fountain!


    Furthermore, that wasn''t the only thing developing on the silly dragon, as her buttocks were also on the rise. And then there were her hips¡­ and thighs¡­


    This woman is definitely evolving¡­ But I wonder if she can go on for Infinity¡­-


    "Hey, Az, Az! I want to go out with Yang Hua and Li Na to kill some vermin in the Roofer System. But before I go, I was wondering if you would like to try something I made especially for you!?"


    "No, I can''t¡­ Why don''t you go ahead and go-?"


    "You said you want to eat absolutely everything that I made for you!? You should''ve just said so sooner, you big dummy!" Nao Long ignored his voice and took out a container with a pink heart on the top of it.


    It looks like it shouldn''t be poison-


    His thoughts were once again swished away with the opening of the heart container, as a sight beyond words was presented before him.


    "...What is this¡­?" He asked with twitching brows.


    "It''s food! Look, I made these tentacles and eyeballs swish around in the shape of a heart just for you!" Nao Long responded with a bubbly voice while pointing at the green, soupy monstrosity that she conjured up from the pits of hell.


    "Are you absolutely positive that this is edible¡­?" Azmodeus inquired onest time, just to be sure.


    "Yeppers. This is the most delicious and tasty thing in the world. Trust me!" Nao Long looked up at him with an expectant gaze while squishing her breasts against his chest.


    On the other hand, Azmodeus looked as if he were just offered whether he wanted his head cut off or his balls ripped apart.


    I can''t possibly allow this hodgepodge to go down my throat¡­


    What he was looking at was something beyond words, as there had never been anything more disturbing in the history of mankind.


    The container itself was just a guise¡ªa guise meant to conceal the aberration thaty underneath.


    The aberration in question was a dark green and ck color, clearly some form of soup. But there was just no way that all those tentacles, barnacles, and random assortment of eyeballs were actually edible¡­


    There was even a disgusting ck smoke leaking out the top of the ''soup'' as it visibly melted some of the eyeballs inside the hodgepodge.


    Yep¡­ Not eating that¡­


    No matter what, there was absolutely no way he would eat whatever this insane woman had conjured up!


    Nope, nope, nope-!


    "Here, have some nom noms!" Nao Long shoved a spoonful of the devils conjuring into his mouth. While wagging her tail, she awaited the positive feedback from the big dummy.


    "..."


    Azmodeus felt the tentacles slither down his throat, as the nasty sensations would definitely be the worst part of the dish if not for the taste¡­


    Nothing¡­ There has never been anything more disgusting¡­


    He felt like 10 pounds of hot, steamy donkey sh*t would be easier on the way down¡­.


    He never felt like throwing up more than in that moment, but his high-level cultivation would just not allow it.


    And when the absolute curse to existence finally found itself in the pit of his stomach, he could vividly feel the soup try to dissolve his internal organs¡­


    Was this actually some form of assassination attempt¡­?


    Azmodeus turned his slightly grimaced face down toward the puppy-dog-like woman, as he knew there was not much going on inside her head, let alone a potential assassination.


    "Hey, Nao Long¡­"


    "Yeppsies!? Are you going to tell me how fricking delicious my scrumptious dish was!? No, don''t tell me¡­ Are you going to wife me up right here and now!? Well, if you insist-!"


    "I think you should be barred from entering any form of kitchen. Furthermore, you should not be allowed near any type of food¡­"


    Azmodeus went on to speak about all the things that she should no longer be within 10 miles of, as this long monologue ultimately ended up with him being hit in the arm¡­ repeatedly¡­


    Nao Long had puffed-out cheeks for quite a few days after this asion, but like a turtle with short-term memory loss, she forgot about it all and went back to ''wooing'' Azmodeus.


    ¡­


    Time continued to pass like usual inside the Crimson Dimension as Azmodeus and the girls found new farming spots outside of the Supernova''s st radius.


    120 yearster.


    After such a long time having forever disappeared from the Starry Expanse, Azmodeus managed to progress his cultivation quite a bit into the Early Dwarf Star Transformation Realm!


    Furthermore, he was able to increase his professions past the Sr Dynasty Realm, advancing straight into the Neb Veil Realm!


    This not only allowed him to concoct pills of the Neb Veil Rank, but it also made it so that he could make further refinements to Sanguinary and Excalibur!


    .....

 Chapter 247: A Black Hole

    .....


    If one included all the beings and equipment that the two lively weapons had devoured over the years, then their rapid advancements to the peak of the Early Neb Veil Rank made a lot more sense.


    Nevertheless, that was just one of many things that had changed in a positive way for Azmodeus, as there was also the fact that his Physical Existence Divine Rank Physique assimted with his body.


    This permitted a way to better control a physical prowess multiplier, and it also increased said multiplier. Which, in the end, made it possible for a 1 billion x booster to be applied to his physical body.


    Although that wasn''t much when one thought about it from a broader perspective, it was still good enough to improve his Battle Power in the short term.


    Speaking of his Battle Power, it had long since reached the absolute peak of the Sr Dynasty Realm. And all it needed was one little push in order to breach into the Early Neb Veil Realm!


    Luckily for him, such a tip-over was right around the corner¡­


    -


    "You''re telling me that an unknown spatial phenomenon has formed in the nearby airspace?"


    Azmodeus had his hands sped behind his back, staring out at the vast expanse of stars in front of him.


    *Thud!*


    The Captain of the leadship hit the metal surface with a thud as he cried out, "The scouting squad of the Star Fleet has already reported back with multiple unusual readings, all of which indicate something beyond the scope of our system!"


    "...Is that so¡­?" Azmodeus entered a state of deep thought while watching various asteroids andets pass them by.


    It was only after a moment of brooding over the matter that he turned his head toward the kneeling captain. "You willmand the Star Fleet to sit outside the general area of this phenomenon. And while you do that, I will go and see exactly what you''re talking about myself."


    "Isn''t that too dangerous, sir-!?" The Captain started to panic as he abruptly got up off the floor, only to be quickly put back down onto the ground with the release of his Liege''s aura!


    *Bang!*


    The Captain profusely sweated from all pores, his expression ashen beyond belief as he seemed to still be reeling in from the immensity of his lord''s aura.


    *Drip Drip*


    Asrge beads of sweat dripped off his face, Azmodeus moved toward his figure with slow steps, making each one feel like the copse of the universe.


    "Listen, loyal captain of mine." He put his right foot toward the ground, and the moment before it made contact with the floor, it suddenly increased in speed and power.


    WHAABAM!


    The lead ship¡ªa ship over a light year in diameter¡ªwas tipped onto its side as Azmodeus grabbed the shoulders of the captain. Staring directly into his soul, he coldly uttered, "You don''t need to concern yourself with my well-being. You just need to do exactly as I say."


    Following these words, bereft of emotion, he walked away from the scene like an immovable mountain, making his way toward the nearest airlock.


    *Drip Drip Drip*


    The Captain was still profusely sweating with a face beyond terrified. But after a second of collecting his nerves, he managed to get up off the ground and head in the direction of the radio center.


    He immediately gave out themands as per his Liege''s orders, and when the fleet received thesemands, they already knew that their Liege would be doing something insane¡­


    In spite of their thoughts concerning the safety of their leader, they were still soldiers to their cores, and when there was an order, they followed it.


    With a respectable mindset like that, they veered from the original course, heading straight for the outskirts of the spatial phenomenon.


    After a few weeks of interster travel, the Star Fleet zipped out of a wormhole. Then, out of nowhere, they were greeted with the sight of arge, dark sphere.


    However, when Azmodeus saw what should be an event horizon, he instantly knew what this unknown phenomenon was¡­


    "A ck hole¡­"


    He observed the Majesty of the gxy-ending cosmic structure in front of him. Never would he have guessed there to be a ck hole so close by.


    If it were any bigger, then we might''ve had a problem on our hands. However, with the size of this one included in the picture, it should be an embryonic ckhole, not even a supermassive ckhole.


    With this keen observation, he figured out that the approximate age of this ckhole was a little over 100 thousand years. And in terms of ckhole development stages, that puts it at the level of a temperamental toddler.


    This was, of course, enough to put Azmodeus out of the ying field for good. But it wasn''t yet at the level to elicit maximum degrees of caution.


    And Azmodeus, like the intrepid protagonist he was, decided to get a little closer to the ckhole, hoping to get a small sneak peek into one of the biggest mysteries of the universe.


    FWIP!


    He blink-stepped from his location, reaching the ck hole in half an instant.


    "Let''s see exactly what lies inside that outer ck shell of yours."


    His aura shrank in the face of the pull of a ck hole, but it was still powerful enough to allow him to send a few Primordial Essence Clones into the orangish event horizon.


    All of the Primordial Essence Clones possessed Battle Power and bodily fortitude of the Absolute Peak Sr Dynasty Realm. It was with such sturdy physiques that they were able to survive the firstyer of the ckhole.


    Contrary to what one might believe, the ckhole did little to no damage to Azmodeus''s Primordial Essence Clones, as it wasn''t even able to scratch the surface of their diamond-hard skin.


    However, it wasn''t theck of visible damage that drew his attention the most; it was the view within the ck Hole¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 248: Galactus, The Galactic Lord

    ...¡­


    From the outside of the ckhole, it looked like nothing more than an ethereal mass of darkness. But if one were strong enough to glimpse into its profundities, then they would see something utterly iprehensible.


    "Points in time¡­ ces in the universe¡­"


    Azmodeus''s raspy voice came out in bits and pieces as the ck hole had its own series of Dimensional Laws, causing his existence to split apart.


    He would die within a few seconds at the current rate of existence separation, but before these Primordial Essence Clones disappeared, he made sure to turn on active memory sharing.


    And what he saw was somethingpletely out of this world¡­


    The stars were no longer there, as they were reced with shing bubbles of energy, all depicting various points in time or locations within the massive universe they were in.


    The inside of a ckhole truly is something to marvel at¡­


    These were thest thoughts to pass through his Azmodeus''s mind before he caught a glimpse of something at the end of a vast culmination of time and space¡­


    After which, he and the other Primordial Essence Clones were pulled away from each other at the speed of infinity.


    Their physical forms were ripped apart like the strings of a string cheese, all while his Essence Souls transformed into confetti.


    -


    After Azmodeus''s Primordial Essence Clones had their existences fully shredded, his main body suddenly opened his eyes and attempted to understand what that mysterious light was.


    However, even afterparing its image to all relevant forums within his mind, nothing got him any closer toprehending its origins.


    Maybe it was some form of entrance between two points in space? In essence, what is a ckhole?


    A hole in space¡­


    And wouldn''t a hole need to have another side to it¡­?


    He was beginning to think that ck holes were actually some form of advanced interster travel, but to confirm this theory, he would need to see whaty beyond that light.


    However, that was a matter for the future, as he was far from strong enough at this point in time.


    Azmodeus doubted whether he would be able to make it to that tiny light even if he somehow had his Battle Power reach the Late Neb Veil Realm.


    After all, to encroach upon the secrets of a ckhole, one would need to be of a simr realm. Which also just so happened to be the realm after the Neb Veil Realm.


    Azmodeus nned to make great strides within the Neb Veil Realm, ultimately surpassing the Late Neb Veil Realm. But like with most things in life, it would take time to achieve such a thing.


    Luckily for him, all he had in this world was time...


    Would he not be a fool to take advantage of the period of time in which he had no major enemies?


    With this rhetorical question presented to his psyche, he got right back to the eternal practice of cultivation, aiming to reach the Middle Dwarf Star Transformation Realm by the next time he came out of seclusion.


    Little did Azmodeus know that there truly was someone with malicious intentions¡ªsomeone who just received word of an ant ying the tyrant in one of his many territories.


    ***


    Within a space that looked as if a million supernovas went off in quick session before being frozen in time, a figure of unparalleled splendor sat above a starry throne like a god of the universe.


    "Trouble within the Are Quadrant¡­ Someone actually has the guts to go against the rules I set in stone after thest uprising."


    A voice so terrifying that it caused the very fabric of the gxy to quake ultimately found its way into the ears of the Star Senators, all of whom were gathered here for the annual territory advisory session.


    "M-My Gctic Lord! You must understand the background of this existence!"


    One of the Starry Senators stepped forth with a shaky countenance as he went on to exin the peculiarities of the Crimson Devil.


    After listening to the in-depth exnation given by the Starry Senator, the Gctic Lord entered a deep state of thought as he questioned the veracity of this information.


    However, upon recalling the fact that this information was gained with the help of the Gctic Seers, the doubt within his heart washed away.


    Is this Azmodeus really the kindred of those two monsters¡­?


    The Gctic Lord vividly remembered the time when those twoid-back people barged into his Star Field. And without even being given the chance to resist, he was brought to his knees before being forced to watch them take absolutely everything within his Treasury¡­


    They robbed him clean and left him with nothing but his life and the Sr System-sized crown on his head¡ªa crown that entuated his already regal aura.


    However, at this moment in time, not a single bit of his regality could be seen...


    One could even see a bit of sweat trickle down his gxy-like forehead...


    No matter the cost, I must not allow this freak to grow up!


    If it weren''t for the restrictions that those two set on my soul all those years ago, then I would erase this abomination myself!!


    WAAAA!


    The aura around the Gctic Lord violently fluctuated, as he hated not being in control more than anything else!


    And because of his stubbornness and pride, he disdained the mere thought of asking the other Gctic Lords for help with his soul restriction.


    OOOM!


    When his emotions eventually got the better of him, his aura morphed into something deep and iprehensible, and he roared, "I, Gctus, the Gctic Lord of the Neverdye Gxy, will not allow some worm to do as he pleases in my territory! He will die! Send out everyone! I don''t care what you have to do, but I want his head in front of me before the next Epoch begins!"


    OUNG!


    The very fabric of reality shook at the reverberation of his booming voice!


    As a result of this urrence, the Starry Senators bowed in reverence before vanishing from view.


    They wasted no time in aplishing the tasks given to them. And with their disappearance, there was only one existence still left inside the mesmerizing location.


    "No matter what I need to do, I will make sure to take the life of your son from you two!! That much, I promise, you bastards!!!!"


    RUMBLE!


    His Star Field shook with great immensity as it took a great number of days for the Gctic Lord to eventually calm down.


    But unfortunately for him, his nerves would once again be thrown in disarray with his futile attempts at preventing the advancement of a true anomaly...


    ...¡­

 Chapter 249: The Destructor?

    ...¡­


    In the middle of the Astral Star Fleet''s Commander Center.


    "Ahh¡­ It seems like we have some visitors."


    Azmodeus made a rather entailingment as his divine sense picked up a number of presences in the Sr Dynasty Realm, all of whom looked as if they were searching for someone.


    "Can you get a read on their signatures?" He inquired with the captain beside him.


    "S-Sir, from what we can tell, there is no one there¡­" The Captain nervously stuttered while throwing orders left and right. However, no matter which department he asked for answers, nothing came back on their end.


    It was almost like the visitors were¡­ ghosts¡­


    "How interesting¡­ How interesting, indeed." Azmodeus''s posture became even more rxed as heid his chin against his hand, thinking about the many possible eventualities.


    And that was when a certain idea formed inside his mind¡­


    It seems like someone extremely high-ranking in this Quadrant has made a move on me. Or maybe it''s someone from beyond this Quadrant¡­?


    That ''servant of the Gctic Lord'' did speak about his Lording to take my life, so it could be this very existence currently on my trail¡­


    Thoughts swirled around inside his head before another pressing matter was brought to his attention.


    If these energy signatures truly do belong to more Servants of the Gctic Lord, then why are they so¡­ weak?


    The aura signatures were of the same level of strength as the first servant of the Gctic Lord, but that just didn''t make any sense for Azmodeus. After all, why would the Gctic Lord send out a foe just as strong as the one who died?


    He eventually stopped brooding over the matter, opting toward a more direct approach¡­


    "Keep the Star Fleet on course. I will deal with these ''visitors'', and while I do so, I expect you all to stay in line. I assume this is possible for you?"


    "!!!"


    *Bang!*


    The Captain passionately banged his head against the metal ground and shouted, "Yes, my Liege! We will follow your orders to thest letter!"


    At this confirmation, Azmodeus vanished from his spot.


    FWIP!


    When he reappeared, the Star Fleet had already turned into an assortment of dots in the distance. And in front of his aloof figure, a group of over 90 Peak Sr Dynasty Realm beings stood with overwhelming might!


    "You''re the Destructor??" The leading figure among the servants asked with a hint of disbelief.


    They had caught wind of suspicious energy movements from a few thousand light years away, but they never would''ve expected to meet the Destructor so soon!


    "The Destructor¡­?" Azmodeus raised his brows as he guessed this was the new nickname he was given.


    "Yes, you are the one who set off a supernova in the Are Quadrant! And you are also the one who dared to destroy what belonged to Gctus, the Gctic Lord!"


    The leading servant had already stepped forward as his aura hung over the group like a daunting moon, even causing his fellow servants to tremble before his might!


    "Ah¡­ So it seems like neither you nor your Gctic Lord can get a good read on my Star Fleet''s exact location¡­ Likely a side effect of getting so close to a ck hole." Azmodeus scanned through the most recent series of events as everything started to make a lot more sense.


    These weaklings are likely some form of scout unit in the Gctic Lord''s army. And from what I can discern, they are not privy to all relevant information.


    A cold gleam shed past his eyes as he tugged on Excalibur, not even giving the opposing forces the chance to breathe.


    "!!!"


    The leading figure was the only one able to react in time, as he bit his tongue while attempting to dodge. But there was absolutely nothing he could do to stop what was set in stone.


    "I think I will take your memories for myself."


    These were thest words to resonate within their beings as Excalibur crashed down to the world below, vaporizing everything for dozens of light years.


    At the end of it all, even a nearby sr system was destroyed by the residual winds created from this casual sword strike.


    When the radioactive energies finally settled down, only death and destruction remained.


    "I guess the nickname they gave me is a rather fitting one," Azmodeus mused.


    While watching the various system notifications appear in front of him, he also made sure to absorb the scattered memories.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed 80+ Servants of Gctus, the Gctic Lord of the Neverdye Gxy.*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 15,000 Starry Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *Your Starry Evolution Essence bank has taken another steep rise!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to do the ''Usual''?*


    "Yes."


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 30+ Physiques of the Sr Dynasty Rank. And of those Physiques, a couple are verging on the Neb Veil Rank.*


    *Ding!* *Your Singrity Physique has taken a huge leap in Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your Singrity Physique is now of the Middle Neb Veil Rank, allowing your Battle Power to leap into the Early Neb Veil Rank!*


    WAAAA!


    Azmodeus felt a wave of power wash over him. However, it didn''t look like the power boost was done with just that, as more pop-ups continued to appear.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 9,500 Star Stat Value in Strength, 9,600 Star Stat Value in Speed, 10,200 Star Stat Value in Defense, and 14,700 Star Stat Value in Qi.*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has drastically improved!*


    *Ding!* *You have received a number of Traits at Level 5 of the SSR Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your newly gained Traits have enabled your ''Overall Trait Attribute Booster'' to reach a new rank¡ªthe SRR Rank!*


    *Ding!* *You have received a pekthora of High-Star Laws, which have made the number of High-Star Laws in your possession surpass the 150 Mark!*


    *Ding!* *Over thest few years, your High-Star Law of Syneresis has been semi-derived. From these derivatives, you have reconstructed and upgraded a few Low-Star Laws. Namely, they are the High-Star Laws of Hydro, Igneous, Aeromania, sma, Fissure, Erotica, and 13 more.*


    *Ding!* *Your total High-Star Law count has exceeded 170!*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has tremendously improved!*


    ...¡­

 Chapter 250: Selection Of Planets, Freeloading Couch Potato Princesses

    ...¡­


    Following the ringing out of all the most recent system notifications, Azmodeus blink-stepped back toward his lead ship. Under the wide-eyed expressions of his underlings, he said, "Prepare to Quantum Leap. We are taking the battle right to the Headquarters of the Are Quadrant."


    The staff needed a minute to digest what they just saw in the distance. But after a moment, they snapped out of their stupors and responded, "Yes, my Liege!"


    "Oh¡­ And call out for the Yanderes¡­ Ask them to stop destroying sr systems and return to the lead ship."


    Azmodeus mentioned this with a troubled expression, as there was nothing more troubling for him¡­


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    The captain and various staff felt a death-inducing tingle travel down their spines upon hearing of those insane women.


    They were even more terrifying than their ruler! After all, their ruler had a reason to keep them alive, but they did not¡­


    The only reason they hadn''t already been turned into bad pieces of modern art was simply because the ''Wives'' didn''t wish to kill the ''Worms'' of their ''Husband''.


    If not for this railing to lean up against, all of the staff would have long since died for being worms¡­


    Even so, they hoped that their ruler could back them up from behind and give them courage!


    With this absolute faith, they broadcasted their voices into the void of space, breaking all knownws of the universe as they called upon the blood-bathed yanderes.


    -


    "I believe this will be a nice addition to the collection of pretty marbles I n to give to my husband." Chi Wu remarked, her curvaceous figure standing over a dazzling pink.


    "Hmm¡­ I believe that one over there would be a far prettier marble." Pan Nu cupped her hands over her head and focused her sight on a dark orange¡ªa that had asional continent-sized sand worms pop up from the surface.


    "What the hell are you two talking about!? Neither of thoses is anywhere as good as that Azure one over there!"


    Rou Tian materialized from thin air as she added her own input on the matter. Even though the other girls didn''t agree with her, they still understood her perspective.


    In spite of that, Nao Long hopped through the air, did a kickbackflip, and then a somersault, showing off all the goods in the process.


    This little show was followed by her softly giggling before releasing a few beams of purple light from her fingertips.


    WHIZ! WHIZ! WHIZ!


    The beams of light zed through the star-filled skies, and under the nk stares of the Heaven Exploding Sect members, all of thes in the Sr System were¡­ destroyed¡­


    Chi Wu watched her pink break apart in the sky asrge chunks of its surface spread out in the void, eventually bing nothing more than an afterthought.


    "Hey, Nao Long¡­" Pan Nu spoke with a friendly voice as her face darkened to a considerable degree.


    "Yeppers!? Are you going topliment me on a job well done!? I mean, if you insist-"


    POW!


    Pan Nu wasted no more time on nonsense and punched Nao Long right in the pit of her thin stomach, sending her barreling into the next sr system!


    "I think we are going to have dragon meat for dinner¡­ What do you girls think¡­?" She asked with a seething voice, trying her best to stop her brows from twitching.


    "I think that is a wonderful idea¡­"


    "Yes, that woman has a lot of meat to spare, so I think she will still be alive even after we''re all stuffed."


    Chi Wu and Rou Tian had no qualms with the proposal made by their sister wife, as they, along with the other women, red at the far-off with a huge crater in it.


    Nao Long became a little dizzy from the sudden pull across space. However, she would soon realize that what happened was just the prelude to her nausea¡­


    For the next 20 minutes, she was slung around more than four sr systems like a helpless pingpong¡ªa pingpong that obliterated any cosmic bodies that her plump buttnded on.


    This ''training session'' likely would''ve gone on for many days if not for the audible transmission echoing out through the void of space:


    "On order of the Crimson Emperor, the ''Freeloading Couch Potato Princesses'' are asked toe back to the Lead Ship. We willmence a Quantum Leap within the next 48 hours!"


    "!!!" "!!!"


    After listening to thismand clearly aimed at them, Nao Long, Yang Hua, and the others stopped what they were doing.


    And all at once, their pupils had hearts float around in them as they repeated the ''special'' nicknames that their husband gave them.


    "The Freeloading Couch Potato Princesses¡­ I love it¡­" Yang Hua incoherently mumbled while rubbing her thighs together, clearly feeling somethinging.


    Nao Long, Li Na, You Mei, and the other girls were faring no better as they started to once again have the urge to ravage their husband.


    -


    "..."


    Azmodeus felt his hair stand on end, wondering how that was possible with his high cultivation base.


    However, his useless thoughts were soon interrupted by the appearance of eight women, all of whom were staring at him like a delicious meal.


    "Are you all¡­ okay in the head?" He asked with a puzzled tone.


    He did so while simultaneously analyzing their existences, making sure that no weird alien viruses had nted eggs in their already handicapped brains.


    But even after 10 thorough scans, nothing of notice had changed within their bodies¡­


    "Az, Az¡­" Nao Long walked up to him with slow, sensual steps as she made sure to take advantage of her horizontal ''height''.


    "???"


    Azmodeus almost felt like he was being approached by a lustful zombie. And he was soon proven right when the dragon woman blurred from sight!


    She wrung herself around his neck in half an instant,nding her buttocks right above his groin.


    Her eyes glossed over as her steamy breath hit him in the face, and when her mouth opened and closed in a seductive way, Azmodeus immediately knew what was going on.


    This girl was definitely turned on by the announcement¡­ What a weirdo...


    He heaved a sigh before karate-chopping the girl''s head, scrambling it even more than it already was. After which, he watched her luciditye back to her.


    "Umu? Where am I¡­? And why are you holding me like this!? Are you trying to do this and that¡­ Y-You naughty boy~" Nao Long''s tail started to wag as she leaned in for a smooch. However, like usual, she was blue-balled¡­


    .....

 Chapter 251: New System Interface, New System Feature...?

    .....


    *Whack!*


    A whack found its way to Nao Long''s head!


    But it was not delivered by Azmodeus this time around¡­


    "You dumb dragon! Are you looking for another beating!?" Yang Hua and Li Na pulled her off of him and threw her into the void of space.


    "I''m not dumb, you big shtupid idiots! I''m a very smart dragon! Just ask Az, Az, and he will tell you of all the smarts I possess!" Nao Long retorted with puffed-out cheeks, her arms already reaching for a nearby asteroid.


    WABAAAM!


    The asteroid was flung across the void of space, headed straight for the riled-up Yang Hua and Li Na!


    "..."


    Azmodeus watched the girl''s go at it in the world outside as he bunkered in for the night. It would surely be a long one¡­


    ¡­


    Time continued to pass for those who lived on the Astral Star Fleet ships as life went on like usual.


    With the passing of 300 years, many servants of the Gctic Lord came after Azmodeus. But every single time they attempted to do something about him, failure was the oue.


    However, even with thousands of Peak Sr Dynasty Realm Experts having died under his hand, the servants never stoppeding¡­


    It eventually reached a point where the higher ranking experts of the Gctic Fleet caught word of one of their own discovering the Destructor. With this information, more than a dozen Early Neb Veil Realm Masters set out for the Astral Star Fleet.


    They expected the mission to be an easy one, with little to no resistance. But upon arriving at the location where life signals went dark, they quickly realized how mistaken they were¡­


    Each Neb Veil Realm Expert gave Azmodeus around 300,000 Starry Evolution Essence, making them prime loot bags for the reaping.


    And with theming in flocks of ten or more, he wasing out of every scuffle with millions of Starry Evolution Essence!


    Add that to what he gained from the active farming conducted by his Primordial Essence Clones, and it allowed him to make more than 10 million Starry Evolution Essence per week!


    With such a sizable sum being multiplied by the difference of hundreds of years, well, let''s just say that his wealth was staggering¡­


    "Maybe I should start spending a little of it¡­? I should have enough stockpiled to reach Level 300, so that is most definitely an option."


    With this line of thought, Azmodeus looked at all the zeros behind his Starry Evolution Essence. After which, he dumped a good chunk of it into leveling up his Traits, getting them all to Level 3 of the SRR Rank. Thereafter, he spent anotherrge amount on his Physique''s, sessfully allowing them to cross over into the Middle Neb Veil Rank.


    After all of this was out of the way, he upgraded his High-Star Laws to Level 3. Considering that he had to do this with hundreds of them, more than 5% of his Starry Evolution Essence was expended.


    Following the increase in levels of all exterior aspects, Azmodeus got right down to the nitty gritty, using up more than 30% on upgrading his level to 300!


    Even he was surprised by how much he had to spend, but that didn''t stop expectations from bubbling up inside him as he watched his Realm skyrocket!


    It started out at the Late Dwarf Star Transformation Realm before ending up at the Absolute Peak Dwarf Star Transformation Realm!


    And it looked like it wasn''t yet done, as it was merely waiting on him to give the order.


    Of course, Azmodeus had to make sure his foundation was solid enough before making a big decision like a breakthrough into the Star Radiance Realm. However, it seemed like he underestimated himself¡­


    My foundation¡­ it''s wless¡­


    He scanned through every inch of his Dantian Space and saw no issues anywhere, subsequently causing a smile to form in his psyche.


    "With a foundation like this, as well as my Dwarf Star having fully solidified, I have all that I need tomence a breakthrough into the Star Radiance Realm."


    His raspy voice was followed by him taking out all the Late Neb Veil Rank Pills that he had prepared for this asion. On top of that, he set down a Peak Neb Veil Rank Cultivation Mat as well as a number of Qi Gathering Formation Rune Arrays.


    When all was said and done, his secluded cave abode started to look like an absurdly fortified castle¡ªa hole in a mountain containing too many precious treasures to count!


    However, before he started his breakthrough, a certain system notification rang out inside his head, immediately garnering his attention.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have reached Level 300!*


    *With this level up, you have achieved the prerequisites to unlock the next major system function!*


    *Ding!* *You have been given the ''Spiritual Ind'' System Function!*


    "Spiritual Ind?"


    Question marks went off within Azmodeus''s head as he opened up his system interface. He wanted to see just what this Spiritual Ind entailed.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: ~50,000/1,350,620,000,000,000,000] (Increased due to Physique''s and Traits with relevant boosts)


    [Cultivation: Absolute Peak Dwarf Star Transformation Realm]


    [Cultivation V.2: Physique Existence Refinement ¨C Divine Rank] ¡ú [Last time this will be shown to the host due to incorporation into the Singrity Physique.]


    [Battle Power: Peak Stages of the Middle-Neb Veil Realm]


    [Level: 300]


    [Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 500 Quintillion Starry Evolution Essence] ¡ú [Will be aplete metamorphosis of existence, causing the host to reach a new stage of the Infinite Evolution System. Will cause a race change based on the most distinctive traits of the host.]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: ~2 Trillion Starry Evolution Essence]


    {[Stats:]}


    [Strength: 5 Billion Star Value]


    [Speed: 5.3 Billion Star Value]


    [Defense: 4.8 Billion Star Value]


    [Qi: 6.4 Billion Star Value]


    [Cultivation Talent: Absolute Peak Neb Veil Rank]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Astral Split - Level 3] (SRR Rank)] ¡ú [0/1.5 Trillion SEE]


    [Mirror Mirage - Level 3] (SRR Rank)] ¡ú [0/1.5 Trillion SEE]


    [Various other Traits] ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [Overall Attribute Boost: SRR Rank - (Level 3)]


    {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters]}


    [Singrity (Absolute Peak Half-Step Sr Dynasty Rank)]


    [Various other Physique''s] ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [Overall Attribute Boost: Absolute Peak Half-Step Sr Dynasty Rank]


    {[Laws]} ¡ú


    [456 High-Star Laws: Level 3] ¡ú [Extreme Attribute Boost (x1 Trillion+.]


    [For the host''s convenience, the previous Law section and below have been simplified (temporary).]


    {[Spiritual Ind]} ¡ú


    [Area width: 20 Meters]


    [Upgrade Requirements: The Core of a 1st Layered ne of Infinity]


    [Rank of Residents: None]


    {[Reminder]} -->.[Some of the information above will be temporary. Clutter will be reduced for the next time the Host opens his system interface.]


    ¡ª------------

 Chapter 252: Spiritual Island

    ...¡­


    After perusing his revamped system interface, Azmodeus had his gaze hone in on the Spiritual Ind section, wondering just what this ''Spiritual Ind'' does.


    He wasted none of the limited oxygen in space as he clicked on the ''Spiritual Ind'' tab, causing a miniature green and brown ind tond in his hands. It looked like a toy on the outside; however, if one paid closer attention, they would see that there were trees and grass blowing in the wind.


    "Wait¡­ wind?"


    Azmodeus took an even closer look and noticed the presence of various elements contained within the bounds of a dome.


    The dome in question encapsted the ind like an impregnable shield, seemingly indestructible.


    The first thing he did upon noticing this phenomenon was tap his finger on the dome. At first, there was no reaction, but after a second, something unexinable urred.


    FWIP!


    Azmodeus vanished from his spot!


    And when he reappeared, he found himself within a forest¡ªone that looked all too familiar¡­


    "Did I just get transported into the Spiritual Ind¡­?"


    He analyzed his surroundings,paring them to what he witnessed on the ind a second ago. It took little more than an instant for his photogenic memory to kick in, as everything was the exact same. Except it was bigger¡­


    "This Spiritual Ind truly is something else¡­" His voice bounced off the iridescent walls of the Spiritual Ind as he walked around, trying to obtain a more in-depth understanding of thend.


    After a few minutes of observing the rather normal ecosystem of the Spiritual Ind, he touched the iridescent wall. He assumed doing this would transport him out. However, it looked like it would be moreplicated than that...


    Does it require me to draw blood and drip it on the ground or something?


    This silly thought lingered in Azmodeus''s mind for a second before he quickly shook his head and discarded such nonsense from his brain.


    This is not some Japanese anime¡­ But if it isn''t that, then it must be¡­


    He once again had his right hand make contact with the barrier, but this time, he transmitted his intent along with the touch.


    BLING!


    This action of his resulted in a flickering sh of iridescence as his figure was zipped into the confines of space.


    FWIP!


    When his eyes opened once more, Azmodeus was back in the outside world. Surprisingly enough, he was not shocked by this oue as he looked around his vicinity.


    After finding what he was looking for, he picked it up and zorped it into his Dantian Space.


    "Oh? So that''s how it works."


    Azmodeus was not expecting it to go straight into his Dantian space for storage the moment he thought about it.


    Nevertheless, this was a good thing for him, as it meant he could keep this ''Item'' nearby.


    He assumed that he could zorp it back into the system interface as well, but he would rather have it inside his Dantian Space. After all, he still had some experiments he needed to conduct on it.


    Although I don''t yet know what it''s capable of, besides the fact that it can hold life, I am sure everything will be unveiled in due time.


    At this thought, Azmodeus turned his head toward a nearby Cosmic Construct as this was just what he needed in order to upgrade the Spiritual Ind.


    Following this train of thought, he phased away from his location, leaving Fallen Immortal Mountain, the Crimson Dimension, and the Astral Star Fleet in half an instant.


    Without anybody knowing the better, the highly infamous Crimson Emperor snuck out of his Cave Abode.


    With the escape having been aplete sess, he darted through the pitch-ck void at a speed far surpassing what the human eye could trace.


    He dashed through multiple differentyers of time continuities, all of which were stacked above a Single Layered ne of Infinity.


    One might think that some extremely high-level construct would be termed a ne of Infinity, and they would be right in a way. But as with most things, ''high-level'' was relevant and highly varied.


    This was especially proven to be the case when Azmodeus shed toward a small brown, quickly reaching the''s surface.


    Andpletely out of pocket, he jumped into a flower bud, altering the size of his dimensions and transitioning into the Quantum Reality!


    He passed through one microorganism after another, with each one bing progressively smaller the further he ventured.


    When Azmodeus finally reached his destination, it was unknown just how tiny he had be. But just as with the earlier point, size was relevant, and in this quantum reality, he was 2 meters in height, standing on a world quite simr to Prometheus.


    There was a basic cultivation system on this, but not yet at the level of Prometheus, making it more along the lines of a Wuxia world. People, just like humans, popted this world as they traveled on the ground by foot or carriage.


    It didn''t look like they had any cultivators capable of flight, and that was indeed the case. After all, this world was one based on the internal energy system, meaning that it was one where their strongest experts couldn''t even match up to a Qi Condensation Realm Cultivator¡­


    Nevertheless, none of this really mattered for Azmodeus, as his goal was not this world but instead being the one above it.


    "It seems like I went a little too far in, reaching a Half Layered ne of Infinity. But no matter, I just need to fly up a little."


    He murmured these words while standing atop a brown, Eastern-style building. From below his position, a young 5-year-old boy caught a glimpse of his otherworldly figure, eliciting quite the reaction from him.


    "Ahh! Mother, it''s a real-life immortal! Do you see him!?" The boy cried out with his finger extended, looking to his mother for praise.


    The mother of this boy was a well-built milf, and she followed the finger of her son, only to see a fading string of red energy. She passed it off as some form of pollution and scolded the boy, quickly getting back to her grocery shopping.


    Life continued to pass like usual inside this Half Layered ne of Infinity, ultimately ceasing to be after a few billion years.


    People died, people were born, and some even had fortuitous encounters that allowed for reincarnation. But at the end of it all, everyone was the protagonist of their own story.


    And yet, the moment death looked them straight in the eye, they yearned for more...


    They wished to have lived differently¡­ to have done something different¡­


    However, everyone dies in the end. And whether they died with grievances or unwillingness was of no concern to Azmodeus, for in the end, all benefits would be his.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 253: Upgrading The Spiritual Island

    ...¡­


    After a few minutes of quantum travel, Azmodeus finally made it to the approximate coordinates of the Core of a 1st Layered ne of Infinity.


    When he arrived at this radiantly sparkling location, he moved faster than a blink as he grabbed the core and disappeared from his spot.


    After he left, all of reality started to crumble and fall apart, as taking away the universe-sized Core was akin to ripping away the heart of a human.


    Because of this decisive action taken by Azmodeus, countless dimensions rapidly corroded before assimting into the void.


    At the end of this process, the Single Layered ne of Infinity was no more...


    However, the one who caused this all to happen could hardly care less about such miniscule amounts of destruction, as he only truly cared about himself.


    With the repeated altering of his emotions, only an instinctual drive to strive remained. And though this might sound sad for most, for him¡­ it was all he needed..


    -


    ZIP!


    Azmodeus zipped through manyyers of the Quantum Realm, seeing a number of First Layered nes of Infinity on his way up. He also saw arge number of Half Layered and One and a Half Layered ne''s of Infinity. However, not a single one of them mattered to the current him, so he took his singr core and vacated this infinite dimension.


    FWIP!


    When Azmodeus arrived back in the outermostyer of the Starry ne, the first thing he did was take out the Infinity Core.


    "Hmm?"


    He noticed that the size had already adjusted to this higher ne of existence, which made things a lot easier for him.


    WHOOSH!


    His hands moved around the Infinity Core as he made sure it was of sufficient quality. After confirming that it was, he took the Spiritual Ind out of his Dantian Space.


    Following this action, he floated the Infinity Core to the Spiritual Ind.


    BLING!


    A bright sh of splendiferous light erupted from the Spiritual Ind the moment the Core made contact with it!


    The sight was a dazzling one, but it wasn''t yet at the level where Azmodeus was forced to close his eyes. So, of course, he left them open and continued to watch the upgrading process of his new system feature.


    It wasn''t like he could actually understand anything that he was looking at. However, watching such a profound process firsthand was sure to have untold benefits for the future.


    Even so, after the light died down, he was taken out of his lucid enlightenment.


    The first thing he did was take a good look at the Infinity Core, and that was when he noticed itsplete disappearance. Not even a slight trace of its aura was still present.


    Even so, Azmodeus had his gaze instead hone in on the Spiritual Ind.


    That was when he realized that the quality of life on the ind had multiplied and expanded. It even reached a point where new species were born, such as greater amounts of intelligent insects and birds.


    Although there wasn''t anything in the mammal category, as well as nothing with above-average intelligence, it was still better than before.


    However, that was not the most impressive change in Azmodeus''s opinion, as it was instead the fact that the isted size of the structure extended past 1000 meters!


    It actually went from 20 meters to 1000 meters, and it did so without me even noticing the warp in space¡­


    Azmodeus marveled at this phenomenon as he observed every inch of the ind, quickly catching a nce at what appeared to be sand.


    "Hmm¡­" He scrutinized the few dots of sand at the easternmost corner of the ind, wondering why there was so little of it.


    It''s almost like the ce was cut off from arger area-


    And that was when it hit him!


    "This ce¡­ This Spiritual Ind¡­ Is it a plot ofnd sectioned off from a higher ne of existence?"


    These words were followed by him touching the Spiritual Ind as he transmitted his intent into it, subsequently forcing his body to zorp across time and space.


    FWIP!


    When Azmodeus opened his eyes, he was back inside the little dome-like ind.


    Contrary to thest time he was here, there was no longer a deafening silence. It was instead reced by the chirping of birds and insects as well as a slight humming that seemed to resonate with the world.


    *Thud! Thud!*


    Azmodeus took firm steps onto the ground, curious as to just how sturdy it was.


    However, after understanding that he would never be able to inflict even the slightest amount of damage, his actions ceased. After which, he looked toward the spot with a sparse amount of sand.


    Quick strides were made as he moved over to this anomaly, bending down in a swift fashion.


    "What exactly are you¡­?" Azmodeus looked the sand particles up and down but was unable to find any difference between their molecr makeup and that of regr sand.


    If this ce is indeed a section of a higher world, then why does everything seem so normal¡­?


    The first thing he thought of was the Qi, as it would surely be of higher quality if the Spiritual Ind was indeed a piece of a higher world. However, after noticing no difference in Qi density between here and the Starry Expanse, his theories started to fall apart.


    "Is this truly part of a higher world¡­? Or am I just imagining things, and it''s actually a product of the system?"


    Azmodeus pondered the matter for quite a while as time passed unimpeded-


    "Wait¡­ time¡­"


    That extremelyplex concept was what made him think about possible discrepancies in time between here and the Starry Expanse.


    This thought led to him leaving the ind as he set a timer using some form of advanced technology. Putting the timer on a nearby asteroid, he then went back to the Spiritual Ind.


    Azmodeus waited a few minutes within the ind, allowing time to pass.


    When he figured it was time to get out and test his theory, he left the Spiritual Ind, went to the timer, and picked it up.


    Upon looking at the units indicated on the holographic screen, he realized something utterly mind-blowing...


    ...¡­

 Chapter 254: A Puzzle World...?

    ...¡­


    "Not even a second... Not even a second had passed after nearly 10 minutes of staying inside the Spiritual Ind¡­"


    Azmodeus''s mumbles could be heard inside the void of space, as he could hardly believe it himself. But the facts were presented right in front of him.


    It was enough to make him understand that his sour mood when figuring out about the severe reduction on time runes in the Starry Expanse was for naught...


    But regardless of his past troubles, he looked at a broader picture. From this picture, he realized that this was his key to more strength! This was how he would quickly surpass the Gctic Lord!


    "You wish to bother me and prevent my rise to Infinity¡­ That is a punishment deserving of death. Luckily for you, there won''t be any need for you to wait long." A cold gleam shed past Azmodeus''s blood-red eyes as he called for his system interface.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Spiritual Ind]} ¡ú


    [Area width: 1000 Meters]


    [Upgrade Requirements: The Core of a 1 and Half Layered ne of Infinity]


    [Rank of Residents: Low Mortal Lifeforms ¡ú Single-celled organisms, Primitive Insects, Bugs, and Small Birds]


    [Time Dtion ¡ú 1:1000]


    [Qi Density ¡ú Equivalent to outside world] ¡ú [Continue upgrading in order to encroach upon the Qi Density of a higher ne of existence.]


    ¡ª------------


    Azmodeus only looked at the Spiritual Ind part of his system interface, but that was enough for him to get a general understanding of the specifics.


    He only wanted to know the exact numbers of the Time Dtion and Qi Density sections, and though it didn''t have anything precise for thetter, it was still enough to have the former.


    From this information, Azmodeus further realized that his ambitions of rapidly surpassing the Gctic Lord might actuallye to pass.


    It was this fermented realization that moved his hands toward what he needed in order to upgrade the Spiritual Ind once again. This time, it was a One and a Half Layered Core of Infinity, which he just so happened to have picked up a few thousand years ago.


    Upon witnessing a simr process to the one that urred with the Single Layered Core of Infinity, Azmodeus visibly watched the Core increase in size.


    Though it was extremely hard to tell, he was someone who adapted quite well to any hurdles. Hence, there was no way in hell that thest thing that would be capable of stopping his advancement would be a restriction in space visibility!


    But regardless of the belief that he would always ovee, Azmodeus waited for the iridescent light to stop shining. Only then did he transport himself inside it and experience the changes without the system spoiling everything for him.


    This turned out to be the correct decision for the thrill of advancement, as he sent out his divine sense and realized that the ind had increased to 100,000 meters in size!


    Such a magnitude was far greater than it previously was. And furthermore, it wasn''t the only thing that had improved, as the level of living organisms also took a steep rise.


    It seems like there are now lizards and fish of sorts¡­


    Azmodeus watched as small, 3-inch, multi-colored lizards darted past his feet. When he looked up into the sky, he saw a crane-like bird swoop down and pick up a 6-inch-long bass.


    "This little world of mine is really starting to evolve¡­ truly worthy of being a system feature of the Infinite Evolution System¡­" He made an appreciativement while continuing to blend in with the environment, observing the surreal scenery around him.


    He watched the birds tweet their morning songs and the fish ssh around in the water. Even the blowing of the wind on the fall trees was enough to create a soothing ambience¡ªone that was able to have one get lost forever.


    For some reason, the atmosphere here made Azmodeus want to attempt a breakthrough, but he was still far from that point in time, so he left it to the back of his mind.


    After sitting in the softly blowing verdant grass of a tree''s shadow for an indefinite period of time, he ultimately got up from his spot and walked in a random direction. Or at least, it would look that way from an onlooker''s perspective. However, the ce he was heading just so happened to be where the sparse sand particles used to be.


    But in vast contrast to before, the dozen or so sand pieces transformed into an entire beach!


    The beach stretched outward for thousands of meters, and in the sand, there wererge red crabs, sea slugs, and even washed-up eels. The environment was quite simr to a beach on Earth, as there were even slight traces of water along the shoreline-


    Wait¡­


    Water??


    Azmodeus sped up his walk along the beach as his feet somehow glided above the loose sand, all without kicking up a single speck.


    When he finally made it to the miniscule amounts of crystal-clear blue liquid, he started to see a pattern.


    "Is this Spiritual Ind like a puzzle, where I have to upgrade it in order to unlock more Biomes?"


    The puzzle gave him a little sneak peek at the next area, and when he upgraded, a wider world would be opened up to him.


    It was sort of like how the World of Cultivation operated, but in a format more befitting of a board game. Though that suited Azmodeus''s tastes quite well, for he wanted to see just whaty at the end of a rainbow.


    If this ce wants to have me go on a wild goose hunt for Infinity Cores, then so be it.


    He was not one to deny benefits, and with the increased time dtion and Qi Density of this ce, there was no way he was missing out on anything beneficial!


    With this in mind, he opened up his system interface and took a good look at the Spiritual Ind section.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Spiritual Ind]} ¡ú


    [Area width: 100,000 Meters]


    [Upgrade Requirements: The Core of a 2nd Layered ne of Infinity]


    [Rank of Residents: Low Mortal Lifeforms ¡ú Single-celled Organisms, Primitive Insects, Bugs, Small Birds, Fish, and Large Birds]


    [Time Dtion ¡ú 1:2500]


    [Qi Density ¡ú 2x that of the outside world] ¡ú [Continue upgrading in order to encroach upon the Qi Density of a higher ne of existence.]


    ¡ª------------

 Chapter 255: Preparing To Become A God...?

    ...¡­


    After perusing his revamped system interface, Azmodeus moved without hesitation as he took out the Core of a 2nd Layered ne of Infinity.


    WAAAA!


    Its resplendence was blinding, far brighter than all the Cores that came before. However, considering that this was the Core of the Astral ne, such a level of resplendence made a lot of sense.


    But this mesmerizing view was not allowed to be out in the world for long as Azmodeus moved it toward the miniature Spiritual Ind.


    OOOM!


    A simr phenomenon to the previous ones urred as the iridescent sphere vanished from sight, assimting with the Spiritual Ind.


    It took no longer than an instant for the aura of the Spiritual Ind to spike up, as its inner size also increased. However, instead of the size being measured in units of meters, it went straight to miles.


    100,000 miles¡­


    Azmodeus dered the size of the ind inside his head as he wondered just how big this thing could be.


    He thought about it for a moment before zorping into the Spiritual Ind, seeing just what had changed with the most recent upgrade.


    The first and foremost thing he noticed was the fact that there were now monkeys, turtles, dolphins, and other animals living in the various biomes. Of which, there was the Forest Biome, Beach Biome, and the¡­ Ocean Biome!


    The Ocean Biome was where all of the sea mammals lived. Although there weren''t yet organisms like sharks or whales, it was close to reaching that point.


    As for the water itself, its depths extend downward for tens of thousands of meters. It even reached a part where there was nothing but pitch-ck darkness and the unknown¡­


    Azmodeus looked forward to seeing just what that ''unknown'' would end up being. But for now, he shot back to the surface, looking like a more majestic version of Aquaman as he zoomed toward the next biome. Or rather, the hints that would help him better understand what the next Biome would be.


    He saw dolphins, seals, andrge tuna leap out of the water on his way over. And when he finally reached his destination, he was greeted with the sight of small hints of magma situated next to the end of the world.


    This magma was small in quantity and actively leaked over into the Spiritual Ind from a different reality.


    "I wonder how it''s possible for this all to be happening¡­ What exactly is this ce?"


    No matter how Azmodeus contemted the matter, he just couldn''t understand how the system was doing all this¡­


    He had long since realized its nigh omnipotence, but why would it go through so much trouble to create a progressively evolving ecosystem?


    That was when a curious thought passed through his frontal lobe, and for the first time since he got here, he unleashed all of his strength!


    WAAAA!


    His immensely regal, crimson-colored aura enveloped the entirety of the ind''s periphery. But contrary to what he thought would happen with the release of such a suffocating aura, not even a single de of grass swayed. It was almost like his existence was deemed invalid¡­


    "It''s like I''m watching over this ce from a bird''s-eye view, omniscient and omnipresent¡­ Like a¡­ God." Azmodeus''s voice trailed off toward the end as he focused on observing a location.


    After honing in on a leaf falling from arge tree in the Forest Biome, he realized that he could see every microscopic part of the leaf. Furthermore, he could do so without using his cultivation...


    On top of that, he was even capable of flying without any energy present in his body!


    How is this possible¡­? How can I do any of these things without the presence of any form of energy?


    Azmodeus observed the creases in his palm as he figured he''d try something else on this long line of experiments.


    His hands stretched out in front of him as he conveyed his intent to a small wave in the vast ocean below him. The moment this intent was fully activated, something truly miraculous urred.


    WHOOSH!


    The once-foot-long wave transformed into something over 10 miles in height as it towered over his body like an insurmountable wall of serenity!


    This beautiful yet dangerous thing had a number of sea creatures swimming around inside it, and the dolphins even had the nerve to asionally leap out.


    It was a phenomenon that could only be described as a thorned rose, and it was this wondrous thing that aimed to devour everything whole¡­


    It wanted to wash all of existence into its currents¡­


    But just as suddenly as it came, it dispersed just as easily, all done with a simple wave of a crimson-haired man''s hand.


    "Eeek! Eeek!"


    Azmodeus watched as the monkeys on the maind fled through the tree canopies and ran away, never looking back!


    "..."


    On the other hand, the one who started and stopped the end of the world looked at his body with an intrigued gleam in his blood-red gaze.


    "It''s almost like the system is preparing me to be a¡­ God¡­" Azmodeus softly murmured this while thinking about just what the system had in mind for him.


    However, after a moment of getting nowhere inside his own mind, he used his sourceless powers in order to create a floating castle of water.


    He had this castle situate itself a few miles in the air, decorating and furnishing it with everything he wanted.


    FWIP!


    With its creation aplished to perfection, Azmodeus blurred into its interior and took a look at all the intricately carved furniture. He also marveled at the spiraling pirs, adorned with seashells and pearls, all of which held the ce together.


    As for how the water was made solid, well, that was just one of the perks of bing a god-like existence within a small area. Anything and absolutely everything was put under his control, and with such control, he created his own artificialws. He, of course, used his ownprehension of simrws, but still, it was quite an achievement in and of itself.


    After all, it was considered nearly impossible to replicate thews of existence, even at the lowest possible level¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 256: Massive Changes In The Infinite World!

    ...¡­


    For Azmodeus and his newfound Dominion, altering existing Laws was as easy as flipping his palm, for he had a variation of the Water Law mold his castle''s water into a solid.


    At the end of this alteration of existence, the water that made up the floating castle in the sky morphed into something akin to a ss screen.


    This ss screen was still water, but Azmodeus made it act as something like what one saw when walking through an aquarium. And to keep up the theme, he transported some of the Aquarian life into his Castle.


    After all was said and done, a castle with high, stretching towers and gargoyles hanging off the sides was created. It looked like something straight out of a fairytale, and with a little shazaz, Azmodeus was even able to have the castle gently float up and down.


    After adding on a few magical waterfalls and whale art, the Castle of the World''s God finally came together.


    "I think that should just about do it."


    Azmodeus made the finishing touches on the outer walls of the castle, and he also made sure to change the firmness of the furniture. This was done so as not to make his royal rump ufortable when he sat down on a bed or couch.


    But regardless of the superb ascetics of the castle, Azmodeus set a misty barrier around his secondary home before scrummaging through his storage ring. After finding what he needed, he took it out and let its iridescence bless the world with its glow.


    This item he took out was none other than the Core of a 2 and a Half Layered ne of Infinity!


    One might wonder how he was able to acquire such a raremodity. And the truth was that he simply snatched it from the corpse of a Sr Dynasty Realm Expert.


    It was unknown where exactly the expert in question found this Core, but it highly likely originated from anotheryer of the Quantum Dimension.


    With this in mind, Azmodeus zorped out of the Spiritual Ind. After which, he put the shining sun-like ball of light up to the miniature world, allowing it to do its magic.


    BLING!


    With another sh of light, this time bigger than all the previous ones, the Spiritual Ind once again underwent another major upgrade.


    This time, it was one that left the past upgrades as nothing more than afterthoughts¡­


    1 Billion Miles¡­ Such arge leap in size, and it was all done in an instant.


    Azmodeus observed the changes in his miniature world as the Forest Biome, Beach Biome, and Ocean Biome all expanded evenly in size. Adding them to the new Volcano biome, a world ofplete bnce was created¡ªperfectly bnced, as all things should be.


    This oue forced a small smile to creep up on Azmodeus''s inner self as he walked over to the spot whereva created obsidian.


    He strolled around this area for quite a few years, watching as magma fish and dinosaur-like creatures swam underneath theva-covered surface.


    After a total of 3 years passed, he ultimately made it to arge volcano.


    It sat in the very center of avake and was home to a wide variety of mythical creatures, all of whom ate each other and evolved.


    "This world of mine is bing something analogous to a ce where therge fish eats the small fish, and the small fish eats the shrimp."


    Azmodeus realized this quite a while ago, but seeing the intensepetition among the rtively powerful magma creatures truly put it into perspective.


    The Spiritual Ind had be an actual world¡ªone deserving of the advanced title that the system termed it.


    "The Infinite World. It is a fitting name for a ce like this one." Azmodeus spoke with a slightly pleased tone, curious to see just how far he could upgrade his Infinite World.


    ¡­


    After wandering around for a couple more years, Azmodeus finally received word back from one of his Primordial Essence Clones in the outside world. In that brief message, the clone told him that it found the Core to a 3rd Layered ne of Infinity.


    After killing the Early Neb Void Realm Guard that was guarding it, the clone snatched it up and brought it to the main body.


    "..."


    Azmodeus lifted the almost translucent ball of light within his hands. While looking at it, he realized that the higher level they were, the more they started to look like miniature, glowing suns.


    However, in spite of its appearance, he moved it toward the small globe in his hands, aiming to figure out just what the next biome would be.


    But before he did that, he decided to open up his system interface and scroll down to the Infinite World Tab.


    There was no harm in knowing what something looked like pre-upgrade and after an upgrade.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite World]} ¡ú


    [Area width: 1 Billion Miles]


    [Upgrade Requirements: The Core of a 3rd Layered ne of Infinity]


    [Rank of Residents: Primitive Mortal Lifeforms ¡ú Single-celled Organisms, Primitive Insects, Bugs, Small Birds, Fish, Large Birds, Dolphins, Large Fish, Monkeys, Large Reptiles, etc¡­]


    [Advanced Mortal Lifeforms ¡ú Magma Fish, Lava T-Rex''s, Fire Birds, Obsidian Devourers, etc¡­]


    [Time Dtion ¡ú 1:10,000]


    [Qi Density ¡ú 5x that of the outside world] ¡ú [Continue upgrading in order to encroach upon the Qi Density of a higher ne of existence.]


    ¡ª------------


    After understanding the current stats of his Infinite World, Azmodeus let the assimtion process fully go through.


    WAAAAaa¡­


    The assimtion process came to a close as the Infinite World was opened up and expanded to an unbelievable degree!


    "Let''s see what has changed this time around."


    Azmodeus''s raspy voice echoed out in the void of space as his body once again vanished, his existence quickly zorping to a mysterious world inside a globe.


    FWIP!


    He was weed with a simr view to all the times before, with the only difference being that everything was a whole lot bigger. From the trees all the way to the rapidly sprinting lizards, everything was suddenly given a huge boost in size!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 257: The Leaders Of The Fire And Water Deity Tribes

    ...¡­


    The verdant green trees towered over the area for tens of thousands of meters, while lizardsrger than the biggest of dinosaurs swooped in and out of the skies, devouring anything in sight. This process extended to thend creatures as well, which led to visibly progressing evolution.


    Azmodeus was extremely intrigued by the rate at which everything evolved. In particr, he was interested in just how fast they could grow, if he say¡­ caused the end of the world with a big rock from space!?


    "Wouldn''t that be a rey of a past apocalyptic event?" He mused, his perceptive gaze scanning the surroundings as he shot through the skies.


    OOOM!


    The world suddenly went dark as something blotted out the artificial sun in the sky, leaving the world below in a state of disarray.


    "Ah, so this is the next evolutionary direction¡­"


    Azmodeus looked above him and saw a bipedal monkey riding on top of something akin to a flying Leviathan.


    The human rode the creature like he was the king of the world, and considering the way he looked, it made a lot of sense.


    "..."


    The God of this world watched the human stroke his long Norse-style beard, waiting for him to do something.


    And that was when it happened¡­


    SWOOOSH!


    Anotherrge creature¡ªderived from some form of advancedve dinosaur¡ªappeared in view as it pped its mountain-sized wings. This action caused the world to shake and quake as the surrounding topography was uprooted by the violent winds.


    "##&$8:";$8$...$($)0#93"


    There was a human riding on thisva creature as well, and this one actually had the ability to speak anguage.


    Thenguage it spoke would normally be an iprehensible one, but Azmodeus was God. And as God, he could make himself understand.


    After changing thenguage settings, he rewound time by a few seconds and let the scene y out again.


    Upon getting to the part where the neer human started to speak, Azmodeus took out a chair and ced it in thin air. This was followed by him conjuring up a box of popcorn before watching the live-action movie unfold in front of him.


    "Even though I can only rewind or fast-forward time by a few seconds and it has arge cooldown, it is still a neat ability to have. But the matter of time can wait tillter. After all, there is a movie currently airing¡­"


    These were thest things God said before zoning in on the ongoing developments.


    -


    "Harkath! How dare youe to the Great Juju Forest with that wretched sea beast of yours!? Are you trying to force my hand!?"


    A man ofrge stature¡ªwith a stone face and medium-length fiery red hair¡ªstood atop the head of his Lava Wyrm, ring at the equally imposing man in front of him.


    "...Ha¡­ What a Joke!!" Harkath leaped off of his sea beast, barreling right toward the enraged Omarm.


    Omarm was the leader of the Fire Deity Tribe, while Harkath was the leader of the opposing Water Deity Tribe. And as one might expect, they oftentimes butted heads over any small matter that arose. This was not only because of their naturally different racial traits, but also because this is what their Deities instructed them to do.


    Ho¡­? So it looks like a few Elemental Spirits have already started to y the part of gods¡­ How interesting.


    Azmodeus scanned through the memories of the two battling Viking-like men, as he was able to glean into the history of the world¡ªa history that apparently went back millions of years.


    One of many major events was the rise of the Spirits¡ªentities who were in tune with the true elements of the world.


    They were beings who were feared and respected, and after a few tens of thousands of years of cultivating the elements inside caves, they decided to rule the monkeys.


    When the monkeys first came to be, the Spirits thought nothing of them, simply passing them off as another mindless species. However, after tens of thousands of years of evolution, the monkeys evolved into intellectually advanced creatures.


    The Spirits saw potential in this rapid evolution, which was why they deemed themselves the masters of these monkey ves.


    The monkeys at the time werepletely oblivious to the intentions of the Spirits. And after tens of thousands more years passed, they had already be far too ustomed to being ves.


    The mere thought of escaping their fates and bing free monkeys never even crossed their minds¡­


    After another long period of time, Harkath¡ªthe leader of the highly respected Water Deity Tribe¡ªwas asked to provoke the Fire Deity Tribe. This led to the current tension-filled sequence of events, and it was also whatmenced the start of a long-drawn-out battle.


    -


    "You stupid fish lover!! You hit like my dead grandma!!!"


    Omarm''s roars could be heard from every inch of space as he shed with Harkath in the skies, trading mountain crushing blow after another!


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Terrifying explosions and sonic booms reverberated as the two giant flying behemoths retreated from the scene out of fright.


    Harkath lightly pushed away an iing thunderous fist using his gentle water arts. After which, he swished around the moderatelyrger body of Omarm, catching him by surprise with a jaw uppercut!


    BOOOOOM!


    Omarm shot out into the skies like a stray arrow, ultimately finding himself nted on the side of arge mountain!


    The mountain was crushed underneath the weight put behind the strike. However, the one who took it head-on only seemed to be even angrier.


    "Are you mad!? You talk about your grandma, but little do you know that I fucked your grandma!! And boy, was she a delicious little thing¡­! Especially when I devoured her at the end-"


    "YOU FUCKING BASTARD!!!!" Omarm bellowed out with a voice seething with rage, his figure blurring through a cloud of anger as hepletely shattered the mountain he was on.


    RUMBLE!!


    The world shook underneath the immensity of his might as his fist increased in size by a millionfold from Harkath''s perspective!


    This would normally be enough to elicit fear in even the most iron-willed of men, but contrary to that belief, Harkath''s evil smirk only grew. He moved one foot forward, allowing the water element bestowed by his god to flow under his soles. Then, with perfect body positioning, his body bent to an angle before he faded into mist¡­


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 258: The Hearts Of Humans

    ...¡­.


    FWIP!


    "!?!?"


    When Harkath reappeared, it was already toote for Omarm to stop his rash attack as arge muscr hand prated his outeryer of skin. It drilled through all his defenses before finding itself on the other end of his body!


    *Spurt!*


    Omarm coughed up a big glob of blood as his reddened face turned ashen; his gaze transformed into one of bewilderment and fear.


    "You always were the hotheaded type, Omarm. And for thousands of years, it has helped get you through many tough predicaments. Such as the day you and I met as fledgling spiritualists¡­" Harkath spun his hand around inside the innards of Omarm as his words leaked into his ears like the deadliest of knives.


    "Tell me, Omarm. Do you recall the time that we both discovered our talent to be beyond the Ashura Rank? That we would be the future rulers of our Tribe¡­?" Harkath''s voice became oddly mncholic as he felt around for something inside Omarm''s body.


    *Spurt! Spurt!*


    Blood clot after blood clot gushed out of Omarm''s mouth as his life force was on the verge of fading away...


    "We were friends once... We were supposed to rule the world together... But you decided to join the Water Deity Tribe. You betrayed me¡­ You betrayed us all." Harkath no longer hesitated with his actions as he plunged his other hand into Omarm.


    *Spurt!*


    Omarm was given onest blow as Harkath used both his hands to open up the back of his ''friend'', making his appearance look something like the bloody eagle from Norse mythology.


    Following the creation of this gruesome scene, Harkath grabbed at a glowing red vein that ran along Omarm''s entire backside. He yanked and pulled at this vein before ripping it out entirely!


    "A Fire Elemental Vein of the Strongest Person in the Fire Deity Tribe. Should be above Rank 9¡­" Harkath stored the vein in his storage bag as he watched the life fade from his friend''s dimly lit red eyes.


    "You betrayed me... But this sacrifice of yours will allow me to be one step closer to the level of a God¡ªone step closer to surpassing those who enved us¡­ I will change our fate, my friend." Harkath cupped the cheeks of the dead Omarm, seemingly giving him a path to a better afterlife.


    "I will do it for the future that we once envisioned all those years ago¡­ I will be the only God of this world."


    His words faded off into the tredges of reality as he let his friend''s corpse drop into the evesting currents of the sea.


    After standing there, thinking about a number of things inside his mind, he eventually left the airspace and went toward the mountain where his mount was waiting for him at.


    Harkath took a look at the devastated state of the mount¡ªwhich had lost its master¡ªand decided to put it out of its misery. One swift hand swipe, and the beast was thrown into the embrace of the sea, right alongside its master.


    -


    After everyone left the scene, Azmodeus reyed thest series of events and couldn''t help butpare Harkath to that of a protagonist.


    "I do wonder what that calctive man will do in the days toe¡­ Will he be the god that he has always wanted to be¡­? Or will he fail and fall to the depths of the ocean, just as his friend had¡­?"


    Azmodeus looked off into the setting sun as a growing sense of anticipation welled up inside him. He wanted to know what would happen next, but he knew that it would take time for the oue to beid out.


    In the end, he vanished from his floating chair and zipped in the direction of where the next Biome should be.


    FWIP!


    It took less than an instant for Azmodeus to materialize next to his destination, and when he saw the newest Biome, he could already see the exploration to be had.


    "And of snow and ice... covered by a deep sheet of white, shrouding the world away from its beauty." He spoke these words with a hint of appreciation, as the world before him was a truly beautiful one.


    But as with all things, there would always be brutality hidden beneath the beauty.


    That point was proven right away, as a snow vige was currently in the process of being plundered...


    Its men were being ughtered, while its women were being carried away and ravaged. The frosty white rooftops of the quaint little vige homes were dyed a deep crimson red as a mixture of blood and fire set the world aze.


    "The life of humans. The desires of evolved monkeys. Theplex array of life¡­"


    Azmodeus found such a sight befitting the true nature of humans, as no matter if in one reality or the next, they would always find a way to ruin something beautiful.


    "The world is a cruel one, and these people are just one of the many cases of cruelty¡­ They are not the first to die to the sinister nature of humanity, and neither will they be thest."


    God''s apathetic expression fluctuated in and out of reality, and if someone among the dying vigers or lively raiders saw the face of their Creator, they would think that their Savior had arrived.


    He had arrived to save them! To take them away from this cruel world¡­!


    But unfortunately for them, Azmodeus was not that kind of God¡­


    FWAZIP!


    A beam of brilliant red light erupted from the skies as the vige and the raiders forever disappeared from the face of the earth.


    "It doesn''t seem like I get any loot for killing the living organisms in this world¡­"


    Heaving an exasperated sigh, Azmodeus''s faded face nced at the fiery red death and destruction in the vicinity.


    He really wanted to acquire another decent farming spot, but hopes were often dashed away as soon as they sprouted up¡­


    Well, since that was a bust, I guess I will go over to where the next Biome hint should be¡­


    Following this thought, Azmodeus left the scene of utter pandemonium and darted in a certain direction.


    While on the road again, taking his time, he decided to open up his Infinite World system interface again.


    A bright blue and golden light shed.


    BLING!


    ...¡­..

 Chapter 259: Retelling Of A Not-So-Distant Past

    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite World]} ¡ú


    [Area width: 1 Gxy]


    [Upgrade Requirements: The Core of a 3 and a Half Layered ne of Infinity]


    [Rank of Residents: Primitive Mortal Lifeforms ¡ú Single-celled Organisms, Primitive Insects, Bugs, Small Birds, Fish, Large Birds, Dolphins, Large Fish, Monkeys, Large Reptiles, etc¡­]


    [Advanced Mortal Lifeforms ¡ú Magma Fish, Lava T-Rex''s, Fire Birds, Obsidian Devourers, etc¡­]


    [Low Spiritual Lifeforms ¡ú Humans, Sea Leviathans, Lava Wyrms, World Eaters, Krakens, Embryonic Dragons, etc¡­]


    [Time Dtion ¡ú 1:25,000]


    [Qi Density ¡ú 10x that of the outside world] ¡ú [Continue upgrading in order to encroach upon the Qi Density of a higher ne of existence.]


    ¡ª------------


    "It''s already be the size of a gxy, huh?"


    Azmodeus took another look at the Infinite World and was once again left amazed at its rate of evolution.


    At the rate it''s going, it likely won''t be more than a few years before it achieves the size of a universe.


    His thoughts stirred as he pondered the matter for a few moments. After which, he zorped back into the Infinite World.


    FWIP!


    When he reappeared inside the confines of the miniature universe once more, the first thing he noticed was the faint smell of charred embers in the air. This caused him to focus on a certain direction as he saw explosions going off in the distance.


    "A battle¡­? In the Forest Biome?"


    This piqued Azmodeus''s curiosity as he shot toward the source of the chaos, quickly arriving at what appeared to have been the aftermath of a very intense battle.


    "It seems like some of the Tribes have changed over the time that I''ve been gone."


    Azmodeus scrutinized the surroundings and saw residual elemental energies, all of which originated from Fire and Water Tribesmen.


    "Are they still going at it? Even after the Water Tribe Leader killed the Fire Tribe Leader?"


    He assumed that the Water Tribe Leader would''ve long since taken the weed up by its roots, stem and all. However, it seems like he failed somewhere along the way.


    After a moment of getting nowhere in his investigation of the scattered corpses and war-torn battlefield debris, Azmodeus opted to use a more direct approach.


    FWOOM!


    His body suddenly became visible to the world as he undid the naturalyer of omniscient concealment around his body. Such an action resulted in the stragglers of the battlefield bearing witness to what appeared to be a Crimson God!


    "Are you a God sent from the Heavens in order to bring us salvation!?" One of the Water Tribesmen pleaded on his knees while leaning up against a bloody boulder.


    "Are you stupid!? Clearly, he is a Fire God, and he hase to assist the Fire Tribe!"


    This time, it was a Fire Tribesman who spoke with a snappy voice as he held what used to be a fully functional arm¡ªnow just a blood-stained stub.


    "No! You are blind! He is here for us!"


    "You must be the dumbest creature to ever walk the face of the!! How stupid can one person be!?"


    A series of lively banter spread out among the survivors of the Fire and Water Tribes as they butted heads without respite.


    "Silence."


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    Azmodeus''s voice took all of the stragglers out of their rankling as they simultaneously looked in the direction of the Crimson-eyed God. His appearance was otherworldly; his sun-halo backdrop was divine; and his disposition was unrivaled. These reasons alone were enough to have the various tribesmen on their knees as they begged for forgiveness.


    The God in question paid them no mind as he waved his hand and said, "I am not from this world, and unless you wish to have your memories forcefully extracted, you will tell me what happened here."


    As if in a trance, all the tribesmen gave their retelling of the events, leaving out not a single detail.


    Their recounts put Azmodeus in a profound state, as he never would''ve expected this to ur. At least, not so soon¡­


    The Ice Tribe rose up from the bottom like a true underdog, swiftly and effectively taking their spot at the very top of the world hierarchy.


    However, before they could fully cement their position as the strongest force, they had to get through the unstoppable monster¡ªHarkath, the Leviathan God.


    He was someone who rose up from the bottom, just like they did. Furthermore, he was able to rule over the world of Pandora with an iron fist for millions of years. He crushed all rebellions, quelled the unrest of the people, and even developed greater technology and infrastructure.


    It was because of him that the world progressed in the right direction. But with time, his thirst for power grew too strong, and he decided that he didn''t care about the consequences any longer¡­


    Simr to myself, Harkath went on killing rampage after the next, murdering anybody who so much as looked at him the wrong way. However, in contrast to the way I went about it, he eventually became drunk on death, spouting nonsense such as how he would be the next God of Death.


    Harkath also talked about how this ''Small Bubble'' would not be able to hold him any longer. He spoke about how he would one day meet the one who created them all. And when he did, he vowed to kill them, ming all his pain and sorrow on me¡­


    Sigh¡­


    Azmond heaved a sigh upon recounting this part, as he probably would''ve done the same thing if he were in Harkath''s shoes.


    But regardless of how he felt about the matter, there was still a story to retell¡­


    So after Harkath went batshit crazy, the Ice Tribe could tolerate no more, as they ignited the sparks of rebellion and amassed more and more strength with each passing year.


    Even the Fire Tribe and Water Tribe had joined up with the Ice Tribe, as all of them were working toward the same goal. And with the continued passing of time, the day they ultimately pushed Harkath into a corner finally came around...


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 260: Harkaths Insanity!

    ...¡­.


    Harkath, the Leviathan God, was someone with a cultivation base in the 3rd Order Divine Realm, making him about as strong as a Lunar Ascendancy Realm Expert. And to counter such an absurdly powerful foe, the Ice Tribe had to send out more than 70 powerhouses of the 2nd Order Divine Realm.


    In addition to that, they sacrificed thousands of 1st Order Divine Realm Masters as well as countless cultivators of the Emperor Realm and below.


    But even with so much power at their beck and call, they were no match for the overwhelmingly powerful Harkath, as they fell to his de within the day.


    Now this is where things really get interesting¡­ as the Spirit Race¡ªwhich has been dormant since their forceful sealing by Harkath¡ªfinally broke their eternity-long seal!


    They sought revenge on the one who sealed them away, and this led to them reviving all fallen warriors of the Forest, Sand, Water, Ice, and Fire Tribes. The Forest and Sand Tribes joinedte in the fray, so they didn''t have as many casualties. Even so, their top elites and those of the other Tribes were brought back to life.


    Along with such a resurrection, the Spirits bestowed upon them their top-level Elemental Blessings, causing their power to skyrocket!


    They came back to life with a million times the strength, aiming to strike the Leviathan God where it hurt!


    They seeded in their endeavors for quite a while. At least, that was until they backed the lion into a corner. And with his life on the line, Harkath made one final attempt at oveing those who wished to get in his way. Subsequently, this is what led to the scene before us¡­


    "..."


    Azmodeus looked at the aftermath of where the Leviathan God just went through an intense struggle, wondering just how many powerhouses had died.


    "This is what happens when you push a man to the brink of insanity. His goals were sorge, and yet he never could make a breakthrough or even leave this world¡­"


    He rted to Harkath on a certain level, but in the end, this Leviathan God was nothing more than a toy in his big toy house. And when toys became broken, it was only natural that you would throw them away¡­


    "Before I dispose of a faulty toy, I guess I will pay him a visit. I wish to understand just what will go through his mind when he meets the person he so badly wants to kill." Azmodeus''s voice turned frosty as a piercing gleam shed past his red eyes.


    FWIP!


    He vanished from his spot, leaving all of the Elemental Tribesmen in a state of bewilderment.


    "Did God just abandon us¡­?"


    "It seems so¡­"


    ¡­


    After a few seconds of traversing the gxy-sized world, Azmodeus ultimately made it to where an intense battle went on with intense passion. He followed the trail of destruction and death left by the Leviathan God, eventually making it to where a sr system-sized man stood.


    Harkath hase quite a long way¡­


    Azmodeus found his blue-spiked, daunting appearance far further on the tyrant scale as opposed to the mild appearance he previously possessed.


    In a way, he followed in the footsteps of his creator. But in the end, he didn''t take the right path¡­


    As his thoughts swirled around inside his mind, a fierce struggle was happening not even a few dozen miles away.


    "Your legacy is no more, Leviathan God! You have lived for far too long, even preceding the Transfiguration of the world! You are thest of your generation!


    Why don''t you just give it up and go off into the afterlife knowing that we will make Pandora better than it has ever been!? In a time long, long ago, this was not a necessary measure we needed to take, but you are no longer the person you once were... You are now just an existence stunting the development of your home... And for that, you must die..."


    An icy blue man with a scar-ridden body stood at the forefront of a group of 2nd Order Divine Realm Experts. His clothing consisted of a long, leopard-spotted cape as well as a swirly mustache that curled around his square bone structure. He fully fit the bill of a staid navymander, possessing an aura to match.


    This man was the current Leader of the Ice Tribe, Snow Monger. And he was also the son of the previous Ice Tribe Leader¡ªsomeone who died by the Leviathan God''s hands more than 55 million years ago.


    "HAHA!"


    A sudden burst of maniacalughter took the Snow Monger out of his thoughts as he looked toward the one-armed and one-legged man before him.


    This man was the Leviathan God.


    He was someone who had struck terror in the hearts of quadrillions and has done so for longer than anyone has been alive.


    His armor was likely the most terrifying thing about him, as it had light blue spikes protruding off of just about every inch of his body. Even his long, frosty blue hair was unable to conceal the immensity of his armor.


    Forged in the deepest depths of the Boundless Ocean, it was something that he forced the Spirit of the Sea to mold to his will, even chaining up the Kraken cksmiths of the Abyssal Trenches.


    Harkath did all of this so as to craft something capable of withstanding the full degree of his might¡ªthe Leviathan God''s Carparece!


    "HAHAHAHA!!!"


    His insaneughter reverberated through the iron-filled skies as his long, dark blue hair blew in the wind, forcing him to cock back his head while holding his hand over a single eye.


    "You Wish For Me To Give It Up!?!? ME!!!???"


    WAAAAA!


    His aura exploded outward, causing even the air to copse in on itself!


    He flipped his menacing blood-red gaze across all of the people present, as there were even a few that he raised from diapers. But regardless of who it was, they were all Betrayers!! They didn''t understand what he wanted!!! They didn''t understand what it was like to live in a cage while knowing that you could be something more!!!


    They didn''t understand¡­


    "DIE!!!!" Harkath bellowed at the top of his lungs, forcing the azure blue aura fluctuating around his robust frame to spike up a millionfold!


    He burned through his life essence! He burned through his Soul Essence! He discarded everything without hesitation! Not caring a single damn bit about the repercussions of his actions!!!


    "..." "..." "..."


    All of the gathered Experts watched thest semnce of humanity fade from the eyes of this raging beast. It was at this moment that they knew what they had to do¡­


    "You were like a father to me¡­ But all good things eventuallye to an end¡­ I am sorry, old friend."


    Ice Monger''s devastingly powerful aura turned mncholic as he watched the enormous, raging beast rush at them.


    Witnessing someone who he used to look up to devolve into such a state was enough to have him grit his teeth and pull up his Great Axe.


    Just as he was about to swing down with everything he had, somethingpletely out of reason happened¡­


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 261: The Truth Of The World

    ...¡­.


    BLING!


    A bright sh of crimson light erupted from a corner of the battlefield. For but an instant, time itself froze in ce.


    And when it unfroze, an entity of unbelievable proportions appeared in the middle of the opposing forces. His gaze looked down upon everything like it was all beneath him. And without giving even the slightest warning, he snapped his fingers.


    That was all it took for every single tribesman to get transported back to where they came from. Their memories of the Leviathan God no longer existed, and their lives would likely continue as per usual, all without ever remembering the one who saw them as nothing more than obstacles¡­


    "..."


    Azmodeus shot his cold gaze in the direction of the glitchy, fiery red and blue beast, wondering how a man with such immense aspirations was reduced to this state.


    It also got him thinking that maybe, just maybe, he would''ve ended up with a simr fate if he wasn''t able to escape the grasp of the 10 True Astral Principality Princes.


    Such a thought put him in an extremely profound state as he lightly waved his hand, unraveling the Berserker mode of Harkath.


    The colossal man had all the strength leave his body, and he fell to the hard, cold ground with arge thud, causing the ground to cave in beneath him.


    FWAZIP!


    Azmodeus used his telekinesis to pull the now 2 meter-long man out of the crater, as he had hime less than 5 feet away from him.


    "Wake up, Harkath." He spoke with a calm voice.


    -


    ''Is someone calling my name¡­? But who? Why? For what reason?''


    The Leviathan God was lost within the deep misty morass that was his mind, and he wasn''t able to find his way out¡­


    He was stuck¡­ stuck on the goals that everyone told him to give up on¡­


    He didn''t want to give up! He never wanted to give up!


    But with the vicissitudes of time taking him away in its ever present grasp, his goals faded into the background. They were instead reced by a hatred beyond reason, one deeply rooted in the very core of his being!


    ''I will find the bastard that created this world¡­ and when I do¡­ I WILL KILL HIM!!!''


    CRACK¡ª


    The world of his mind started to shatter at the release of his thunderous, hatred-filled words!


    That was when he heard it again¡­


    "Wake up, Harkath."


    That same rapsy, emotionless voice¡ªone that reminded him of what he envisioned his maker to sound like.


    Such a voice caused his aura to emanate at an even greater degree as the airspace around his mind cracked even further, verging uponplete destruction!


    ''I Will Kill You, You Son of a Bitch!!!'' He roared, thrashing around in a figurative cocoon of his own making.


    Harkath wanted to reach the voice!!! He wanted to kill the owner of the voice!!!!


    He Would Kill Them!!!!


    "I said wake up, Harkath!!"


    CRACK¡ª


    SHATTER!


    With the utterance of an impatient voice, the world of his mind could no longer take it anymore, as Harkath was shot back to life!


    "!!!!"


    Upon making it back to the world of the living, the first thing he did was throw the strongest punch he could muster!


    "DIE!!!" He bellowed, his fist plummeting toward the crimson-haired man like a nuclear cannon!


    "Why bother?"


    Following the release of an apathetic voice, the energy surrounding the barreling fist was dispersed as easily as that. The momentum behind it was still there, but upon making it to Azmodeus''s firm chest, it might as well have been a cotton punch.


    "!?!?!?" After seeing that his full-power attack had no effect, Harkath backed away from the scene and looked at his steaming fist with a perplexed glint in his eyes.


    "You need not worry about your power, because it is still there. I simply took away your ess to such vtile energy while we''re having our discussion."


    "???" Question marks shot off inside Harkath''s head as he finally got a good look at the person who had been speaking to him.


    Without even needing to verify it, he instinctively knew exactly who this extraordinarily handsome man was.


    "God¡­" His voice seethed with an untold degree of hatred, and just as he was about to go Plus Ultra, a voice stopped him in his tracks.


    And by that, it was done quite literally¡­


    FWIZIP!


    Azmodeus took control over the motor functions of the towering man as he had him sit down in an illusory blue chair that he conjured up.


    He ced both Harkath''s chair and his chair in between a small circr table. At the center of this table, there was a ss screen. This ss screen was made using technology beyond the very fabric of reality, and it was currently being used to rey a few events for the Leviathan God.


    "Why don''t you take a good, long look at the history of this ''Pandora'' for yourself? A world that was created by something far beyond even my understanding¡­"


    Azmodeus let the events y out as they happened, with the ss screen acting as the conduit for which this could be aplished.


    "???" Harkath was confused and angry at first, but upon seeing the world start as nothing more than a 20-meter-wide plot ofnd, his expression went through many different stages.


    After the rapidly shing scenes of evolution came to a close, Harkath''s face turned white as a sheet of paper. Hisrge body slumped into the back of his chair as he looked up at the stars with a listless gaze.


    "A higher world¡­ Pandora is part of a higher world¡­ So the World Transfiguration that happened all those Epochs ago¡­-"


    "It was but one of many, and it won''t be thest toe." Azmodeus finished his mumblings with an informative tone, gauging the reactions of this frog at the bottom of a well.


    He expected anger or disbelief, but contrary to his expectations, only sorrow remained on the scarred man''s face.


    "You are sad¡­?" He asked.


    "My world¡­ It is just one of countless more¡­ And yet, my lifespan hase to an end¡­ I no longer have any time left in this world¡­" Harkath despondently mumbled, his eyes losing every ounce of fire they once had.


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 262: God and a Mortal

    ...¡­.


    "..."


    Azmodeus found Harkath quite simr to himself in a way. And though he was originally going to kill him and be done with it, he might have just found himself the perfect pawn to collect the Power of Faith.


    "You wish to live?"


    God asked the man whose life had already lost its meaning.


    Upon hearing the words of God, the lifeless eyes of the mortal man found their spark once more. "You have a way!? A way for me to live!?" If only in the smallest amount, hope found its way into the heart of the distraught mortal.


    "A way?" God questioned. "I have more than just a way. I can allow you to gain back not only your life but also a way to acquire far more power than you ever have." His voice dripped into the ears of the mortal man like a divine decree. "All you have to do to obtain it is ept my will."


    Without hesitation, the mortal cried out, "I''ll do it! Anything that is required of me, I''ll do it without question!"


    God nodded his head with untold levels of grace. After which, he flicked his sleeve and pulled out a tome. "This is your chance to acquire greater power. Your only job is to reach out and grab it."


    "!!!" The mortal wasted not a breath more on useless chatter as he snatched the book and read the first letters on the cover. "A Mortal''s Ascension¡­"


    "Yes, it is a Technique that I have created myself. It is your future, and it is also the key to power beyond your wildest imagination. Now for bestowing upon you such power, you must give me... everything," said God.


    "Everything¡­?"


    "Yes, I want everything you were, everything you are, and everything you will be. Your life will be mine to do with as I please." God waved his hand, taking away the tome as easily as it came. "Tell me, Mortal. Do you ept these terms?"


    The past Harkath¡ªfrom a time long ago¡ªlikely would''ve deeply contemted such a life-altering question. However, the Harkath of the present no longer had any inhibitions left to speak of.


    With a newfound fire burning brightly within the very core of his being, he shouted, "I ept The Terms!"


    God waited for the soul contract to fully register. After which, he said, "Very well. This world is yours to rule and evolve in the direction you want. I will simply be the one who provides the fuel."


    With these words, God took out a radiant sphere of iridescent light¡ªa sphere of wonders so dazzling that even gxies paled inparison.


    This sphere flew out of the hands of God as it shot into the highest point in the sky before disappearing.


    After a moment or two ofplete silence, the whole world of Pandora suddenly lit up in a bright array of colors, spreading over everything in view!


    "A World Transfiguration¡­ Just like the one all those years ago¡­" The mortal muttered, disbelief etched across his square face.


    "This is my gift to you and the living beings of this world. Do not leave it to waste¡­"


    Following theseplex words, God''s divinely beautiful figure started to fade from view, leaving the mortal to stand and watch in wonder¡ªwatch as a wider world opened up before his very eyes¡­


    ¡­


    An uncountable number of years passed since the Infinity Core of a 3 and a Half Layered ne of Infinity was used to evolve the Infinite World.


    With each Heavenly Transfiguration, an indefinite amount of time passes¡ªan amount that in no way corrtes to the normal Time Dtion Rate.


    This was beyond Azmodeus''s control, as it was something directly involved with the system. But he could still watch everything happen in between each Heavenly Transfiguration, almost like the rewinding of a movie.


    This was a new feature that came with the most recent upgrade, and it was also what Azmodeus was looking through at this very moment.


    "So it seems Harkath managed to break past the Divine Rank¡ªinto the rank that I called the Omega Rank."


    Azmodeus found the recap quite intriguing, as the Mortal Ascension Technique was something that he created based on Pandora''s current cultivation system. It was with the original cultivation system as a foundation that he was able to extend past the Divine Realm. To be more specific, the realm right after it was the Omega Realm, and then the Sentari Realm.


    There were even more after that one, but he felt no need to delve into them at this point in time.


    "With Harkath''s current strength, he should be equivalent to a cultivator in the Comet''s Passage Realm. Add that to the fact that his identity started anew, and a natural-born ruler was created.


    His rule so far has been rtively peaceful, only needing to use brute force to resolve disputes if absolutely necessary. However, even though his blood thirst has been severely reduced, the pursuit of substantially greater power still persists.


    At the rate he is going, it will likely be no more than a few billion years until he breaks through into the Sentari Realm¡ªa realm equal to that of a Forger Expert.


    As for the world itself, it has already reached the size of roughly 100 Universes and appears to be growing with each passing day.


    With the addition of the Acidity Biome, the World of Pandora is slowly but surelying together, creating something that could be even greater than all Realms of Infinity¡­"


    Azmodeus looked forward to such a daying to pass, but for now, he only wished to watch everything evolve.


    He sat on a nearby moon, scrolling through his system interface with a leisurely approach. Upon making it to the Infinite World section, he perused it with an interested glint in his crimson-colored gaze.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite World]}


    [Area width: 102 Universes] ¡ú [Grows in ordance with the strength of its residences.]


    [Upgrade Requirements: The Core of a 4 Layered ne of Infinity]


    [Rank of Residents: Primitive Mortal Lifeforms ¡ú Single-celled Organisms, Primitive Insects, Bugs, Small Birds, Fish, Large Birds, Dolphins, Large Fish, Monkeys, Large Reptiles, etc¡­]


    [Advanced Mortal Lifeforms ¡ú Magma Fish, Lava T-Rex''s, Fire Birds, Obsidian Devourers, etc¡­]


    [Low Spiritual Lifeforms ¡ú Humans, Sea Leviathans, Lava Wyrms, World Eaters, Krakens, Embryonic Dragons, etc¡­]


    [High Spiritual Lifeforms ¡ú High-Humans, High-Elves, High Orcs, High-Goblins, High-Beast People, True Dragons, Qilins, Kunpengs, Etc¡­]


    [Time Dtion ¡ú 1:50,000]


    [Qi Density ¡ú 15x that of the outside world] ¡ú [Continue upgrading in order to encroach upon the Qi Density of a higher ne of existence.]


    ¡ª------------

 Chapter 263: Numerous Changes In An Instant

    ...¡­..


    After looking over the system interface, Azmodeus''s eyesnded on the ''High-Human'' part of the species catalog.


    "Is this what people like Harkath are termed? If so, then I wonder why the system still says that I''m of the regr ''Human'' Race¡­ Does it have something else in store for me? Or am I just overthinking things?"


    His thoughts stirred as this topic also brought up the question of why the system gave him the Spiritual Ind. What was it trying to do to him?


    He pondered the matter for a few seconds before ultimately passing it off as yet another thing to be solved in due time.


    "I''m sure the System has a reason for everything. Seeing as there would be nothing to gain from harming me, it would be wisest to just sit back and let things y out as they should."


    After dispersing the subject from the front of his mind, Azmodeus figured it was about time he went back into the Infinite World. After all, even though only a few minutes had passed for him, an untold number of years went by for Harkath.


    If he wished to keep the Overlord''s devotion and continue amassing the Power of Faith, he had to show up every once in a while. And what time was better than the present¡­?


    This question lingered as an afterthought, as Azmodeus had already set off for Pandora, zorping through a plethora of space-timeyers.


    FWIP!


    Upon making it back to Pandora after only being gone for a few minutes, he realized that everything had changed. From the atmosphere all the way down to the topography¡ªnothing was the same.


    A world once separated by the fires of war¡ªnow united under one man. This is the power of Faith¡ªof the belief that one man will punish and protect those he deems fit.


    Azmodeus felt like he was on the precipice of something greater as he zed through the brightly lit skies.


    Letting the morning rays cover his immacte figure, he passed by countless verdant green hills, home to some sort of gnome race.


    Going past an assortment of gnome viges and their oddly shaped boot houses, a new area came into view.


    This time, there were a vast number of brown, rocky mountains, some covered with snow and some with vibrant green grass. In these wondrous mountains, there lived a variant species of High-Golem¡ªthe kind that were over 100 meters tall and walked around like living Earth Gods.


    But vastly contrasting to their daunting appearances, they were one of the most peaceful species on Pandora. It even reached the degree that they were termed the ''Giant Lovable Teddy Bears''.


    One would find themselves hard-pressed to find a golem killing even the lowliest of insects¡­


    FWAZOOM!


    After crossing over the gxy-sized growth of mountains, Azmodeus saw a giant tree¡ªone sorge that even a universe paled inparison!


    "The Divine Tree of Yggdrasil¡ªthe home of the High-Elves¡­"


    Azmodeus marveled at the cosmically dazzling sight before him, as he could see shining stars and gxies spiraling around inside the enormous tree. On these embedded stars, there lived a countless number of elven species¡ªsome not even aware of whaty beyond their tiny wells.


    "Pandora¡­ I do wonder where exactly you will end up evolving towards¡­ Will you eventually supersede even the Starry Expanse if given enough time? A 7 Layered ne of Infinity¡­ What sort of concept is that¡­?"


    Azmodeus wasn''t even of the necessary strength to find the Core of a 4 Layered ne of Infinity. After all, they were typically guarded by those in the ck Hole Sovereignty Realm. Whereas his Battle Power was merely equivalent to the Peak Neb Veil Realm¡ªstill a ways off from the Half-Step ck Hole Sovereignty Realm.


    "I think it''s about time I begin putting my full focus into the grind again. I also have a Gctic Lord to put in his ce, and I can''t have my Clones do all the work for me¡­"


    Azmodeus had already resolved to have half his Prime Existence leave the Infinite World for an extended period of time, letting time pass at 50 thousand times the rate. This would not only actively increase his cultivation, but it would also allow him to get some decent blood baths going.


    But before that point came around, he wanted to consolidate his faith with Harkath, the Omegalord.


    FWIP!


    His unparalleled figure vanished from view as he left the unequivocally beautiful cosmic tree in his wake, heading off for a location just as splendiferous.


    ¡­


    Within an open window space on the topmost floor of a skyscraper, touching upon the heavens.


    "My Lord, have you looked over the documents I put on your deskst night?"


    A deferential voice sounded out within a nicely wooden-modeled room as it echoed with a touch of snarkiness to it.


    "Ju Dong¡­ You know I didn''t¡­"


    A man of great stature with a scarred face put on a wry smile as he leaned his hand against his forehead, expecting the berating toe.


    And just as he expected¡­


    "My Lord! The Elven King has been waiting in the Floating City of Akron for thest two weeks! You know that there is no way of avoiding his marriage proposal for his son and your daughter, don''t you!?"


    Ju Dong hurried over to the ruler of the world like a lecturer reprimanding his student. He allowed the tired ruler not a single ounce of respite!


    "Ju Dong¡­ My daughter¡­ She''s too young to be thinking about marriage. Just tell that old coot to go back to his tree and leave me and my dear Ming Chao alone¡­" Harkath leaned into the back of his chair, not even bothering to look at his advisor.


    "My Lord! That just isn''t possible! The Elven King is responsible for the sole distribution of world seeds! We need a solid alliance with him if we want to move forward with the colonization of the New Continent!" Ju Dong continued to lecture his ruler with an exasperated tone, clearly used to the shenanigans of his lord.


    "Ju Dong¡­ My daughter, she''s too young to be thinking about marriage¡­-"


    "She''s more than 300 thousand years old! How is that too young!?" Ju Dong interrupted his master with a ring voice, tired of all this nonsense.


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 264: Once Again Meeting God

    ...¡­.


    "..."


    Harkath nkly stared at his loyal advisor for a second. After which, he turned his head slightly to the right and despondently mumbled, "She''s too young¡­ Just have that son of mine go in her stead."


    *Tick!*


    A vein formed on Ju Dong''s head as his monocle cracked a little, and he asked, "Which son!? The one currently having difficulties figuring out what the difference between a barrel and a woman is!?"


    "Ahh¡­ Yes¡­ My good son, Fu Xia. You should definitely arrange a marriage between him and one of the many Elven Princes." Harkath slightly nodded his head and threw a thumbs up, his tongue sticking off to the side.


    *Tick! Tick!*


    Veins spread out across Ju Dong''s head as his monocle was on the verge ofpletely shattering!


    "My Lord¡­ I will retire¡­ I think that is what I should do," he said with a serious voice, his body already taking slow steps outside of the Presidential Office.


    "!!!"


    Harkath''s expression immediately went on alert with these terrible words spoken by his good friend (paperwork ve) as he shot off his seat. He ran over to the receding figure of Ju Dong and slid on his knees, quickly reaching his ankles.


    "Please, Ju Dong! You must understand things from my perspective! What of my innocent Ming Chao!? She has a say in her own life! I can''t just force her to marry! Think of her-"


    *Bang!*


    A door was mmed open as a beautiful girl with long ck hair tied into a bun rushed in. She made it to Harkath''s groveling figure in half an instant and said, "Father, you didn''t tell me that your friends were so handsome! If you knew someone like that, you should''ve introduced us sooner!"


    Ming Chao shook her father''s muscr body; her dazzling greens were quite literally glowing.


    "!!!" Some handsome bastard!? All my friends are ugly as fuck! Who is impostering as a friend of the great me!?


    Harkath stood up like a freshly sharpened pencil, and his aura transformed into an extremely deadly one!


    He was about to storm out of his office and see just who had the audacity to pose as his friend!


    At least, that was until a crimson-haired man entered through the cracked doors of his office. He looked like an immortal who came out of an ungodly painting, and as he leisurely strolled through the wide room, he caught sight of his target.


    "It seems like you''ve truly changed after all these years, huh? Harkath, do you still remember the words that you spoke to me all that time ago?''


    "!!!" Harkath''s yful and faintly angry countenance lost all its sheen as he was stunned beyond belief.


    However, after realizing how disrespectful he was being, his robust body fell to the marbled floor with a loud thud. His expression morphed into one of absolute reverence as he shouted, "My God, this one will forever remember what you said and bestowed upon me in thest Heavenly Transfiguration!"


    "!!!" "!!!"


    Ju Dong and Ming Chao looked toward the kneeling world leader as they were still trying toprehend the situation.


    Ming Chao originally wanted to hook up with Azmodeus after seeing his extraordinarily handsome appearance. But now, she didn''t know what to feel about this man she let in through the front door on her way in¡­


    "???"


    Ju Dong, on the other hand, was thinking about somethingpletely different.


    The Past Heavenly Transfiguration??? My Lord''s God¡­ That must mean¡­


    He already had a good idea of who this mysterious figure was. But to verify his spections, he asked, "Are you the Crimson God¡­? The one who passed down ''A Mortal''s Ascension'' before suddenly disappearing?"


    Azmodeus turned his neutral face in the direction of the wide-eyed secretary-like man, and said, "I am indeed that person." He activated his godly backdrop halo to make sure they fully understood the truth of his identity.


    "!!!" "!!!"


    Ming Chao fainted right then and there, while Ju Dong wobbled and fell into a nearby ck cupboard, hitting the ground with a thud.


    "..." "..."


    Azmodeus and Harkath suddenly looked at each other, and the former said, "You sure have some interesting people around you this time. And it seems like you found yourself a wife?"


    An embarrassed look emerged on Harkath''s gruff face as he scratched his neck and said, "Actually, I have 24 wives¡­"


    "Oh...? We meet again, and so soon you are bragging." Azmodeus raised a brow and watched the kneeling man go through a flurry of conflicting emotions.


    "N-No, My God! I would never dream of such a thing! I-I simply wanted to-" Harkath got up off the ground and started to freak out while waving his arms around. However, he was swiftly interrupted by God, saying:


    "You can rx; I was just kidding. Now tell me, what happened to you for such a soft side to overtake that tyrant I witnessed in the previous you? Did being in the presence of beautiful women soften you up¡­?"


    "Well¡­ The truth is¡­"


    Harkath went on to articte just what had caused him to change so much. While he was doing so, time ceaselessly passed for the two overlord-like existences¡­


    ¡­


    "Ahh¡­ So it was indeed a woman, or rather, multiple women, that altered your personality to such a degree¡­"


    Azmodeus sat on a wooden chair while listening to the woes of Harkath. By the end of this discussion, therge many against his seat with an awkward look on his face.


    "Well, God. Life was quite chaotic for me after you left that day¡­ And through that chaos, I met a number of women. All of whom joined me in this oh-so-solitary life of mine¡­-"


    "There is no need to borate further. I have a good idea of what happened." God saved the mortal from some embarrassment and took something out of his storage ring.


    "Here, you can use this to better progress your cultivation through the Omega Realm," he said.


    "!!!!" Harkath jumped off his office chair and hit the ground running as he fervently thanked God for his magnanimous gift.


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 265: A Sudden Race Change!?

    ...¡­.


    "There is no need for all that, Harkath. Just promise me that you will guide this world and your descendants in the right direction. If you can do that, then I will be able to leave with peace of mind."


    "You won''t stay¡­? Not even for a few years?" Harkath spoke with a dejected tone, depression creeping up his expression.


    "No¡­ You may not understand, but from the world Ie from, I still have some loose ends to tie up. However, I will leave half my existence cultivating in Pandora. But even with that, you must not know the location of this version of me."


    God went on to describe all theplexities involved with the split existence that would remain in this Infinite World. By the end of his long-drawn-out exnation, Harkath nodded in understanding, still concealing a slight sense of sorrow.


    "Just tell me if you ever make it back to town, my God. If you do, I will make sure to prepare the grandest of banquets for you¡­! And, God...?" Harkath started off with a friendly, boisterous voice but ended off with a low-mumbled question.


    "Yes?" Azmodeus sipped on some brown herbal tea, lifting his gaze toward the conflicted look on Harkath''s face.


    "You won''t one day forever disappear on us... Will you¡­?" Harkath murmured with a self-deprecating smile, clenching hisrge fists.


    He didn''t know if his sanity could take such arge blow¡­ If God truly did disappear, then he might just lose everything he had worked so hard to build up¡­


    "Harkath."


    A rapsy, resonant voice took Harkath out of his thoughts as God looked toward him and said, "This world is mine¡ªjust as your life is mine. I will not be leaving anytime soon; that much I guarantee."


    "!!!"


    Harkath''s eyes brightly glowed and he bowed to the floor once more, shouting about all the things he would do in order to please his God!


    But when he turned his head up, the crimson-haired man was gone. In his seat, all that remained was a Tome that said, "A Mortal''s Defiance."


    This was the next book in the line of Ascension Techniques, and it was also what would allow Harkath to evolve above and beyond.


    "Thank you very much, Master!"


    The World Leader had already taken God as his elusive master. After which, he woke up the unconscious Ju Dong and Ming Chao, telling them of the good news!


    ****


    In an area of space outside a satellite moon.


    FWIP!


    The energies of space and time violently fluctuated as a rift opened up. From this rift, a man of unbelievable proportions materialized.


    "With all of that out of the way and my half-existence umting cultivation inside the Infinite World, I can begin the next step of my ns¡­"


    Azmodeus flipped his icy cold gaze toward countless different directions in the void of space as he could feel the immense presence''s shooting after his Astral Star Fleet.


    "It seems like those worms have yet to learn their ce." A cold sword gleam shed past his blood-colored eyes as he lifted up his trusty Sanguinary.


    Without caring about the distance in space between him and his opponents, he swung his pitch-ck scythe downward!


    SHING!


    The world that separated him and the Neb Veil Realm Servants was crossed in half an instant as a scythe arc barreled toward the foolish worms.


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    Thousands of experts in the Early, Middle, and Late Neb Veil Realms realized it all far toote, as their existences were erased from the fabric of reality!


    WAKAZOOOOM!!


    Violent astral winds shot out from an uncountable number of directions as the world finally caught up to the immense destruction.


    In the distance, Azmodeus looked at the bright gxy-like explosion urring on the horizon. In his opinion, there truly was no better view than a sh of pretty colors when perusing system notifications.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed 2000+ of the Gctic Lord''s Servants, all of whom were in the Early ¡ú Late Neb Veil Realm.*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 500 Trillion Starry Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *Due to yourprehensions of the way of a God, your race change willmence shortly. After which, you will be able to use your Starry Evolution Essence in order to level up again.*


    "Hmm¡­ Race Change¡­? Because of myprehensions of being a God?" Question marks went off in Azmodeus''s head as this happened way out of the blue.


    However, after a moment of thinking it over, he realized that this was likely why the Infinite Evolution System gave him the Spiritual Ind¡ªall so as to develop a race direction.


    But what confused him was: what sort of crazy race needed theprehensions of a god in order to activate¡­?


    He wasn''t given much time to brood over the matter as arge number of pop-ups bombarded his vision.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have obtained more than 1000+ Neb Veil Rank Physiques as well as a countless number of Sr Dynasty and below Physiques!*


    *Ding!* *You have received a vast number of Racial Traits at the Sr Dynasty Rank and below. Additionally, you have obtained more than 1500 Traits of the Neb Veil Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your Singrity Physique has reached the Absolute Peak of the Neb Veil Rank, causing your Battle Power to spike!*


    *Ding!* *Your various Basic Attribute Boosters have improved past the x1 Trillion mark!*


    *Ding!* *Due to these kills being added to your murder board, your ''Cultivation Speed Booster'' has improved by leaps and bounds, nearing the x1 Million mark!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to Assimte the Stats or roll for the abilities of the beings you just killed?*


    "Uhmm¡­ The usual¡­" Azmodeus was still thinking about the Race Change, so his voice came out in a weird manner.


    *Ding!* *You have gained 10 Trillion Star Stat Value in Strength, 12 Trillion Star Stat Value in Speed, 9 Trillion Star Stat Value in Defense, and 18 Trillion Star Stat Value in Qi.*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has drastically improved!*


    Following all of these system notifications, a few in particr almost had Azmodeus fall on his butt and tten the moon he stood on¡­


    *Ding!* You have acquired the necessary amount of Starry Evolution Essence tomence a Race Change!*


    *Ding!* *Your Race Change into a far superior Race will start within the next 10 Seconds!*


    *10¡­9¡­8¡­7¡­*


    "Wait, what the hell!? So sudden!?"


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 266: Paying The Price

    ...¡­


    BOOOOOM!


    Azmodeus identally pressed his feet a little too hard against the moon as it cracked in half and floated off into the void!


    *6¡­5¡­4¡­3¡­2*


    "At least give me the time to-"


    *1¡­0¡­*


    BLING!


    A bright sh of golden light forced Azmodeus unconscious as hey on one half of a satellite, aimlessly wandering through the vast void¡­


    *Ding!* *The Price of Extreme Power is a hefty one. Be prepared to pay the price... This is what you agreed to¡­ Do keep that in mind.*


    *To tread the Path of Infinity, a price must be made¡­ The Path of Infinity is one transcending all gods, but to surpass a god, one must first be a god. To be a god, one must understand what it means to lose everything¡ªto transform into an existence worthy of ruling the Path of Infinity.*


    *The Infinite Evolution System wishes the host luck on his path. Increasing ''Passive Pain Intensity'' appropriately.*


    ¡­


    An unknown amount of time passed by.


    The Exact Date: Not Known


    In a dark spot on the side of a spiraling mass of cosmic energies, a sudden tremble caused a nearby ck Hole to shake and quake.


    RUMBLE!


    The rumbling only became more intense as time passed, resulting in a transfiguration of the Quadrant''s topography!


    Then, out of nowhere, something shot up out of the center of a red star, causing the entire thing to implode in on itself!


    "..."


    A man more handsome than any number of gods appeared in the center of a supernova, his divinely chiseled body bathing in the cosmic energies that permeated the air around him.


    "How long¡­" The man muttered, his crimson-colored hair flowing in the midst of the heat rays. "How long has it been¡­?" He looked around him, only to see that nothing was the same as it was before. Even the very nature of the Universe had been altered.


    "How long¡­" He continued to mutter like a broken record, quickly vanishing from his spot as he zipped through the void of space, passing by an uncountable number of cosmic bodies. "So much has changed¡­ The Laws¡­ The Qi¡­ Even the texture of Space¡­"


    Azmodeus shot through the void like a slingshot, incidentally destroying everything in his path. He had yet to notice the system notifications bombarding his vision, and he had also not bothered to check the drastic changes to his body¡­


    He was no longer the same person that he was before. His changes went beyond the scope of understanding. But the price of great power was a steep one¡­


    Time.


    A concept that extends beyond the values of human viability¡ªan abstruse idea that everything flows in linear motion, simr to a river.


    But what one was unaware of was that time was far moreplicated than that. And more often than not, time was very cruel¡­ So very cruel¡­


    FWIP!


    Azmodeus appeared in an area of the Are Quadrant where he could feel slightly familiar energy signals. However, upon arriving, he saw nothing other than chunks and pieces of what was once the Astral Star Fleet. Erosion over a vast number of years had clearly done a number on the debris.


    "The Star Fleet¡­ My Clones¡­" He scanned the area and saw a number of his Primordial Essence Clones, all of whom were¡­ dead.


    Their bodily chunks and energy residue were scattered throughout the floating metal shards, making for a bloody scene¡ªone capable of causing one''s stomach to churn.


    "If my Clones are dead¡­ Then Yang Hua and the girls¡­"


    He extended his Divine Sense in a rushed manner, looking for any traces that could prove his spections wrong.


    They must surely be alive¡­ I mean, those bunch are stubborn yanderes¡­ They can''t die¡­ Right¡­?


    Azmodeus tirelessly scoured the area, trying to find even the slightest trace of their existence. However, no matter where he looked, nothing was found-


    "A ribbon¡­" A light red, torn-up piece of fabric appeared in the corner of his vision as he immediately teleported over to it.


    Upon picking up the ribbon, his face froze over. And for but an instant, sadness welled up inside him¡ªan emotion once foreign to him. It reared its head once more, only tough in his face¡­


    "Nao Long¡­ She was so happy when she showed me this ribbon¡­ She said it made her hair all the better to pet¡­" Azmodeus clenched the blood-stained ribbon in his hand, his aura spiraling out of control.


    His face started to morph and change, fluctuating at a level that made him appear like a crimson glitch in the system. His aura blew past the restrictors keeping it under control as it forced the entire Quadrant to rupture!


    "Azmodeus..."


    That was when a sudden voice echoed out from behind Azmodeus.


    "!?" He shot his head in the direction of the soothing voice, only to see a blue, illusory hologram. It projected from atop a small metal box, and in half a split second, another seven translucent figures materialized from thin air.


    "If you''re hearing this... It probably means we have died," said the first illusory figure.


    ''Yang Hua...''


    "But don''t worry about it, Az, Az...! We know how much of a burden we were, and with our untimely deaths, you are sure to rise to the Heavens!" The second illusory figure, Nao Long, jumped into the conversation with a forced smile on her pretty, tear-stricken face.


    "Jue Mei... She said that everything happens as it should... And eventually, all will be as it was destined to be.


    We don''t really understand those words, but with her abrupt departure into a higher realm, she brought with her the shards of our existence.


    Jue Mei spoke of our normal existences being too rge'' to directly ascend to a higher ne, so she extracted our essences and spoke of a potential reincarnation¡­" Chi Wu spoke with a motherly demeanor, seemingly trying to reach her slender arms out and hug the man she loved.


    "Jue Mei... S-She said your path was different from ours¡ªthat your path was one that only you could walk, a-and that we were just in the way..." Bing Nu Shen, for the first time in a long time, started to cry.


    "We know that we would never have been able to catch up to you... We knew that...! But that doesn''t make it hurt any less..." She held her hand to her wet face, trying to maintain herposure.


    She failed terribly...


    However, Bing Nu Shen wasn''t the only one in a simr state, as Chi Wu, Li Na, and the other fairy-like women could no longer stop the waterworks froming.


    "Hey, Az, Az." Nao Long turned her glistening globes in the direction where she knew Azmodeus would be.


    "Wha-"


    "You knew all along, didn''t you...? That we loved you...?" Nao Long muffled her words through sniffles as she clenched her fists and cried into the dress that Azmodeus picked out for her.


    "..."


    Azmodeus went silent at the utterance of those words... he knew.


    Of course he knew! How could he not know!?


    But in the end, nothing much was left inside the empty shell that was his existence...


    The capacity for empathy, the capacity forpassion, the capacity for... Love. None of it was possible for him.


    The Path of Infinity... That is the path I walk. It is one that allows nothing other than the yearning for greater power.


    You girls knew that... I know you did...


    So you thought it would be better to just go out with a fight to the death... You thought it would be the best thing to do. You thought it would be best for me...


    Because I''m weak... It is always because I''m too weak...


    If I were strong enough... If I were a god like I am in the Infinite World. If that were to ever happen-


    So that is what the Infinite Evolution System wants. I see now...


    If that is the direction I must take, then it will happen.


    Following these thoughts, Azmodeus turned his face up from the ground and saw that the girls were no longer there...


    Why would they be here for me...? Was I ever truly there for them...?


    He knew¡ªhe knew what kind of person he was. He knew what kind of person he had be.


    It was this part of him that drove Azmodeus forward. This was what would allow him to traverse the Path of Infinity.


    But how many things would he end up losing on his way to the top?


    Just how much pain would he have to endure?


    How much would he have to go through before it was all over...?


    Bzzzt¡­


    The hologram abruptly cut off, and the device that held it self-imploded.


    It seemed that time was up¡­


    OOOM!


    An aura unlike any other erupted from within Azmodeus''s darkened figure¡ªone that held the core intent of his Prime Existence.


    "You kill my clones¡­ You take them away from me¡­"


    Azmodeus''s voice reverberated in a scratchy, static manner as his aura continuously expanded, forcing the Quadrant to bear witness to the birth of the first of a kind!


    The Progenitor of a Race.


    "For all that you have done¡­" His aura reached an all-time high as his glitchy face darkened to a degree beyond the concept of darkness. "For all that you have taken from me, the only thing that will remain is... D.E.A.T.H."


    WAAAAAA!


    His aura blew the top off the lid as the system could no longer restrain the emotions that wished to break through every concept known to existence!


    "I¡­"


    A voice that sounded like it came from the deepest of abyssalyers resonated with the very essence of the Universe. Purple rune lines blitzed out of Azmodeus''s devil-horned figure as it enveloped the Are Quadrant in its entirety.


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    In less than an instant, countless powerful existences in the Neverdye Gxy felt the presence of something truly terrifying. But by the time they prepared to make a move, death had already arrived at their doorsteps¡­


    "A.M¡­"


    OOOOM!


    The Are Quadrant was constricted by the purple runes like a python suffocating its prey. The very fabric of reality started to warp underneath the pressure, as nothing was capable of stopping its ascent¡­


    The Ascent of Death.


    "I¡­ A.M¡­" The static-like voice paused for only half an instant, and it almost felt like everything would return to normal-


    "A.T.O.M.I.C."


    Silence enveloped the world as countless ck Hole Sovereignty and Neb Veil Realm Experts looked to the stars above.


    For half an eternity, everyone stood in still motion, watching as everything unraveled¡­


    The world was undone like a string of yarn, taking with it everything in sight¡­


    And then it happened¡­


    WHAZOOOOM!


    Space sucked in on itself as the string of purple yarn exploded outward, resulting in a brilliant sh of light sorge and dazzling that existence itself was blinded!


    The Are Quadrant vanished¡­ The Quadrants beside it also vanished¡­ The Neb Veil Realm Experts vanished¡­


    Everything¡­ Vanished.


    All who noticed the phenomenon in its early stages were no longer alive, while the truly powerful hegemonies of the Universe arrived far toote.


    End of Volume 3


    ...¡­

 Chapter 267: The Motherf*cking Loot God!

    ...¡­


    "What happened here¡­?" A figure shrouded by a cosmic anomaly inquired with an ancient tone, his star-like gaze analyzing the surrounding emptiness.


    FWIP!


    Another starry figure materialized into existence and looked at therge, empty hole in the void. "This is where Lord Gctus did a colony sweep a few million years ago¡­ I remember reading about it in my early years."


    This man was one of the Gctic Enforcers¡ªsomeone who worked directly under Gctus and was also responsible for handling the Gctic Archives. He was someone withrge renown among those of the Gctic Army''s ranks.


    "Now that you mention it, G Enforcer #6, I do recall the Gctic Lord being quite livid during a certain period in time¡­ He said something about ''Nasty women taking the easy way out! And assaulting them all in the afterlife.''" G Enforcer #5 spoke up with hisic hand lightly stroking his star-speckled chin.


    "Yes, I was still a Commanding Officer back then, but I too recall such a brief event. After all, the Gctic Lord had never been as mad as he was when the ''Crimson Usurper'' vanished from all radars." G Enforcer #65 chimed in with a voice just as antiquated.


    "Could this Cosmic Anomaly and the Crimson Usurper somehow be rted? If so, then we must tell Gctus¡­-"


    "No, you may not have been around long enough to understand, G-Enforcer #8. But thest thing we should do is inform the Gctic Lord of a matter that may or may not be rted." G-Enforcer #9 interrupted G-Enforcer #4 with a wizened tone. "Tell me, #4. Do you know what Lord Gctus did after being unable to find the Crimson Usurper?"


    "No¡­ What did he do-"


    "He attacked the Razer Gxy, blowing up their Gctic Lord''s Cosmic Castle. This was how our war with them started. It was also why artificial geniuses like you and me were made¡ªbeings capable of reaching the Supermassive Voider Realm within a mere few dozen million years."


    G-Enforcer #9 informed #4 of history that even the Gctic Archives did not speak about. Such an exnation put #4 in a perplexed state, previouslypletely oblivious to all these revtions.


    "We will simply report this as an independent event and let the Universe restore the nkness. As for what actually caused this, well, that is of no concern to us."


    With the utterance of these words, G-Enforcer #9 faded from view and phased toward the white sphere before touching around. These simple actions of his forced the nk element to rapidly regenerate itself.


    Within minutes, the destruction was no more, and a new ecosystem could be built from scratch.


    As for the Gctic Enforcers, they had already returned to what they were doing before this point in time. But what they were utterly unaware of from beginning to end was the glitchy devil-like face watching them from a crack in space.


    "Loot bags¡­ You run¡­ But there is nowhere to hide."


    This voice no longer sounded like Azmodeus; it instead resembled that of an archaic devil¡ªone that should not even exist on this ne of existence.


    FWIP!


    His unfathomablyrge, devil-horned, and hooved figure sped through the fabric of space and time as his body turned in-corporeal. Slipping in and out of space streams, he wanted to go somewhere to obtain more loot because, to catch the big fish, you first needed the small fish.


    As he made his way toward a location only known to himself, he summoned more than a hundred Primordial Essence Clones and Trillions of Mirror Mirages.


    "Kill." They all chanted with evil looks on their crimson-spiked, static expressions.


    "Kill."


    "Loot."


    "Kill."


    "Loot."


    This was repeated across many light years as Azmodeus''s aura only grew with each second that passed.


    His Current System Interface:


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: 1st Order Loot God - 0.1% Nourishment]


    [Lifespan: ~50,000/1,270,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000] (Increased due to Physique''s and Traits with relevant boosts)


    [Cultivation: Early Star Radiance Realm (Initial)]


    [Battle Power: Middle Stages of the Middle ck Hole Sovereignty Realm]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: ~2 Quintillion Starry Evolution Essence]


    {[Stats:]}


    [Strength: 67 Quadrillion Star Value]


    [Speed: 69 Quadrillion Star Value]


    [Defense: 62 Quadrillion Star Value]


    [Qi: 92 Quadrillion Star Value]


    [Cultivation Talent: Absolute Peak of High Mortal Realm]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Astral Split - Level 5] (SRR Rank)] ¡ú [0/1 Quadrillion SEE]


    [Mirror Mirage - Level 5] (SRR Rank)] ¡ú [0/1 Quadrillion SEE]


    [Various other Traits] ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [Overall Attribute Boost: SRR Rank - (Level 5)]


    {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters]}


    [Singrity (Absolute Peak Half-Step Sr Dynasty Rank)]


    [Various other Physique''s] ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [Overall Attribute Boost: Absolute Peak Half-Step Sr Dynasty Rank]


    {[Laws:]}


    [7500 High-Star Laws: Level 4] ¡ú [Extreme Attribute Boost (x1 Quintillion+.]


    [For the host''s convenience, the previous Law section and below have been simplified (temporary).]


    {[Infinite World:]}


    [Area width: 9,545 Universes] ¡ú [Grows in ordance with the strength of its residences.]


    [Upgrade Requirements: The Core of a 4 Layered ne of Infinity]


    [Rank of Residents: Primitive Mortal Lifeforms ¡ú Single-celled Organisms, Primitive Insects, Bugs, Small Birds, Fish, Large Birds, Dolphins, Large Fish, Monkeys, Large Reptiles, etc¡­]


    [Advanced Mortal Lifeforms ¡ú Magma Fish, Lava T-Rex''s, Fire Birds, Obsidian Devourers, etc¡­]


    [Low Spiritual Lifeforms ¡ú Humans, Sea Leviathans, Lava Wyrms, World Eaters, Krakens, Embryonic Dragons, etc¡­]


    [High Spiritual Lifeforms ¡ú High-Humans, High-Elves, High Orcs, High-Goblins, High-Beast People, True Dragons, Qilins, Kunpengs, Etc¡­]


    [Low Ascendant Lifeforms ¡ú Lord-Humans, Lord-Elves, Lord-Orcs, Lord-Goblins, Lord-Beast People, Lord Dragons, Lord Qilins, Lord Kunpengs, Etc¡­]


    [Time Dtion ¡ú 1:62,000]


    [Qi Density ¡ú 17x that of the outside world] ¡ú [Continue upgrading in order to encroach upon the Qi Density of a higher ne of existence.]


    ¡ª------------


    As one could see, Azmodeus''s lifespan had not changed.


    This was due to the time he spent in slumber being counted as null and void¡ªnot linear time, for he was not part of the timeline. This was also why Gctus and his goons were unable to locate him.


    Then there was his race¡ªLoot God.


    This race was Azmodeus''s future, but it was also his past. It was something that would stay with him until the end of time, and though it may go through many evolutions, this would always remain the case.


    As for what exactly this Race entailed for the Loot God Progenitor. Well, all of the benefits so far could be considered hidden or passive. For example, he now had a major increase in every single one of his Basic Attributes. On top of that, there was a constant multiplicative effect on all things that he looted.


    A rough reference would be the Early ck Hole Sovereignty Realm Expert that Azmodeus just felled underneath his de.


    Typically, he would get around 1 Starry Quadrillion Evolution Essence for such a kill. However, with the passive loot multiplier applied to it, that number shot straight up to 100 Quadrillion!


    That was a 100x boost in Loot Acquisition!


    Furthermore, that wasn''t even the end of it, as this not only applied to Evolution Essence, but also Physiques, Laws, Traits, money, and anything else that could be considered loot.


    For Physiques and Traits, when obtaining them, a ''+'' sign appeared in front of the system notifications.


    For example:


    ...¡­

 Chapter 268: The True Grind

    ...¡­


    *Ding!* *You have killed a Gctic Recruit of the 5th Scouting Unit, someone in the Early ck Hole Sovereignty Realm.*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 235 Quadrillion Starry Evolution Essence, a Low-ck Hole Rank Physique¡ªLorder Physique+, a plethora ofprehensions in High-Star Laws, including two new ones. In addition to this, you have gained the Low-ck Hole Rank Trait¡ªStar Absorption+*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has moderately improved!*


    *Ding!* *The ''usual'' is being further applied!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 2.5 Star Stat Value in Strength, 2.8 Star Stat Value in Speed, 3.4 Star Stat Value in Defense, and 4.8 Star Stat Value in Qi.*


    *Ding!* *You have made use of the ''Loot God Automatic Transfer'' System Function.*


    *Ding!* *Through this system function, a storage space has been developed inside the system. In this ''Loot Storage Space'', you have just obtained over 500 million lowest-ranked star stones, 320 thousand low-rank star stones, and 28 mid-rank star stones.


    *Ding!* *You have also obtained arge number of Treasure Weapons. Of which, include a few Peak Neb Veil Rank Items as well as countless Late Neb Rank and below items.*


    *Ding!* *More than 500 billion other items inside the Dantian Space and Storage Ring of this Early ck Hole Sovereignty Realm Expert have been given to you.*


    As one might notice, a lot has changed in terms of Loot Acquisition. By that, it means that a shitton is being allotted with each kill!


    This was all from a single Early ck Hole Sovereignty Realm Expert. And Azmodeus kills one of such cultivators with every passing second.


    He cared not for altering the enemy forces as he slipped in and out of the void, slicing ck Hole Realm heads off like they were worth no less than chickens.


    This action was, of course, a reckless one, as many of his Primordial Essence Clones died to the sudden appearance of Late Rank ck Hole Sovereignty Realm Servants. But it mattered not for Azmodeus, and he continued to kill everything in sight with a face bereft of emotion.


    After a number of days passed, a name started to spread among the denizens of the Neverdye Gxy. A name that went by¡­


    The Crimson God!


    All things eventually return to their beginnings, and with the infamy of Azmodeus on the rise, it was unavoidable that Gctus caught wind of his existence.


    This immediately put him into a flying rage as he evaporated his Cosmic Castle!


    After eventually iming down, he sent out every expert at his disposal, whether they were in the Lunar Ascendancy Realm or the Quasar Lord Realm!


    He vowed to himself that the little pesk in his territory would die! And this time would not end like thest!


    But contrary to his aspirations, with the ceaseless passing of time, Azmodeus only became stronger and stronger.


    When a total of 20 years flew by, the death count of the various Clones may have been in the Quadrillions. But that was in no way able to stop the Loot God from spawning in 10 times that amount!


    By this point in time, Azmodeus had already skipped right past the Star Radiance Realm,nding himself in the Sr Dynasty Realm''s Early Stage.


    In addition to that, he was also able to improve his professions to the Absolute Peak ck Hole Sovereignty Realm and his Battle Power to the Absolute Peak ck Hole Sovereignty Realm!


    Furthermore, there were also his Laws, Physiques, and Traits, all of which made great strides toward the equivalent of the Peak ck Hole Rank!


    WAAAA!


    "Another breakthrough¡­ Middle Sr Dynasty Realm¡­"


    A devilish voice echoed out in the void of space as a man with a long demonic tail and shiny golden, red horns expressionlessly stared at the space in front of him. He watched as the system notifications came in, all of which congratted him on his breakthrough as well as what he had gained.


    Azmodeus, at one point in time, would have been even the smallest bit excited about gaining greater power. However, the current version of him had already been consumed by the craving for Infinity. A strength boost or breakthrough was just another day for him, not a rare urrence worthy of celebration.


    "Must continue the grind¡­ The grind is the Path of Infinity¡ªthe one with no end."


    Azmodeus no longer took any breaks; he no longer hid out in a cave and yed it safe. In his mind, there was not even a point in hiding his main body.


    If he was destined to die, then he would die.


    That was how his mind processed the events that preceded the ''Tragedy''. But in spite of his seemingly rash actions, destiny acted just as he predicted it to.


    He lived from day to day, narrowly escaping death as enemy after enemy eventually sumbed to his might.


    Azmodeus still died¡­ He died a lot¡­


    But every single time he died, he came back 10 times stronger than before. Nothing could prevent his ascent from their ne of existence¡ªnot the Gctic Lord, not the gods above, not even the system itself!


    His will was no longer the will of the system. It was now only his¡ªthe will of the Loot God¡ªthe will of the Lootopian Conqueror¡ªthe one who took nes of existence as nothing more than jokes!


    "Time to kill¡­" An evilly distorted grin crept up Azmodeus''s devil-like face as he sted through after.


    He reaped a countless number of lives, all for a purpose, of course.


    "Crimson Devil God!! You actually dare to show up at my territory!?"


    The thunderous voice of a cosmic-shrouded man reverberated through the emptiness of space. He materialized above a dark green right after his voice sounded.


    This man was one of the Gctic Enforcers. To be more specific, he was G-Enforcer #958, and he was also someone in the Early Supermassive Voider Realm!


    "..."


    Azmodeus nkly stared at the extravagantly dressed G-Enforcer. After a moment or two of robotically gauging the strength of his opponent, he pulled out Sanguinary.


    RUMBLE!!!


    Its Early Supermassive Void Rank aura overwhelmed the air space in half an instant as a wide, sr-system-sized scythe arc sted out!


    .....

 Chapter 269: Killing a G-Enforcer, Harkam

    .....


    "You Fucking Bastard!!" G-Enforcer #958 bellowed out with a rage-filled voice before taking out a star-sized great-axe.


    Its crackling photonic energies erupted to the top of the Heavens as two Quadrants were erased from the residue energy waves!


    "How¡­ Useless¡­"


    A voice colder than the vacuum in space found its way into the ears of the G-Enforcer. Before he even got the chance to understand the meaning behind these words, yet another Scythe Arc blitzed right behind the first one. It hit the former and collided in a big st of purple light, subsequently catapulting thetter past the limits ofprehension!


    "Just be loot¡­"


    "!!!"


    G-Enforcer #958 tried to resist the insanely fast Scythe Arc. But by the time his body followed themands of his mind, neither his body nor his mind were still connected to the same existence.


    CRACKA-BOOOOM!


    A massive explosion ruptured the fabric of space in the surrounding 6 Quadrants as arge part of the 6th Gctic Commander''s Territory was thrown into oblivion.


    OOOOM!


    An immense aura pressed down on all of existence as Azmodeus could feel something extremely powerful approaching his location.


    "A Quasar Lord¡­" A calctive gleam shed past his apathetic gaze as he lightly grunted before fading into a different reality.


    To be more specific, it was the Infinite World. A ce where the people of the Neverdye Gxy could never hope to reach.


    "The strong loot will be saved forter¡­ It makes the acquisition all the more satisfying¡­"


    Azmodeus spoke words of immense confidence as he directed his Primordial Essence Clones to lure the Quasar Lord away from the Quadrant Remnants. He would have them do that while arge group of Clones searched for a new farming location, preferably one with more Supermassive Voider Realm Experts.


    As his thoughts stirred andmands were given, a few system notifications rang out inside his head.


    *Ding!* *You have killed an Early Supermassive Voider Realm Expert!*


    *Ding!* *Since this Expert was a servant of a Low-Gctic Realm Gctic Lord, the total amount of loot you obtain will be increased appropriately!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 45 Sextillion Starry Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained a numerous number of items in and below the Early Supermassive Voider Rank!*


    *Ding!* *You have received arge number of Physiques and Traits in and above the Early Supermassive Voider Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your Loot Storage Space has had another few Continents worth of loot filled into a small corner of its confines.*


    *Ding!* *Your Singrity Physique has reached the Absolute Peak of the ck Hole Sovereignty Realm!*


    *Ding!* *It is rmended that the host prepare his body for the moment he achieves the Early Supermassive Voider Rank Singrity Physique.*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has drastically improved!*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has improved into the Late Stages of the Early Supermassive Voider Realm!*


    *Ding!* *Your Loot God Nourishment Rate has been increased from 0.3% to 0.4%. Continue acquiring more loot to improve the percentage and eventually achieve the next Race Rank Up.*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 0.3 Sextillion Starry Stat Value in Strength, 0.4 Sextillion Starry Stat Value in Speed, 0.2 Sextillion Starry Stat Value in Defense, and 0.6 Sextillion Starry Stat Value in Qi.*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has tremendously improved!*


    *Ding!* *Once your Loot God Nourishment Rate surpasses 1%, you will have reached a point where you can attempt a breakthrough into the Early Neb Veil Realm. You will also have the option to roll for a Racial Trait¡ªone of the Loot God Race''s many unique qualities.*


    Following all of the various system notifications, Azmodeus took out a glowing iridescent sphere from his Loot Storage Space.


    This was the Core of a 4 Layered ne of Infinity.


    "That Loot Bag gave some good stuff¡­ I should definitely kill some more of them," Azmodeus muttered, his hands already moving to transfuse the floating orb with the Infinite World.


    OOOOM!


    The Infinite World went through another major transformation, likely thergest Heavenly Transfiguration so far!


    Billions of years passed in the process of this split second transformation as Harkath advanced from the Sentari Realm into the Beta Realm. Along with this breakthrough, he bore even greater numbers of children from his many wives.


    After roughly 100 billion years, Harkath, the Greatest Ruler to ever grace Pandora, suddenly vanished without a trace. Moreover, with the world being asrge and wide as 13 Multiverses, he could quite literally be anywhere.


    But with his power equal to that of someone in the Sr Dynasty Realm, it was highly unlikely that a single other existence could even hope to scratch him.


    With this in mind, Harkath''s wives and children continued on with their lives as per usual. Some died due to limited lifespans, and some moved away from the shadow that was their father. And then some decided to fight amongst each other, aiming to find the one most worthy of the crown that their father left behind.


    After 20 billion years of this inner turmoil among the long family line of Harkath, the day when a new ruler would be crowned finally came to pass.


    It may have taken many billions of years, but the 6th Youngest Son of Harkath managed to take his ce on the throne. He executed most of the brothers and family members who once stood against him, only leaving behind those who were on his side or those who stayed neutral.


    His cultivation base was in the Peak Sentari Realm, and it was with such an unbelievably high cultivation base that he maintained his rule for many, many years.


    After 200 billion years forever disappeared from the Pandora timeline, the size of the world increased to 5,560 Multiverses. However, the once-mighty Hakram died from ack of vitality. In other words, his lifespan determined that he had lived long enough¡­


    His burial ceremony was a grand one; high-ranking executives andmon folk from all over the world bowed to the earth that day.


    However, as with all things, time eventually forgets all.


    Hakram was no exception to this universal rule, and with the passing of 400 billion years, no one even remembered his existence¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 270: The Comprehensions of a God, G-Enforcer #45

    ...¡­


    After 400 billion years, the inhabitants of Pandora finally found a way to breakthrough into the Beta Realm, and thus their maximum lifespans were extended to over one trillion.


    With the ceaseless continuation of time, thousands of Beta Realm Experts emerged among those descended from Hakram and Harkath.


    They scoured the 100,000+ multiverse-sized world of Pandora. Exploring and discovering, they wished to see just where the limits of this world lie.


    Following the passing of the Epochs, totaling more than 5 trillion years, something changed within Pandora. It was something that not a single one of the Apex Hegomines could''ve predicted¡­


    RUMBLE!!


    The entire world started to shake! It quaked and rumbled as violent universe-shattering tremors spread throughout thend!


    After a great many years of these soul-trembling rumbles unrelentlessly urring, they finally stopped¡­


    It was unknown what had caused these tremors, and it was even more of a mystery as to what had ceased their activity. But what those from tens of trillions of yearster were able to discover was that it was very probable that one of the Ancient Emperors came back from the dead. This referred to those who preceded the most recent Heavenly Transfiguration.


    Of the mighty Ancient Emperors recorded in the faded Scriptures, there was really only one that anybody spected to have lived so long. That Ancient Emperor being¡­


    Harkath, the Original Omen!


    The Divine Emperor! The Herald of the Crimson God!


    Of course, no one actually knew if it truly was the awakening or breakthrough of Harkath that caused the billion-year-long intermittent tremors. But what they did know was that something ridiculously powerful reared its head over that period of time.


    As for the intentions of this powerful existence¡­ Well, the leading figures of Pandora just hoped that they were on their side¡­


    But regardless of what people thought of the legendary billion-year-tremors, time left everyone in the dust, taking with it all who lived beneath its domain.


    ...


    80 trillion yearster.


    80 trillion years... It took 80 trillion years for the Heavenly Transfiguration to finally conclude.


    At the end of this long stretch of time, a new Biome had opened up beside the Acidity Biome.


    This time, it was the Aeronautics Biome!


    This Biome was a stretch of billions of Multiverses, all of which connected together to form the world of the Sky.


    It was quite literally a world where there was nond; only the clouds and wind permeated the heavens.


    In the Aeronautics Biome, there lived people who stayed not onnd or at sea but atop the clouds!


    They were the definition of Sky People!


    This was also what the ruling race of this Biome was called¡ªthe Sky People. They were bird-like people with wings and talons, but they possessed human torsos and faces.


    In a way, they were Harpies.


    However, among all of the current ruling races, the Harpy Sky People Race was the one with the highest chance of rising to the absolute top!


    In fact, they already produced more than a dozen Powerhouses of the Middle Beta Realm, putting them near the very top of the current Power Hierarchy!


    "..."


    Azmodeus watched all of the changes happen to his Infinite World, and he did so with an expression devoid of emotion.


    He no longer cared as much about this ce as he once did. But if they could help him understand the essence of bing a true god, then he would allow them to evolve in whichever direction they so chose.


    "That Harkath is still alive¡­ And the Peak Beta Realm¡­ He will reach the Alpha Realm before long."


    Azmodeus murmured to himself as he honed in on a miniscule speck of dust that resided atop a massive, multiverse-sized Star Beast.


    The beast itself was some form of mythical Kun Peng, possessing spiraling horns that emitted dangerous levels of energy. Even the hide of this beast was analogous to a sheet of embedded crystals, covering the Kun Peng in its entirety.


    However, in the midst of all these wondrous things, there sat a haggard middle-aged man in a lotus position. His long brown hair was long and wild, like a lion''s mane, while his demeanor was befitting of one who spearheaded the world of Pandora toward the future.


    This man was none other than Harkath, the Herald of the Crimson God!


    Azmodeus was originally going to go and impart some profound knowledge to this questionable ''disciple'' of his¡ªthest of his disciples¡­


    But upon seeing that he was attempting a breakthrough into the Half-Step Alpha Realm, God backed away from this spot in space. Instead, he left the world and let things progress as they should.


    If Harkath is destined for the Alpha Realm, then he will reach it even without my help. But if he is not, then he will die and be one with the nature of everything¡­ Just as they did¡­


    For but an instant, a hint of emotion almost shed past Azmodeus''s dead eyes. But before it showed any signs of a change, it disappeared. Along with its disappearance was thest of what remained of the being once known as Azmodeus.


    He was still Azmodeus¡­ But not the same one that Nao Long and Yang Hua knew. He was colder, more ethereal. Almost like a¡­ god.


    ¡­


    500 (Starry Expanse) Years Later.


    Though this amount of time didn''t seem like much whenpared to the passing of Pandora''s time, for the Starry Expanse, it was enough for a new contender to arise. One who did not take no for an answer¡­


    "Pl-Please spare my life! I had no idea you were the Crimson Usurper! If I did, I would''ve-!"


    *Spurt!*


    A hand passed through the chest of an extravagantly dressed floating man before an arm emerged from his chest.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed G-Enforcer #45 of the Gctic Lord''s Army. This kill was of the Middle Supermassive Voider Realm!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 125 Nonillion Starry Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *You have gained 12 Star Stat Value in Strength, 17 Star Stat Value in Speed, 11 Star Stat Value in Defense, and 23 Star Stat Value in Qi.*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has moderately improved!*


    *Ding!* *You have¡­*


    ...¡­

 Chapter 271: The Terror Of The Crimson Usurper

    ...¡­


    Azmodeus let therge assortment of system notifications ring out inside his head as he shed from his position.


    "No, Please!!! I-"


    *Spurt!*


    Another hand phased through the chest of this G-Enforcer as his physical form faded into oblivion not long after.


    More system notifications sang their song of loot inside the Loot God''s head. But that didn''t stop him from blink-stepping around a heavily fortified Cosmic Fortress, killing everything that stood in his way.


    "Ahhh!! No, I want to live!"


    "Hurry, scatter! The Crimson Usurper is here-! Ahhhh!!"


    "Please Spare My Life!! This one will bow down to a statue of you for the rest of his life!!"


    "I don''t need your life. I just need your loot."


    SPURT!


    One head rolled, two heads hit the ground, and three hit the pins.


    CRACKA¡ªBOOOOOM!


    The once-thought-to-be impregnable Cosmic Fortress¡ªa fortress containing thousands of G-Enforcers¡ªwas destroyed just like that. Not even a piece of scrap remained when the Loot God finished his clean-up.


    "Time for the next location¡­ Loot waits for no one¡­"


    FWIP!


    Azmodeus vanished from his location and shot in the direction of an evenrger Cosmic Fortress more than 10 thousand light years away.


    WAAAAA!!


    An immense aura belonging to that of a Quasar Lord made itself known in the distance. But this overwhelming presence was amon tag-along for Azmodeus, so he went about his looting, not paying the rage-filled aura any heed.


    "You fucking bastard!!! Stop running through the space slips!!"


    A bellowing voice reverberated throughout arge portion of the Neverdye Gxy as Quasar Lord Zephyr blitzed through the rifts of space.


    He tried his utmost to keep up with the Crimson Usurper. However, the pesky ant was just too proficient in the High-Star Laws of Space Traversal and Space Supercedant. This made it nigh impossible for theckluster Quasar Lord to approach the tail of the slippery weasel.


    Even after hundreds of years of not taking any breaks, whenever Zephyr thought he finally caught up, all that he found wererge piles of rubble¡­


    "I swear that I''ll find and kill you, Crimson Usurper!!!!"


    OOOM!


    The Quasar Lord''s aura intensified as he sped up his advance, even burning through a sizable amount of his life essence!


    He no longer cared about holding anything back! He just wanted to reach the Crimson Usurper and wring him by his intestines!


    However, once again¡­


    "..."


    Quasar Lord Zephyr thought the day finally came¡ªthe day he would tear the Crimson Usurper limb from limb!


    But contrary to his expectations, once again, all that remained before his lifeless gaze was destruction and ruin¡­


    "MOTHERFUCKER!!!!!!"


    RUMBLE!


    The Quadrant the Quasar Lord was in started to crack and shatter as it broke apart and split up into countless miniscule space shards!


    Shooting through the skies like a zing star in the night, he blew up parts of the surrounding Quadrants with his explosive increase in aura!


    He swore to himself and everything he stood for that the Crimson Usurper would be caught, and he would be the one to do it!!!


    -


    Meanwhile, on Azmodeus''s side.


    "The hour of Loot is closely approaching¡­ Time to reach out and reap the loot¡­"


    A crimson-haired man¡ªwho looked as if he came out of a painting¡ªstared at what appeared to be arge cosmic ship.


    This ce was called Alcatraz.


    It was also where the most heinous of criminals were locked up after being caught by the G-Enforcers. Of course, these were the captures of enforcers who felt like obeying thew and captured convicts instead of killing them.


    But for Azmodeus, it was simply a ten-quadrant-wide loot bag. So with a cold gleam in his blood red gaze, he lifted up the sleek, pitch-ck Excalibur. His hands quickly extended to the heavens as an energy beyond description erupted from the tip of the de.


    WAAAA!


    Its crimson-colored aura enveloped the stars above as entire clusters of Quadrants felt the full weight of the overpowering strike that was toe.


    "Loot¡­ You will be a big one¡­"


    With the utterance of these icy words by Azmodeus, the world fell into a deafening hush. Even thes andic bodies stopped their orbits¡­


    The time ticked forward by one mark, leaving all in the dust. With the ash formed from the steps of the Crimson Usurper, time resumed.


    CRACKA-BOOOOOM!!


    The world was torn asunder!


    Alcatraz faded into nothingness as every inch of its enormous expanse was reduced to little more than arge moving target for Azmodeus.


    "!!!" "!!!"


    His de cut straight through the flimsy bodies of the G-Enforcers on standby, taking their lives and their loot.


    Of course, the powerful ck Hole Sovereignty and Supermassive Voider Realm Experts fared no better, as they were diced up and converted in the blink of an eye.


    Without anyone being able to resist in the slightest, Alcatraz and the 13 Quadrants dispersed into the nk realm. In their ce, all that remained were a plethora ofrge empty spheres, resembling those of a meteor shower''s aftermath.


    For Azmodeus, a multitude of system notifications rang out at thepletion of the massacre.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed 5000+ Experts of the Early-Late Supermassive Voider Realm!*


    *Ding!* *You have killed 100 Million+ Experts of the Sr Dynasty and ck Hole Sovereignty Realm!*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained a grand total of 954 Decillion Starry Evolution Essence after all boosts have been applied!*


    *Ding!* *You have amassed arge amount of items, ranging from the Comet''s Passage Rank to the Supermassive Voider Rank!*


    *Ding!* *You have gained another 500 High-Star Laws that you don''t already have. On top of that, you have received increasedprehensions in most of your 9,005 High-Star Laws!*


    *Ding!* *Once you acquireprehensions of all 30,000 High-Star Laws, you will begin to feel another substantial coalescencee on. This will lead you to a far higher state of Lawprehension.*


    *Ding!* *You have received arge number of Physiques and Traits, ranging from the Comet''s Passage Rank all the way to the Supermassive Voider Rank.*


    *Ding!* *Your Singrity Physique has improved by leaps and bounds!*


    *Ding!* *Your Singrity Physique is but one step away from achieving the Absolute Peak Supermassive Voider Rank.*


    *Ding!* *You have amassed enough Traits to convert them all into a far superior and intricately destructive ''Singrity Trait''. Would you like to spend half of all your Starry Evolution Essence in order to make the vastly superior alteration?*


    ...¡­

 Chapter 272: Losing Something For More Of Something Greater

    ...¡­


    "...Yes, make me more powerful. Whatever the cost, I will pay it."


    *Ding!* *Affirmative! Your Power will be increased by leaps and bounds, but at the cost of increased passive pain!*


    *Ding!* *If your Battle Power ends up crossing over into the Qausar Lord Realm, you will also start to lose the motor functions of one of your ears. As your power progresses further, you will begin to go deaf¡­*


    *Do you still wish to continue with the transference and evolution of all your Traits into the Singrity Trait?*


    "Yes, whatever the cost, do it."


    Azmodeus''s devilish voice echoed through all of existence as his intent was made known.


    WAAAAA!


    His body immediately entered a cocoon-like state as a starry weaving of the Laws encapsted his existence. It separated him from all the infinite possible timelines of the Starry Expanse, making him virtually invisible to all prying eyes.


    As his mind faded into his subconscious, a few more system notifications rang out inside his head.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed a number of existences and acquired all the loot that they could provide. This has caused your Loot God Nourishment Rate to spike up past 1%, directly achieving a firm hold on 1.3%.*


    *Your body will now undergo a racial evolution, and your basic attributes will drastically increase by the end. Furthermore, you will gain a random Racial Trait of the Loot God Race. On top of that, your physical appearance will be altered in a way that better suits the qualities of a Loot God.*


    *Your pain will increase, your emotions will veer even further from what is deemed ''human'', and you will lose more motor functions over your left ear. Over time, you will undoubtedly go deaf in this ear¡­*


    *The Price of Infinite Evolution is a steep one¡­ You have already reached a point where there is no turning back¡­ But for those who walk the Path of Infinity, one either falls from the heavens or rides the stars to what lies beyond. Where you end up¡­ Well, that is for you to decide¡­*


    Beep¡­


    The Infinite Evolution System went into a mode of stagnation, waiting for its host to take one step closer to Infinity.


    ¡­


    After an unknown number of years passed, a cocoon on the verge of fading out of reality started to crack. The cracks spread throughout its exterior, eventually reaching the very center of the cocoon, and¡­


    CRACKA-BOOOOOM!


    A loud, ear-deafening explosion reverberated throughout the void of space as an existence that was assumed to have died a billion years ago started to awaken.


    Azmodeus opened one of his eyelids, and then the other. Before long, he was leaning up from his shattered cocoon, scrutinizing his surroundings with a hawk-like gaze.


    "It seems like the world has once again forgotten about my existence¡­ However, unlike thest time, there is no one waiting for me to return."


    A saddened feeling passed through his immensely powerful crimson aura before vanishing into the wind. It came and went in the blink of an eye, not permitting its host to even understand what it was that washed over him.


    "My ear¡­"


    Azmodeus put his hand to his ear and realized that he could no longer hear as well out of that one. It was this realization that put thest notifications from the system into perspective for him¡­


    "The Path to Infinity¡­ It is one that requires the participants to pay whatever price is necessary. Whether that be the price of pain, appendages, emotions, or evenpanions¡­ For Infinity, the price is a steep one."


    Azmodeus recalled the numerous warnings made by the system, all telling him to think carefully about his path forward. Even though it did not tell him that it mighte at the cost of those close to him, he should''ve been able to infer that himself.


    And he did, in fact, expect such a scenario to ur. It was just that one part of him refused to ept such a thinging to pass. A part of him that he didn''t even know he possessed¡­


    In spite of all theseplicated thoughts swirling around inside Azmodeus''s head, he still had a few things to check over. So that''s exactly what he did.


    "My arm¡­"


    He looked down at his arm and noticed something shimmering, almost like his skin was embedded with the purest of gold shavings.


    It was this sight that caused him to look at the other parts of his body. And when he did, he immediately noticed the same golden sheen. Whether it be his torso, his arms, his legs, or even his face¡ªeverything now had a golden fment covering it.


    Azmodeus decided to ask the system about it, and the response he received was quite an interesting one.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *Due to the host having passed the 1% Nourishment mark for the Loot God Physique, you have randomly rolled for one of your race''s Traits. This roll allowed you tond on the ''Midas''s Touch'' Racial Trait.*


    *This Trait will allow anything you touch to turn into the purest liquid form of loot, which can be used to better nourish your Loot God Race. Of course, this can be turned off and on at will.*


    "I see¡­"


    An analytical glint shed past Azmodeus''s eyes as he touched a part of his skin and felt the deeper connection he now possessed with the essence of a Loot God.


    This feeling directed his attention toward the next thing that had changed within his existence. Namely, it was the fact that his power advanced straight from the peak stages of the Super Massive Voider Realm right to the Half-Step Quasar Lord Realm!


    On top of that, his cultivation base managed to breakthrough to the very peak of the Middle Neb Veil Realm. He was likely only a few years away from reaching the Late Neb Veil Realm!


    This meant many good things for the future. And the best part of it all was that his cultivation foundation was utterly wless, without a single blemish in sight.


    "Middle Neb Veil Realm Cultivation Base, Half-Step Quasar Lord Realm Battle Power, Half-Step Quasar Lord Rank Professions, 10,000+ Level 4 High-Star Laws¡­"


    Azmodeus named a few of the plethora of things that had changed within the core of his existence. Eventually, he reached the reason why he went into the cocoon in the first ce.


    "The Singrity Trait." He spoke with a devilish tone, looking over the exact details of this Trait.


    Luckily, a pop-up screen materialized in front of him upon making his intent known.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You havebined all of your various Traits,ing together to form the most powerful Trait of all¡ªthe Singrity Trait.*


    *This Trait is an extremely versatile aspect of your existence, and it will enable the host to not only utilize the different attributes of your previous Racial Traits. But it will also increase the effectiveness and quickness of all the individual attributes.*


    "Very well¡­ This is better than the cluster bunch that it was before¡­"


    Azmodeus lightly nodded his head at the details of this Singrity Trait, then he decided it was about time to take a look at his system interface again. Which was exactly what he did.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 273: Insane Progress, But Not Enough...

    ...


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: 1st Order Loot God - 3.5% Nourishment]


    [Lifespan: ~51,000/1,400,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000] (Increased due to the Singrity Physique and Singrity Trait.)


    [Cultivation: Middle Neb Veil Realm]


    [Battle Power: Half-Step Quasar Lord Realm]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: ~500 Sextillion Starry Evolution Essence]


    {[Stats:]}


    [Strength: 35 Sextillion Star Value]


    [Speed: 37 Sextillion Star Value]


    [Defense: 42 Sextillion Star Value]


    [Qi: 65 Sextillion Star Value]


    [Cultivation Talent: Absolute Peak of High Mortal Realm]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Singrity Trait] ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [Overall Attribute Boost: X Rank - (Level 1)] ¨C [0/100 Septillion SEE]


    {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters:]}


    [Singrity (Half-Step Quasar Lord Rank)]


    [Various other Physique''s] ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [Overall Attribute Boost: Absolute Peak Half-Step Sr Dynasty Rank]


    {[Laws:]}


    [15,320 High-Star Laws: Level 4] ¡ú [Extreme Attribute Boost (x1 Septillion+.]


    [For the host''s convenience, the previous Law section and below have been simplified (temporary).]


    {[Infinite World:]}


    [Area width: 2 Cosmos] ¡ú [Grows in ordance with the strength of its residences.]


    [Upgrade Requirements: The Core of a 4 and a Half Layered ne of Infinity]


    [Rank of Residents: Primitive Mortal Lifeforms ¡ú Single-celled Organisms, Primitive Insects, Bugs, Small Birds, Fish, Large Birds, Dolphins, Large Fish, Monkeys, Large Reptiles, etc¡­]


    [Advanced Mortal Lifeforms ¡ú Magma Fish, Lava T-Rex''s, Fire Birds, Obsidian Devourers, etc¡­]


    [Low Spiritual Lifeforms ¡ú Humans, Sea Leviathans, Lava Wyrms, World Eaters, Krakens, Embryonic Dragons, etc¡­]


    [High Spiritual Lifeforms ¡ú High-Humans, High-Elves, High Orcs, High-Goblins, High-Beast People, True Dragons, Qilins, Kunpengs, Etc¡­]


    [Low Ascendant Lifeforms ¡ú Lord-Humans, Lord-Elves, Lord-Orcs, Lord-Goblins, Lord-Beast People, Lord Dragons, Lord Qilins, Lord Kunpengs, Etc¡­]


    [High Ascendant Lifeforms ¡ú Harkath, the Herald of the Crimson God (For Now)]


    [Time Dtion ¡ú 1:150,000]


    [Qi Density ¡ú 25x that of the outside world] ¡ú [Continue upgrading in order to encroach upon the Qi Density of a higher ne of existence.]


    ¡ª------------


    "It seems like my clones were hard at work during thisst period of time¡­ Though the gains were severely reduced, it is still a strength gain. And strength is all that matters¡­"


    Azmodeus felt like there was something else that once mattered to him, but he couldn''t quite recall what that something was¡­


    After a moment of cloudy-minded brooding, he refocused on the rest of the changes made to the system interface.


    First and foremost, his Loot God Nourishment Rate increased by a lot during thest billion years. Again, it was nowhere near what it should be if he were actively dishing out the killings, but it was still better than nothing.


    Next was the Infinite World Tab.


    From what Azmodeus could deduce, a Cosmos was worth more than a trillion Multiverses, likely bordering on an infinite amount. This led to his conclusion that more than a hundred trillion years passed for the inhabitants of Pandora.


    With such a massive amount of time, it was only natural that the world would evolve into the likes of a Cosmos. Especially when considering that Harkath likely already broke through into the Alpha Realm, putting him on the same level as the strongest of Neb Veil Realm Experts.


    This also meant that, in terms of cultivation, Harkath already surpassed his creator.


    Of course, none of that really mattered for Azmodeus. After all, he was taking the slow but perfect foundational path.


    If not for the other half of his existence having his gains severely reduced over thest billion years, it was a definite possibility that he would''ve already broken through into the ck Hole Sovereignty Realm.


    But unfortunately for him, that was not the case¡­


    Even so, that was not nearly enough to affect his will in the slightest, as he wasted no more time on pondering the intricacies of the system. Instead, he walked away from the starry cocoon, finding himself a nice little settlement¡­ to destroy.


    CRACKA¡ªBOOOOOM!


    Following the reverberation of a thunderous explosion, an entire high-level Quadrant vanished from the face of the Starry Expanse.


    Without even being given the chance to resist, the numerous Supermassive Voider Realm Experts were eviscerated. Not even their ashes remained when Excalibur was sheathed back into its Low-Quasar Lord-Rank Scabbard.


    "Time for more loot¡­" Azmodeus muttered to himself while glitching through the space-time continuum, finding himself anotherrge loot bag to reap.


    As he did this, a multitude of system notifications rang out inside his head.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed millions of Gctus''s servants, all of whom were in the Supermassive Voider Realm.*


    *Ding!* *You have taken out one of the most notorious cosmic fortresses in the Neverdye Gxy¡ªthe Star-Bound Fortress. Because of this action, you have obtained a massive number of Evolution Essence.*


    *But at the same time, you have attracted the attention of existences with Qauasar Lords among their ranks. Namely, they are the Gctic Armada. They were taken out of their war with the neighboring Gxies; you are now their target¡­*


    *It is rmended that the host prepare for all the loot that is about toe his way¡­*


    "This¡­ is good." A cold smile crept up Azmodeus''s face as he caught a glimpse of a nearby cosmic city.


    SHING! SHING!


    As he sliced the quadrant-sized city into countless miniscule pieces, the rest of the system notifications from hisst massacre rang out in his head.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 530 Sextillion Starry Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *You have received a plethora of techniques, items, and equipment of grades varying from the Rank to the Supermassive Voider Rank.*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained anotherrge sum of 300+ High-Star Laws. On top of that, your original High-Star Laws have had theirprehensions inch ever closer to Level 5.*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has tremendously improved!*


    *Ding!* *Your Singrity Physique has taken arge step toward Level 2 of the X Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your Singrity Trait has taken a massive leap toward Level 2 of the X Rank!*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has drastically improved!*


    *Ding!* *You have touched the essence of everything you destroyed. Would you like to automatically convert it all into the Loot God Essence? You can also convert Evolution Essence into Loot God Essence.*


    ...¡­

 Chapter 274: Blowing Sh*t Up!

    ...¡­


    "No, Please!! D-"


    *Spurt!*


    "Hmm?"


    Azmodeus sliced off the head of a Peak Supermassive Voider Realm Expert. While doing so, he heard a certain system notification ask him a question.


    ''I don''t have a leveling system anymore¡­ So it would definitely be wisest to convert around half of my Starry Evolution Essence into Loot God Essence.''


    With this in mind, Azmodeus pulled up his system interface andmenced the conversion process of half his Starry Evolution Essence. He also took out all the equipment and supplies that had been looted over the years.


    Most of it was useless for him, and there was nowhere that would buy it from him. Not when he could just kill all the vendors and steal their money¡­


    This really only left one viable option for Azmodeus. And with the click of a button, all of his various loot started to visibly melt.


    It began as a slight deformation of the objects scattered throughout the corpse-filled battlefield. But after a couple of nanoseconds, the slight deformation transformed into a full-on melting session.


    FWAZIP!


    The loot was melted down to a liquid gold substance, rife with an unknown molecr makeup.


    It was only after the conversion process reached such a point that Azmodeus extended his hand and touched the golden liquid.


    OOOM!


    The liquid slithered up his arm and shot toward his face, quickly assimting into the core of his existence. After which, the shiny golden fment around Azmodeus''s body grew a few shades brighter.


    Thereafter, he decided to take a look at a particr part of his system interface.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have converted all of your stored-up loot into the purest form of Loot Essence. This essence has assimted with your Race and caused your Nourishment Rate to jump straight up to 7.8%!*


    *Ding!* *500+ Sextillion Starry Evolution Essence has been converted into Loot Essence. This has permitted your Nourishment Rate to make another leap, jumping to 7.9%*


    *Ding!* *Continue finding more loot in order to upgrade your Nourishment Rate even further! If you can surpass 10%, you will be able to obtain yet another unique Racial Trait!*


    After all of these system notifications finished their talk of loot, Azmodeus refocused on the killing of everything in the vicinity.


    SHING! SHING!


    He spared not even the women in his thirst for greater power! No matter who or what it was, if they had benefits to give him, then he''d take them without a second thought!


    ¡­


    Following the massacring of a few hundred more Cosmic Fortresses, an uproar was ever present in the Gxy''s Royal Capital.


    "You say that the Crimson Usurper has once again returned!? And this time, he decided to increase his killing rate!?"


    An ancient, bellowing voice reverberated through the confines of a grandiose Cosmic Castle. This caused the recently built castle to tremble and quake, forcing the Cosmic Senators to bow in reverence before their Gctic King.


    "M-My Lord! From what we hear, the Crimson Usurper is taking out everything on the West Expanse. He appears to be heading in a beeline direction right toward our¡­-"


    "Toward Our What!?" Gctus roared.


    "Toward our front gates, My Lord!" The Gctic Senator smashed his star-covered head against a table, imprinting his face on it.


    "..."


    The Gctic Lord went silent after this promation, as this could only mean one thing.


    "He thinks he can contend with me!? The Gctic Lord!? What a Fool!!!" He roared at the top of his lungs, causing starry chandeliers to fall and shatter against the cosmic-colored carpets.


    "We shall see just how brazen he can act when he appears in the only ce I can move around in!! I wish to know just how long he can stay cocky!!!"


    "Very wise, my Lord!!!" All of the Cosmic Senators shouted in unison, hitting their fists against the ground while speaking a countless amount of praise.


    -


    Meanwhile, in a location millions of light years away from the Gctic Lord, a crimson-haired, immortal-like man just finished ssing an entire civilization.


    Azmodeus faintly recalled the name of this extremely powerful race of organisms¡­


    Saiyan something¡­?


    That was as far as his mind lingered on the matter before his figure shed from its position and appeared hundreds of light years away.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have erased the Saiyan civilization from the face of the map, but in the absolute destruction of its many inhabitants, a couple managed to escape. This cannon event has multiplied your total Loot Acquisition rate by many fold.*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 230 Septillion Starry Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *You have received a plethora of loot, all ranging from the Star Radiance Rank to the Low-Quasar Lord Rank.*


    *Ding!* *Your Singrity Physique and Trait have taken major strides toward Level 2 of the X Rank. Continue killing and upgrading these ranks in order to receive a massive power boost.*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained more than 550 new High-Star Laws. Adding that to your original 18,000+, you now have close to 19,000 High-Star Laws!*


    *Ding!* *Your High-Star Laws are close to reaching Level 5 (The highest rank in the High Mortal Realm)*


    *By the time your Battle Power achieves the Low-Gctic Realm, you should be close to achieving this milestone.*


    *Ding!* *All of your ''useless'' loot has been automatically converted into Loot Essence. This has resulted in your Loot God Nourishment Rate rocketing up to 8.5%!*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has improved by leaps and bounds!*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has sessfully advanced from the Half-Step Quasar Lord Realm into the Early Quasar Lord Realm!*


    WAAA!


    Azmodeus felt a wave of immense crimson power wash over him. He looked over his newfound strength for a moment before deciding to test it out on a really big target.


    FWIP! FWIP! FWIP!


    He called in 150 of his Primordial Essence Clones as well as 50 trillion upgraded Mirror Mirages, all of which looked at him for a second, receiving the relevant memories for this new goal.


    Upon understanding what they needed to do, all of them were equipped with the best of the Low-Quasar Lord Rank equipment. After which, they set out to aplish their objectives.


    What were their objectives, one might ask?


    Well, of course, it was to blow sh*t up!!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 275: Breakthrough After Breakthrough

    ...¡­


    BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!


    Countless explosions resounded in the distance as all of the various clones attacked an extremelyrge cosmic ship from all sides!


    This ship was the home of a powerful Quasar Lord!


    The Quasar Lord also just so happened to be the one that chased the Crimson Usurper all those years ago¡­


    "You Fucking Bastard!!!"


    RUMBLE!


    Without even needing to confirm his suspicions, Quasar Lord Zephyr shot out of his ship with an aura so destructive that the world trembled beneath his might!


    In response to this massively powerful release of aura, numerous Quasar Lord Rank Clones blitzed through the void. They reached Zephyr in half an instant, grabbing him by his arms and legs.


    "!!!"


    "What the hell are you bastards doing to me!? Courting Death!!!" Zephyr attempted to break free from the grasps of nearly a dozen versions of the Crimson Usurper. However, no matter what he did, nothing worked.


    "Although I had to sacrifice the life force of a few Primordial Essence Clones, it''s all worth it in the end¡­"


    A glitchy, devil-like face materialized in front of Qausar Lord Zephyr, forcing him to catch a glimpse of a true monstrosity.


    "Y-You Devil!! Let go of me right this instant!! Do you not fear the actions of the Gctic Lord!? This sphemy will not go unpunishe-!!"


    SPURT!


    "Shut up." Azmodeus''s hand passed through the chest of the Gctic General, emerging from the other side of his back. "Loot does not need to speak. It simply has to be quiet and die¡­"


    Following these words bereft of emotion, Azmodeus started to suck out the Loot Essence of the Quasar Lord.


    "N-No!!! You can''t do this to me!!! I am the-!"


    "I don''t care who you are¡­ Just turn into loot already¡­"


    FWAZOOOM!


    Azmodeus sucked with even greater fervor, pulling out not only the essence of Zephyr''s existence but everything that he ever was.


    He became Loot.


    After another half an instant, even the corpse of Zephyr was no more. His everything had converted into the purest form of loot, all of which was assimted with the existence of the one who ruled over all that is Loot.


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *You have killed one of the Gctic Generals of Gctus''s Army. This General was called Zephyr and possessed a cultivation base at the peak of the Early Quasar Lord Realm.*


    *Ding!* *You have obtained 1.5 Octillion Starry Evolution Essence!*


    *Ding!* *All the loot you obtained has been converted to Loot Essence. Your Loot God Nourishment Rate has increased to 8.9%*


    *Ding!* *Your Singrity Physique and Trait have both taken a major leap toward Level 2 of the X Rank!*


    *Ding!* *You have received 130+ new High-Star Laws!*


    *Ding!* *Would you like to convert half your Starry Evolution Essence into Loot Essence?*


    "Yes."


    BLING!


    *Ding!* *More than 700 Septillion Starry Evolution Essence has been converted into Loot Essence.*


    *Ding!* *Your Loot God Nourishment Rate has improved to 9.1%*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has improved by leaps and bounds!*


    *Ding!* *Your Battle Power has progressed to the Middle Stages of the Early Quasar Lord Realm!*


    *Ding!* *The efforts of the other half of your existence have started to bear fruit in his cultivation. With all time limiters brought back to normal, your cultivation will begin to advance by leaps and bounds with every passing second!*


    *Ding!* *Your cultivation is 64% of the way through the Middle Neb Veil Realm¡­ 64.1%... 64.2%... 64.3%...*


    A few seconds passed as Azmodeus''s cultivation had already reached 64.5%. He predicted that it wouldn''t be long before it achieved 100%, allowing him to make another breakthrough.


    But before that point in time came around, he had a few more Quasar Lord''s to kill¡­


    FWIP!


    He vanished from his spot. Where did he go? Only the winds of fate would know¡­


    ¡­


    It had been 3 days since Azmodeus killed Quasar Lord Zephyr, and by this point in time, more than 135 Quasar Lords had died under his hands.


    Some were newly broken through Quasar Lord''s, while others were even close to breaking through to the Middle Quasar Lord Realm. But regardless of where they stood in their cultivation, Azmodeus felled them all the same, using one sword stroke for each of them.


    This pattern continued until the moment he skipped the Late Neb Veil Realm and felt a breakthrough into the Peak Neb Veil Realm.


    Such a breakthrough came as no surprise to Azmodeus. After all, the other half of his existence cultivated at a speed beyondprehension. In fact, it was only because of him wanting to acquire the most perfect of foundations that he hadn''t already broken through.


    Nevertheless, the moment that his cultivation reached its absolute zenith, a breakthrough was eminent, and the Loot God wasn''t one to deny a free meal. So after settling down in a nearby star field, hemenced his breakthrough.


    WAAAA!


    Crimson-colored Starry Qi swirled around the atmosphere, originating from untold distances away. All of it flowed toward the solemn figure of a crimson-haired man¡ªa man who wished to tread the Path of Infinity.


    But even with an insurmountable goal in front of him, the Starry Qi didn''t give Azmodeus a break. After all, he was someone who wanted to defy the will of the highest heavens. And an existence like that was simply not meant to be¡­


    However, whether he was or was not meant to be, none of that mattered for him.


    "This breakthrough¡­ It will happen."


    As if dering the absolute truth of the universe, the Qi in the vicinity hit him with even greater force. It may have caused his tough skin to crack and break open as crimson red gushed out, but that only further hardened Azmodeus''s resolve.


    "Break." He chanted, his mind working to transmit all of the Qi into his Dantian.


    He aimed to further increase the quality and size of his neb. But no matter what he did or how much Starry Qi he allowed to invade his body, it just didn''t seem like the breakthrough wanted toe¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 276: A Push, A Breakthrough, A Spirit...?

    ...¡­


    "Did you not hear me¡­?" Azmodeus''s face morphed into something glitchy and devilish as he cocked back his head and stared at the violent Qi. "I said¡­ Break. I will not say it again."


    Following these apathetic words, the Qi seemed to understand his intent. And for some reason, unbeknownst to the universe itself, fear consumed the non-sentient mind of the Starry Qi.


    This fear forced the Qi to send everything it had at the red-eyed devil. Whether it killed the man or sped up his breakthrough, it did not matter. The only thing it knew it had to do was put its all into this endeavor.


    "..."


    Azmodeus felt his physical form crack and break apart as his Essence Soul and Nascent Soul started to shrivel up all the same.


    After a few more seconds of inexpressively taking on the brunt force of the Starry Qi, his body eventually reached a point where it could either force a breakthrough or deteriorate and die¡­


    Of course, Azmodeus cared not for probability; thus, he had the Qi hit him with ever greater passion. He would not allow it to back out at the most crucial step.


    It was only when he felt the size of his neb increase by another league that he immediately knew his breakthrough was there.


    All he had to do was¡­


    Push.


    OOOM!


    His aura exploded outward as it consumed the skies, zipping in and out of the slips in space-time.


    After achieving a certain level of intensity, all at once, the awe-inspiring aura was sucked back into the body of the crimson-eyed man.


    Following this roller coaster of energies, the Qi around Azmodeus''s body ultimately dispersed, and his breakthrough was considered a sess.


    "With that out of the way, I can more efficiently clean up the various Quasar Lords of the Neverdye Gxy."


    Following thisment, Azmodeus summoned all of his Primordial Essence Clones. On top of that, he conjured up around 900 trillion Mirror Mirages.


    It was with such a massive force that he changed the strength of their existences.


    The Primordial Essence Clones became equal to 100% of his Middle Quasar Lord Realm Battle Power, whereas the Mirror Mirages possessed strength close to the Absolute Peak of the Supermassive Voider Realm.


    This was all to say that Azmodeus now had a force that contained 200+ Middle-Rank Quasar Lords as well as 900+ Trillion Supermassive Voider Realm Experts!


    "This amount should be sufficient for the takeover of the Eastern Expanse and the Western Expanse. Many will die, but I can just spawn in more¡­"


    After gauging the future of the mission, Azmodeus let the Clones and Mirrages go about their objectives.


    "While they do that¡­ I guess I will check up on the Infinite World. After all, I still need to understand the true essence of being a God¡­"


    Following this decision, he moved forward with his actions and blinked into the Infinite World.


    FWIP!


    When he opened his eyes once more, he found himself in an absurdlyrge world¡ªa world farrger than it was before.


    ''The trees are now the size of gxies¡­ While the sand specks are bigger than thergest of worlds¡­''


    Azmodeus already had his size adjusted ording to the general size ratio in this world, but that didn''t make anything seem less mystical. In fact, the world only seemed to brighten further upon reaching the size of everything else.


    As Azmodeusprehended the essence of the world, he noticed that something¡ªor rather, someone¡ªhad popped up in the corner of his eyes.


    "Hmm?" He turned his head in the direction of whatever was spying on him.


    That was when he saw it¡­


    "A Spirit? The race that was sealed by Harkath¡­ What is one still doing alive?"


    Rustle!


    A spirit boy jumped out of a bush.


    "H-Hey! I don''t know who you are, but you better stay away from our vige! You see this stick!? I don''t want to show you how well I can wield this thin-"


    Bang!


    While trying to show off his immense skills, the spirit pped himself across the forehead. He immediately let go of the stick and attempted to run away, only to run straight into a tree!


    "Oww! Damn it! This sucks!"


    The spiritmented itsck of badassery as it got into a sitting position, staring up at the emotionless, crimson-haired man like an enemy.


    The Spirit itself was a light blue in color, possessing an illusory body that appeared to be corporeal and yet wasn''t at the same time.


    He had long hair, bushy brows, and big, round eyes. If not for the fiercly aggressive look on his face, he would likely be termed a shota.


    "Anyway, who are you, mister!? Are you a big bad man that hase to our vige in order to steal our elements? If you are, then you can give it up right now, because I am the sworn protector of this vige!"


    The spirit boy spoke with his nose pointed to the sky, his demeanor all high and mighty.


    "..."


    Azmodeus looked down at this ridiculous boy, wondering how exactly such a creature managed to survive for so long.


    "I am Azmodeus," he said after a moment of thought.


    "Azmodeus¡­? Weird name, but alright, old dude."


    With his eyes, the Spirit Boy scanned the body of God multiple times, eventually reaching a conclusion. "You''re a weirdo, aren''t you? I mean, you''re clearly a human, and yet you havee to the territory of the Spirits. Yep, yep, definitely a weirdo." The boy bobbed his head up and down, seemingly acting as if he figured it all out.


    "..."


    Azmodeus decided it was best to simply ignore the stupid boy. Hence, he turned around and started walking in a random direction.


    "Hey! Wait up for me! You can''t just walk off into these woods under my protection! You''re some human weirdo, so it''s only natural that I watch over you and make sure you don''t act up!"


    The Spirit Boy caught up to the receding figure of Azmodeus, walking right next to him with a ''stern'' gaze. He seemed to be trying to frighten the farrger and stronger man, but failed in every aspect of the word.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 277: The Tides Of War, A Lesson

    ...¡­


    "Don''t you have something else to do, kid? Where I am going, you will not be able to go," Azmodeus said after a few moments of being bugged by the boy.


    "Hey! I already told you that my name is Gang Hao! Use it properly, you big weirdo!"


    Gang Hao held thepletely ordinary stick in his hands, looking up at the giant red man like a vignt guard.


    "Sure¡­ Gang Hao, go home. My destination is not a ce for kids."


    Azmodeus had not once bothered himself to look down at the spirit boy as he wished to find out how the general ecosystem was doing.


    "Mister¡­ You''re a weirdo¡­ My vige can''t have weirdos walking around looking at nts and objects with a weirdo gaze." Gang Hao nodded his head like an understanding senior as he held his stick to his chest, ying the part of a sword Immortal.


    "..." Azmodeus, for the first time in a while, decided to see what the Spirit Boy was doing.


    It was only after seeing that his troublesome meter had not gone down that he said, "Here, do you want a real sword? Not some stick?"


    "!!!" Gang Hao''s eyes immediately brightened as he stopped in his tracks and ''menacingly'' red at the crimson giant. "You have a sword¡­?" He asked.


    "Yes."


    "A real one¡­?"


    "Indeed."


    "Like a really, real, real one!?"


    "Yes¡­"


    "Mister¡­ Are you not actually a weirdo!? My mom said that weirdos were mean and that you should never trust them¡­ So are you not a weirdo, but a weirdo liar?" Gang Hao inquired, drool alreadying out of his mouth upon imaging the sharp edges of a real sword.


    "Kid¡­ Just take the sword and shut up." Azmodeus took an ordinary Common Rank sword out of his Storage Space and tossed it in the Spirit Boy''s direction.


    *Piang!*


    The swordnded in Gang Hao''s hands, causing his eyes to shine like the most dazzling of jewels. He shot his head back toward the weirdo, nning to thank him. But when he looked up, all that remained were a few leaves scattering in the wind¡­


    "Weirdo¡­? Where did the weirdo go¡­?" Gang Hao tightly clutched onto his shiny silver sword, already missing the presence of his only friend.


    -


    Meanwhile, in a vast expanse of sky more than 10 Cosmos away, God materialized in mid-air. He looked around him and saw the Biome that was termed the Aeronautics Biome.


    In this Biome, the Harpies had already conquered the skies and built massive floating castles. In thesevishly decorated castles, they lived out their lives like kings. They ate whatever they wished, slept with whoever they wanted to, and did whatever their hearts so desired.


    This led to them naively believing that they were the only apex existences in the entire world. They lived their livespletely unaware of the organisms that wanted to take everything they had¡­


    Today, like many others, just so happened to be a day in which the Forest Empire, as well as the Water Empire, Lava Empire, Ice Empire, and Acid Empire, made their advance.


    Their original attack was sudden and unexpected; no one among the Harpies knew what happened until it was already toote¡­


    The Forest Empire struck with overwhelming force, taking the Harpies by surprise as they used forest growth to create weeds that extended to the skies. They climbed the toughened weeds and vines, bringing the fight not to the skies but to the artificial forest growth.


    After getting a strong foothold in the war, the Water Nation joined in the fray and conjured up universe-sized tsunamis. They had these tsunamis drown the flying bird people, making use of the powerful abilities of their Alpha Realm Experts.


    The Aeronautics Nation fought hard, and they seeded in holding back the two nations for quite a number of Epochs. But the moment the Lava and Ice Nations joined in, it was already over for the still-developing Aero Nation.


    Of course, a tiger cornered to a wall would fight back with everything they had, surpassing all known limiters!


    The Harpies produced a vast number of Peak Beta Realm and Alpha Realm Experts during the ''Ever War''. And right when they thought they might have had a small chance of winning this war, the Acidity Nation made thest blow. They took them right off their high horses, sending them barreling to thend below.


    The skies were melted by the Acid Nation militia, leaving nowhere for the Harpies to run. Furthermore, their poptions were reduced to a tenth of what they once were, while their Royals and Nobles died on the daily.


    The Aero Nation was done for¡­


    At least, that was before the appearance of a lone Harpy.


    This Harpy had long, crimson-colored hair, the disposition of a fallen immortal, and the bearing of an indifferent god.


    He appeared out of nowhere and took the entire war off bnce, single-handedly thwarting the advances of the Forest Nation, killing those of the Water Nation, and sting apart the Lava Nation. Hell, even the imprable fortresses of the Ice and Acid Nationssted no longer than half a second before his overwhelming might¡­


    The war that should''ve been an easy victory for the Elemental Nation Alliance was flipped right on its ass, leaving them as the losing side!


    And all of this was caused by one man¡­


    -


    "Status Report, Soldier!" A Harpy Commander demanded with his hands behind his back.


    He stood at the very top of the skies, overlooking the sea of fire that had be their home. The world was set aze, and there was absolutely nothing they could do about it¡­


    Or so it would be if not for the one causing a sea of fire to overwhelm their enemies!


    "Sir! The Crimson Harpy has descended once more, and this time he is attacking the centermost base of the Elemental Nation Alliance! We might actually win this thing!"


    A Harpy Soldier gave the status report while standing beside the Commander, watching as the one-man army cleaved off the heads of countless powerhouses.


    "Don''t get too happy just yet¡­ The war is far from over, and we have still yet to understand just who this ''Crimson Harpy'' is. We don''t even know where he came from when he arrived here 2 million years ago¡­"


    An inexplicable gleam shed past the Commander''s stern gaze as he knew that an unknown factor like this one was not good for them.


    Whether or not he was on their side or not didn''t really matter; having such a strong person breathing down their necks was enough to put everyone on edge. And what did people most often do when faced with something they couldn''t exin?


    "They seek to erase it," the Commander murmured to himself as he pulled out amunications crystal.


    After opening a channel with his direct superior, a conversation went underway. A conversation that decided the fate of the one who helped turn the tides of war¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 278: Armageddon

    ...¡­


    While in the midst of a fierce battle with five powerful Alpha Realm Elemental Nation paradigms, a crimson-feather Harpy suddenly stopped in his tracks.


    "Ha!? What is this I see!? Has the birdie finally decided to surrender!?" A Fire Nation Alpha Realm Cultivator remarked, his face morphing from one of exhaustion to snarkiness.


    "It seems that our joint attacks did a number on him! This is good news indeed!" A different Alpha Realm Expert chided in. He was from the Ice Empire and had even lost a leg and an arm in the most recent bout.


    "Are you prepared to die!?"


    "You shall feel our wrath, you dumb pigeon!"


    "..."


    Azmodeus''s Primordial Essence Clone stood in still motion,pletely ignoring the plethora of domineering attacks honing in on him. His gaze was instead fixated on the Harpy Commander¡ªan Alpha Realm Master that had already determined his fate.


    "It seems like all has gone ording to the greed of life¡­ For those who sit beneath the sun and bask in its glory, a choice must be made," muttered Azmodeus, his gaze glossed over as he felt something in his ''9.9%'' Nourishment Rate start to break.


    "What was that, you two winged freak!? Are you not prepared enough to take on the mighty Azure Demon Dragon attack of this Lord!?" The Fire Nation Expert heartilyughed as he sent his enormous fist barreling in the Crimson Harpy''s direction.


    WAAAA!


    His aura enveloped the earth, possessing extraordinary amounts of might!


    He would turn the pigeon into a mush of meat!


    However, contrary to his expectations, with the release of an ancient sigh, his aura dispersed, and his body turned to ash.


    He died not knowing that death was already right there in front of him¡­


    It was a death that all other Alpha Realm Experts shared not even half an instantter.


    The whole battlefield went silent as the face of the Crimson Harpy morphed into something far more sinister¡ªfar more unforgiving. This was the face of the devil, and it would also be the undoing of this silly war.


    "My world¡­ Pandora¡­ This world was meant to be a ce where all could flourish¡­ It was meant to show me that some life was worth keeping."


    A voice beyond description resonated within every fiber of all who lived in Pandora. From the tree frogs in the swampy Forest Region all the way to the dinosaurs of the Lava Region. No matter who or what it was, they heard the voice of their God.


    "The Crimson God!" They shouted, that name imprinted into the very atoms that constructed them.


    "Has hee once more!? To shed upon us his divine light!?"


    "With the world in the middle of the 1st Great World War, will he be the one to bring us to salvation!?"


    Everyone waited with baited breath¡ªthey waited for the next words to be spoken from the mouth of the Crimson God.


    "For those who lived this life, I am sorry. I am sorry that you lived without purpose¡ªthat you lived for the sake of living¡­"


    God''s antiquated voice once more echoed throughout time and space. His words, filled with unknown intent, left the various inhabitants of Pandora in a state of disarray.


    They had no idea what God was trying to tell them! Was he abandoning them!? Was he going to let them all die!?


    One man in particr¡ªthe oldest man in the world¡ªwas the most curious about what his Creator had to say.


    Was he going to leave them for good?


    This thought floated to the surface of Harkath''s mind as he stopped his breakthrough into the Peak Alpha Realm. He wished to know what his master would tell them.


    However, what one anticipated to happen rarely turned out to be what would actually happen¡­


    "This World¡­ It was meant to be something better¡ªsomething greater."


    OOOM!


    Under the astonished eyes of the Harpy Commander and his subordinates, the Crimson Harpy''s feathers started to fall off. It started with one, then two and three, until there was no longer anything covering his humanoid figure.


    Just as all expected him to look like a naked chicken, the moment they nced at him, they realized something monumental¡­


    "The Crimson God¡­?" The Harpy Commander muttered with his mouth agape.


    He was staring at an existence who possessed an appearance beyond the concept of asthetics. A man who wore a robe so bright and dazzling that even the sun paled inparison. And on the back of this God-like existence, there sat a crimson-red backdrop halo, only adding to the overall grandiosity of this icon.


    If the Crimson Harpy was who they thought he was, and they said what they did¡­ Well¡­


    "Armageddon."


    God''s voice reverberated through every inch of Pandora, and with the utterance of this word, everyone immediately knew what was about to ur.


    "We''re all going to die¡­"


    "Life¡­ So that is what God meant¡­"


    "This existence of mine? What was even the point¡­?"


    "For there to be peace, there must first be a great reckoning¡­"


    Everyone in existence had varying reactions to the announcement made by their God. But the one who had the biggest reactionof them all was none other than Harkath¡­


    "God¡­ Master¡­ So this was the path you decided to take¡­"


    As he shrank back into his own skin, his aura was reduced to but a mere fraction of what it once was. He then contemted the purpose of life¡­


    He wished to know what the point of living was!


    Why was he created!? Why was he put here if he was just going to die in the end!?


    For what reason was he not allowed to strive for the same peak that his master and creator strived for!?!?


    "Why!!!??" He bellowed out in frustration, his body falling to the ground surface.


    CRACKA¡ªBOOOOOM!


    His body weight caused the Cosmos-sized monster beast beneath him to explode into a gory firework of blood and guts!


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Harkath''s universe-sized figure shot through the boundless expanse of void within a corner of Pandora. He zed toward the ground, his presence one of immense frustration and anger.


    He couldn''t understand! He refused to understand!


    WHY!?!?


    ...¡­

 Chapter 279: Sigil Of The Divine, Crown Of The Divine

    ...¡­


    BOOOOM!


    It was only after Harkath''s body crashed into the ground like a zing meteor that he found the strength to move.


    And when he did¡­


    WAAAA!


    His aura grew exponentially, and it did so with every single step he took!


    Anger and frustration bubbled up inside him like a volcano ready to blow!


    "God!!!" He roared at the top of his lungs, his footsteps causing the world to bend and break beneath his might.


    "..."


    From an indiscernible location in the skies, a crimson-haired man watched Harkath''s every move, seemingly quantifying something inside his mind.


    It was only after watching Harkath enter a near-berserker state that he made his move.


    FWIP!


    Azmodeus materialized on the ground floor and tapped Harkath on the shoulder, immediately garnering his attention.


    "You Are Here!!!!" Harkath bellowed out with what little lucidity remained.


    "Yes, I am. And I havee to inform you of your path¡­ You have a way forward¡ªa way that will lead you past the Alpha Realm. But the question is¡­ Are you willing to ept its embrace?"


    "!?!?"


    WAaa¡­


    Harkath stopped his violent world-ending punch halfway through as he looked at his master with confusion in his gaze.


    "You''re not going to kill us," he asked.


    "No."


    "But all that stuff you said-"


    "Merely something to gauge the reactions of Pandora''s inhabitants. And from what I can tell, only you are worthy to inherit what is toe."


    God moved in front of Harkath as he had the essence of the world bend to his will.


    Whoosh~!


    Qi winds blew in from all corners of the world as every ounce of it flowed into the palms of the man who owned it.


    The Qi came together and condensed into an object¡ªan object shaped like a-


    "Crown," Harkath muttered.


    "Yes, a crown¡ªyour crown."


    God fully formed the crown made from the essence of the world. After which, he grabbed its dazzling, multi-colored exterior and handed it to the dumbfounded man beside him.


    "???"


    "You may not understand now, but afterprehending theplexities of this Crown of the Divine, you will know all that you should know. But before that can happen, you will need the Sigil of the Divine."


    OOOM!


    God took out an object from a mysterious dimension. And it was this object that he infused into the core of Harkath''s existence!


    The object itself was called the Sigil of the Divine. It was also something that Azmodeus had formed before meeting up with Harkath. As for its purpose, well, that was none other than to bestow ownership of the world of Pandora to its wielder.


    Along with this ownership was a way for Harkath toprehend the harder-to-understandws and concepts. After all, the world itself was formed from the Infinity Cores of a higher ne of existence like the Astral ne.


    Because of this fact, the Cores now had an additional purpose, even long after they had been assimted. And this purpose was Harkath''s purpose.


    "You will take everything I have given you, and you will rule over this world once more. You will not hide away and cultivate for minimal returns¡­ You shall receive immense amounts of strength through ruling, for that is what you were born to do."


    God started to fade from his spot as he took all his clones and vanished from the face of the earth once more.


    "W-Wait! Master!" Harkath was still reeling in from the power he felt coursing through his veins, subsequently causing him to miss the departure of his God.


    Thud!


    He fell to the ground with a differential look on his face, kowtowing to the sky.


    He would not get up from this position for a great many years, but when he eventually did get up, the world of Pandora would usher in a new age.


    An age no longer divided by war and violence¡ªa world that would follow along the lines of a singr man¡ªthe Earthen God!


    ¡­


    FWIP!


    Azmodeus appeared in the outside Starry Expanse.


    The first thing he did was look at the floating Infinite World in front of him. After which, he pulled it back into his Storage Space and focused his attention elsewhere.


    To be specific, he was looking at therge assortment of metallic worlds gliding through the waves of space. All of which wereing straight for him¡­


    "It looks like the Gctic Armada has finally caught up." Azmodeus watched as the hulls of the ''metallic worlds'' started to brighten up in a dazzling array of resplendence.


    "Well, there is no point in avoiding them any further¡­"


    FWIP! FWIP!


    He summoned more than 100 Clones in the Middle Quasar Lord Rank, all of whom were staring at the Gctic Armada with the same piercing gaze.


    "Any second now, another breakthrough wille¡­ And when that happens, I should be able to deal with those two particrly powerful existences." He honed in on the topmost part of the leading ship, noticing a man and woman staring in his direction with calm expressions.


    "It seems like they think they have everything under control¡­ But that is fine, because there is nothing better than loot that doesn''t run away."


    A cold gleam shed past Azmodeus''s blood-colored eyes as he waited for the Gctic Armada to get a little bit closer.


    It was only after the massive fleet of starships were within sting range that they fired up their Gamma Rays of Destruction. All of which sat in the very center of the ship''s hull.


    "Ahh, a good old dance ofsers¡­"


    These were thest rxed words to be spoken by Azmodeus before he saw the hundred or so Gamma Rays erupt with a splendiferous explosion of light!


    WAAZOOOOM!


    They fired all at once, every single one aimed at the tiny human located on the north side of a Star Field.


    "That should get him, Captain!"


    "Quiet¡­"


    Following the brief conversation voiced by the Late Quasar Lord Realm Captain and his Second In Command, a great wave of silence overwhelmed the atmosphere.


    CRACKA¡ªBOOOOOM!


    An ear-splitting explosion reverberated through time and space as the multitude of Gamma Rays touched base with their target!


    .....

 Chapter 280: An Encounter, The Starsung Commerce Alliance

    .....


    Whoooom~!


    After the residual winds from the st made it to the Gctic Armada, everyone on board waited for the catastrophic results to be disyed.


    Following the dispersion of the Gamma clouds, something utterly unexinable was shown to all those in the Gctic Armada!


    "He''s alive¡­" The Captain softly murmured to himself. He fixed his blue cap before walking away from the Central Hub.


    "Captain, Sir! Where are you going!?" His second inmand snapped out of his stupor just in time to shout these words.


    The Captain turned his head behind him for half an instant, then he said, "If the Crimson Usurper was able to survive that attack, then his power has already surpassed the limits of the Early Quasar Lord Realm. I must deal with this myself-"


    "Wait just a minute, Captain Hao. You are aware that we are on board, no?"


    A man''s voice sounded out from behind a corner of the Central Hub as an extravagantly dressed man approached the Captain. Along with him was an icy-faced woman with long hair tied into a bun using an Ice Phoenix pin.


    "Sir Lin Qiang! You know that we would never have someone as distinguished as yourself and Miss Mu bother with this small trifle of ours!"


    The Captain responded in a respectful tone, trying his best to maintain hisposure before an Envoy of the Starsung Commerce. There was also the princess of the same organization¡ªMu Mu, someone who was widely known as one of the most talented females in the surrounding gxies.


    Starsung Commerce Association.


    It was an organization that held a good amount of influence in over sixty gxies, and it was also known for therge amount of military force they had at their disposal.


    It was a military force that they managed to acquire through the money they obtained from selling various luxury goods.


    One of such goods just so happened to be the ship they were standing on as well as the rest of the Gctic Armada¡­


    It was for these reasons and the fact that they were stronger than he was that led to the Captain visibly sweating from his pores. He stopped his cool, dope-ass exit and made his way to the VIP guests. After which, he catered to their needs, attempting to steer them away from the idea of meeting the Crimson Usurper.


    But it seemed like no matter what the Captain did, he was unable to get Lin Qiang away from the notion of meeting this ''Crimson Usurper''.


    "It has been hundreds of millions of years sincest I had any fun. Just get out of the way and bring us to this man." Lin Qiang would not take no for an answer, as his decisive movements indicated that much.


    However, before he fully left the Central Hub, there was something he had to first confirm.


    "Do you want to go and see this Crimson Usurper, Princess Mu?" He inquired with a respectful tone, hiding a deeply rooted sense of lust in his lecherous gaze as he scanned her body up and down.


    "..."


    Princess Mu was not new to the perverted looks that everyone gave her when she was present. But this recement guard of hers was even worse than the ones that came before.


    After adjusting her face veil a little more so as to cover her divine features, she lightly nodded her head in a cold manner. Thereafter, Miss Mu covered most of her body, much to Lin Qiang''s dismay.


    ''Tsk!''


    ''This bitch thinks she''s too good for me!''


    ''She knows I''m in the Late Quasar Lord Realm, while she''s in the Peak Supermassive Voider Realm, so why doesn''t she respect me more!?''


    Lin Qiang''s sinister thoughts swirled around inside his head,pletely unaware of the fact that the Princess was also in the Late Quasar Lord Realm.


    Mu Mu hid it quite well, as besides Azmodeus, it was highly unlikely that anyone below the Low-Gxy Realm would notice her true realm.


    But regardless of that fact, Lin Qiang forced himself to put on a wide, gentle smile as he stretched out his hands in an arch shape.


    He was clearly indicating the princess to go before him. But it didn''t seem like she cared one bit what he wanted as she passed by the other side of him.


    This slight of hers resulted in a vein forming on Lin Qiang''s forehead, but that didn''t stop him from following behind the concealed butt of Mu Mu.


    "M-My lords! You really must not go out there and confront the Crimson Usurper! He is a very dangerous criminal, and you could end up being harmed!"


    The Captain tried to catch up to the Princess and her Envoy, but his speed just couldn''t hope to match theirs.


    By the time he knew it, the two of them were already in the vacuum of space, staring face to face with the unscathed crimson-eyed convict.


    "We are so rurally screwed when the Head of the Starsung Commerce Association catches wind of this¡­. A man who loves his daughter more than anything in the world. What would a man like that do if he found out his daughter did something like this under my supervision¡­?"


    The Captain slumped into his chair, trying to find the will to keep on living after this major folly.


    He also thought about what would happen when the Gctic Lord realized that their alliance with the Starsung Association could fall through because of this¡­


    "How did it end up here¡­? It was just supposed to be a quick target sweep-up before we eventually headed toward the Evergreen Gxy for drop off¡­"


    As the Gctic Armada''s Captain faded into depression, two ostentatiously dressed people locked eyes with an otherworldly handsome man.


    This man had his crimson robes in tatters and his aura as calm as a tranquil stream. But even with such a ragged appearance, one couldn''t butpare him to the most aloof of immortals.


    Though this immortal was far more dangerous than he might seem¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 281: Pandemonium

    ...¡­


    "So you''re the one who we went out of the way to pursue?" Lin Qiang inquired with a scornful tone, his disdain for the handsome man clear in his gaze.


    "..."


    Princess Mu Mu observed the man in front of her, and then looked at Lin Qiang. She did so a couple of times before mumbling, "Like the difference between Heaven and Earth¡­"


    The contrast in appearance between the two wasrge. But that wasn''t the only thingrger that Azmodeus possessed, for his concealed talent was immense!


    Even at this very moment, she could see him actively gaining cultivation, progressing through the realms at absurd rates!


    Miss Mu didn''t know how this was humanly possible, but she wasn''t one to pry into other people''s business, so she simply let it be.


    Lin Qiang nced at Mu Mu and saw all the attention she was putting on thisplete stranger. This put a deep frown on his mildly handsome face as he furrowed his brows and red at the Crimson Usurper.


    "Since you need to die, I think I would be doing everyone a grand service if I just up and did it right here and now! What do you think about that, you criminal!?"


    WAAA!


    Lin Qiang already started to build uprge amounts of Starry Qi on his hands as he reached for the long sword he kept at his waist. Upon unsheathing it and enveloping the de with his sword aura, he looked toward the Crimson Usurper with a malicious glint in his eyes.


    "..."


    This entire time, Azmodeus had said absolutely nothing. And if he were being honest, he didn''t really feel like talking to these two.


    After all, in the end, loot was loot¡­


    But for the good of the ambience, he felt that they were owed a little story.


    "Tell me, there was once a Mortal who met the Devil, asking for power. And do you want to know what the Devil said to the Mortal?" He began to speak, his voice resonating throughout the void of space like the words of an Ancient Demon.


    "???" "???"


    Lin Qiang and Mu Mu looked at the handsome man''s face morph into something far more malevolent.


    They had a bad feeling about what was toe, but that didn''t stop them from going on guard.


    Just as Lin Qiang was going to strike out with his Star Severing sh, Azmodeus continued to speak:


    "The Devil told the Mortal that he would give him whatever power he so desired. But for the power, there was a price that needed to be paid¡­ What price needed to be paid, my glorious loot bags?"


    The Devil''s voice slithered into the ears of both Lin Qiang and Mu Mu as the airspace for nearly a dozen light years was encapsted in a wide crimson dome.


    This action of the Devil cut off all forms of sight andmunication that the two little sheep had with the outside world.


    "!!!" "!!!"


    Mu Mu was the first to react, as she no longer restrained her aura, outputting everything she had in order to shatter the crimson barrier. But unfortunately for her, there was no escape from the inevitable¡­


    SHING! SHING!


    She shed at the barrier with her thin purple sword; however, nothing she did even so much as caused a ripple in it.


    "How can this be¡­?" Mu Mu mumbled to herself; her crystal blue eyes darted in the direction of the prime suspect of this barrier, only to see that he had a wide, evil smirk on his glitchy, devil-like face.


    "You better stop this right now, you bastard!! Do you know who we are!?" Lin Qiang struck out with his sword, rupturing the fabric of space with his attack.


    Fizzle¡­


    Before his attacks could even make it half the way toward its lone target, it fizzled and dissipated.


    All of its energy dispersed into the surroundings before being absorbed by the crimson barrier.


    RUMBLE!


    The already immense aura of Azmodeus increased even further as it pressed down on the two bewildered Late Quasar Lords.


    "The Mortal¡­ The mortal''s response to the requirements set out by the devil was¡­"


    The Devil''s scratchy voice resounded once more as his figure faded further and further away from that of a humanoid.


    "The Mortal said¡­ ''I will bring about¡­''"


    RUMBLE!


    "P.A.N.D.E.M.O.N.I.U.M."


    OOOM!


    Azmodeus''s aura consumed the entirety of the closed-off crimson barrier as he slowly approached the pair of loot bags.


    Well, it looked like a slow approach from the perspective of the targets. But in reality, the Devil moved at a speed that bordered on insanity!


    FWIP!


    CRACK¡ª


    Azmodeus''s figure blurred. The sound of ss shattering followed not long after, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake!


    "How is he so fast!?" Lin Qiang couldn''t even see his aftershadow. But with his strength in the equation, such a thing shouldn''t be possible!


    As Lin Qiang prepared for the worst with all his defenses put up, Mu Mu already realized what was happening.


    ''It''s not that he''s stronger than us¡­ It''s this dome¡­''


    ''It is somehow capable of reducing all power that is not directly rted to its owner. However, to make use of such a broken ability¡­ Just how far has this man progressed in the Laws¡­?''


    Upon figuring out what was happening, Princess Mu Mu attempted to brainstorm a way to escape this power-dampening dome. However, nothing viable came to mind¡­


    That was but for one thing.


    ''If I do that, I will have a lot of troublesome exining to do when I meet father¡­''


    As her thoughts stirred, the static demon-like figure zed through all forms of space-distance as he shot toward the Starsung Envoy.


    He would be the first juicy loot bag to be looted.


    "!!!"


    Lin Qiang was lucky enough to see a faint silhouette blitz in his direction. But by the time he moved his sword to thwart the iing attack, the fingers he used to hold the sword were sliced off at the base!


    Spurt!


    "Arrghh!! You fucking ingrait!! I don''t think you realize who you''re dealing with!"


    Lim Qiang backed away from the materializing devil-like man, attempting to heal his wounds before showing this worm what was what.


    However, it didn''t seem like Azmodeus was willing to give him the chance to ''show what was what''.


    His figure blurred like an elusive shadow as he once again appeared in front of Lin Qiang. But this time, he didn''t stop with just a few fingers¡­


    Spurt!


    A fountain of blood gushed out of the spot where Lin Qiang''s head used to be!


    "!!!" Mu Mu watched her bodyguard get beheaded as easily as that, quickly realizing that even with her superior bloodline and Spiritual Roots, she would not fare much better.


    She was originally going to try one other thing that could potentially be her way out of this, but when she saw the ferocious glint in Azmodeus''s glitchy eyes, she knew there was no longer any hope for an alternative.


    "Loot bag #1 has been reaped, but we still have the second one¡­"


    FWIP!


    Azmodeus phased from his position as he stretched out his w-like hand in an attempt to rip out Mu Mu''s throat!


    Just as his hand was going to aplish its task, something urred in the very center of Mu Mu''s body and her insides lit up!


    BLING!


    It was a dazzling light, one immediately capable of blinding Azmodeus. And it was also this light that transported her to a location an uncountable number of miles away.


    "..."


    Azmodeus looked at the spot where the loot bag once stood, realizing that more trouble would definitelye his way if she reported him.


    But for some reason, such information forced a wide, evil smirk on his face, as he truly couldn''t wait for such a loot fiesta scenario toe to pass.


    Even so, that would have to wait for another time, as there were a plethora of system notifications ringing out inside his head...


    ...¡­

 Chapter 282: Railgun, Personality Change!?

    ...¡­


    BLING!


    [Ding! You have killed a Late Quasar Lord Realm Envoy of the Starsung Commerce Association!]


    [Ding! The Late Quasar Lord Princess of the Commerce Association managed to escape using an extremely high-level Escape Talisman. She will surelye back with stronger forces in order to hunt you down!]


    [Ding! You have obtained <0.1 Gctic Evolution Essence, or (GEE) for short.]


    [A Quasar Lord''s Existence Value has started to encroach upon the territory of a Gxy. Thus, the Starry Evolution Essence unit indicator has been changed to Gctic Evolution Essence.]


    [Ding! Your Stats have be toorge to individually quantity, and so everything has been converted into a single unit. This unit being ''Gctic Power'']


    [Ding! You have obtained <0.1 Gctic Power!]


    [Ding! You have received 1200+ new High-Star Laws, andprehensions in more than 60% of your current High-Star Laws!]


    [Ding! Your Singrity Physique and Trait have received massive improvements due to more than 500 Nonillion Traits and Physiques being transfused into your own!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has improved by leaps and bounds!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power is close to reaching the Late Quasar Lord Realm!]


    [Ding! You have long since capped out at the 9.9% point of your Loot God Nourishment Rate, and all you need to breakthrough is a stronger will to defy! Defy the Gctic Lord, Gctus, and the new Loot God milestone will be yours!*


    [Ding! Your current cultivation is at the Absolute Peak of the Neb Veil Realm, and it is at the 65.3% mark of advancement¡­ 65.4%... 65.5%...]


    Azmodeus felt his cultivation improve with each second that passed, feeling that a breakthrough into the ck Hole Sovereignty Realm was most definitely eminent.


    However, before he made the time to breakthrough, he first had to deal with arge group of metallic worlds waiting outside his ''Parameter Restrictive Dome''.


    FWAZIP!


    The thin crimson barrier fment went down as everyone on board the Gctic Armada waited for the results to be revealed.


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    When they saw a headless corpse glide through the void of space, their faces became ashen as they realized what this meant. Especially when considering that Miss Mu Mu was nowhere in sight and a crimson-haired man stood with his body covered in blood.


    "Crimson Usurper!! Do you have any idea what you just did!? Can you even fathom the repercussions of killing an Envoy of the Starsung Commerce Alliance!? Let alone this Gxy, even the surrounding Gxies will be thrown into this mess because of you!"


    The Gctic Armada Captain''s booming voice could be heard from all etches of space as his Middle Quasar Lord Realm Aura exploded outward!


    OOOM!


    It crushed down on even the Gctic Armada itself, causing the various ships to change direction.


    "..."


    But it didn''t seem like Azmodeus was amused by the weak-ass aura presented before him. This was further proven when he started to speak:


    "Tell me, Captain. Do you know what a realser looks like? I mean, not the flimsy ones that you shot out of your metal tin cans, but the real deal."


    RUMBLE!


    Immense levels of crimson-colored energy sted out from Azmodeus''s figure as his body morphed into that of a devil once more.


    However, in contrast to the goat demon-like way that he looked before, his appearance was now that of a¡­


    "Rail Gun!" The Gctic Armada''s Second In Command shouted with a face of disbelief.


    He was looking at what was most definitely a dark red man with a giant sr-system-sized rail gun on his back!


    "What do we do about this, Sir!?" The Second In Command asked, his aura fluctuating between confusion, doubt, and horror.


    "..."


    The Captain gazed out at the enemorous rail gun starting to charge up energy in the center of its barrel-like structure. He knew he had to do something to prevent what was about to happen. But there was simply nothing their weaponry could hope to aplish whenpeting against such a monstrosity¡­


    "Pray¡­"


    "What was that, Sir¡­?"


    "I said pray! Pray goddamnit!"


    The Captain started to lose his coco pebbles as he smashed his fist against the futuristic dashboard, causing it to crack and break apart.


    "..." "..." "..."


    The Second In Command and the rest of the Gctic Armada Staff had all the color leave their faces as they turned their heads in the direction of the rail gun that had already finished firing up.


    "We''re so fucke-"


    CRACK¡ªBOOOOOM!


    The Second In Command was interrupted by an explosion so loud that the sound barrier was most definitely broken a few dozen times over!


    This initial explosion was followed by countless more as the dazzling array of crimson death spiraled in their direction!


    Before anybody could react to this world-ending attack, the beam had already eviscerated everything in its way¡­


    By the end of its unleashment, a massive, 10-light year-wide cylinder of fire was gouged out of the Gctic Star Fleet, leaving it in a state of ruin¡­


    If any survived the attack after the initial st, then they without a doubt died when the residual energies of the ''Annihtion Beam'' reached them.


    "..."


    The one who acted as the catalyst for all this destruction watched as his vision was flooded with an exorbitant amount of System Notifications.


    "Finally some good shit!" Azmodeus spoke with a voice very unlike him. "Hmm¡­? What the hell was that!? Wait, what the hell was that as well!? What the hell!?"


    At this point in time, he was freaking the hell out!


    Why was he speaking like an unhinged hooligan!? What could''ve possibly elicited such a change in him!?


    "Wait¡­ da fuck¡­ It''s my race, isn''t it¡­?"


    Azmodeus took a nce at his system interface and saw that the Nourishment Rate was now at 10.3%!


    This meant that he sessfully went through with the milestone advancement!


    "But what is with this new way of speaking?? Some side effects???"


    Azmodeus looked through all relevant details, but he couldn''t find anything that exined this phenomenon. So in the end, he decided to ask the system directly.


    "Hey¡­ System, please kindly exin what in God''s green gravy is happening here!?"


    BLING!


    .....

 Chapter 283: Galactic General Bo, Emotion Limiters

    .....


    [Ding! Because the host has passed the 10% Nourishment Rate Mark, he has effectively surpassed the emotion limiters of the system (to a degree). The result of this change is the sudden burst of everything you have been repressing¡­]


    [You are likely to speak in a more carefree manner for a very¡­ very long time¡­ Upon reaching the Divine Realm, you can choose to go emotionless once more. But the pain and other costs will never be able to be altered¡­]


    "So that''s how it is." Azmodeus wore a discerning glint in his gaze as he figured something would change in the Race Nourishment Rate. But he never would''ve expected it to be something like this¡­


    As his thoughts stirred, a few more system notifications rang out within his mind.


    BLING!


    [Ding! You have achieved the 10% Nourishment Rate for your Loot God Race!]


    [Ding! You have received the ''White Loot Halo''. It is the most basic Halo that a Loot God can obtain, and it also increases all Loot Acquisition rates to ''500%''. This is an overall booster and stacks on top of all other Loot Halos that you may or may not obtain.]


    "This is¡­ interesting¡­ But fuck, I was really expecting some form of badass transformation ability¡­"


    Azmodeus looked both pleased and frustrated with this oue, as it became hard to quantify his surging emotions.


    In spite of that, he still had a goal to aplish in the Neverdye Gxy, and time was money. Which was to say that with every second lost, more loot vanished from his inventory!


    "Time to go teach some shitheads a few lessons on courtesy. After all, it''s not very cordial to chase after a man without first introducing yourself¡­"


    A cold smile crept up Azmodeus''s exceptionally handsome face as he blurred from his spot.


    FWIP!


    When he reappeared, there was no longer death and destruction. Instead, it was quite peaceful, almost like a tranquil garden in space.


    In fact, the ce he arrived at was indeed a garden¡­


    "Gctic Commander Bo''s Garden Sanctuary¡­"


    Azmodeus scoured the vastyout of lush, verdant trees and bushes as he attempted to find the aura that he was looking for.


    Considering that the Garden Sanctuary was roughly the size of a very small Gxy and housed the most exotic of herbs, it would definitely be tough to find a single pers-


    SHING! SHING!


    "???"


    Azmodeus heard the distinct sound of swords nging in the distance as he followed the trail of noise. He swiftly found himself being led down a pink flower-covered path, where the end was located in an open, bowl-shaped crystal-clearke.


    Theke was utterly massive,ing in at over 20 light years in width. Furthermore, it was home to star-sized fish and deer-like monsters. All of them were being constantly munched on by creatures higher up on the food chain, such as grandiose Mega Eels and Lorder Bears, both of whom were apex predators in theke''s ecosystem.


    Tap Tap Tap


    Azmodeus took slow yet insanely fast steps toward the north end of theke, which was where two sharp metallic shes danced in midair.


    "Is that Gctic General Bo?"


    Azmodeus got a good look at the one who had the upper hand in the fast-paced sky battle. And he was positive that therge, robust, and muscr frame of the winning figure matched that of the Gctic General''s description.


    ''Should I just walk up to them and do a little one-two with my hands¡­?''


    ''Or maybe I should wait it out and let the two warriors finish their battle?''


    ''Well, now that I think about it¡­''


    ''I don''t give a fuck!''


    ''No fucks to give here!''


    Following this maniacal train of thought, Azmodeus vanished from his original position atop an insurmountable hill. After which, he zed through the skies, aiming to interfere in the sword battle with a wide grin on his face.


    "!?!?" "!?!?"


    Both Gctic General Bo and his opponent suddenly stopped their movements and shot their stern gazes in the same direction. Only to see arge, shining star plummet from the skies!


    "Is that a friend of yours, General Bo?" An elegantly dressed woman asked.


    She was the opponent in this situation and was someone visiting from the neighboring Gxy of Runeyoom. As for the reason she was fighting the general, well, it was simply because the thrill of a good battle was deeply rooted in her veins.


    She was called An Ling and was also someone whom the entire Runeyoom Gxy looked up to as the War Berserker that would lead them into battle!


    "..."


    General Bo honed in on the rapidly approaching figure and tried to recall meeting someone with such a distinct aura. However, no matter how he thought about it, there had definitely never been an instance where he met someone like that.


    Unfortunately for him, both he and An Ling weren''t given much time to ponder the matter of this mysterious man, as he was already right in front of them¡­


    WHIZ!


    Azmodeus phased through the two vast points in space as his red, star-like aura appeared right in front of the two flying Generals!


    "Well, whether or not he''s your friend or not doesn''t seem to matter anymore, as he''s most definitely trying to kill us." An Lingmented on the subject of her death with a faint grin stered on her beautiful, slightly scarred face.


    "Yes, that does appear to be the case."


    Gctic General Bo agreed with the female General as he jumped out of the way of the iing meteor.


    An Ling did the same, but she did so in a far more rxed manner, seemingly not even seeing this new foe as a threat to be cautious around.


    However, she would soon realize how wrong she was¡­


    CRACKA¡ªBOOOOOM!


    Azmodeus crashed to the ground surface as arge,yered crater formed in the spot where hended.


    It was only after the smoke cleared up that both An Ling and Gctic General Bo were able to bear witness to the glitchy, devil-like figure before them. A man or beast who wore an evil expression truly befitting of his crimson red body.


    His frame was roughly the size of arge cluster of star systems, making him around the same size as them. But there was something that was not analogous to what they had.


    That something being his¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 284: An Lings Demise

    ...¡­


    "Race. He is not human¡­" An Ling''s battle-crazed smirk only seemed to grow at this revtion. She really couldn''t wait any longer!


    And with nothing capable of holding her back, she lunged at the devil-like man, her body quickly blurring with the immense speed that she moved at.


    ZOOOM!


    Her galiant yet insane countenance phased in and out of points in space as she couldn''t wait to fight this man and his overwhelming aura!


    She couldn''t wait-!


    WAAAA!


    "!?!?"


    Just as An Ling was about to punch the intruder with everything she had, a sudden phenomenon urred within the aura of the devilish figure.


    "What the hell-!?"


    An Ling visibly witnessed his aura jump from roughly her level to a degree that she couldn''t even hope to fathom!


    "Peak Quasar Lord Realm¡­? No, even higher¡­ and in such a brief period of time¡­"


    Neither An Ling nor Gctic General Bo knew what the hell just happened, but they did know that this man was without a doubt a serious threat.


    "I will report this back to the Gctic Lord-"


    "I will fight!"


    Gctic General Bo retreated from the scene, while An Ling''s excitement only grew; she wanted to fight!


    She wanted to see if this powerful man could sate her yearning for a worthy battle! She had to-


    SHING!


    All it took was a single sword strike for a line of blood to emerge on An Ling''s right cheek as an unbelievably sharp sword Qi Arc shed past her body!


    Without a chance to alter the oue of this devastating sword strike, An Ling turned her body around just in time to see a simr line of blood form on Gctic General Bo''s face. However, in contrast to hers, his cut started from the top of his forehead and reached all the way down to his groin.


    "Gctic General Bo, you-..."


    SPURT!


    An Ling watched as the Gctic General was split into two, with both halves of his body rebounding off each other and shooting in two different directions.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    The two separate halves of Gctic General Bo touched base with theke surface as they burned their way to the very depths of the water source.


    Of course, Azmodeus was not one to leave any loot behind. So, the only natural thing to do was use telekinesis in order to lift up the corpse of the Gctic General. After which, he brought both halves toward him and started to devour their essence.


    It was only after the General''s existence was no more that Azmodeus perused the various system notifications bombarding his vision.


    BLING!


    [Ding! You have killed a Late-Quasar Lord Gctic General. The reward is <0.1 Gctic Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have obtained <0.1 Gctic Power!]


    [Ding! You have received a shitton of loot from this existence, and after being converted into Loot Essence, you subsequently improved your Race Nourishment to 11.3%]


    [Ding! Your Singrity Physique and Trait have tremendously improved!]


    [Ding! Both your Singrity Physique and Trait have reached the Absolute Peak of the Quasar Lord Rank!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has drastically improved!]


    [Ding! You have obtained 220+ High-Star Laws that you didn''t previously own. Additionally, over 80% of your current High-Star Laws had theirprehensions inch ever closer to Level 5.]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has majorly improved!]


    It was only after all of these system notifications sounded out that Azmodeus turned his primal gaze in the direction of the woman staring at him.


    It was unknown what was going through her mind at this moment, but to be honest, it didn''t really matter to him.


    SHING!


    He unsheathed Excalibur once more, sending a massive Qi Arc barreling toward the shell-shocked An Ling!


    "!!!"


    Unlike Gctic General Bo, she was able to react in time as only a few strands of her long brown hair were sliced off.


    This narrow escape with death was followed by her darting into the nearby forest, hoping to escape the sight of that devilish man.


    For the first time in An Ling''s life, she felt¡­


    Fear.


    Fear was something that directed all beings in the universe, and it was also what sped up their advance toward death.


    An Ling, she had always been the best.


    In the Gctic Academy, she was the best. At home in the Gctic Royal Capital, she was the best. Whether inside or outside, she was the best.


    It was this level of talent and power that led to An Ling growingcent in the amount of strength she possessed.


    Her life went on like that for many eons, stretching over the span of tens of millions of years¡­


    However, in the end, her superiorityplex and false yearning for battle was overwhelmed¡ªoverwhelmed by something that went beyond the surface level.


    It was something primal. It was something that told her to run, for if she didn''t¡­


    Cold sweat drizzled down An Ling''s rapidly shing face as she ran. She ran with everything she had!


    No destination!


    No target!


    She only wanted to live!


    She wanted to see the next day-!!


    "I Want To Live!!!"


    SPURT!


    "That''s too bad, because I want your loot."


    "!!!"


    Just as An Ling thought she might''ve had a chance of escaping, a hand emerged from the front side of her chest.


    It messed up her insides, forcefully absorbing all her Essence through the use of a Demonic Technique.


    "Pl-Please¡­.! Let me live! I''ll do whatever you like! My body, you c-can have it!" An Ling started to ugly cry as she held onto the muscr hand with her far smaller palms.


    "Is that so¡­?"


    "Yes! I will do anything you like-!"


    SPURT!


    "Wha-"


    Thest thing An Ling ever saw was the sadistic, toothy grin on Azmodeus''s face as he ripped her head off her body.


    "Phew! Now that that is done and out of the way, let''s absorb this coward''s existence and look at the system notifications."


    Azmodeus extended a number of energy tendrils from his body and absorbed the essence of all the different pieces of An Ling.


    While that was happening, a plethora of pop-ups appeared in front of his face.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 285: A Scapegoat, Another Breakthrough...?

    ...¡­


    BLING!


    [Ding! You have killed a Late-Quasar Lord cultivator. After going through ''Loot Multiplication'', the reward is <0.1 Gctic Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have received all the items and equipment of this cultivator. The reward is an increase in your Loot God Nourishment Rate to 12.2%!]


    [Ding! You have obtained a plethora of Techniques, Physiques, and Traits!]


    [Ding! Your Singrity Physique and Trait have drastically improved!]


    [Ding! Your Singrity Physique and Trait have advanced to Level 2 of the X Rank!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has drastically improved!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has taken one more step toward the Absolute Peak of the Quasar Lord Realm!]


    [Ding! You have obtained <0.1 Gctic Power!]


    After thest of the system notifications finished ringing out, Azmodeus looked at the blood droplets raining from the sky.


    It was under such a gloomy and eerie atmosphere that he vanished from his spot, leaving the Gctic Sanctuary in half an instant. After which, he extended his pointer fingers and repeatedly shot out beams of crimson light.


    CRACKA¡ªBOOOOM!


    The Gctic Sanctuary was blown to smithereens!


    All that remained was the faint residual auras of the fallen Quasar Lords. Lingering in the area, they served as an evesting reminder of what would happen to those who went against the will of the Crimson Usurper¡­


    ¡­


    A few days after the incident at the Gctic Sanctuary.


    "This is where Gctic General Bo and Gctic General An Ling went missing¡­?"


    A man dressed like a glorified star trooper stepped onto the void as he looked at the empty airspace in front of him.


    This man was one of the leading investigators of the Gctic Army, and he was also the one sent out to discover why the two Gctic Generals suddenly went dark.


    After a few minutes of scouring the area, he could pretty much infer what had urred. After all, there was only one with a crimson aura as powerful as this one¡­


    "The Crimson Usurper¡­" The Gctic Investigator murmured under his breath.


    He knew right away that he must not be the one to report this information back to the Gctic Lord.


    He had to find a scapegoat¡­


    "Sir, what should we do about the remains of the Gctic Sanctuary? Should we gather it up and send it back to HQ?"


    A man in simr attire phased behind the Gctic Investigator. He wore a devout expression and was clearly loyal to the cause.


    ''There''s my scapegoat¡­''


    The Gctic Investigator thought to himself, wearing a friendly look on his face.


    "Say, have you ever considered a promotion being in your near future?"


    -


    Meanwhile, in a location thousands of light years away, a crimson-haired man looked over his system interface.


    Overall, he was pleased with what he saw. But then again, nothing would ever be good enough¡­


    There would always be a higher mountain to climb! A higher peak to reach!


    "Time to continue the eternal grind."


    Azmodeus gazed at the vast sea of stars that encapsted him on all sides. He wondered how long it would take before everything in sight faded into nothing more than the scribbles on a piece of paper.


    "Welp, there''s no time like the present to figure that out." Azmodeus clenched both Excalibur and Sanguinary, looking like no less than a badass war maniac.


    After taking in the fresh, non-breathable air for a second, his piercing gaze fixated on the next destination. Or rather, one of the many destinations toe¡­


    After a few more days of killing and assimting everything within the Neverdye Gxy, Azmodeus eventually reached a point in his cultivation where he could attempt another breakthrough.


    The breakthrough this time around would be from the Early ck Hole Sovereignty Realm to the Middle ck Hole Sovereignty Realm.


    Azmodeus had already condensed his miniature ck hole in the fight with the Gctic Generals, so the next course to take would be the further expansion of his ck hole.


    This would definitely lead to a slightly unstable foundation, especially after he broke through not too long ago. But with the ceaseless efforts of his other half, cultivation consolidation was madeparatively easier.


    Nevertheless¡­


    WAAA!


    Violent levels of Qi whirled around inside the center of a moon, located in the depths of the Eastern Expanse.


    A singr man cultivated within this moon, sucking in all the Starry Qi od the surrounding Star Systems.


    This would''ve surely drained the ce dry if not for the constant replenishment being passively conducted by the universe itself. Which, in turn, led to far more Qi being produced for the gluttonous loot goblin to devour.


    "Time for another breakthrough, bitches! I would like to see just how many times I can breakthrough before the month ends!"


    Azmodeus''s maniacal words echoed out for countless miles in all directions, his voice working as a driving force to gather all the active Qi toward his body!


    Over thest brief period of time. Specifically, the time after the Loot God Nourishment Rate passed 10%, Azmodeus was no longer the same person he once was¡­


    His personality, after enduring so much pain with every passing second, was warped.


    It was warped to such a degree that his aloofness could only be seen in full disy if he wanted it to be seen.


    However, it wasn''t like his slightly insane personality change affected his cultivation speed in the slightest. Hence, he let it be and continued to do what he usually did¡­


    "Blow things up, kill, level up, grind, kill some more, blow even more things up, level up even more! This is the way!"


    Azmodeus''s string of maniacalughter could be heard from all stretches of the surrounding void as he relentlessly circted his Qi.


    Even though half his head and lower torso had exploded due to Qi overload, he was on the precipice of something truly spectacr. Therefore, there was no way in hell he would allow a few scratches to get in his way!


    "Bunch of dumb ass pussies! Is this really the best you got!? Can''t even prevent a breakthrough from happening??? Pathetic!"


    ...¡­

 Chapter 286: A Dire Situation On Starfarer Island

    ...¡­


    A crazy grin crept up Azmodeus''s disfigured face as his blood-red eyes creased up. He wanted to see just how much he could take in!


    He was not scared of some pain or even the asional meat chunks sting off his body¡­


    What he was afraid of was not being able to do his utmost in order to be stronger!


    He had to be the fastest! He had to be the best! He had to be the only one to aplish it!


    He had to be Azmodeus!


    "Just break through already!!!" He bellowed to the skies, his energy spiraling out of control as he put everything he had into the cirction of Qi!


    OOOM!


    The level of energy contained within the small air bubble of the moon''s center had already reached a point of no return!


    RUMBLE!


    The moon started to copse in on itself as it could no longer withstand the sheer immensity of the energy pressing down on it!


    Just as the moon began to expand and glow with an eruption of red fire in its core, a man attempting to defy the heavens managed to break through!


    This breakthrough led to an increase in power infinitely close to the Low-Gctic Traverser Realm!


    WAaa¡­


    Azmodeus sted out of the moon''s center as the moon blew up the moment he left it.


    FWIP!


    He fully materialized in the void above, looking over his gains from this breakthrough.


    "Half a step away from the Low-Gctic Traverser Realm. Furthermore, my realm advanced straight from the Early ck Hole Sovereignty Realm to the Late Stages of the Middle ck Hole Sovereignty Realm."


    Azmodeus observed the most recent changes and realized that things were definitely going in the right direction. Most of which was due to the fact that his other half cultivated for thousands of years with each week that passed in the outside world.


    "Well, hot shit¡­ If I continue at the current pace I''m going at, I might just reach the Low-Gctic Traverser Realm before long."


    Azmodeus clenched his fists and felt the immense starry power coursing through them.


    But, of course, there was always more to be improved, and he still had a very long way to go before he reached the peak of the Starry Expanse.


    With the pursuit of power at the forefront of his mind, he once again headed out, nning to knock some heads around until he got the loot that he needed.


    "I remember one of the Gctic General''s having memories pertaining to arge floating ind in the Northern Expanse. Apparently, there are Half-Step Gctic Realm Experts in that location, and I would like to see just how many can square up before they hit the ground and tumble."


    An evil grin crept up Azmodeus''s glitchy, devil-like face as he blitzed through the void, hoping to reach Starfarer''s Ind before the next breakthrough came around!


    Wouldn''t it be too boring if he were already strong enough to one-shot Half-Gctic Lords by the time he reached his destination¡­?


    Fast cultivation was so tough to cope with!


    ****


    "So, what have you brought us here to discuss, Ind King?"


    A gruff voice echoed throughout the confines of a wide, spacious hall as tens of domineering figures were gathered around arge, circr table.


    All of them wore simr attire, with the general trend being long dark blue robes and eight pointed golden stars stitched on those robes.


    There were also stars with varying amounts of points; most had 8, however, there were some with 10, 12, and even 16.


    There were only two people with 16 pointed stars, and one of those people was the one who the 10 pointed star had referred to as the ''Ind King''.


    As one might be able to guess, he was the one who ruled over Starfarer''s ind, and he was also someone well into the Half-Low Gctic Traverser Realm. In a way, he was the strongest expert in the Northern Expanse.


    However, there was one other man who would be able to give the Ind King a run for his money. And that person was¡­


    "You ask me what I think, but you also assume that I don''t already know about what was said between you and Jing Fu, the Star Rider."


    The Ind King, with his Thor-like appearance, turned his ancient gaze in the direction of a man who looked no older than 35.


    "Ho? You actually care about the ongoings of little ol me? That is surprisinging from you, my dear friend."


    Jing Fu locked eyes with the Ind King as his orangish irises seemed to be gauging the reactions of the equally powerful Ind King.


    He hade to this meeting after hearing that the main topic of discussion would be an interesting existence causing mayhem in their territory. But he never would''ve expected the typically stone-faced Ind King to make a face like the one he had on right now.


    "Jing Fu¡­" The Ind King heaved a tired sigh as he slumped into his starry throne on the front end of the round table. "...Normally, I would never ask anything from a man like you¡ªone only out to benefit from any given situation. But today¡­ I have no other choice."


    "???"


    Not only Jing Fu, but the rest of the gathered Experts seemed to bepletely in the dark on what the Ind King was talking about.


    Why did he use such a grievous tone??


    Why did he make it sound like the end of the world was about to arrive???


    Jing Fu''s yful expression immediately morphed into a serious one as he knew this was not the time to worry about some small grudges.


    "What do you need me to do¡­? Even though I don''t like your stuck-up personality, I know when to repay a favor when it is due. And over thest 100 billion years, you have allowed me to stay here, escaping the sight of my pursuers. For that, I will do you one favor. So, tell me, what is it that you require of me?"


    ...¡­

 Chapter 287: The Crimson Usurper Nears...

    ...¡­


    "..."


    Silence consumed the dimly lit, star-filled room for quite a few seconds.


    Nobody would''ve ever expected the greedy Star Rider to be gracious enough to appreciate them for all the trouble they went through in order to hide him from the 10+ Gxies after his head.


    They needed him for his strength, and he needed a ce to stay.


    It was really that simple.


    Of course, over the years, Jing Fu had done nothing but cultivate ande out into the vast, vibrant streets of Starfarer Ind.


    But within the confines of the 100-quadrant-sized ind, Jing Fu was akin to the more powerful version of Loki. This was to say that he knew not how to stay out of trouble, and he sure as hell never exhibited any signs of magnanimity.


    "You truly mean that, Jing Fu¡­? Will you do what is necessary?"


    The Ind King voiced his question with a slight hint of disbelief in his tone. After all, he never would''ve guessed Jing Fu to ever consider the well-being of anybody but himself.


    ''Maybe his encounter with that ''man'' changed him...?''


    Piang!


    The Star Rider tapped his silver chalice against the sleek, marble table, creating a sound that woke everyone up from their daydreams.


    "Why do you make it sound like I''m such a viin?? Do you not remember the time that I saved that city from a wandering Overlord Eye???"


    "...You destroyed the city in the process of ''saving it''. More than half of the Soulsont Providence vanished the day you did that¡­" The Ind King spoke with a hint of exasperation in his voice.


    "Well, alright¡­ But what about the time I stopped that Ethereal Tsunami from touching base with the EastWing Academy on the Comet Archipgo?? Don''t you recall all the saving I did back then??"


    "While stopping the tsunami from overwhelming the archipgo, you also created a series of raging tornadoes. They tore up thends for millions of years, and it was only then that my people could go in and gauge the damage. All the people of the 6thrgest Archipgo were dead¡­ not even the fish and squids remained¡­"


    Crack!


    Jing Fu cracked his chalice as a vein formed on his forehead. "Why do you live in the past so much, old man!? Don''t you know how to walk into the future and let the past remain the past!?"


    He was clearly perturbed by the words of the Ind King as he crossed his arms over his muscr chest before turning his head to the right.


    One might''vepared him to a misunderstood Tsundere at that moment¡­


    Even so, time was running thin, and neither the Ind King nor the rest of the Starfarer Ind''s people had the luxury of idle chitchat.


    "I will be brief and concise with you, Jing Fu. We don''t have much time left¡­"


    The Ind King started off with a dire tone, seemingly attempting to stress the points that he was about to disclose to his closest confidants.


    It was something that no other person on Starfarer Ind knew of, and the Ind King originally wanted it to stay that way for a very long time. However, even with the constant discement of the ind''s location through the vast expanse of void in the Neverdye Gxy, nothing was capable of stopping ''it''.


    "The Crimson Usurper¡­ He has found us."


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    "I thought we lost his trail two months ago!?"


    "We were supposed to be in the clear with the amount of strength he possessed! What changed!?"


    "How could such a perilous scenarioe to pass!?"


    Everyone had varying reactions to the terrible words spoken by their leader; some were in shock, some were scared, and some were frightful.


    However, any of their reactions were very much warranted. After all, the Crimson Usurper was nowhere to be seen following his first appearance a little more than two months ago.


    This was mainly attributed to the state-of-the-art space discement fusion core of Starfarer Ind.


    It was not only capable of powering the ind and all its various magical technology, but it was also able to permit the usage of long-distance teleportation.


    The teleportation function was only ever supposed to be used in times of dire need. And it just happened that such a highly imusible scenario came to pass two months ago, when the Crimson Usurper attacked their ind.


    The Ind King and Jing Fu were able to hold him at bay quite easily in the beginning. But in little more than two weeks, the Crimson Usurper revived enough times to be stronger than both the Ind King and Jing Fu.


    When the two powerhouses realized this fact, they instantly switched up their tactics and escaped into Starfarer Ind. After which, the Ind King activated the long-distance teleportation function.


    Everyone assumed they were good after these actions were taken. But the words of the Ind King made them realize that they were just holding onto false hope¡­


    "What do we do¡­?"


    The Star Rider voiced his question with a hint of what appeared to be nervousness.


    He was not one to scare away from anything, but when it came to that devil in human form, he didn''t know how to feel anything but immense fear and trepidation.


    Just imagining that unnerving smile focusing on him again was enough to crack Jing Fu''s rxed facade into a million different pieces¡­


    "You ask what we should do? Well, isn''t that already obvious?" The Ind King lightly shook his head before swiping his sleeves over the table.


    BING!


    A key with a skull on the front materialized from thin air. After which, itnded in the Ind King''s hands.


    He proceeded to toss the key toward the Star Rider.


    "???"


    As Jing Fu caught the key, a perplexed gleam shone through his gaze.


    The Ind King decided to clear up the confusion as he said, "That is the key for the Ind''s Main Treasure Vault. It is also what you can use instead of looting the vault without it, like you usually do¡­"


    Cough! Cough!


    "I don''t know what you''re talking about, old man. I would never even dream of taking anything from the Main Treasury¡­"


    "..." "..." "..."


    Nobody believed the bull crap that Jing Fu was spewing, but they were far too keen on figuring out why the Ind King gave away the Treasury Key so easily.


    As for what that reason was?


    Well, it was something major enough to leave them inplete shock...


    .....

 Chapter 288: To Become Strong, The Will To Live

    .....


    The Ind King cleared up the confusion by saying, "You asked what we shall do, and the answer is that you all will run." He stroked his long white beard with a fatherly glint in his gaze. "While you all escape under the lead of Jing Fu, I will hold off the Crimson Usurper with the Low-Gctic Traverser Rank Sealing Treasure that I took from the Treasury.


    This should allow me to hold the monster off for just long enough to enable you all to escape into the nearby Waterfroth Gxy."


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    All of the gathered powerhouses of the various apex factions looked toward their leader with dumbfounded expressions.


    "My Lord, you simply cannot do this!"


    "What would we do without you!?"


    "You are akin to the guiding light that leads us toward a brighter future! It wouldn''t be possible to see through the darkness without your presen-"


    "Okay, that is more than enough ttery from you all." The Ind King waved his hand in an irritated manner, causing the shameless officials to calm down and sit back on their chairs.


    After getting them to stop the buttering session, the Ind King said, "You all are the future, while I am just a dying man on hisst legs. With the youthful Jing Fu as the new leader, you will have a way forward."


    "B-But, my Lord! To have Jing Fu take the reigns on matters concerning the inner circle-" One of the high officials attempted to speak up but was swiftly silenced by the Ind King, saying:


    "My word is final. Jing Fu will be your new leader, and he will take you all and this ind to the Waterfroth Gxy, which is where you will find refuge with a buddy of mine."


    The Ind King took a long, hard look at all the people whom he had known like family for many billions of years. His eyes briefly glossed over as his aura became mncholic.


    "Can you do this for me, Jing Fu¡­?" He asked, his antiquated gaze focused on the Star Rider''s conflicted expression.


    "...I will do my part."


    Jing Fu gritted his teeth and looked away from the old man.


    He was disappointed in himself and in his strength.


    But, more than that, he was disappointed in the cowardice part of him attempting to crawl its way out of his shell.


    The Ind King understood what the surging emotions within Jing Fu implied, but it mattered not for him.


    "You will do fine, Jing Fu. Just go about life as you always have, and¡­ please¡­ take care of this ind and its people¡­"


    "I will do that¡­"


    After getting out these sappy words, both the Ind King and the Star Rider went their separate ways.


    They knew what they had to do, and they would get it done, no matter the cost.


    -


    Meanwhile, in the deep reaches of the speed stream, a devil-like man zipped through the countlessyers of space at a speed far surpassing that of light.


    "I am close! I just need to be a tad bit stronger, and I''ll be able to catch up to that Loot Ind!"


    Azmodeus''s maniacal grin widened to the highest points of his devilish face as he swooped in and out of space. While doing so, he had his other half cultivate with even greater intensity.


    He would be stronger!


    He would be so strong that no loot bag would ever even dare to dream of escaping his grasp!


    With such thoughts whirling around inside his mind, he forced the speed stream to morph to his ideals, subsequently causing anotherrge boost in speed toe his way!


    "I will find you two, and when I do, I''ll make sure to take you for everything you''re worth!!!"


    Azmodeus''s power-hungry shouts could be heard in the surrounding space for thousands of light years. As he inched closer to his target, those shouts only became louder and louder.


    -


    Shudder!


    The Ind King and Jing Fu felt spine-tingling shivers go down their spines.


    They were both going about their own tasks, but this unnerving feeling was enough to have them stop in their tracks and look toward the same direction. Even though such a feeling could merely be a coincidence or an independent phenomenon, at their cultivation level, there was no such thing as ''coincidence''.


    ''I need to speed things up.'' They both thought in unison.


    One gathered everything inside the Ind Treasury, nning for the possible destruction of the ind. While the other one stationed himself at the very edge of his cosmically sparkling ind, preparing himself for what was toe.


    Many spectators watched the Ind King with intent gazes, knowing full well what was about to happen to their benevolent leader. Slowly, they started to devolve into depression, thinking about all that would change with the disappearance of their Ind King¡­


    "We will be lost without him¡­"


    "Is there even a point in going on¡­?"


    "Should we just let the Crimson Usurper kill us all and let everyone take the easy way out?"


    The uniquely dressed citizens of Starfarer Ind discussed the uncertainties of the future among themselves. Calcting everything that could or could not happen, they swiftly realized that there was a very low likelihood of theming out on top.


    But regardless of the statistics, people had an inmate yearning for life.


    They wished to live¡­


    "..."


    The Ind King understood this fundamental concept very well. After all, he too wanted to live¡­


    But for him, the people of his home mattered far more than his singr will to live.


    These were his family; they were the future-


    CRACKA¡ªBOOOOOM!


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    A loud, ear-deafening explosion took the Ind King and the other citizens out of their thoughts as they shot their heads to the top of the Ind Dome.


    The first thing they saw was the¡­


    "The sky¡­ It''s falling¡­?"


    The Ind King watched as a massive hole in the roof only becamerger andrger, reaching the size of a sr system in no time at all!


    Sparks started to fly, and highly intricate wires and machinery crumbled before breaking apart. Leaving a trail of fire and lightning on the way down, a big chunk of the sky plummeted toward the earth below!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 289: Fate Is Truly A B*tch!

    ...¡­


    "The Crimson Usurper¡­ He somehow found us for half an instant¡­"


    The Ind King''s expression turned ashen. Even though they had once again sped ahead of their pursuer, ''he'' seemed to have a way to predict their path and set up a clone attack in front of them.


    "If he''s able to damage the hardware of Starfarer Ind, then his strength¡­ How strong has he be¡­?"


    Not only the Ind King, but Jing Fu also had a very bad feeling about what was toe.


    If they didn''tmence their n soon, then there truly would be no other options left for the people of the ind.


    The Gctic Lord abandoned them; the Gctic Senators were not willing to interfere. And now, there was a limited time span for which they needed to make a great many decisions.


    "Fate is truly a b*tch¡­"


    The Ind King''s hardened gaze watched as the sky fell onto them. In the end, he flipped his hand and caused the sky chunk to get sucked into a miniature ck hole. Then, with a simple flick of his sleeve, the ck hole shrunk in on itself before vanishing into the void.


    There was no more sky chunk or fire rain, but for some reason, the Ind King''s dire expression did not be any lighter.


    "The end of the world is near, and there really is only one thing that I can do." He looked at the wrinkled hands attached to his wrists.


    They were hands that hadn''t shown their utmost might for a countless number of years.


    However, now was finally the time to show the gxy that he was still the man who once gave the Gctic Lord a run for his money back in their younger days!


    "The time is now!!!!"


    For the first time in hundreds of billions of years, the Ind King lost control of his emotions. Then, with a domineering demeanor, he blitzed his way outside of the ind''s barrier. Making use of the hole in the world, he vanished past the outermost astral barrier.


    Entering the void of space, he looked around him, attempting to find the existence that he knew lurked around a corner of space.


    -


    "He''s gone¡­"


    Jing Fu finished the packing up of everything with value, taking one final, long, and hard look at the hole in the sky. Feeling a familiar aura that he had known for many years, his own aura turned mncholic.


    He wanted to be out there¡ªfighting alongside the figure that raised him like a father.


    He should be out there!


    But...


    "I promised him¡­ I said I would take care of his people¡­" Jing Fu bit his lips so hard that blood drizzled down them. His profoundly empathetic green eyes took onest nce at the sky hole before refocusing on the speedup of the ind.


    If the ind was somehow destroyed, Jing Fu and the others could still escape through the utilization of the Escape Talismans picked up from the treasury. But unless it was absolutely necessary, none of them wished to leave Starfarer Ind behind.


    After all, it was their home. It was the only ce offort that they''d ever known!


    However, it seemed like fate felt like being a bitch to these Starfarers¡­


    ¡­


    After a total of 4 seconds passed in the outside world, the Ind King finally saw a fluctuation in the space around him. Then, without warning, a crimson-haired man with an evil grin on his face materialized from theyers between space.


    "Ho? I wonder why it is that my little loot bag has decided to stop running~?" Azmodeus''s demonic gaze lingered on the Ind King''srge frame. After analyzing his existence, his eyes curved upward in amusement. "It seems like you are trying to y the part of the silver knight. You wish to sacrifice yourself for the ''greater good''? Heh~"


    "???"


    For some reason unbeknownst to the Ind King, the Crimson Usurper''s expression morphed into one of even greater amusement.


    ''He seems to find this entire situation quite the big joke. But little does he know that I''m in possession of the Low-Gctic Rank Treasure Weapon¡ªCosmic Sealer.''


    Following his thoughts, he reached for his storage ring and said, "I don''t know why you decided toe after the people of Starfarer Ind, but this will not be a win for you. Monsters only deserve to be felled under the de of a cultivator, but just this once, I will discard my honor and seal yo-"


    SHING!


    The moment the Ind King took the cosmically dazzling treasure weapon out of his storage ring, he quickly realized that he could no longer feel his fingers.


    "!?!?" He looked down and saw that the entire upper half of his hand had been cleanly cut off. With no unevenness to the perfect cut, blood started to gush out of the wound.


    Spurt!


    It sprayed the surrounding void a deep, dark red. Leaving just the right amount of scattered blood, the demonic, bloody expression of the Crimson Usurper became all the crisper.


    "Did you really think I would do whatever you wanted!? Haha!" Azmodeus burst out in a peel ofughter as he couldn''t believe that such an old monster could be so stupid!


    Why would he not already have the treasure ready before deciding to leave his turtle shell!?


    Was he just trying to make a cool-ass movie scene!?


    Azmodeus found it all too funny, and upon seeing the distraught look on the old man''s face, hisughter only increased in intensity.


    "Y-You¡­" The Ind King''splexion became as red and green as a fugly-looking tomato as he tightly clenched his bloody fists.


    Even though his fingers were rapidly regenerating, the Cosmic Sealer had already been lost to the currents of the void.


    Or, at least, that was what he originally thought¡­


    FWIP!


    A mirror copy of Azmodeus appeared right beside the first one, and in his hands, there was the Cosmic Sealer!


    "!!!"


    "So, old man. What exactly were you nning to do with this thing?" asked Azmodeus, an acute gleam shining through his evil gaze.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 290: A Change, Island King Loot

    ...¡­


    After a moment of inspecting the contents of the instrument, Azmodeus could basically deduce what the purpose of the Cosmic Sealer was.


    This understanding put an even more amused look on his face.


    "So you wanted to seal me up? Like some sort of devil!? Isn''t that too cruel of you??" Azmodeusughingly spoke these words, various emotions passing through his gaze.


    "..."


    The Ind King took one look at those curved, crescent moon-like eyes of his and knew that he was fucked.


    There was no doubt about it¡­


    And it turned out that he was as correct as could be!


    "Tell me, old man. How would you like it if I were to seal you up in a cosmic boot for an indefinite amount of time?"


    Azmodeus''s expression suddenly morphed from an entertained one into something far more evil. His face warped and spiked, leading to the intense fluctuation of both his body and aura.


    "Do tell me¡­ How would you like it!?"


    The devil''s voice increased in intensity by a millionfold as the mere resonation of his words caused the surrounding space to crack and shatter!


    "!!!"


    The Ind King knew he needed to say something, but he didn''t know what that something was.


    In the end, he turned his face downward and mumbled, "I-I don''t know¡­"


    At the mumbling of these words, Azmodeus''s violently fluctuating aura went to aplete halt. He asked, "You don''t know?"


    "I see¡­ You don''t know! Hahaha!"


    The devil went through a wide array of emotions in quick session, seeming like no less than a clinically insane psychopath.


    "!?!?"


    The Ind King had no clue what to make of everything he had seen so far. But what he did know was that something had changed within the personality of the Crimson Usurper.


    Over the years, many rumors centered around this man spread from one corner of the gxy to the next. In the end, his infamy reached a level where just about everything was known about him.


    The Ind King realized it when they first fought.


    He realized that the rumors didn''t match up to the real thing¡­


    "You''re no longer the same aloof person that you once were¡­ Something changed within you¡­"


    Following the murmuring of these words, every ounce of emotion within the Crimson Devilpletely halted. His body movements stopped in their tracks, his face became neutrally devilish, and his demonic eyes honed in on the old man.


    After a moment ofplete silence, Azmodeus broke the silence by saying, "You think that I''ve changed?"


    "...yes¡­"


    The Ind King did not fear away from the ck hole-like gaze of the Crimson Usurper. On the contrary, he locked eyes with him, not allowing himself to be scared.


    "Change¡­ I have definitely changed¡­"


    CRACK¡ª


    Azmodeus''s grip on the Cosmic Sealer tightened as cracks spread around its outer shell. Only after extending far enough did the crackinge to a stop.


    "Yes, I have most definitely changed. But have my goals changed?"


    The Crimson Usurper''s question dripped into the ears of the Ind King.


    Such a question made him ponder the most recent actions of this monster, only to immediately understand that nothing about his moves had changed.


    His personality; yes. But as for intentions, they were always the same...


    "Pandemonium."


    SHING!


    At the utterance of this singr word, countless lines of blood covered the entirety of the Ind King''s body. Then, with an expression of unwillingness, his body exploded into a firework of blood mist.


    BLING!


    [Ding! You have killed a cultivator nearing the very peak of the Half-Step Low-Gctic Traverser Realm. After all boosts have been applied, the reward is 0.2 Gctic Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have obtained 0.2 Gctic Power!]


    [Ding! You have received a plethora of high-level Techniques and Traits¡ªranging from the Star Radiance Rank to the Quasar Lord Rank!]


    [Ding! You have received 400+ High-Star Laws that you didn''t already possess! On top of that, you obtainedprehensions in more than 70% of your other High-Star Laws!]


    [Ding! Your High-Star Laws inch ever closer to the Absolute Peak of Level 5.]


    [Ding! Through ''Automatic Loot Conversion'' and the additional effects of two White Loot Halos, all the items and equipment of this existence have been converted to Loot Essence.]


    [Ding! Your Loot God Nourishment Rate has improved to the 14.2% percentile range!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has tremendously improved!]


    After perusing the various system notifications, Azmodeus looked at sparse traces of the Ind King''s existence.


    Of course, he couldn''t just leave precious loot to its own devices, so he sucked it all up with what he liked to call the ''Loot Essence Sucker''.


    This action of his was followed by the Loot God Nourishment Rate increasing to 14.8%, which was extremely solid for what a tiny loot bag could hope to allot.


    However, in spite of what he obtained from this little side quest, Azmodeus still had the most lucrative loot bag to chase down. Thus, he vanished from his spot and reentered the speed stream. Thereafter, he made use of his increased speed in order to gain inches on Starfarer Ind.


    "If I continue at the current pace I''m traveling at, then it should take no more than a few minutes for me to catch up."


    This realization put a maniacal smirk on Azmodeus''s face, as he truly couldn''t wait to reap all that precious loot!


    ***


    Meanwhile, within the dome-like Starfarer Ind, everyone nervously paced around the variousndscapes.


    "!!!"


    While speaking of the impending doom, something changed in the expression of Jing Fu.


    His eyes darkened, and his aura spiraled. He looked toward the other high-officials and muttered, "...The Ind King¡­ He''s dead¡­"


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    Everyone looked toward their newly appointed leader with baffled expressions. Their eyshes trembled, and their bodies froze in ce. As their moods were about to hit rock bottom, the Star Rider snapped them all out of their stupors with his reinvigorating voice:


    "Even though our gracious and amazing leader has fallen to the hands of that malicious devil, we must not let his death be in vain! We cannot allow all that he stood for to vanish in a puff of smoke!!!"


    For but a moment, life seemed to return to the eyes of all the powerful figures gathered on the luxurious balcony atop the Ind King''s home.


    SHING!


    However, without warning or exnation, a giant quadrant-sized sword stabbed into the ground surface of Starfarer Ind!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 291: Death And Destruction On Starfarer Island

    ...¡­


    "!?" "!?" "!?"


    The pitch ck sword had moved at such an insanely fast speed that no one even caught a glimpse of it prating into the outermostyer of the ind!


    "Sup, bitches!"


    The raspy voice of the devil followed the appearance of this sleek ck sword. After which, a monster from the depths of hell materialized atop the hilt of the nted sword.


    His figure was the size of a star, and his thin brows held both a deep cunningness as well as a hidden darkness. But the most distinctive feature of his had to be the wide, evil smirk stered across his exceptionally handsome face.


    "I heard that you all were holding a little gathering in this snow globe, so I figured, Hmm, why not pay my good friends a nice visit!"


    WAAA!


    Azmodeus''s crimson-colored aura rapidly expanded as he flipped his predatory gaze across all the loot bags scattered throughout the massive ind.


    "I know the Ind King told me this ce was chalk full of people, but he never said there would be this many high-quality loot bags! I mean, there must be at least a million Supermassive Voider Realm ants gathered in this ce!"


    Azmodeus failed terribly at hiding his growing excitement as his face oozed the yearning for more loot!


    "!!!"


    Down on the surface, Jing Fu dumbfoundly stared at the imposing man standing atop a sword stained with the blood of countless enemies.


    A great many things whirled inside that brain of his, but when he heard the Crimson Usurper speak of the Ind King, a flip seemed to switch on. Then, without informing hispanions, he cracked the ground and sprang up into the air like a broken coil!


    "How could you do that to the Ind King, you Bastard!!!"


    His passion-filled bellows could be heard by all the inhabitants of Starfarer Ind!


    But regardless of how much emotion he exhibited in his lunge of fire with a sword in hand, no amount of passion could hope to ovee the existence that was the abomination before him.


    SHING!


    SHING!


    Two distinct sword ngs echoed out in the surroundings as Jing Fu''s sword shattered without any resistance!


    Spurt!


    "!!!"


    The Star Rider turned his shaky gaze down to his stomach, only to see a pitch ck scythe lodged into his abdomen. As it dug away at his insides, he slowly crawled his sight up to the one who inflicted such painful damage on him.


    However, when he saw the wide, evil grin stered across the Crimson Usurper''s face, all the color in his expression vanished. Slowly, every ounce of his will to live disappeared right along with the color.


    "Hey, I think I know you from somewhere! You''re that guy who diced me up a few thousand times!" While speaking these words with a friendly tone, Azmodeus inched his scythe ever deeper into Jing Fu''s stomach. "You know, for a loot bag, you have given me quite the trouble over thisst period of time."


    His voice became colder than ice as he stared into the depths of the frightened man''s irises.


    "W-Why¡­?" Jing Fu found the strength to mumble, his voice shaky and scattered. "Why did youe after us¡­? We did nothing to you-"


    SLASH!


    "Loot bag is talking too much. But before you die, I will tell you that the only reason I decided to find and fight you guys¡­"


    "!!!" Even with blood pouring out of multiple parts of his body, Jing Fu attentively listened to the wordsing out of the devil''s mouth.


    "The only reason I want to kill you all¡­ is simply because I want the benefits that you provide!" Azmodeus sported a toothy grin as he watched thest unwilling emotions sh by the troubled man''s eyes. "You asked, and I answered. There is no point in thinking that I lied to you either. After all, what is the point in lying to a¡ª"


    SHING!


    SPURT!


    "¡ªDead Man?"


    Without being given the chance toprehend the devil''s words, Jing Fu exploded into a firework of blood.


    Azmodeus found this type of death quite poetic. Thus, he made sure to give both father and son the same treatment.


    "This is the sentiment that I decided to give you both. If you were thinking of thanking me, then you can discard those thoughts. After all, I do all this out of the kindness of my heart!"


    Azmodeus walked through the skies with a benevolent disposition, seemingly letting everything be passed off as the result of his good grace.


    It was only after remembering that he still had some loot to reap that he snapped out of his reverie and stared at all the shocked figures below.


    He looked at them like a shark finding a school of groupies, his smile dazzling, and his eyes slitted.


    "Oh, shit-!!!"


    By the time that one of the high officials realized what was about to happen, it was already far toote!


    SHING!


    SPURT!


    One of Azmodeus''s Mirror Mirages spawned in from ayer of space, striking down more than 10 Quasar Lords with a single sh!


    It was only after seeing the gruesome scene of entrails flying in the sky and getting a whiff of the iron-filled blood that the others finally snapped out of their stupors.


    "Fuck!!! We have to run!!"


    "Run for your lives!!!"


    "Every man and woman for themselves!!!"


    Everybody started to freak the hell out as they ran in every which direction, attempting to find a safe spot in the retro city.


    But unfortunately for them, Azmodeus couldn''t find two shits to give about the obstacles that stood in his way of looting!


    "I think it''s about time we y ''Cut and cull the vermin''!!"


    Following the utterance of these joyful words, millions of Mirror Mirages and 150 Primordial Essence Clones materialized from thin air.


    "Go and kill them all! Destroy the cities, blow up the towns, and uproot the trees and mountains! I want everything that this ce has to offer! Absolutely everything!!!"


    Azmodeus''s maniacalughter rang out in all regions of Starfarer Ind!


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    Countless civilizations and ecosystems were brought on full alert. Then, when they looked up at the sky, they saw fiery dots shoot in from beyond the horizon.


    "What is that-!?"


    CRACKA¡ªBOOOOOM!


    A Primordial Essence Clone crashed into a city like a world-ending meteor, eviscerating the existences of billions of lives!


    However, this was far from the extent that this clone would go to in order to acquire more loot.


    FWIP!


    It blink-stepped from its spot, reappearing in the skies above. Then, like a terrible dragon god, it shot dozens of fire beams in all directions!


    CRACKLE¡ªOOOM!


    The world was torn asunder, with towns being erased whenever a fire beam passed over one!


    Furthermore, this wasn''t the only ce being razed to ashes, as every Primordial Essence Clone and Mirror Mirage turned into living natural disasters. With the world as the ybox and them as the puppeteers, the world lit aze!


    Loot came thereafter.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 292: True Fear

    ...¡­


    Azmodeus and his clones caused utter pandemonium wherever they went, putting all of Starfarer Ind in a state ofplete chaos!


    It was only after a few hours that the destruction finally stopped. And that only happened because there was no longer anything left to destroy¡­


    Starfarer Ind was no longer one bigndmass, as it was split up into a few dozen quadrant-sized pieces. It was fair to say that no life could be seen anywhere in sight. That was, except for one man¡ªthe man who caused all this mayhem.


    FWIP!


    Azmodeus materialized above where the various pieces of Starfarer Ind were spreading out. As his piercing gaze watched therge parts of the ind fade into oblivion, he nced at all the iing system notifications. With a satisfied gleam in his gaze, he scrolled through a countless number of them. Only after finding the most important ones did he stop scrolling.


    BLING!


    [Ding! You have killed more than 500 Quintillion Existences, ranging from the Forger Realm to the Half-Step Low-Gctic Traverser Realm. The reward is 4.5 Gctic Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have obtained 4.3 Gctic Power!]


    [Ding! You have automatically converted the items and equipment of all the existences you just killed!]


    [Ding! Your Loot God Nourishment Rate has improved to 19.1%!]


    [Ding! You have obtained yet another two Loot Halos of the White Rank, bringing your total Loot Acquisition Boost to ''2000%''!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has tremendously improved!]


    [Ding! You have received 800+ new High-Star Laws! On top of that, you have gainedprehensions in more than 75% of your current High-Star Laws!]


    [Ding! Your Singrity Physique and Traits have taken arge step toward Level 3 of the X Rank!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has tremendously improved!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power is on the verge of teaching the 1st Order Gctic Traverser Realm. To speed up this achievement, it is rmended that the host breakthrough into the Peak ck Hole Sovereignty Realm!]


    [Ding! It is also rmended that the host breakthrough into the Early Supermassive Voider Realm as well! After all, this small gxy will not be the limit of your immense big d*ck energy!]


    Tick!


    Even though there was no clear indication of tone change, Azmodeus could just feel the contempt in the system''s voice.


    "Well, you know what? Fuck you, system! Go eat a bag of dicks!"


    After flipping off the smug system interface, he left the airspace, nning to hit onest target before heading off to the big boss''s castle.


    This target in question just so happened to be a base quite simr to Starfarer Ind. In other words, it was a ce where the loot was abundant, and the strength gains were even more so!


    Azmodeus hoped to surpass the 10 Gctic Power mark by the end of this killing spree. Only with such an increase in his strength could he count it as an achievement.


    However, to aplish a thing like that with just a few Half-Step Low-Gctic Traversers¡­ Well, it would definitely be tough.


    After all, in terms of Gctic Power structuring, it was far harder to increase the number than it was before converting over to a higher numerical indicator.


    For one, the Gctic Power was something fundamentally different from both the ''Basic'' and ''Star'' Essence ce holders.


    This was not only because of a more grandiose-sounding title but also because Gctic Power was worth far more with each exponential increase.


    "If I can pass the 10 Gctic Value mark, then I should have millions of times more strength than what I did when just receiving Gctic Power and Essence."


    As Azmodeus traveled through the folds of space, he pondered the matter of his system interface management. While doing this, he also had his other half cultivate with even greater intensity.


    If before, he was putting in 1000% effort, then now he was exhibiting 1,000,000% effort!!


    Azmodeus refused to allow himself to ck, so with a Spartan mindset, he went through the most tortuous experiences in order to maximize gains.


    Explosions of blood went off in rapid session inside the Infinite World as a crimson-haired man felt the full extent of what was required for power.


    However, even with his body imploding in on itself due to pill overlord, the craving for more strength never vanished from his expression. Then, without an ounce of hesitation, Azmodeus went a step further and stacked hundreds of Qi Gathering Formation Rune Arrays.


    Such reckless actions not only put him through immense amounts of physical pain, but they also forced his mind to endure the worst kinds of mental torture. Which, in return, left him as a rapidly regenerating vegetable of bloody galore!


    His mind died!


    His body exploded!


    His Core and Nascent Soul faded in and out of erasure!


    Even his Essence Soul was not spared from insane amounts of torture, leaving it in a sparsely corpeal state!


    But regardless of what Azmodeus had to go through, everything was worth it if it meant he could climb even further on the path to Infinity!


    Slowly but surely, his efforts started to bear fruit.


    After thousands of years of the worst kinds of torture, the strength finally hit Azmodeus, and it hit him in waves!


    {[Absolute Peak of Late ck Hole Sovereignty]}


    {[Initial of Peak ck Hole Sovereignty]}


    {[Early of Peak ck Hole Sovereignty]}


    {[Middle of Peak ck Hole Sovereignty]}


    {[Late of Peak ck Hole Sovereignty]}


    {[Peak of Peak ck Hole Sovereignty]}


    {[Absolute Peak of Peak ck Hole Sovereignty]}


    {[Initial of Half-Step Supermassive Voider]}


    After more than 1000 years of painfully cultivating inside of the Infinite World, Azmodeus eventually reached a point where he was quite a ways into the Half-Step Supermassive Voider Realm.


    His Battle Power had long since achieved the 1st Order Gctic Traverser Realm, and it was quite a ways in to boot. But when it came to everything involving him, nothing was ever good enough¡­


    "If I can just make a breakthrough into the Supermassive Voider Realm, I should be able to permanently leave this small gxy and begin ying with the big boys. But before that can happen, I will need to deal with the biggest fish in this farming area."


    As one part of Azmodeus took out a couple more Half-Step Low-Gctic Traverser rank bases, the other part worked on the imploding of his intestines.


    .....

 Chapter 293: Silhouettes From The Past

    .....


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Explosions of blood shot off like the spray of a machine gun, only adding to the mountain of guts stacked in a corner of the Infinite World.


    However, in the midst of these explosions, Azmodeus suddenly came to aplete stop. With the explosions not going off anymore, he looked in a certain direction and said, "Nao Long, I thought I told you I wanted to cultivate by myself-"


    That was when he stopped the utterance of those words.


    His crimson eyes flickered a little bit before following an illusory trail of blue silhouettes.


    They gathered around his Cave Abode and stared at him with varying gazes. However, in spite of their contrasting expressions, one thing remained the same for all of them.


    Their deep love for Azmodeus¡­


    They always wanted to be by his side, but in death, they were forced to part ways with him.


    Nobody was beside Azmodeus Crimson.


    He was alone. Since the very beginning, he had always been alone.


    What he had with Nao Long, Yang Hua, and the other girls. Well, that was just his way of coping¡­


    "Coping¡­ Was that truly all it was?"


    Azmodeus''s eyes closed for but a split second, and when he reopened them again, the adorable dragon woman was no longer leaning against hisp.


    Yang Hua faded away with that loving smile stered across her beautiful face.


    Chi Wu and Bing Nu Shen shed motherly smiles before vanishing all the same.


    ''Pan Nu and Rou Tian¡­''


    They made little shows of movements that they likely just learned from their master''s teachings.


    ''Li Na and You Mei¡­''


    They were thest to go, and with the creation of two floating ice hearts, they left the world with content smiles.


    "They left¡­ Once again, they left me¡­ They didn''t even say goodbye¡­ How cruel is that?"


    Azmodeus incoherently mumbled to himself, recalling all the memories he made with those adorable couch potatoes¡­


    "So this is another form of pain¡ªone outside of both physical and mental pain¡­"


    He seemed to understand something essential to his future in that moment.


    From the very beginning, Azmodeus was alone¡­


    That may be the truth, but there was something else that had always been by his side.


    "The Path to Infinite Evolution¡ªone riddled with every form of pain there is. To tread the Path of Infinity, one must understand what true pain is. Just like a bodybuilder tempers his body with more weight, I must temper my existence with pain."


    Following this self-enlightenment, Azmodeus felt the gap between the ck Hole and Supermassive Voider Realms start to loosen up.


    Even though there would always be a gaping hole in his chest, there would also be another step forward¡ªone that brings him ever closer to the Path of Infinity!


    "With time, all wounds will heal. I do wonder if this saying has a chance of holding me together until I reach Infinity¡­"


    As Azmodeus''s thoughts stirred and his cultivation increased, the other half of him neared the Gctic Castle of Gctus, the Gctic Lord.


    ****


    Within a cosmically dazzling ce, there stood hundreds of splendiferously shining Gctic Senators. Above these Senators, there sat a man beyond effulgent. From the gxy-shaped crown floating on his head all the way down to the star-filled robe that covered his body, absolutely everything about this man was exterrestrial!


    He would most definitely be an exceptionally imposing man!


    At least, that would be the case if not for the violent tremors urring throughout his body. Slowly, the Gctic Lord devolved into a state ofplete and utter¡­


    Fear.


    "Sire! The Crimson Usurper is less than a few light years away! If our spections are correct, then he definitely ns to attack this Gctic Castle! And in his path of destruction, everything that you have built up in your term will perish¡­"


    This Gctic Senator was the oldest one among all those present. Considering that he had been around since the very first moment Gctus took the throne, everyone heeded his words.


    "What do you suggest I do, Garmoth¡­?"


    The Gctic Lord''s despondent voice dripped into the ears of all those present. None knew if they had ever heard such fear in their Lord''s words, but they knew that if even the strongest among them was in this state, then¡­


    ''We''re so fucked¡­''


    Everyone seemed to think the same thing at the exact same time. Then, with rapt attention, they waited for the oldest Gctic Senator to speak up.


    Upon feeling the heated gazes of everyone present in the starry room, the oldest Senator looked toward his Lord and knelt on the ground.


    Thud!


    His fist hit the ground, causing slight vibrations to reverberate. Then,pletely out of everyone''s expectations, he shouted, "My Lord, I think the wisest course of action in this situation would be to retreat into the allied gxies under the rule of your father, The Great Warlord! The Crimson Usurper would not dare to do anything to us if we''re in the presence of your father!"


    RUMBLE!


    The High-Gctic Senator''s rmendation pushed the fear to the back of the Gctic Lord''s mind. Instead, it was reced by an iparably intense hatred!


    "I will never do such a thing! My father, he would put me through hell if he ever found me running back to him for a safe haven! I would rather die than make a shameful retreat like that!!"


    With the Gctic Lord''s intentions clearly stated, there was no hope for the High-Gctic Senator to change his mind, so he simply returned to his seat on the second highest pir in the room.


    The expansive room was filled to the brim with starry pirs. They acted as both ways to improve infrastructure and a method for which to differentiate between the higher-ranking members of the Gctic Senate.


    Being the High-Senator and the only other Low-Gctic Traverser Realm Expert in the Neverdye Gxy, it was only natural that he took the second highest pir as his seat.


    However, even with his high standing, if the Gctic Lord adamantly refused to do something, then there was nothing he could do to change that oue.


    In the process of thinking and speaking among themselves, every single one of them failed to notice a shadowy figure lurking in a discreet spot of their assembly area.


    .....

 Chapter 294: Cornering The Galactic Lord

    .....


    ''Ahh, so it seems like this final boss has an evenrger final boss as his father¡­''


    ''The true, ultimate, secret final boss!''


    An evil grin spread across Azmodeus''s devilish face as his spiraling horns sparked a little in anticipation.


    After all, there truly was nothing better than figuring out that evenrger loot was waiting to be reaped by him!


    In spite of this information, not a single thing changed in Azmodeus''s n. Slowly and unbeknownst to everyone in the room, he split up and multiplied, creating more than 200 mirror copies of himself.


    With all of them at the middle point of the 1st Order Low-Gctic Traverser Realm, well, it wasn''t hard to guess what was about to happen next¡­


    OOOM!


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    Suddenly, and all at once, every single one of the Gctic Senators shot their frightful gazes in a singr direction. Only after they caught sight of the devil himself did they feel a simrly overpowering aura sprout up in a different corner of the room!


    Following the first and the second, there was the 5th and then the 50th. Before long, all 200+ Low-Gctic Rank Clones materialized in the star-filled room!


    "You devil!!! How did you get here so fast!?!?"


    The Gctic Lord jumped up off his seat and pointed his trembling gxy-like finger in the direction of the numerous intruders.


    He had no clue how the hell it was possible for the Crimson Usurper to make it to their location within the few nanoseconds they used to hold this meeting!


    However, when he felt more than 200 auras slightly surpassing his own, there was only one thing left on his mind.


    Flee!


    Without hesitation, the ruler of the Neverdye Gxy ripped open a void portal and ran into it. Then, with even less consideration, he darted toward the nearest gxy, hoping to team up with a few other Gctic Lords.


    "If I just find Monuey and Imon, as well as a few other Tier 1 Gctic Lords, then I will be able to kill that devil once and for all-!!!"


    SHING!


    From a section of the void tunnel, a beam of sword light shot in the Gctic Lord''s direction.


    "!!!"


    He thwarted the attack just in the nick of time; however, one of his cosmically glowing fingers was cut off in the process!


    "Arrghh!!! Y-You fucking bastard!! How dare you do this to me!! Do you have any idea just what I''m capable of!?"


    Following these cringe-worthy lines, an aura far more powerful than before erupted from the Gctic Lord''s infuriated figure!


    WAAAA!


    It was so powerful that even the void tunnel had a hard time keeping itself together!


    But even with two immense auras squishing it from both sides, the Void tunnel held strong, disying a level of fortitude worthy of praise!


    CRACK¡ª


    At least, that was the case until a scythe shed at the barrier that encapsted the void tunnel. In but an instant, the whole ce came crashing down, and the Gctic Lord was flung into the void outside!


    "Just leave me alone, you fucking bastard!! What else do you want from me!? You have destroyed all of the Cosmic Fortresses and homefront bases that I set out in the gxy! Because of you, we lost the war with three other gxies, and now they are encroaching upon our territory!!! It''s all your fault!!!"


    Gctus''s delirious shouts could be heard across every inch of space. Then, in the midst of his crazed rant, he burned through his life force, achieving a level of power far greater than it was!


    OOOM!


    "..."


    Azmodeus nkly stared at the Gctic Lord''s sad disy of power.


    While wondering how someone could be so sad, he lifted up Sanguinary and Excalibur. After which, he shed down with everything he had!


    CRACKA¡ªBOOOOM!


    Wherever the attack line of the two attacks reached, an ear-deafening explosion followed. Then, with overwhelming force, the distance between Azmodeus and the Gctic Lord was crossed in a split second.


    "!!!"


    Gctus felt someone grab hold of his ankles and then felt the same sensation for various other parts of his body.


    Without being able to resist in the slightest, the strongest being in the gxy was constricted by more than 20 Clones in the Low-Gctic Rank.


    "Tell me, Gctus, how did it feel to kill those I kept by my side?"


    The voice of one of the clones took the Gctic Lord out of his stupor as he swiveled his head toward this clone. Then, without holding anything back, he said, "How did it feel to kill them!? It was amazing!!! But do you know what would''ve been better!? If I were able to get my snake inside them before they-"


    "That is enough from you."


    One of the clones sped Gctus''s mouth. After which, it forced his head to stare at the iing apocalyptic attack, letting him experience what it was like to see death stare him right in the face.


    "With all the things that you''ve experienced in this world, I wonder if you have ever felt what it was like to get hit by a nuclear attack. And I''m not talking about a flimsy piece of metal and some science to stick it together, but a true, unadulterated atomic attack. So, have you ever experienced it?"


    "!!!"


    This question put the Gctic Lord on edge as he tried to slip out of the human restraints ced around him.


    But no matter what he did, nothing worked¡­


    Death was barreling toward him from a man that had a seemingly limitless copies of himself. And there was absolutely nothing he could do to prevent the inevitable.


    "Say, since you have never experienced it before, why don''t I help you out with trying new things¡­?"


    A wide, sadistic grin emerged on Azmodeus''s devilish face as he let go of a couple of his hands. Then, to make sure that the Gctic Lord paid attention to what was about to ur, he forced the hands to cover every part of his head, besides his gxy-filled eyes.


    After the preparation for the spectator was done and over with, Azmodeus started chanting a new rendition of the ssic.


    "I¡­"


    .....

 Chapter 295: A True Atomic Attack

    .....


    "!!!"


    Gctus felt something truly terrible build up inside of what should be the main body of the Crimson Usurper.


    It was only after feeling a severe threat to his life that the Gctic Lord discarded all his pride and started to beg.


    "Please! It doesn''t have to be like this!! M-My father! My father is someone that could give you absolutely anything you want! Whether that be money, power, or even more women like those dogs you kept befor-"


    Rip!


    Spurt!


    One of the clones ripped off Gctus''s jaw as they were tired of listening to his dog-shit, putrid voice.


    With that done and out of the way, Azmodeus continued to chant.


    WAAA!


    Purple and red runic lines spread out from Azmodeus''s body as it permeated the infinite void for tens of thousands of light years.


    It was only after it extended to the entirety of the Neverdye Gxy that it stopped expanding. Then, like the beating of a drum, the rapsy, static words of the Crimson Usurper sounded once more.


    "A.M¡­"


    "Pllzzzlz"


    Faint muffles could be heard squeaking out of Gctus''s throat, but like speaking to a brick wall, Azmodeus ignored them.


    RUMBLE!


    The whole gxy started to violently shake and fluctuate toward copse as the final series of words touched upon the lips of the Crimson Usurper.


    "I...A.M¡­¡ª"


    "¡ªA.T.O.M.I.C."


    Like the pressing of the button that ends the world, the first attack that Azmodeus sent out was expanded by a countless number of times!


    In half an instant, thebined attack of Sanguinary and Excalibur assimted the full essence of Atomic. Only after bing one with the apocalyptic energy did the world finallye to an end.


    Silence.


    Silence prevailed, and then destruction followed.


    For more than 5 minutes, a purple mushroom cloud enveloped the entire area that was once known as the Neverdye Gxy.


    All the living organisms in the gxy died by the 1st second, but for the remaining time, this attack served as a signal.


    It showed those of the other gxies¡ªit showed them what was toe their way.


    For those 5 minutes, countless experts in the 1st Order Gctic Traverser Realm approached the massive mushroom cloud.


    While attempting to understand what exactly happened for such a thing to ur, all of them missed the existences hiding between the folds of space.


    After scouting out the next targets, hundreds of 1st Order Gctic Rank Primordial Essence Clones struck preemptively!


    With barely any time to react, the Gctic Lord''s and High-Gctic Senator''s were stabbed through their hearts!


    Even though that was not enough to permanently kill them, it was sure as hell sufficient for putting them at an immediate disadvantage!


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    CRACKA¡ªBOOOOM!


    While a wide array of colorful explosions erupted in the distance, Azmodeus perused his system notifications, looking over what he obtained from the Gctic Lord and the Neverdye Gxy.


    BLING!


    [Ding! You have killed Gctus, the Gctic Lord of the Neverdye Gxy. The reward is 110 Gctic Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have obtained 95 Gctic Power!]


    [Ding! You have automatically converted the loot of the Gctic Lord!]


    [Ding! Your Loot God Nourishment Rate has improved to 22.2%!]


    [Ding! You have obtained 5,550+ new High-Star Laws! On top of that, you have gainedprehensions in more than 95% of your current High-Star Laws!]


    {Ding! Your Singrity Physique and Trait have reached Level 3 of the X Rank!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has improved by leaps and bounds!]


    [Ding! Your Gctic Power has crossed the 100 threshold. Thus, your strength has taken anotherrge qualitative leap!]


    Following the ringing of all these system notifications, Azmodeus decided it was time to take a look at his system interface.


    After a bright blue and golden light shed, a screen appeared in front of his face.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: Human]


    [Lifespan: ~51,000/1,690,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000] (Increased due to the Singrity Physique and Singrity Trait.)


    [Cultivation: Half-Step Supermassive Voider Realm (Late)]


    [Battle Power: 1st Order Low-Gctic Traverser (Peak)]


    [1st Order Loot God - 22.3% Nourishment]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: ~ 125 Gctic Evolution Essence]


    {[Stats:]}


    [Gctic Power: 108]


    [Cultivation Talent: Absolute Peak of High Mortal Realm]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Singrity Trait] ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [Overall Attribute Boost: X Rank - (Level 3)] ¨C [0/1,000,000 GEE]


    {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters]}


    [Singrity (X Rank |Level 3|]


    [Various other Physique''s] ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [Overall Attribute Boost: Early Low-Gctic Traverser Realm]


    {[Laws]}


    [26,700 High-Star Laws: Level 5] ¡ú [Extreme Attribute Boost (x1 Decillion+.]


    [For the host''s convenience, the previous Law section and below have been simplified (temporary).]


    ¡ª-------


    {[Infinite World]}


    [Area width: 500,250 Cosmos] ¡ú [Grows in ordance with the strength of its residences.]


    [Upgrade Requirements: The Core of a 4 and a Half Layered ne of Infinity]


    [Rank of Residents: Primitive Mortal Lifeforms ¡ú Single-celled Organisms, Primitive Insects, Bugs, Small Birds, Fish, Large Birds, Dolphins, Large Fish, Monkeys, Large Reptiles, etc¡­]


    [Advanced Mortal Lifeforms ¡ú Magma Fish, Lava T-Rex''s, Fire Birds, Obsidian Devourers, etc¡­]


    [Low Spiritual Lifeforms ¡ú Humans, Sea Leviathans, Lava Wyrms, World Eaters, Krakens, Embryonic Dragons, etc¡­]


    [High Spiritual Lifeforms ¡ú High-Humans, High-Elves, High Orcs, High-Goblins, High-Beast People, True Dragons, Qilins, Kunpengs, Etc¡­]


    [Low Ascendant Lifeforms ¡ú Lord-Humans, Lord-Elves, Lord-Orcs, Lord-Goblins, Lord-Beast People, Lord Dragons, Lord Qilins, Lord Kunpengs, Etc¡­]


    [High Ascendant Lifeforms ¡ú Harkath, the Herald of the Crimson God (For Now)]


    [Time Dtion ¡ú 1:180,000]


    [Qi Density ¡ú 27x that of the outside world] ¡ú [Continue upgrading in order to encroach upon the Qi Density of a higher ne of existence.]


    ¡ª------------


    Looking at the system interface, Azmodeus realized that hepletely forgot to upgrade the Infinite World to its next evolutionary phase.


    In fact, he had enough high-level Infinity Cores to upgrade it a few times¡­


    "Hmm¡­ I guess I should do it one at a time? I mean, Harkath will probably be dead if I start spamming the cores¡­"


    With this in mind, Azmodeus took out the globe-like Infinite World and put it up to a resplendently glowing sphere.


    This sphere was, of course, the core of a 4 and a halfyered ne of infinity!


    .....

 Chapter 296: Going Back Into The Infinite World

    .....


    WAAA!


    The moment the Core made contact with the Infinite World, a bright sh of iridescent light erupted from the point of contact. In return, this left the closest 50,000 light years in a state of disarray.


    But regardless of how many Low-Gctic Traverser Realm Experts were blinded and taken advantage of, Azmodeus fixated his intrigued gaze on the Infinite World.


    He didn''t have to wait long for something to happen, as the time of the world could quite literally be seen shing by the outeryer of the dome. It allowed him to witness the changes of the Infinite World at a rapid rate.


    Thanks to his insanely fastprehension speed, Azmodeus had no problem organizing all the various changes inside his mind.


    It took no longer than a few seconds for everything to y out and reach its conclusion. Then, without wasting any time, the Infinite World part of the system interface was opened.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------


    {[Infinite World]} ¡ú


    [Area width: 8,530,000,000 Cosmos] ¡ú [Grows in ordance with the strength of its residences.]


    [Upgrade Requirements: The Core of a 5 Layered ne of Infinity]


    [Rank of Residents: Primitive Mortal Lifeforms ¡ú Single-celled Organisms, Primitive Insects, Bugs, Small Birds, Fish, Large Birds, Dolphins, Large Fish, Monkeys, Large Reptiles, etc¡­]


    [Advanced Mortal Lifeforms ¡ú Magma Fish, Lava T-Rex''s, Fire Birds, Obsidian Devourers, etc¡­]


    [Low Spiritual Lifeforms ¡ú Humans, Sea Leviathans, Lava Wyrms, World Eaters, Krakens, Embryonic Dragons, etc¡­]


    [High Spiritual Lifeforms ¡ú High-Humans, High-Elves, High Orcs, High-Goblins, High-Beast People, True Dragons, Qilins, Kunpengs, Etc¡­]


    [Low Ascendant Lifeforms ¡ú Lord-Humans, Lord-Elves, Lord-Orcs, Lord-Goblins, Lord-Beast People, Lord Dragons, Lord Qilins, Lord Kunpengs, Etc¡­]


    [High Ascendant Lifeforms ¡ú Harkath, the Herald of the Crimson God, Water Zealot, Nature Zealot, Ice Zealot, Fire Zealot, Acid Zealot, Aero Zealot, sma Zealot]


    [Time Dtion ¡ú 1:230,000]


    [Qi Density ¡ú 32x that of the outside world] ¡ú [Continue upgrading in order to encroach upon the Qi Density of a higher ne of existence.]


    ¡ª------


    "Hmm¡­ The Zealots, huh? Sounds like some form of Power Rangers¡­"


    Azmodeus was more than a little interested in this particr topic, and it wasn''t like he had anything holding him back, so he zorped into the Infinite World.


    FWIP!


    Upon arriving on an all too familiar hill in the Forest Biome, Azmodeus observed his surroundings.


    The first thing he saw was¡­


    "A mix of Elements¡­?"


    The elements in the surroundings were still heavily biased toward the prime element of the Biome, but there were also other elements mixed in.


    "It seems like Harkath has made great progress in the cohabitation of all the previously aggressive factions." A slightly satisfied smile emerged on Azmodeus''s face as this would definitely be good news for his other half.


    However, after a moment of appreciating the minute changes to atmospheric makeup, he left for the skies.


    Blitzing around the world at speeds beyond reason, Azmodeus understood that it wasn''t just the Forest Biome that had undergone thebination of elements.


    "The Water, Ice, Acid, Volcano, and Aero Biome. All of which have now reached a state of 80% prime element and 20% trace element."


    After getting an urate approximation on all the known Biomes, Azmodeus focused his attention on the ridiculously massive sma Biome.


    This was the next Biome toe into creation, and it was also the most booming one from an objective point of view.


    Traveling over every inch of this dark purplish biome filled with slight electrical currents, Azmodeus figured the high activity of the ce could be attributed to the vast utility functions of ''sma''.


    sma itself was a profound concept, and its applicable uses were numerous. Thus, races from all over the world gathered in this Biome.


    Or, in particr, they congregated together at what appeared to be arge upside cauldron made of all present elements in the world.


    Coming together in a gloriously dazzling fashion, the sma absorbed the other elements and emitted their aspects into a long assortment of sma strings.


    These strings covered the cauldron''s prongs, forming glowing bridge structures. Connecting together in a square shape, a viable path was avable for travel between the four massive prongs.


    By massive, no amount of words could describe their utterly ridiculous scale¡­


    No metaphor could hope to give an urateparison between the size of a prong and say, a human being of 2 meters in height.


    "It looks like this is where Harkath decided to ce down the center ce ofmerce. With countless people going in and out of this ce every day, business should be booming." Azmodeus appraised his surroundings with a hawk-like gaze. "If only this ce''s currency could benefit me¡­ If that were the case, I could rob the sh*t out of it- err, I mean, borrow."


    He was no criminal, just a slightly evil Loan Shark.


    "Anyhow, I guess I should go down to this world and see what''s popping."


    Azmodeus faded from his position among a group of crackling sma clouds, making his way toward the entrance of the northern side of this ce.


    -


    FWIP!


    Azmodeus materialized from thin air and started to read arge, hanging sign on an arch-shaped purple gate.


    Clouds surrounded the outer rim of this gate, touching together at the very top, making for a slight fluctuation in sma at the gate''s zenith point. Flowing and zapping around the gate, the sma also seemed to be trying toe together and form illusory visions of magnificent dragons.


    As for the size of the gate, well, Azmodeus was currently the size of a Multiverse, and it still loomed over him like an insurmountable object.


    With the rule that everyone had to be the size of a Multiverse, Azmodeus had to unfortunately stay this size if he wished to explore incognito.


    "Like a ninja, I must sneak in and see what is da popping¡­"


    Azmodeus blended into a crowd of people, looking very human.


    As he humaned it up, he took one more nce at the overhanging sign and saw that it read, ''Primordial Tripod''.


    "The Primordial Tripod? What the fuck¡­? That is so damn stupid¡­" Azmodeus shook his head in disappointment, wondering why Harkath would call this ce by such a shitty name. "It doesn''t even make sense¡­ There are four prongs, not three¡­"


    ...¡­

 Chapter 297: Serious Growth!

    ...¡­


    ''Despite the stupid ass naming sense of Harkath, the prosperity of the city seemed to be at its peak. With powerful people of the Sentari and Beta Realm moving in and out of this section of the city, it''s quite obvious that business is profitable.''


    "Even though Harkath has yet to make use of that Divine Crown and Sigil of the Divine Bullsh*t, he should definitely be close to reaching the Divine Realm. And if his breakthrough goes off without a hitch, the overall energy level of this world should skyrocket. In return, this will allow me to cultivate even faster than before."


    Azmodeus may be nearing the Supermassive Voider Realm, but-


    OOOM!


    Arge rumbling urred inside of his body during the time he was waiting in line.


    Luckily, no one felt or heard this go off. But for Azmodeus, the action and subsequent effects were presented to him clear as day.


    "If I''m not mistaken, I''m pretty sure I just broke through to the Supermassive Voider Realm¡­"


    Even with the severely diminished time travel effects, it looked like the most recent world upgrade was just enough to tip him over the edge. Then, without giving him a fare warning, a massive amount of power washed over him from head to toe.


    Inside his Dantian Space, there was no longer a moderately sized ck hole, as it was reced with an utterly massive one. Yellow and ck horizon at the center and bright outer lines; it was nothing short of a cosmic piece of art!


    "This is¡­ My energy capacity has increased at least a millionfold¡­ The heck¡­ Even my Battle Power has reached the 2nd Order Low-Gctic Realm¡­"


    Azmodeus could hardly believe it himself, but his strength was now in apletely different league than what it was a few seconds ago!


    "With this level of strength, if I just transmit it to my clones and have them level-match, then the Gctic Lords fighting them outside¡­" A cold smirk crept up his lips as he went through with the level-matching right away.


    Much to the horror of the struggling Gctic Lords, the Primordial Essence Clones received a massive powerup mid-battle!


    It wouldn''t surprise anyone if they got one shot by the far stronger clones!


    And just as Azmodeus expected¡­


    "W-What are you!? Monster!"


    CRACKA¡ªBOOOOM!


    "One |Crimson Death| sh and a Gctic Lord as well as his Gxy fade into oblivion."


    Azmodeus''s Primordial Essence Clone looked on at the terrified Gctic Lords, all of whom were trembling in ce. Losing most of their previous confidence, they immediately entertained the idea of doing a ''tactical retreat''.


    But unfortunately for them, Azmodeus really liked his loot to be grouped up together. After all, loot was easier to pick when it was piled up in one ce.


    "Hmm¡­ I think you guys should tell me a little more about the forces above you. What do y''all think?" Asked Azmodeus, his hands tightly sping onto both Sanguinary and Excalibur.


    "We will do it-"


    "You won''tply!? That truly is too bad."


    SHING!


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    Completely ignoring what the Gctic Lords had to say, Azmodeus unleashed a little more than three dozen consecutive strikes.


    In but an instant, the Gctic Lords turned into puffs of smoke, and the system notifications starteding in.


    "Make sure to not convert the memories of these worms. After all, I need them for further loot acquisition."


    While uttering these apathetic words, Azmodeus sent out a few more shes.


    Directed at 40 or so Gxies, arge sum of GEE was definitely about tond in hisp.


    And just as he expected¡­


    BLING!


    [Ding! You have eradicated 42 1st Order Gctic Lords. The reward is 140 Gctic Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have evaporated 42 Low Tier Gxies and killed all of their inhabitants. The reward is 43 Gctic Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have obtained 102 Gctic Power!]


    [Ding! You have obtained 31 Gctic Power!]


    [Ding! All loot besides their ''memories'' have been automatically converted into Loot God Nourishment Essence. This has resulted in your Loot God Nourishment Rate increasing to 24.1%]


    [Ding! Achieve the 25% Marker for Loot God Nourishment, and you will be able to activate the next Racial Trait.]


    [Ding! Due to the cumtive amount of loot you have obtained thus far, another 13 White Tier Loot Halos have been allotted to you ¡ª current Loot Acquisition Rate ¡ª 8500% (17)]


    [Ding! You have obtained 850 new High-Star Laws! On top of that, more than 90% of your current High-Star Laws have received immense amounts ofprehension to them!]


    [Ding! Your Singrity Physique and Singrity Trait have improved by leaps and bounds!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has tremendously improved!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has reached the 2nd Order Low-Gctic Traverser Realm (Mid)]


    "Hmm¡­"


    Azmodeus looked at the numbers being presented to him and thenpared them to how much strength he gained.


    "Ahh¡­ It seems like the numbers took exponential increases to the extreme¡­ The numbers are so blown out of proportion¡­"


    Even though his Gctic Power was only around 250, Azmodeus felt like his strength was tens of thousands of times greater than it was before this extermination quest began.


    Making this make sense didn''t make sense, so Azmodeus simply went with the flow. Aiming to reach the 1,000 milestone was his goal for now.


    "Umu. With all of that out of the way, I can focus back on the continued ughter of Low Tier Gxies. While that is going down, I still need to see what''s shackcking in the Primordial Tripod.


    -


    Perspectives switched back over to Azmodeus''s main body¡ªsomeone who was patiently waiting in line, growing ever more impatient.


    As he stood beneath the searing sunlight of a midday afternoon, a few people in front of him were discussing a rather interesting topic.


    "Have you heard?? You know, about the arrival of one of the Zealots!"


    ''Zealots¡­ Those High-Ascendants¡­''


    As this conversation interested him quite a bit, Azmodeus honed in on it. Listening to two men in dark, starry green robes converse, he gathered all the tidbits of information he could.


    .....

 Chapter 298: A Little Destruction...

    .....


    "So, do you know which Zealot will being this time around?? Will it be the Nature one, or maybe the Fire Zealot-?"


    "Ha! That is what most people said when I told them this information. However, the truth of the matter is that the sma Zealot will be the one to grace us with his presence today!"


    As the line became ever shorter, the eyes of the other green-robed man got wider than ever before!


    "Are you trying to tell me that the elusive sma Zealot ising out into the public!? But it was said that he would not being out until the most recent Heavenly Transfiguration came to a close!"


    "Have you been living under a rock at the bottom of the sea for thest few million years?"


    The informative man pped his forehead with a disgruntled expression.


    Kicking over a few loose sma pebbles in the cobblestoned trail, he maintained hisposure and said, "The Heavenly Transfiguration ended a little bit ago, apparently marking theing of the Crimson God."


    "The Crimson God!? He is here!?"


    The uninformed man started to freak the fuck out!


    After all, who hadn''t heard of the Crimson God!?


    He was a gawddamn legend!!


    "Are you a moron or something!? From the scriptures of Divine Emperor Harkath, it was said that the Crimson God would only descend when the moon was red and the time was ripe. And as far as red moons go, the one in our sky has not once turned red."


    ''A red moon¡­? What the hell¡­ Did I really say all this??''


    Azmodeus was beginning to doubt the veracity of the wordsing out of the mouths of these two idiots, but he still decided to continue listening in.


    After all, maybe a few words of their ceaseless drivel would be quite interesting.


    "So, if the Mythical Crimson God hasn''t appeared and the sma Zealot is making his first appearance¡­ Then does that mean a new Divine Emperor is about to be crowne-"


    Whack!


    "Shut up, you bumbling moron!" The informative man berated the big-mouthed one, giving a few smacks and mouth cover-ups along the way.


    After cautiously scanning his surroundings and hoping that nobody heard what was said, the man let go of the slightlyrger, weaker man.


    "Hey! What was that for!?" The dumb one yelled.


    "Well, it was your fault for talking about such a sensitive topic! Are you trying to get us all killed or what!? You do know that the Divine Emperor has still yet to officially take the Divine Throne and crown himself the Divine Emperor, right!?"


    "Well, I mean¡­ Yeah¡­"


    "Then, what the hell were you talking about just a second ago!? If you''re courting death so badly, then do it without me!"


    Wham!


    The smarter one kicked the dumber one in the butt.


    Realizing that it was their turn in line, he pulled the dumb one by the ear and ascended thest of the cobblestoned steps. After which, they walked up to a tiny section of the gate''s left side. Paying the Gate Guard for entry, they proceeded to make their way toward a small crack in the crackling purple gate.


    It was only after they slipped into the crack that the door closed just enough that no one could view the mystical wonders thaty within.


    However, before the crack fully closed, Azmodeus caught a glimpse of a few Spirit Fairies as well as some Lord Elves riding on top of dragons and wyverns.


    Flying around in the lightning-filled skies, they headed in their own directions, seemingly enjoying their time in the Primordial Tripod.


    "Ahh¡­ Even the races have started to mingle with one another. This will also be very good for increasing the rate at which I cultivate-"


    "NEXT!"


    An irritated voice took Azmodeus out of his low mumblings.


    Attention drawn to the voice''s source, he saw a dragon/elf hybrid with a gxy cap on. Wearing a slightly veiny expression and furrowed brows, he was clearly annoyed by something.


    "Hey, can you get a move on, bub!? We got things to do and ces to be! Not a single damn one of us has the luxury of waiting for you to get done ying with yourself in line!"


    Azmodeus turned his head toward a human/dragon hybrid behind him, immediately realizing that he was the problem.


    ''Can they really me me for holding up the line?? That shitsted for fucking forever! I might have had to spend my whole gawddamn life in that line if not for the fact that my lifespan was blown out of proportion!''


    It may not have seemed like it, but more than 10 thousand years had passed since Azmodeus arrived in the Infinite World. And considering that half of it was spent in this infinity line, he didn''t deserve all the hate he was receiving!


    "You know what? Fuck you!" Azmodeus cursed at the people behind him before flipping them off. Then, without a care in the world, he walked up to the gatekeeper and did the same exact thing.


    "Fuck you too, buddy!" Two more middle fingers were thrown up. After which, Azmodeus mmed the gatekeeper''s head against a hard, glossy, cosmic table.


    There was no reason for him doing this, but he just felt like taking his anger out on someone.


    Following these purposeless actions, Azmodeus mind controlled the guard into getting him entry into the Primordial Tripod. On top of that, he got himself a VVIP citizen card, effectively making him the top dog.


    After all of this was said and done, Azmodeus walked through the slightly cracked gates. However, before his body fully vanished to the other side, he stuck out a pointer finger and randomly shot out heat ray beams.


    Upper bodies slid off their lower bodies, and people gained new holes that they didn''t previously have. But if Azmodeus were being honest, he didn''t give two shits.


    The once-long line was reduced to countless people crawling around on the ground, trying to reattach their organs and appendages.


    Of course, with their high cultivation bases, none of them actually died, but it was still a little funny to see all those stuck-up pricks crawl like zombies.


    Picking up each other''s organs and intestines before cing them in the wrong people made this experience all the funnier.


    "Welp, that is enough fun for me. With the creation of a scene that should''ve been in the Boys, it''s time to see just how well my cultivation improvement farm is doing."


    Following his slightly entertained voice, Azmodeus vanished past the enormous sma gate, leaving everyone on the other side to writhe in extreme pain.


    "Ahhh! My leg! Has anyone found my leg!?"


    "Your leg! It''s now my leg!"


    "What!? You motherfcka! I''ll kill you!"


    ...¡­

 Chapter 299: I Have A Boyfriend...

    ...¡­


    Azmodeus could faintly hear the screams from the other side of the starry gate, but he continued on his way, treating all of it like it had nothing to do with him.


    As he walked into a new area, his current face slid off and a new one took its ce. Neither of the faces were his, but they made for good disguises.


    Considering what Azmodeus just conducted before entering the Primordial Tripod, this was the only correct choice to make¡­


    "Hurry! I have no clue what the hell is going on outside, but we need to go and check it out!"


    "It could be a potential Code 13!"


    Two officer-like lizard men rushed past the inconspicuous Azmodeus, darting toward the massive gate with razor-sharp spears in hand.


    "Oh? Even a few Sentari Realm Guards have Star Radiance Rank Treasured Weapons¡­ How interesting¡­"


    Azmodeus made an intriguedment while continuing on his way, making it toward what should be some form of Weing Center. Entering inside the Old Western-style futuristic building, his eyes found their mark, and his legs followed soon after.


    He arrived at the reception desk and started to talk to a slightly voluptuous 27-year-old woman with long brown hair. Wearing a nicely stitched piece of retro cowgirl-like attire, her looks were further entuated.


    "Sup,dy. I am looking to-" Azmodeus started to speak but was quickly interrupted by thedy, saying:


    "I have a boyfriend."


    Tick!


    Azmodeus furrowed his brows as a scary crimson aura fluctuated off the edges of his body. With a devilish glint in his gaze, he cracked the quartz table and once again said, "I would like to know where the sma Zealot will be at-"


    "Can''t you catch a hint, dude!? I already said that I have a boyfriend-"


    BZZZZT!


    Azmodeus was the one to interrupt the rude receptionist this time around. stingsers out of his eyes, he made quick work of the receptionist and a good chunk of a number of buildings outside.


    "!?" "!?" "!?"


    Everybody still left alive inside the Weing Center had their cowboy hats fly off their heads. Wide-eyed and baffled, they were about to scream out in terror, but before they could¡­


    BZZZZT!


    Azmodeus swiveled his head a few times around the room, uratelysering off the heads and legs of anybody who even so much as made a peep.


    Even if they were obedient and stayed quiet, aser beam still quenched out their life forces. After all, even the obedient loot was still loot in the end¡­


    "Umu?"


    By the time that Azmodeus realized what he had done, he looked down at his bloodied hands before observing the scene of absolute chaos around him.


    "Ahh¡­ It seems like my habits got the better of me¡­" He cupped his hands at a few twitching corpses, treating everything like a little mishap of his.


    "I hope you all can forgive me! Still trying to get the hang of these emotion thingys! Oh, and I will be taking your memories¡­ Thank you!"


    Azmodeus shamelessly absorbed the memories of dead people.


    WEEWOO!


    Hearing the sound of ring sirens, he cut things short and left the scene. In his wake, more than 5,000 people died, and 45 buildings were sliced off their foundations.


    What was once the rtively peaceful district of Westerndale was reduced to a pile of technologically advanced ruins¡­


    -


    FWIP!


    Tap. Tap.


    Azmodeus reappeared a few miles away from the ear-deafening sirens. Gracefullynding on top of a brown-shilled 10-story building, he took another good look at his surroundings.


    "For the most part, this ce looks like a world straight out of Cyberpunk. Umu, Umu." He repeatedly nodded his head, agreeing that this ce was quite a refreshing sight.


    "However, it would definitely feel more to its essence if those¡­ mythical creatures weren''t soaring through the skies¡­"


    Under the setting sun, Azmodeus watched dragons, fairies, and flying elves swoop in and out of the skies. Doing showy somersaults and backflips, one might think they were trying to show off.


    "Tsk¡­"


    Azmodeus really wanted to zap a few of them out of the skies, but considering that he was trying to better control his emotions, he decided not to-


    BZING!


    "Well, just one won''t hurt anything¡­"


    A satisfied smile emerged on Azmodeus''s middle-aged face as he watched arge, multiverse-sized dragon plummet from the heavens with a massive hole in its stomach.


    "Ahhh! A dragon has died! Someone shot down a dragon!!"


    "Officer''s 1-600, scour the area right away! Find the criminal who had the gall to kill a Sacred Dragon right in the middle of the Southern Prong!"


    Whistle~


    Azmodeus whistled in a very innocent manner, walking away from the rooftop like apletely uninvolved bystander.


    In no time at all, his body blurred, and his face was switched once again.


    FWIP!


    Azmodeus materialized in a different retro area of District A-507.


    "If those memories are urate, then the sma Zealot should be doing a little get-together inside a floating skyscraper in District F-9050. Which, by my calctions, should be¡­ Err¡­"


    He shot his head in a few different directions, but upon seeing billions of simr building lineups, he stopped his confident words. Sweat rained down his face as his index finger became a little crooked.


    "If I''m correct in my deductions, I''m 100% fucking lost! God, I''ve never been so lost in my entire life!" Azmodeus grabbed at his short blonde hair,menting over the fact that the memories he assimted were utterly useless!


    After a few minutes of getting nowhere in racking his brain, he decided to go about it like a certain green-haired pirate.


    "Hmm¡­ this way it is then!"


    Azmodeus used the good ol stick your finger in the air trick, definitely finding the right route that he should take.


    One might wonder why he didn''t just use his godly powers and teleport wherever he wanted to, but the truth was that he found that way too boring¡­


    Where was the fun in spawning in and going right where one wanted to go?


    ...¡­

 Chapter 300: A Righteous Hero!

    ...¡­


    This was an adventure, and Azmodeus wanted to use it as an experience to hone the more subtle aspects of being a god.


    Taking things slow and progressing like an immortal was essential if one wished to strive for a higher peak.


    After all, if everyone above thought of themselves as a god to all those below, and there was no limit to cultivation, then was anyone truly a god?


    Azmodeus was inching ever closer to passing into the 25% Loot God Nourishment mark, and he had toprehend the truth of the matter before being able to ovee the uing bottleneck.


    With these intentions in mind, the aimless crimson-haired man tried his best to act like a normal mortal.


    Of course, failure hade his way many times already¡­


    Thest two ''incidents'' were evidence enough of that fact.


    But regardless of what Azmodeus had done in the distant past, it was the future that mattered the most!


    "Umu¡­ Where the hell am I anyway?"


    The protagonist scanned his surroundings, instantly figuring out that he somehow wound up in a dark, scary alleyway.


    "This is¡­ Ahh, I know what happens next¡­" A perceptive gleam shed past Azmodeus''s eyes.


    After reading countless stories through the absorption of a few poords, many plot events were imprinted into his mind. And if he were correct in his spections, then this was definitely the plot of a¡­


    "Ahhh~! S-Someone! Is anyone there!? Please save me!"


    A shrill, girly cry resounded from the deepest depths of the pitch-ck alleyway.


    Under the cover of the dim moonlight and nket of darkness, this spelled plenty of trouble-


    "Time to go see what''s popping!"


    Azmodeus discarded the numerous death gs shing their signals as he strolled deeper into the eerie alleyway.


    Treating it like a fun little trip, he put his hands behind his head and whistled a fuzzy tune from Earth.


    "Ahhh~! S-Someone! Is anyone there!? Please save me!"


    The exact same screams echoed out from a pitch ck nook to the furthest reaches of the alleyway.


    Yet again, no red gs went off in Azmodeus''s head. On the contrary, he leisurely approached the pitch ck nook and said, "Yo, I hear you need the help of a handsome hero for fun-?"


    However, in the midst of his catchphrase, he was rudely interrupted by a shadowy head jumping out from a pile of garbage cans.


    With a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth and sunken in ck eyeballs, this creature was clearly trying to get a quick bite to eat-


    WHACK!


    A p was all it took for the shadowy nightmare creature to explode into bits and pieces, sttering the walls with its guts.


    "You aren''t a prettydy! Why did you jump me like that!? Had me idently p you to death!"


    Azmodeus yed the fool, wasting no time as he walked up to the smushed guts and assimted whatever memories he could.


    The end result of this action was something that benefited him greatly!


    "You see! Look at me killing the beautiful maiden and obtaining the top-tier loot! This is called a profit, Umu."


    From what Azmodeus gathered from the memories, the creature was something called a ''Shadow Imp Siren''.


    It was a nightmarish monstrosity that catcalled foolish hero-types with the typical ''save the maiden'' cliche. However, this one in particr was extremely unlucky with the prey that it thought it caught in its well-thought-out trap.


    But none of this was what truly interested Azmodeus; it was instead the fact that this Shadow Imp Siren had been alive for ages!


    Now, what did this mean for our righteous hero??


    Well, of course, it meant that a fully generated map of the Southern Prong had been given to him free of charge!


    "That little Imp shit had been alive for so long that it traveled over every inch ofnd within the scopes of the Southern Prong.


    It seems like the life of a mortal is quite easy! All you gotta do is kill little Imp shits!"


    Azmodeus followed the mapid out by the Shadow Imp Siren, making his way toward where the Imp heard of a powerful sma Expert arriving in town.


    Little did he know that the Shadow Imp Siren was something that even veteran Beta Realm Experts would have trouble dealing with.


    Moreover, this one in particr was so ancient and cunning that even powerful Alpha Realm Ancestors would find themselves in dire straits if they ever met one in the alleyways of a Twilight night¡­


    -


    In District F-9049.


    Step. Step. Step.


    Azmodeus stepped over some scattered corpses, feeling that something was definitely off.


    After bending down and inspecting a couple of the corpses, he said, "This shit is for sure going off script¡­"


    The bodies had no warmth in them, and every ounce of blood was nowhere to be seen!


    "This is only one district away from the one where the sma Zealot will be, so why is it like¡­ this?"


    Azmodeus observed his surroundings from atop a floating futuristic building. Seeing millions of dried-up corpses strewn across the various balconies, rooftops, and streets left for quite the unnerving sight.


    "The wildest part about all this is that some of them were in the Beta and Alpha Realm before death¡­ So, what exactly happened here¡­? Some sort of vampire apocalypse??"


    He truly had no fucking clue what was going on with the area surrounding the meeting location of the sma Zealot, but you can sure as hell bet he was going to find out everything!


    "Time to go all detective and shit¡­ Umu!"


    Azmodeus did a little spin, putting himself through a dope-ass clothing change. After which, he appeared in an old English-style outfit.


    He had a cap pointed off to the side and a cigar hanging out of his mouth, making for quite the spectacle with his exceptional looks.


    "I am now Sherlock Gnomes, the master detective!"


    Following this cringy-ass deration, Azmodeus followed thergest trail of corpses, trying his best to y the part of a detective.


    Making sudden stops for no reason, picking up random objects, and spouting random nonsense, he made sure to do it all!


    After a few minutes of doing stupid shit, there eventually came an actual clue as to why the city became a ghost town¡­


    .....

 Chapter 301: The #1 Detective Of All Time

    .....


    "The sma Element¡­?"


    Azmodeus sniffed around in a dumpster and found slight traces of the sma Element.


    Considering that the bodies looked like the victims of an extremely powerful vampire, why might the sma Element be present?


    "Hmm¡­ Is the vampire some sort of sma user¡­?"


    The #1 detective in the world continued to search around the ghost town, attempting to find more clues that could help support the existence of a sma Expert.


    After a few more minutes of overturning every rock and searching the crevices of all the corpses, Azmodeus repeatedly nodded his head.


    Acting like he knew the answer to everything, his expression hardened, and he said, "Ahh, yes¡­ This is¡­ Ahh, yes¡­ very good."


    To be truthful, Azmodeus had no clue what the hell he was supposed to be looking for!


    He simply wanted to act cool!


    Rustle, Rustle.


    "Umu?"


    A distinct rustling sound took Azmodeus out of his self-indulgent reverie. Then, with a neutral look on his face, he turned his head behind him and lifted his gaze a little.


    That was when he saw it¡­


    "Umu¡­ What Mutant Ninja Turtle sewer did you crawl out of¡­?"


    Azmodeus locked his gaze with a massive creature more than 30 times his size. Withrge, beady eyes and a rat-like body, it would definitely be able to give Sensei Shredder a run for his money!


    SHING!


    Its 5-meter-long ws exhibited their ridiculously sharp, freaky nails, causing the wind to whistle.


    Still, no matter how terrifying this creature was, Azmodeus simply stared at it with his head at a slight tilt.


    "So, you''re one of the ones who did all this¡­? You definitely have the sma Element present in your body, but it seems like everything around here was not solely the result of your savagery¡­"


    If one looked close enough, then they would see small fangs protruding from the mouth of the giant rat. Moreover, one would also notice the sma Element leaking off those fangs in the form of a poisonous liquid.


    "All in all, this big guy is definitely the one who sucked the blood out of some of these poor saps." Azmodeus looked past the giant rat, noticing some more rustling from behind a few nearby buildings.


    "However, it would appear that more than just a single one of them contributed to the genocide of an entire district."


    Before long, another 7 or so sma Vamp Rats came out from where they were hiding.


    During one of the darkest nights of the year, a crimson-haired detective stood off against a total of 8 30 meter-long rats.


    Of course, their actual sizes were far greater than a mere 30 meters. But for easier references, Azmodeus preferred to think about it in this manner.


    But regardless of that information, Azmodeus sessfully found the prime suspects of the extermination of District F-9049. Thus, he had to y the part of the hero and do some quick pest extermination.


    SHING! SHING!


    With a few sword shes, 3 of the giant rats were diced up in the blink of an eye!


    However, there were still 5 of them, and to make things more fun, Azmodeus restricted his cultivation and Battle Power to whatever his opponents were at¡­


    "Esceeetch!!!!"


    One of the giant rat''s eyes glowed a deep purple. After which, it lunged toward the wall of a building. Then, making use of gravity, it jumped off the wall and shed at the tiny human!


    "Ho?" Azmodeus side-stepped a little bit to the left.


    Upon reaching the underbelly of the giant monstrosity, he took Sanguinary out of his Dantian Space. Then, like cutting butter with a hot knife, he slid the scythe into the soft underbelly of the beast!


    SPURT!


    The Giant Rat''s innards spilled out onto the damp cobblestone ground. Then, with onest screech, it fell mid-air and copsed onto the floor.


    As Azmodeus watched the light fade from the rat''s huge eyes, he stomped his foot on the ground as hard as he could.


    Using the destruction of the ground as a cover, he slipped through the dust and sut, making his way around the backside of a Giant Rat that was in mid-leap.


    With swift and concise movements, Azmodeus took out Excalibur and gutted this Giant Rat just the same as thest one.


    "That makes 5¡­ so 3 more?"


    After doing some very advanced mathematics inside his head, Azmodeus had his primitive gaze bore holes into the souls of the 3 remaining rats.


    "!!!" "!!!"


    Even though they were mindless beasts and only knew death and destruction, that didn''t mean they couldn''t feel fear.


    It was just that nothing induced as much fear out of them as this tiny, seemingly insignificant human¡­


    With such immense fear at the forefront of their minds, the rats attempted to flee the scene!


    "Umu? Why do they always run¡­?"


    Azmodeus looked toward the rats and saw that they all ran in different directions. Which, in retrospect, was quite the smart decision.


    However, it didn''t seem like whether it was a smart or dumb decision mattered in the slightest for the #1 Detective¡­


    Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!


    With the sounding of three consecutive finger beams, Azmodeus shotrge gaping holes through a countless number of buildings!


    "Esceeetch!!!" X3


    After the soul-piercing sound of three screeches, Azmodeus faded from his position.


    FWIP!


    He reappeared in front of the closest Giant Rat and absorbed its memories. After which, a good understanding of the situation was given to him.


    "Wow! It looks like all these rats are the byproducts of some Super Boss! Not only that, but it appears that it isn''t only District F-9049 experiencing simr outbreaks of these vampire rats."


    Based off what Azmodeus gathered from the rat''s memories, these rats were called ''sma Terrors'', and they were typically around the Early Alpha Realm in strength.


    As for why these beasts were in so many Districts¡­


    "We have a traitor in our midst¡­ Heh¡­" Azmodeus''s grin widened at this realization.


    He truly couldn''t wait to put his detective skills to the test and figure out just what sort of betrayal was cooking up behind the scenes!


    With post-haste, Azmodeus blurred from his spot and dashed through the skies like an evanescent wraith.


    Finding the big secret boss was the only thing he wanted to do at this moment in time!


    .....

 Chapter 302: The Victim Count Of The Plasma Terrors

    .....


    After a few minutes of ceaselessly following the trail of sma Terrors, Azmodeus ultimately found himself inside District F-9050.


    Step. Step.


    A crimson-haired man walked through the deste streets of what should''ve been an extremely lively cyberpunk city.


    "At this time of night, there would normally be people all over the ce. ying and meandering through their days, they would number in the billions¡­"


    Azmodeus inspected the empty streets and felt that this ce was a little bit different than the state of District F-9049. After all, this ce had no dried-up corpses nor sma Terrors.


    All that remained inside the once prosperous District F-9050 was an overwhelming silence, as well as the looming feeling that one could fall over dead at any given moment¡­


    "This ce¡­ It''s quite eerie. It almost feels like there are eyes in the walls and sky, watching every movement that I make¡­"


    Azmodeus didn''t know what to make of this ce from the perspective of a mortal. But the one thing that he did know was that District F-9050 was he creepy!


    "Fuck, I really don''t want to stay in this shithole a single second longer. But for the sake of betterprehending the essence of both a mortal and a god, this experience is necessary."


    With the extremely active emotion and reactive receptors put on full power, Azmodeus felt a great many things that he was previously incapable of feeling.


    One of those things just so happened to be the sense of unnerve that permeated his mood as he walked around the dimly lit streets of District F-9050.


    Wearing a neat English-style detective getup, Azmodeus almost looked like the epitome of professionalism. But, without any people to witness his awesomeness, what was even the point of any of it!?


    "Maybe I should just fly up and-"


    "Craaa!!!"


    A nightmare bird-like creature suddenly jumped out from a lingering shadow, lunging for the human''s throat!


    Little did it know that its prey was neither human nor was he weak¡­


    SLASH!


    SPURT!


    Azmodeus lightly tapped the handle of Excalibur. During that split second, he took it out of its scabbard and sttered the creature against a wall.


    However, due to the shock he felt when it suddenly appeared, he may or may not have identally decimated a good chunk of District F-9050¡­


    "Well, oops¡­"


    Azmodeus looked at the fan-shaped destruction that spread out for many miles¡­


    While wondering how one man could be so strong, a few jittery shadow creatures shuddered in fright.


    "W-What the hell is that creature!? He killed Shadorn in a single strike! Shadorn was as powerful as a Late Alpha Realm Expert!"


    "I have no clue what the hell that thing is, but we must immediately report this urrence back to the boss!"


    Following a very brief and shaky conversation, more than 20 Shadow creatures vanished from view.


    -


    Meanwhile, back on the Pro Detective''s side.


    "Hmm¡­ From the memories of this weird thing, it would seem that a boss even stronger than the Late Alpha Realm is lurking around these parts. And from what I can discern from its scattered mind, this final boss is most definitely deeply connected with something veryrge."


    Piang!


    Azmodeus threw away a funny-looking slitted eyeball that used to belong to a sixteen-legged nightmare creature.


    Thereafter, he walked toward the center of District F-9050.


    To be exact, he headed for an extremelyrge floating skyscraper. With its size grandiose and imposing, its wide foundation made for the perfect thing to entuate its many ss windows and overhanging metallic protrusions.


    "All in all, this ce looks like some serious business-type bullsh*t!"


    But regardless of how the ce looked, Azmodeus leaped up into the air and grabbed onto a ledge of the building''s foundation. After which, he climbed up andnded on a sleek quartz surface.


    Following these concise and sophisticated movements, Azmodeus walked up a long and stretching fleet of marble stairs.


    Surprising him greatly, the ce was extremely clean. In fact, it was so clean that one might think themselves to be in a very realistic dream¡ªone filled with nothing but the fantasy of every person with OCD.


    In spite of that information, Azmodeus only briefly noted it down before resuming his ascent up the flight of stairs.


    After finally making it to the top of what could be considered the floating tower''s foundation, the pro-detective scanned his area.


    However, upon finding nothing but a singr door surrounded by countless windows, a confused gleam passed by his gaze. Then, with slow steps, he walked up to the person-sized door and passed through the other side.


    Entering the mysterious tower, Azmodeus immediately found out something quite intriguing¡­


    "Hmm¡­ So, this is where all the people in District F-9050 wound up being transported. Umu, it is definitely the perfect spot to store your nuts for winter." He appreciated the sight of hundreds of mountains of dried up husks. Then, with a few light taps against the ground, he jumped up the closest mountain of bodies.


    FWIP!


    After sh-stepping up to the top of a mountain of corpses, Azmodeus received a broader view of the interior of the ''Floating Tower of Horrors''.


    That was what he termed this eerie ce, and he found it to be quite fitting.


    However, it wasn''t the name that truly instilled a sense of fear within any living beings that witnessed the inside of the tower. Instead, it was the sight of countless dried-up husk mountains extending out for as far as the eye could see.


    "Ha¡­ This makes it abundantly clear that it wasn''t merely District F-9050 and F-9049 that were the victims of those sma Terrors¡­ This whole fucking tower has to be filled with the citizens of at least 10 thousand different Districts, and it doesn''t seem like the number is slowing down¡­"


    Even with Azmodeus''s Divine Sense at the limit of the Alpha Realm for this little expedition, he could see no end to the mountains of husks¡­


    Just as he was going to take all the corpses into his storage ring and force the big boss out through a little lure, a sh of light suddenly emerged from the north.


    .....

 Chapter 303: Meeting The Spirit Boy Once Again...

    .....


    In a brief moment, the unknown sh of light traveled throughout a vast number of husk mountains.


    As this thing was clearly some form of security measure, Azmodeus immediately activated a high-level Stealth Trait derived from the Singrity Trait.


    After waiting for the unknown light machine to fly overhead and into the distance, he turned off his Stealth. Then, with a puzzled expression, he muttered, "This ce¡­ The Southern Prong¡­ It''s on itsst legs¡­ quite literally, lol."


    Azmodeus''s serious facade cracked for a second as he made a joke about the Primordial Tripod.


    But, returning back to the matter at hand, he sh-stepped and trailed behind the flying machine.


    He wanted to know just where it would lead him¡­


    ¡­


    By the time that Azmodeus caught up to the flying security drone, he found himself in arge tunnel that was dug out of the northern side of the Floating Tower of Horrors.


    Inside this tunnel, therey a wide number of the shing drones, all in a deep state of inactivity.


    "Hmm¡­ It would appear that the drones have a controller, but I do wonder who exactly this controller is¡­" Azmodeus murmured under his breath.


    While ncing at the human-sized drones, he decided to snatch one up and see if he could find any clues of its master.


    FWIP!


    Before the drone could reactivate, it was ripped up into countless tiny pieces. After which, Azmodeus picked up a small part of the motherdrive.


    "Ahh, so yet another rabbit hole to climb in¡­?" He tapped his detective hat, blurring from view not long after.


    After a few seconds of going back the way he came, Azmodeus made it to a wide, open space.


    Inside this space were arge number of spiraling marble stairs, all of which separated the numerous floors of the Floating Tower of Horrors.


    Azmodeus proceeded to ascend these sleek stairs. Seeing nothing on his way up, he eventually made it to the top floor. After which, he walked through a spacious, pure-white hallway.


    The top floor of the Floating Tower of Horrors wasn''t too different from the rest of the floors. In fact, to be more precise, it was exactly the same¡­


    "Everything in this ce and even the District itself is extremely¡­ peculiar¡­"


    Azmodeus leisurely strolled through the nk hallways, ultimately making it to a golden door.


    "Ahh, I''m sure there is nothing on the other side of this door¡­ For sure¡­" He mumbled to himself. Then, with an air of rxation, he opened the extravagant door and walked through.


    Entering the room, the first thing Azmodeus saw was a basic office desk.


    On the other side of the desk, there sat a blue illusory man. Upon closer look, one could see that this man had long white hair, red eyes, a pair of deadly fangs, and a certain glow about his aura.


    To be more specific, the sma Element permeated the space around him. Touching upon a level of perfect assimtion, it practically melded together with his skin.


    An inexplicable gleam shed past Azmodeus''s eyes as this figure seemed oddly familiar. "Little brat¡­?" He inquired.


    The illusory man looked up from a paper on his desk.


    Even though he had not expected someone to barge into his ce of work, he would just kill the intruder and be done with it-


    "Y-You are¡­" The man immediately lost hisposure upon taking a long, hard look at the intruder. "Crimson God¡­ Is that really you¡­?"


    "Ahh, yeppers, it''s me!" Azmodeus gave a nonchnt response before approaching the side of his desk.


    With a swift conjuration, he summoned a chair. Upon sitting down on it, he locked eyes with the dumbfounded Spirit. "So, you gonna tell me what happened to you over the years?"


    The Spirit was still reeling in from the shock of meeting the one he idolized most of all. However, after taking a minute to calm himself, he stammered, "Y-Yes, right away!"


    -


    After a pretty lengthy retelling of his story, Azmodeus learned that the Spirit Boy took that treasure he gave him and used it to scale the lower tiers of the power hierarchy.


    With the passing of the years, he eventually left his home in the Forest Biome. Afterward, he migrated to the sma Biome.


    That was where the Spirit met a woman.


    Another good chunk of time passed; the Spirit married this woman, and they lived out their lives like a fairy tale.


    With his strength and her position as an Heiress of a Top Tier sma n, life was looking good for the two of them.


    However, all good things must eventuallye to an end¡­


    A powerful sma n didn''t like how fast the Spirit''s wife was growing her n. So, in response to this slight annoyance, they sent out hundreds of Peak Alpha Realm Experts to eradicate their n.


    Even the Spirit, with all his strength, was unable to resist the might of so many powerhouses. Which, in the end, led to his wife''s n being burned to the ground.


    Thend for innumerable miles was left in a state of decimation, and at the front of his n, there was the head of his wife on a spike¡­


    Along with his wife, there were the Spirit''s many children right there beside her¡­


    Seeing this tear-wrenching sight caused the Spirit to enter a rage-filled state. With his cries of pain resonating throughout thend for untold distances, he zed toward the n that ruined his life.


    The only thing on his mind were their deaths, and he was willing to sacrifice everything he was in order to seed in this suicide mission.


    However, before the Spirit went off and got himself killed, a mysterious personage intervened.


    With overwhelming and irresistable might, this mysterious person quelled the blind anger within the Spirit''s heart. The mysterious person then trained the Spirit to rece his hatred with a drive¡ªa goal that would be his driving force to ruin the lives of all those who ruined his life.


    For tens of trillions of years, the Spirit worked toward gaining more strength¡ªenough strength that he''d never again feel helpless.


    He acquired an affinity for the sma Element; he assimted it with his existence; he forcefully changed his race¡­


    The Spirit did everything he could for the sole goal of acquiring more strength.


    He even went so far as to use the most forbidden of dark arts. Which, as a result, led to his race once again being altered¡­


    .....

 Chapter 304: An Idiot...

    .....


    Instead of taking the conventional route to power, the Spirit had to rely on himself and the mysterious man. Thus, he had to take various unconventional routes.


    Upon bing a hybrid between a Vampire, Spirit, and a sma Spirit, he moved onto the experimental side of power acquisition.


    The Spirit excelled in his study of bio-mutations. Eventually, he achieved a high enough level that he became the leading figurehead of a n he created.


    Of course, with the rise of his n, the n that murdered his family decided toe back for round 2.


    However, this time, the Spirit was not helpless!


    He fought back and even went on the offensive after the first few trillion years!


    In the end, the Spirit triumphed over the opposing n and came out as the final victor of their longstanding shoot-off!


    From this point on, the Spirit tried to understand what his new purpose was¡­


    For most of his lifetime, he had been fighting an uphill battle against those once seen as insurmountable mountains. But now that he finally overcame those figurative mountains, what was left for him¡­?


    That was when he remembered something¡­


    The Spirit recalled the time that a crimson-haired man gave him a treasure that kick-started his whole life. And after scouring the inside of an extremely ancient library, he figured out the true identity of that man.


    The Spirit brought this matter up to his master. However, the moment he spoke that name, his master vanished¡ªnever to be seen again.


    Although this urrence confused the Spirit, he was already well aware of how entric his master was. So, in the end, he let him do as he wished.


    But regardless of the input of his master, the Spirit already knew where the next step of his pathy.


    The sma Zealot!


    That was who he became!


    Someone respected by all! Someone who would have the necessary authority to summon the Crimson God back to their world!


    The sma Zealot got rid of all morality and began the massacres of countless Districts in the Southern Prong.


    He subtly brainwashed all other Zealots who came into his territory!


    He killed whoever got in his way!


    In every sense of the world, the sma Zealot discarded every ounce of his previous righteousness, all in order to summon the one who created the world.


    He wished to know why¡­


    He needed to know what the purpose of all his suffering was¡­


    And the answer he received to this question upon asking it was:


    "Well, life is meant to be a long period of suffering. After all, can one truly appreciate anything if they haven''t first suffered without it? Everything in existence will ultimately bnce itself out. A perfect happy ever after¡­ Well, that is simply wishful thinking. It is also a way of living that will surely spell disappointment¡­"


    For some reason, the sma Zealot could feel a sort of kindrance in the way that the Crimson God said these words.


    It was almost like he himself had-


    "Anyhow, do you know just how many Districts you erased the poption of?"


    Azmodeus clearly didn''t wish to speak on that subject any longer. Hence, he changed the topic to one that determined the livelihood of countless existences.


    The sma Zealot knew something was up. But, considering how long he had been alive, he acquired a keen intuition of knowing when it was time to shut the fuck up. Thus, he nced at the papers on his desk and said, "This¡­ These are all the kill counts of the sma Terrors from just today.


    I had those drones gather this information, and from it, I can automatically gauge just how much more I needed in order to make the moon¡­ turn red."


    "Pfftt!" Azmodeus spit out his ck coffee. Nearly choking on his own spit, he shouted, "What the hell!? Are you damn well mental!? Did you actually believe that rumor about turning the moon red in order to summon me!?"


    He couldn''t believe the insane nonsense that wasing out of his mouth!


    In response to the Crimson God''s question, the sma Zealot''s eyes erratically flickered as he started to profusely sweat. Then, with soaked palms and his fingers pointing above him, he stuttered, "W-Well, that would be the case¡­ But, from very reliable sources, this was the way to summon you. S-So¡­"


    m!


    "Who the fuck was this ''reliable source''!? I''ll wring him by his balls and drain him of all his blood before feeding him to the dogs!"


    Azmodeus was absolutely livid over such stupid drivel being widely spread among the people living in his Infinite World!


    However, when he heard the prime source of this rumor, his expression lost all its color as he muttered, "So that master of yours was really Harkath, and he was also the one to tell everyone that the moon needed to be red¡­ Furthermore, he was also the one to rmend that you ughter everyone and drain their blood. Ahh¡­ I see what that brat did."


    Hearing his ancient master get called a brat was a little weird for the sma Zealot. But, after guessing just how old God had to be, he overlooked it and patiently waited for the deity to exin his realization.


    Fortunately, it didn''t take long before a tired sigh escaped Azmodeus''s lips. After which, he said, "Listen, kid. That master of yours¡­ He used you all so as to lure me out. That damn brat is likely having trouble with the final step of assimting the Divine Crown and the Sigil of the Divine. Even after so long has passed, that boy is still struggling¡­ Hai¡­"


    "???"


    The sma Zealot''s expression went through a great many phases as he was told one world-shattering discovery after the next!


    "Y-You''re saying that my master¡­ all those lives I took¡­" He felt like he was going to be sick. But luckily for him, the Crimson Godughed off the situation before saying:


    "You don''t need to worry so much, boy. Simply do as you wish with all that blood you obtained. Oh, and maybe go get yourself another woman! You have been faithful to yourte wife for far longer than 99.99999% of men would wait.


    So, don''t you think that yourte wife would be understanding of your predicament? Also, try to decorate this ce, because damn¡­ It''s he depressing!


    Oh! You also spoke of your purpose in this life?? How the fuck would I know!? Maybe you should just pursue whatever it is you want to, because honestly, I don''t give two shits either way!"


    After letting the first thoughts on his mind slip out of his mouth, Azmodeus stuck up a peace sign with his fingers. Afterward, he and that immacte body of his faded from view.


    In the nk room, the Crimson God left a bewildered man who was most definitely going through a mid-life crisis.


    Azmodeus would''ve given him a little bit more of a helping hand. But, in the end, he opted to tell the boy''s master of his disciple''s plights.


    With this in mind, he blitzed toward a massive world tree in the distance.


    This was where that sneaky brat was hiding out, trying his best to rub two brain cells together and make a breakthrough into the Divine Rank¡­


    .....

 Chapter 305: A Crazy Old Man!

    .....


    "Almost there! Maybe I should do this!?"


    A crazy man''s maniacal voice resounded inside a dark nook. Located within the center of a restrictive pocket dimension, Harkath made it so not even Half-Step Divine Rank Experts could bother him!


    "Hahaha!! I''m so close, I can just feel it!! Feel it, feel it, oooh yeah~!!! It''sing!!!"


    BOOOOM!


    Just as Harkath was on the verge of losing thest of his coco pebbles, a hole was blown through the outeryer of his pocket dimension. Then, with even greater force, the hole extended out to the innermostyer, breaking into his hidy spot in half an instant!


    "Son of a bitches, who has the gall to interrupt the great and mighty me in the midst of my guaranteed breakthrough!?"


    Harkath''s enraged and delusional shouts reverberated throughout the pocket dimension, causing countless vials and sses to shatter!


    With a haggard appearance and spiraling eyes, Harkath red at the smoke, waiting for the intruder to show himself.


    Luckily, he didn''t have to wait very long, as the intruder materialized-


    "Master!? Is that really you!?" Harkath suddenly blurted out. Hurriedly, he ran up to the crimson-haired man.


    Upon confirming the authenticity of his identity, Harkath shouted, "Y-You are not my master! Where is my master!? Did you eat him, you bastard!?"


    WAAA!


    His aura violently fluctuated as he was prepared to fight this imposter to the death!


    However, before he could do such a stupid thing, Azmodeus whacked the brat across the head!


    Whack! Whack! Whack!


    After jogging his brain with a few more solid ps, Harkath ultimately snapped out of his crazed state and muttered, "M-Master¡­ It''s you! You''ve finally decided toe back to this filial disciple of yours!? Do you know how much work I''ve had to do over the years!? Oh, the sorrows!!"


    The Divine Emperor of the world started to cry and sniffle whiletching onto the Crimson God''s legs.


    "Yo, brat. Aren''t you supposed to be the mightiest ruler or something?? Why the hell are you hiding out in some shithole on the side of the Lord-Elves World Tree???"


    Azmodeus attempted to kick off the clingy nuisance. However, that little bugger didn''t seem to be willing to move a single inch!


    "Hey, you little bastard! Stop grabbing onto me like that! Matter of fact, why don''t you go and guide that disciple of yours!? Do you know how many people he''s killed so far!? That affects my Qi conversion rate, so get your ass out of this stump and figure out your shit!"


    Azmodeus was prepared to sling Harkath off by force, nning to send him spiraling right toward District F-9050. However, before he could aplish this, the sniveling baby took out the Divine Crown and Sigil of the Divine.


    "Please, Master Lord God! Help me finish the assimtion process!! I''m so close, but nothing is working! I need your divine guidance. So please, please, please! Assist this fledgling of yours!!"


    ''This little shit is a relentless one¡­ Fuck¡­''


    In the end, Azmodeus gave in to the pleas of the baby in the body of a man. He went on to exin in great detail how one should go about more efficiently refining the Sigil of the Divine and subsequently the Crown of the Divine.


    Following the artiction of everything that Azmodeus could think up, he lifted Harkath off his leg and threw him into the air. Then, like a heavy hitter, he putted the bastard!


    "Ahhh!!!! Masterrr¡ª!!"


    Azmodeus listened to the screams of that brat, wondering how someone like him even managed to be the Divine Emperor of Pandora.


    Nevertheless, with all of that out of the way, Azmodeus went straight to work and took out the Core of a 5th Layered ne of Infinity.


    Watching as its iridescent resplendence assimted with the Infinite World, he also decided to take a look at the iing system notifications gathered from his Main Body and Primordial Essence Clones.


    BLING!


    [Ding! You have exterminated more than 40+ Tier 1 Gxies. The reward is 420 Gctic Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have killed more than 550+ 1st Order Low-Gctic Lords as well as 4 2nd Order Low-Gctic Lords. The reward is 450 Gctic Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have crossed the 1000 Gctic Evolution Essence threshold! Future Gctic Evolution Essence rates will be even harder to acquire! Of course, with exponential increases, the GEE will be worth far more for every point obtained!]


    [Ding! You have obtained 820 Gctic Power from the various existences that you killed!]


    [Ding! You have passed the 1000 Gctic Evolution Essence threshold!]


    [Ding! Your power gained per GEE point has exponentially increased. Thus, all GEE gains from this point onward will experience another wave of exponential improvements!]


    [Ding! You have automatically converted all the loot of your enemies into more Loot God Nourishment Rate. This has effectively taken your Loot God Nourishment Rate past 25% and into 26.5%. Thus, you have fulfilled all requirements to unlock the next Racial Trait of the Loot God Race.]


    [Ding! Your next Racial Trait is called ''Loot Death''. With this Trait, you can touch other existences with a part of your existence and have them replicate their body. As a result, one of the bodies will explode into a pile of loot worth 10 times whatever it was without this Trait. (Stacks with Loot Halos and future Loot-rted abilities)]


    [Ding! You have umted enough Loot to weave destiny and fate to your will. Thus, you have obtained 160 White Tier Loot Halos!]


    [Ding! Your total Loot Halo count has reached (177). As a result of this number, your total Loot boosts have achieved a grand amount of ''88,500%'']


    [Ding! You have received numerous Traits and Physiques!]


    [Ding! Your Singrity Physique and Trait are starting to near Level 4 of the X Rank!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has improved by leaps and bounds!]


    [Ding! Your current Battle Power has improved to [Battle Power: 2nd Order Low-Gctic Traverser Realm (Late)]]


    "Very nice. If everything goes as nned, then I should be able to achieve a Battle Power in the 3rd Order Low-Gctic Traverser Realm before long."


    Azmodeus was extremely satisfied with this result, but if he wanted everything to be performing at maximum capacity, there definitely needed to be an expansion of farming spots.


    Luckily enough for him, there just so happened to be a near endless amount of gxies in the universe that was the Starry Expanse.


    The Starry Expanse was not like Earth''s known universe, no matter which way one looked at it.


    For one, the sizeparisons were nowhere near the same as Earth''s observable universe. After all, the Gxy of Neverdye was a number of timesrger than an average-sized gxy in the known universe. And that was with Nevedye being of the ''extremely small'' category.


    An example of a moderately sized gxy would be the one that the Great Warlord ruled over.


    He was a ridiculously powerful being with an untold number of children in and above the Low-Gctic Traverser Realm.


    Furthermore, he also just happened to be Gctus''s father, making him an absolute menace¡­


    However, for Azmodeus, such an existence was nothing more than a huge loot bag that he would undoubtedly have to loot.


    ....

 Chapter 306: Training Azmodeuss Throat For Pill Digestion...

    ....


    FWIP!


    One version of Azmodeus phased around inside the Infinite World, watching as everything slowly but surely underwent a grand metamorphosis.


    "ording to my calctions, 100 trillion years have passed inside this world. In other words, 10 outer-world Epochs have already gone by in the blink of an eye¡­"


    With keen observation, he watched as every inch of the world had its time sped up to insane degrees, and he did so while in a differentyer of time-space.


    Completely unaffected by the Law of Time, Azmodeus saw the sma Zealot get over himself and find a new wife-


    "Or rather, that dumb brat has found himself so many wives¡­ Hot damn! Just how many women does this dude have!?"


    He honed in on a floating castle among a cloud of stars in the newly created Star Domain.


    In this location, a purplish blue man of exceptional beauty sat in the middle of a pile of goddess-like women.


    Atop his levitating Cosmos-sized bed, he overlooked the world while ceaselessly ravaging any and all women thatnded in hisp.


    "That depressed little brat has truly found himself a good life to live. Now, what about the other more mentally unstable kid?"


    Azmodeus''s divine sense shot throughout Pandora, eventually locating an absolutely enormous godlike existence. Sitting atop his golden pce in the heavens, he circted the Divine Arts recorded in the Sigil of the Divine. The more he progressed through the Divine Realm, the closer he felt to the existence that was the Crimson God.


    "Ahh, it seems like that insanity has once again left Harkath. In its ce, there is now the only existence in the Divine Realm¡ªthe first of his kind."


    Even though Azmodeus had passed on the method to allow others to also enter the Divine Realm, it was quite obvious that Harkath felt like the time wasn''t yet ripe.


    "Considering that I did say this world was his to mold into whatever shape he so pleased, I will let him do as he wishes. Though, if his actions end up affecting my cultivation speed¡­"


    Azmodeus didn''t even need to finish his sentence, for his intent was made abundantly clear to all in existence.


    "Anyhow, I think I will finish up the Heavenly Transfiguration and then check out my system interface to see what has changed. After which, I will leave this world with everyone but the Half-Existence that''s cultivating in the depths of an endless Star Pit."


    Following these words, a bright blue and golden light shed in front of his face.


    BLING!


    {[Infinite World]} ¡ú


    {[World Ruler: Harkath]}


    [World Age: 270 Trillion Years]


    [Area width: 80 Quadrillion Cosmos] ¡ú [Grows in ordance with the strength of its residences.]


    [Upgrade Requirements: The Core of a 5 and a Half Layered ne of Infinity]


    [Rank of Residents: Primitive Mortal Lifeforms ¡ú Single-celled Organisms, Primitive Insects, Bugs, Small Birds, Fish, Large Birds, Dolphins, Large Fish, Monkeys, Large Reptiles, etc¡­]


    [Advanced Mortal Lifeforms ¡ú Magma Fish, Lava T-Rex''s, Fire Birds, Obsidian Devourers, etc¡­]


    [Low Spiritual Lifeforms ¡ú Humans, Sea Leviathans, Lava Wyrms, World Eaters, Krakens, Embryonic Dragons, etc¡­]


    [High Spiritual Lifeforms ¡ú High-Humans, High-Elves, High Orcs, High-Goblins, High-Beast People, True Dragons, Qilins, Kunpengs, Etc¡­]


    [Low Ascendant Lifeforms ¡ú Lord-Humans, Lord-Elves, Lord-Orcs, Lord-Goblins, Lord-Beast People, Lord Dragons, Lord Qilins, Lord Kunpengs, Etc¡­]


    [High Ascendant Lifeforms ¡ú Water Zealot, Nature Zealot, Ice Zealot, Fire Zealot, Acid Zealot, Aero Zealot, sma Zealot, Fire Spirit Gods, Water Spirit Gods, Lordlings, Spiritlings, Ultra Terrerformers, Gorgon Nephelim, Super Elemental Elites]


    [Divine Lifeforms ¡ú Harkath, The Unparalleled Divine Emperor]


    [Time Dtion ¡ú 1:380,000]


    [Qi Density ¡ú 38x that of the outside world] ¡ú [Continue upgrading in order to encroach upon the Qi Density of a higher ne of existence.]


    ¡ª------


    To be more specific, Azmodeus only nced at the Infinite World part of his system interface. After all, he already had a very good understanding of the stat and cultivation parts of his system interface.


    "Hmm¡­ It almost looks like a new measurement for distance will soone into existence. And with Harkath''s strength nearing the Quasar Lord Realm, he should have no trouble managing any future growth."


    Azmodeus was quite pleased with everything so far, especially when it came to the speed at which he now cultivated.


    "Yo, system honey boo~ How would you feel about sending me my current cultivation percentile range?"


    [Ding! The system hase to inform the host that he can eat a bag of dicks! This will better train the width of your throat for better pill digestion!]


    "...Fuck you system¡­ But does that actually work like tha-... I mean, fuck you!"


    Azmodeus almost got caught up in the teasing of the system. But thankfully, he saved it with a double flip of his middle fingers!


    [Ding! The host may be a zing asshole, but the system is feeling quite magnanimous today, so here is your Qi Cultivation Rate of progression.]


    [Ding! Your Qi Cultivation is in the Middle Supermassive Voider Realm, and it is approximately 34.5% of the way through the Realm!]


    "Oh, damn! These days, I breakthrough so often that I find myself skipping over entire minor realms¡­ Ai, what a conundrum I''ve found myself in¡­"


    Azmodeusmented over something that would be the dream of all cultivators in existence, and he did so with a straight face!


    No longer did he need tens of thousands of years in order to breakthrough!


    Hell, he didn''t even need a year or even a month!


    Just give him a few minutes and bam, another breakthrough!


    For example, Azmodeus waited a few minutes. After which, he once again asked the system to disy his current cultivation progress. Then, with the shing of a blue and golden light, this was presented before him:


    BLING!


    [Ding! Your current Qi Cultivation Rate is in the Middle Supermassive Voider Realm, and it is approximately 64.9% of the way through the Realm!]


    "Ahh, very nice! It definitely seems like my other half is consuming a shitton of pills and making use of a plethora of exterior cultivation-increasing methods! Very good!"


    One might think that Azmodeus was shameless for being so proud of such a thing, and they would be 100% correct!


    He was a shameless motherfucka, and he wasn''t afraid to take advantage of anything and absolutely everything in order to acquire more benefits!


    Even so, there was still so much more power to obtain. So, after tying up all loose ends in the Infinite World, Azmodeus left the ne of existence.


    When he reappeared in the outside world, the first thing he did was join the other Primordial Essence Clones.


    Fighting off and destroying anything in his way, this Primordial Essence Clone followed the same path as the rest of them!


    A path rife with death and destruction! One filled to the brim with Infinite Evolution!


    This was the way to Infinity!


    ....

 Chapter 307: Time For A Big Boom!

    ....


    After a few hours passed in the Starry Expanse, Azmodeus''s cultivation neared the Peak of the Late Supermassive Voider Realm!


    With his Battle Power quite a ways into the 3rd Order Low-Gctic Traverser Realm, he was now confident enough to begin tackling 3rd Tier Gxies. So, that''s exactly what he did¡­


    -


    "What was that shing light over there?"


    The voice of a 2nd Order Low-Gctic Traverser resounded through the void of space. His question was directed toward another 2nd Order Low-Gctic Traverser.


    The both of them were affiliated with the Triangulum Gxy, and they were also the ones responsible for guarding the 7th Prince of the Triangulum Gctic Empire.


    "Hai¡­ What is it this time? We have only been in the Space Slip for roughly 10 million years, and yet the number of times you''ve called out some nonsense has been-"


    The second guard''s bored expression suddenly morphed into one of shock as a massive beam of sword light was speeding right toward them!


    "Protect the Prince-!" Before he could even finish his exmation, he was pierced by a deadly ck de!


    With disbelief strewn across his face, he watched his own body get sliced up into trillions of different pieces!


    While the life faded out from hismp of life, he was unlucky enough to catch a glimpse of a crimson demon extracting the soul of his fellow guard.


    ''What sort of monster¡­ is that¡­''


    These were thest thoughts to pass through the mind of the 2nd Order Gctic Traverser before traversing his way into the afterlife.


    "Oh? It does appear like a person of high renown resides inside that Gctic Pce Ship."


    Azmodeus figured he should just barge in and kill the high-ranking person and be done with it. But, upon recalling the number of life-saving measures that all the other young masters typically had, he changed his mind.


    "Well, time to do a little sweep of the surrounding gxies."


    His raspy voice was followed by him lifting his arms in the air. Then, with insane amounts of pull, he attracted all the Starry Qi in the surrounding void.


    WAAA!


    The energy spiraled around in a sphere-like shape, rapidly growing in size.


    It was only after the giant ball of blue fire reached a sufficient point that Azmodeus nodded his head and said, "A good ol Spirit Bomb never hurt anybody, now has it?" He cracked arge grin before forcing the Spirit Bomb to spin.


    It started off slow, but in no time at all, it reached a rotation speed far surpassing how a human renders a blur.


    It was moving so fast that the color of the sphere blended in with the backdrop behind it!


    "Umu! This is a pretty good size, yep yep." Azmodeus lifted the bomb as high as he could. Then, with a slight flick of his finger, heunched the attack toward the massive Gctic Pce.


    The pce itself was the size of a small gxy, and yet this attack aimed to level the entire thing!


    This was an utterly ludicrous notion!


    But then again, who was Azmodeus?


    "Time for a big boom. This will surely be thergest one yet-"


    CRACKA¡ªBOOOM!


    His thoughts were interrupted by an explosion so loud and destructive that the Space Slip cracked and shattered!


    When they appeared in the outside world, the Spirit Bomb was still erasing the exterior of the Gctic Pce. Therefore, Azmodeus pulled out a throne and sat on it. Then, with a hand to his chin and popcorn in the other hand, he watched the impermeable pce copse in on itself.


    "Incorporating the aspect of a ck hole in the molecr makeup of the Spirit Bomb was quite a good idea. Oh, and the 29 thousand or so High-Star Laws are ying their parts very well as well."


    With a perceptive glint in his gaze, Azmodeus analyzed the rapid deterioration of the Gctic Pce. Of course, he did so while asionally throwing popcorn into his mouth.


    Ultimately, the Gctic Fortress and the 7th Prince of a 2nd Tier Gxy ended up fading into oblivion. Which, as a result, led to a number of system notifications ringing out.


    BLING!


    [Ding! You have killed two 2nd Order Low-Gctic Traversers. The reward is 3500 Gctic Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have erased the existence of the 7th Prince of the Triangulum Gxy. Furthermore, you have killed off countless experts in and below the 1st Order Low-Gctic Traverser Realm. The reward is 6200 Gctic Evolution Essence!{


    [Ding! Your total Gctic Evolution Essence reserves have passed 50,000. Thus, a new exponentialpounder will be applied!]


    [Ding! You have obtained 8,000 Gctic Power!]


    [Ding! Your Gctic Power has passed the 50,000 mark. Thus, a new exponentialpounder will be applied!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has tremendously improved![


    [Ding! You have automatically converted the loot of all the existences you killed. As a result of this process, your Loot God Nourishment Rate has advanced to ''29.5%'']


    [Ding! Your Singrity Physique and Singrity Trait have leveled up from Level 3 of the X Rank to Level 4 of the X Rank!]


    [Ding! Due to all the loot acquisition, you have received 500 White Tier Loot Halos!]


    [Ding! Adding onto the current amount of Loot Halos, you now have 2100 White Tier Loot Halos. Therefore, your loot-rted boosts have increased to ''1,050,000%''.*]]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has improved by leaps and bounds!]


    [Ding! Your various techniques have reached a sufficient point that you can begin to coalesce and create a technique that incorporates the special attributes of all your techniques!]


    [Ding! Would you like the system to go through with the Technique Coalescence process for 25,000 Gctic Evolution Essence?]


    "Hmm¡­ A new power up? Sounds dope! Let''s go through with it!"


    [Ding! You have used up 25,000 Gctic Evolution Essence in order to coalesce your Techniques!]


    [Ding! The coalescence process will begin on the count of 10¡­9¡­8¡­7¡­]


    "It''s always going to be like this, huh?"


    Normally, Azmodeus would be annoyed by these abrupt timers, but this time around, he was prepared!


    By prepared, it was just to say that he stole a bunch of 2nd Order Low-Gctic Traverser Realm Golems, and they would be tasked with protecting him!


    After all was said and done, he was peacefully sitting on top of a red giant. Waiting for the timer to reach zero, he chixed and scrolled through the system notification being obtained from all his farmers.


    .....

 Chapter 308: Time For a Nap...

    .....


    [Ding! Coalescence process begins now!]


    "Alright, time to take a little nap¡­"


    Azmodeus closed his eyes and waited for his consciousness to go nk.


    However, surprisingly enough, he could still feel his mind and body¡­


    "Hmm¡­ What the fuck?"


    Even after a few seconds of waiting, nothing happened!


    He was scammed! Shammed by that damn system of his!


    "You dumb cunt! Are you trying to y around with my feelings??"


    Azmodeus''s shouts entered the ears of the system, but it didn''t seem to feel like responding¡­


    "Very well¡­ I will remember this for the next time I go hunting. No loot for you!"


    [Ding! The host need not go so far. This was all the fault of a system glitch, so without further dy, the coalescence process will finish up!]


    "Finish up? You''re saying that it has already begun?"


    Even though Azmodeus''s bait tactic went off without a hitch, he was still quite surprised over what he was hearing.


    [Ding! Yes, host! The coalescence process is already 54.7% of the way done!]


    "Oh¡­ sweet."


    Azmodeus was very pleased with this result. But what he was far more expectant of was that some sort of technique woulde out of all this coalescence.


    "Maybe it''ll be some sort of... well¡­"


    He had many guesses as to what it might be, but if he was being honest; there was no concrete answer as to what guess had the highest probability ofing to pass.


    However, never in his wildest dreams would Azmodeus have guessed it to be¡­


    [Ding! The Technique Coalescence process ispleted, and the host was able to obtain the |Scythe sh|. Good luck, host! This technique will be a tough one to evolve to Infinity!]


    "Scythe sh? What da fuck¡­ Is this really the ultimate culmination of countless trillions of techniques¡­?"


    He didn''t know if he had ever seen such nonsense in his entire life¡­


    But in the end, there had to be something beyond the seemingly ordinary-sounding name. So, with a hint of curiosity, he sucked in the golems and leaped off the star.


    Upon making it a decent distance away, Azmodeus took out Sanguinary and activated |Scythe sh|.


    SLASH!


    "Wha? It seems like an ordinary sh to me... Nothing special about it-"


    CRACKA¡ªBOOOM!


    Azmodeus nearly jumped out of his skin after hearing an ear-splitting explosion reverberate throughout time and space!


    "Holy hot damn shit! What the hell was that!?"


    With raised brows, he watched as a gxy-sized Scythe arc blitzed through the void of space, erasing one gxy after the next in its trail of absolute destruction!


    By the end of its respelendant consecutive eruption of a wide array of elements andws, more than 2000 gxies vanished from the face of the universe!


    Thereafter, the system notifications arrived in droves.


    BLING!


    [Ding! You have evaporated 1950 1st Tier Gxies and 62 2nd Tier Gxies. The reward is 120,000 Gctic Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have obtained 110,500 Gctic Power!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has improved by leaps and bounds!]


    [Ding! Your Gctic Evolution Essence and Gctic Power have surpassed the 100,000 mark. Therefore, more exponentialpound affecters will be applied!]


    [Ding! You have automatically converted the loot of the untold number of existences that you killed. Which, as a result, forced your Loot God Nourishment Rate to increase to ''32.5%'']


    [Ding! You have received numerous new Physiques and Traits!]


    [Ding! Your Singrity Physique and Singrity Trait have taken one more step toward Level 5 of the X Rank!]


    [Ding! You have obtained a great amount of loot. Thus, you have obtained 5,500 White Tier Loot Halos!]


    [Ding! Adding onto the Loot Halos you already have, your total White Tier Loot Halo count has reached 7,600. In return, your total Loot boost acquisition rate has achieved ''3,800,000%''.]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has improved by leaps and bounds!]


    [Ding! Your Primordial Essence Clones and Mirror Mirages have absorbed the cultivation essence of all the beings you killed. Thus, your cultivation has taken another leap!]


    [Ding! Your cultivation is now in the ''Peak Supermassive Voider Realm (Peak).]


    [Ding! Due to your kills and the efforts of your other half, your cultivation has increased by enormous amounts over the past few hours!]


    [Ding! You can begin to breakthrough into the Half-Step Quasar Lord Realm!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has reached the ''3rd Order Low-Gctic Traverser Realm (Absolute Peak). You can now w your way into the High-Gctic King Realm!]


    "Ai¡­ Does one think that my Battle Power and cultivation realm might be progressing a little too quickly?"


    Even though Azmodeus spoke these words, the evil grin on his face only seemed to widen.


    This was another step forward!


    The High-Gctic King Realm was his new goal-!


    "Who dares!?"


    An ancient cosmic voice reverberated throughout the void of space as a 3rd Order High Gctic King raced through space and time!


    Aiming to find the one who caused such destruction and broke the irondws of the Starry Expanse, he scoured the void with his minions.


    ''Well¡­ Time to move to a spot where I don''t have a 5 star wanted rating¡­''


    With these thoughts in mind, Azmodeus faded into the Speed Stream.


    Effectively passing by the sights of countless powerhouses, he traveled to a location a few million light years away.


    This was where he would resume his farming session until once again needing to move due to a high wanted rating¡­


    "The Grind is Eternal."


    His voice spelled the doom of innumerable civilizations, but it also meant a future filled with loot for the Loot Goblin!


    ¡­


    As Azmodeus spent his minutes murdering everything that could give him loot, his cultivation base took leap after leap.


    In less than 10 minutes, his cultivation advanced from the peak of the Peak Supermassive Voider Realm all the way to the Absolute Peak of the Half-Step Quasar Lord Realm!


    SHING!


    A beam of scythe light shot through the infinite void of space.


    With its target being nothing in particr, thousands of 1st Tier Gxies vanished in the blink of an eye!


    There were a few 2nd Tier Gxies in there as well. However, near such high-level gxies, there were oftentimes High-Gctic King Realm Experts, so tactical retreats were often necessary.


    .....

 Chapter 309: Eighteen Apex Rulers of the 83rd Galaxy Cluster

    .....


    Although Azmodeus could fight a High-Gctic King and have a high chance ofing back to life until ultimately winning, there was just no point in fighting something so overwhelmingly powerful.


    The difference between a 3rd Order Low-Gctic Traverser and a 1st Order High-Gctic King was like the difference between Heaven and Earth!


    "If I wish to ovee such a foe, I will need more than just an Infinite Respawn option¡­"


    As Azmodeus pondered how he could go about killing a High-Gctic King, a wide array of his Primordial Essence Clones were working toward acquiring more Gctic Evolution Essence.


    Furthermore, they were also putting forth effort into the acquisition of more Loot Essence for the Loot God Racial Trait.


    So far, more than 1.3 million Gctic Evolution Essence had been obtained!


    As for Loot God Nourishment Rate, well, it sessfully made it past the 35% mark andnded somewhere around 36.5%.


    "Speaking of my race, I have yet to try out that ''Loot Death'' thingy. With so much loot to be had, what is the harm in obtaining a little bit more?"


    A power-hungry smirk crept up Azmodeus''s face as he looked out at the stars beyond the horizon.


    Upon finding a good 3rd Order Low-Gctic Traverser as a target, he blurred from his spot and reappeared in front of the powerhouse.


    "Who the hell are you-!?"


    Wham!


    Azmodeus interrupted the cliche line of the powerhouse, recing the air between his gums with a fist!


    Teeth and blood spewed out of the powerhouse''s mouth, but the assaulter could hardly give a fuck. So, with another p, the powerhouse copsed into his own Gctic Castle!


    CRACKA¡ªBOOOOM!


    The castle imploded in on itself, whereas the powerhouse was sent barreling through the material that made up his cosmic castle!


    Making it through the other side of the enormous structure, his bloodied body could be seen rocketing toward a massive green star.


    Upon hitting the surface of the star, the powerhouse forced a dent into the star, subsequently causing it to steer off orbit!


    With the 3rd Order Low-Gctic Traverser floating through the void of space while imprinted into a star, Azmodeus phased from his position. Appearing in front of the star''s trajectory, he stuck out a pinky finger and stopped the stray star in its tracks.


    Thereafter, Azmodeus blurred toward arge crater on the northern side of the star. After which, he lifted up the bruised body of the 3rd Order Low-Gctic Traverser.


    Getting a good look at the essence contained within the core of his soul, he wasted no more time and activated ''Loot Death''.


    Pop!


    An explosion of shiny golden and silver loot erupted from what used to be the body of a powerhouse who reigned over multiple 1st Tier Gxies and a single 2nd Tier Gxy!


    BLING!


    [Ding! You have killed a 3rd Order Low-Gctic Traverser using |Loot Death|. The reward is multiplied by all your Loot Halos and then further multiplied by 10, thus, you have obtained 200,000 Gctic Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have obtained 180,000 Gctic Power!]


    [Ding! You have automatically converted the 3rd Order Low-Traverser into Loot Essence. As a result, your Loot God Nourishment Rate has improved to ''38.2%'']


    [Ding! After all loot boosts have been applied, you have received a vast number of Physiques and Traits from your most recent kill.]


    [Ding! Your Singrity Physique and Singrity Trait have advanced from Level 4 of the X Rank to Level 5 of the X Rank!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has drastically improved!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power inches ever closer to the Half-Step High-Gctic King Realm!]


    "Damn, although the loot boosts apply for every aspect of loot, it''s still a little bit of a bummer that I can''t pass over into the Half-Step Gctic King Realm. Though, if my spections aren''t too far off, by the time I breakthrough into the Quasar Lord Realm, I should be very close to achieving the strength of a High-Gctic King."


    Azmodeus may have been a little disappointed by the results presented before him, but it wasn''t to the level ofplete depression. So, with Sanguinary in one hand and Excalibur in the other, he continued to delete entire gxies from existence.


    ****


    While the Crimson Devil worked toward achieving a Battle Power in the High-Gctic King Realm, a meeting between high cosmic beings was convened at the center of the Archon Gxy.


    With star-filled throne centered around a dazzling, luminescent circr table, nearly two dozen High-Gctic Kings sat inplete silence.


    While looking at each with indecipherable expressions, the stars and sr systems surrounding their meetup ce started to swirl.


    Their bodies were extremelyrge. Hence, all cosmic bodies looked like nothing more than the lights that added to the ambience of the mysterious, esoteric space.


    "Well¡­ What is it that you called us here for, Minthros? Is it another one of the wives of a high ranking Gctic King? Can''t handle the smoke after sleeping around with the wife of apetitor. Ha!"


    The one who spoke seemed to wear a constant smirk on his cosmically respelendant face. And with an intense purple aura, he stared at the one who called together this meeting of the High-Gctic Kings in the ''83rd Gxy Cluster''.


    The 83rd Gxy Cluster was arge arrangement of gxies, all of which slowly came together over the long reaches of time.


    In particr, this Gxy Cluster was ruled over by 18 apex existences, all of whom were in the Peak High-Gctic King Realm!


    The one that almost caught Azmodeus a few minutes ago also just so happened to be one of these High-Gctic Kings. And furthermore, he was also the one who called the other 17 here today.


    "..."


    Effectively ignoring the snarkyments made by Televon, Minthros crossed his arms in front of him. Then, with a dire tone, he said, "An enigma has appeared in our Gxy Cluster."


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    Everyone immediately stood up from their cosmic thrones upon hearing this news!


    "That shouldn''t be possible, Minthros! Thest Enigma came in a pair, which is to say that we should''ve received double the amount of time before the next one appeared!!"


    Televon''s yful smirk had all but vanished, as it was instead reced by a weary expression.


    Such a look was well warranted. After all, an Enigma often meant the restart or re-order of a Gxy Cluster¡­


    If such an urrence was actually right at their doorsteps, then that meant¡­


    .....

 Chapter 310: Escaping The Enigma!?

    .....


    "What has changed!? We can''t die!" Televon bellowed.


    RUMBLE!


    He utilized his control over the High-Star Laws in order to shake the small gxy they resided in!


    Minthros nkly stared at all the jittery High-Gctic Kings. He lightly waved his hand and said, "Calm down; this is no time to be losing your cool. We still have a way out of this."


    "!!!" "!!!"


    "A way out!? What way out!? How can one escape an enigma!?"


    The one who voiced this question was called Workem, and he was also a strong cultivator in the High-Gctic King Realm.


    Having lived hundreds of trillions of years, he was one of the oldest among those convened here.


    But regardless of his status or age, Minthros stared at him all the same. Then, with another wave of the hand, he beckoned the standing Gctic Kings to sit back down.


    After they reluctantly followed this request, he continued by saying, "This Enigma is vastly different from the duo of Enigma''s that came before. Do you know of the gxy that thest Enigma''s originated from?" He asked.


    "..." "..." "..."


    Everyone tried to recall the name of that extremely small gxy, but they just couldn''t seem to remember anything about it. Which, in retrospect, was considered quite weird.


    After all, with their high cultivation bases, all memories shoulde to them crystal clear with no discrepancies. And yet¡­


    "None of you can remember the name, can you?"


    Minthros''s dissonant voice snapped everyone out of their reveries. With upturned heads, they looked back at the brilliantly glowing Minthros.


    After once again acquiring everyone''s attention, Minthros said, "After scrolling through the ancient records of our Gxy Cluster, I learned that our ancestors were cursed by thest set of Enigma''s.


    And from that curse, everyone was forced to forget of the existence of a gxy called Nevedye.


    As for how I ultimately broke those curses, well, I met up with a few weaklings who called themselves the ''Ten True Astral Princes''.


    They were frantic and on edge, seemingly worried about something beyond their control. And after ''asking'' them what had happened, they told me the entire backstory of this Era''s current Enigma.


    The one known as Azmodeus Crimson."


    "Azmodeus Crimson!? He''s the new Enigma!?" Everyone shouted out in unison.


    Although they had never heard of such a character before, with a name like that, he surely had to be an existence beyond the norm!


    "Hai¡­ Before all of you go and get yourselves tied up in trepidation, this Azmodeus is not what one thinks him to be. In the simplest of terms, he is a Time Anomaly."


    Hearing the informative voice of Minthros, the rest of the High-Gctic Kings suddenly realized what this meant for them¡­


    "He hasn''t grown to maturity?" Televon inquired with the usual smirk stered across his face.


    Minthros nodded his head before saying, "Yes, that is indeed the case. And from what our sources indicate, he doesn''t even possess strength in the High-Gctic King Realm. However-"


    "Haha! You really got us all worked up over nothing, Minthros! If he''s only in the Low-Gctic Traverser Realm and he has yet to reach maturity, then what the hell do we have to worry about!?"


    Televon and a few of the other High-Gctic King''s burst out inughter at this information.


    To be so on edge over nothing! It truly was a big joke!


    So what if he was an Enigma!? So what if he was an Embryonic Time Anomaly!?


    None of that mattered in the face of absolute power!


    Following the calming and reaffirmation of everyone''s nerves, the High-Gctic King''s started to leave one after the other.


    "Wait a second; this Enigma should not be measured at face value. Even with my main body locating him, he quickly vanished the moment he noticed my presence. His existence is likely something beyond the bounds ofmon logic-"


    Minthros attempted to exin the higher underlying details of the Enigma. However, he was swiftly dismissed by all his equals.


    "Just send a few of your countless High-Gctic King''s after him!" One of them said.


    "Maybe your eyes and senses are just getting dull with your old age! That is probably why the Enigma was able to escape your sight. But don''t worry, I will send a few of my tracking squadrons after this boy. Haha!" Another said with a boisterousugh.


    FWIP! FWIP!


    After everyone but Minthros was gone from the gxy, the man who arranged the meeting realized just how naive he was for believing that they would be any help.


    "Either they are trembling in fear, or they are conceited to a fault¡­"


    An ancient sigh escaped Minthros''s mouth as he wondered just how existences like that managed to reach the same realm that he did.


    But regardless of what he thought about those buffoons, there needed to be more drastic measures taken on the subjugation of the Enigma. And if the others didn''t wish to help him, he would need to get it done himself.


    "Although I do not know theplexities of your existence, I will make sure to understand exactly what part of the Universe deemed you to be necessary for maintaining order."


    Following the utterance of these inexplicable words, Minthros blurred from view. Making his way outside the bounds of the gxy and even the Gxy Cluster, he raced toward an area where an Olden God resided.


    The Olden God''s were creatures that have been around for far longer than the universe had been in cirction. And when their Era was the present, they were considered to be at the very top of everything.


    Of course, with time, they were surpassed by organisms that took more innovative measures and created new cultivation realms.


    As a result of the washing over of new ideas and concepts, the Olden Gods were swept up in the currents, eventually bing nothing more than forgotten relics of a time long gone¡­


    However, ording to the ancient records, which Minthros often liked to read, there just so happened to be an Olden God not too far away from the 83rd Gxy Cluster.


    FWIP!


    Minthros appeared above a dark blot at a point in space-time.


    One might think that it was a ck hole or some sort of cosmic anomaly. However, this ''thing'' was more terrifying than anything that the universe could possibly hope to naturally produce¡­


    .....

 Chapter 311: The Enigma is the End.

    .....


    OOOM!


    With a part of the ck blot being reced by a massive sh of purple light, a slitted sphere materialized from the void!


    If one were looking from far enough, then they would notice that this oddity was not any normal sphere. But rather, it was an eyeball!


    The moment this gxy-cluster-sized eye honed in on the tiny gxy-sized existence floating before it, an aura beyond divine erupted from a body that seemed to stretch on indefinitely!


    OUNG!


    With the sound of a resonant echo, the universe itself recognized the awakening of an Elden God!


    "Why have youe¡­?" The Elden God''s singr eyeball fixated on the High Gctic King, its gaze seemingly piercing into the soul of the brazen ant.


    Although Minthros was greatly surprised by the grandiose majesty of the Elden God, he still managed to maintain hisposure enough to say, "Oh, Great Elden God! I havee to beseech the about an Enigma!"


    "...An Enigma¡­"


    The Elden God''s raspy yet crackly and static-like voice reverberated through the boundless void. Seemingly contemting something beyond theprehension of the Gctic King, he left the surrounding atmosphere in a state of deafening silence.


    After a moment that felt like an eternity, the Elden God''s singr eyeball turned into two. And then those two turned into four¡­


    Six¡­ twenty¡­ eighty¡­


    "!!!"


    Minthros soon lost count of the number of enormous eyeballs appearing from every corner of space. Ultimately, it reached a point where it seemed like the Elden God was the universe!


    He was anything and everything all at once!


    However, after a second or two of the countless eyeballs darting in every which direction, out of nowhere, they all stopped moving. Then, with a bright sh of quintessential light, the eyes returned to one.


    After a moment of silence that consumed Minthros''s existence, the voice of the Elden God sparked a new level of confusion in the High Gctic King.


    "...This Enigma¡­ He is the End."


    "Sir Elden God, what does that mean-!?" Before Minthros could finish his question, he was forcibly kicked out of the higher ne of existence.


    Just as his soul returned back to whence it came, he could''ve sworn that he saw the eyeball and its infinitelyrge, shadowy body shiver.


    It was almost as if¡­


    Almost as if the Elden God were afraid.


    ****


    As despair washed over Minthros, an absolute tyrant worked his way through every gxy that obstructed his path to more strength!


    Whether they were innocent or not, Azmodeus didn''t care!


    He wanted loot! He wanted power!


    1000 1st Tier Gxies! 10,000 1st Tier Gxies! 100,000 1st Tier Gxies!


    1,000,000 1st Tier Gxies!


    Nothing was capable of preventing the infinite grind!


    And with the destruction of the one millionth gxy, Azmodeus finally reached a point where his cultivation achieved the Early Quasar Lord Realm!


    Along with this substantial breakthrough that converted his massive ck hole into a Quasar Cluster, there also came a breakthrough into the High-Gctic King Realm in Battle Power!


    OOOM!


    Immense amounts of power washed over Azmodeus, thus granting him the necessary power to begin effectively destroying 2nd Tier and 3rd Tier Gxies!


    "This was a good step in the right direction. However, the infinite grind doesn''t end with just this, so let the grind persevere!"


    Maniacalughter resounded through the fabric of space as a Crimson Devil became even more of a menace. Destroying, conquering, assimting, and grinding¡ªhe did whatever needed to be done in order to be stronger!


    Mercy was no longer an option!


    At least, not anymore¡­


    After they left¡­ Death and Loot were all that remained.


    ¡­


    In the span of half a day, Azmodeus managed to advance his power to the very peak of the 1st Order High-Gctic King Realm.


    Of course, for such a major increase in power, many sacrifices had to be made¡­


    It was unknown how many millions of gxies had to be either destroyed or absorbed, but the number was definitely quiterge.


    With the erasure of so many gxies, the 18 High-Gctic Kings that ruled over the 83rd Gxy Cluster were forced to move even more preemptively.


    If before, they took the Enigma as nothing greater than a joke produced by the heavens, then now they saw him as a serious threat!


    That would especially be the case if what they heard about his power progression turned out to be true, for if it was¡­


    "There was another incident! The 2nd Order High-Gctic Kings we sent out were just killed! Apparently, the Enigma had a breakthrough mid battle!!"


    "More than 100 versions of the Enigma were sighted outside the Eastern Vortex! We have lost contact with all High-Gctic Kings in the area!"


    "500 million gxies in the Southern Astral Stream have been considered eviscerated! 10,000 of the Enigma''s have been seen moving out from this location!"


    "To the North, High Gctic Kings numbering in the thousands have died¡­"


    "There was another encounter¡­"


    Reports were being shouted out from the direct lines to multiple Information Stations, leaving the mighty Minthros in a perplexed state.


    Even though he made sure not to underestimate the enemy! Even though he went all out right from the get-go! Sending out high-level experts after the next! Even his clones and main body were no exception!


    However, what difference did it all make!?


    From the Enigmas that they killed, ten more would sprout up!


    And from those who escaped, a hundred more would power up ande back a million times stronger!!


    What was even the point!?


    By the 12-hour mark, Minthros started to fade into depression. Then, with the passing of another 24 hours, Azmodeus''s strength progressed into the 3rd Order High-Gctic King Realm, pushing Minthros even deeper into a pit of morass.


    When all forces were dried up and the entire gxy was thrown into a shitstorm, Minthros finally realized what the Elden God meant by what he said.


    "..."


    With the ruins of a crumbling gxy as the ambience, Minthros sat at the center of the gxy.


    Watching as his fellow equals were ripped apart and absorbed, a universal truth seemed to be transmitted into his mind.


    "The End¡­ Why should one fear the end? It is only natural that everything reaches its eventual destination, so why unwillingly resist what was set in stone since the very beginning¡­?"


    Although Minthros''s eyes were lifeless, they seemed to contain a rity that hadn''t been present in them for the past quadrillion years.


    And when it finally came time for the scythe of the reaper to pierce his existence, he left the world knowing that his death served a greater purpose¡ªa nobler purpose.


    .....

 Chapter 312: The End Arrived

    .....


    SHING!


    Azmodeus retracted his scythe from an old dude who was just stupidly sitting in the void of space.


    [Ding! You have killed thest of the 18 High Gctic King Rulers of the 83rd Gxy Cluster. After all loot boosts have been applied, your reward is 10,500,000 Gctic Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have obtained 10,200,000 Gctic Power!]


    "???"


    Question marks went off in his head as he verified the system notificationsing in. "What the hell was up with that weirdo?? He didn''t even attempt to fight back¡­"


    Azmodeus didn''t know if the old dude had be mentally re*arded or what, but a free loot bag was still a loot bag all the same. So, after collecting the storage ring of the weird old bastard, he assimted his existence. After which, he did the same thing with the rest of the corpses scattered throughout the 83rd Gxy Cluster.


    He nned to destroy the entirety of the Gxy Cluster, but after seeing all the iing system notifications, it was unanimously decided that they would be perused. So, without further ado!


    BLING!


    [Ding! After wiping out over 90% of the 83rd Gxy Cluster''s poption and loot boosts have been applied, your total GEE acquisition rate hase out to 1,570,000,000!]


    [Ding! For killing the Absolute Rulers of the 83rd Gxy Cluster, your rewards have been multiplied ording to existence value andpletionist value. Thus, you have obtained 1,300,000,000 Gctic Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! All of the loot has been automatically converted into Loot God Nourishment Rate. Therefore, the percentile rate has improved to ''41.5%''!]


    [Ding! Due to the alterations of fate involved in the obtaining of loot, you have received 1.2 million White Tier Halos!]


    [Ding! Would you like to convert 1 million of your White Tier Halos into an Orange Tier Halo? The end result will far exceed what each individual White Tier Halo could hope to allot!]


    "Sure."


    [Ding! 1 million of your White Tier Halos have been converted into a single Orange Tier Halo!]


    [Ding! With 200 thousand White Tier Halos and 1 Orange Tier Halo, your Loot Acquisition Rate has improved to ''1,000,100,000,000%'']


    [Ding! Each Orange Tier Halo is worth 1 trillion loot acquisition rate!]


    [Ding! It is always rmended that the host evolve his Loot Halos when he gets the chance!]


    "Well, shit¡­ The improvement is absolutely massive¡­"


    Even though Azmodeus was more than a little shocked by how much a single Orange Tier Loot Halo gave him in terms of Loot boost, there were still more system notifications to nce over.


    BLING!


    [Ding! You have received countless Physiques and Traits, ranging from the Star Radiance Rank to the High-Gctic King Rank!]


    [Ding! Your Singrity Physique and Singrity Trait have taken one more step toward the peak of X Rank: Level 5.]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has tremendously improved!]


    Following all of these pop-ups, Azmodeus decided it was finally time that he erased the 83rd Gxy Cluster from the face of the universe. So, with a crimson aura at the absolute peak of the 3rd Order High-Gctic King Realm, he took out Sanguinary.


    Admiring its sleek crescent shape for a moment, his eyes took on a razor-sharp gleam. After which, his scythe emitted that same sharpness. Then, without a second''s notice, a beam of scythe light was hurled from Sanguinary!


    CRACKA¡ª


    It all started with a rtively mild crack. Then, with overwhelming might and dazzling bloody light, the void of cosmically resplendent stars erupted in an explosion that shook the very foundation of the Gxy Cluster!


    The explosion began as something rtively manageable, but in no time at all, more than 10% of the Gxy Cluster was enveloped in the embrace of something truly devastating!


    Within the span of a few nanoseconds, 50% of the 83rd Gxy Cluster was gobbled up like a little snack¡­


    It was only at this point in time that the Elden God once again awoke from its eternal slumber.


    "...."


    Opening one of its enormous eyeballs, the Elden God watched as a spark of dust in the distance copsed in on itself. Starting like a small me before sting outward in congration, the Elden God nkly witnessed theplete and utter destruction of the 83rd Gxy Cluster.


    "The End."


    Swiftly and promptly, the Elden God returned back to its eternal slumber.


    Maintaining a state of deep sleep, it simply waited for the day that it too met its end...


    -


    Meanwhile, in the speck of sparkling dust that the Elden God viewed from a distance, a crimson-haired devil calmly looked at a scene of absolute destruction.


    Permeating everything around him, there truly was nowhere else to look. So, in the end, the undoer of everything was also forced to watch the final result of a simple |Scythe sh|.


    It was only after all the loot had been reaped that Azmodeus moved away from that part of the empty void. During which, he made sure to open up his system notifications and nce over all the goodies he obtained.


    BLING!


    [Ding! You havepletely erased the 83rd Gxy Cluster and everything that once lived there.]


    [Ding! From the lowliest of mortals all the way to the strongest of High-Gctic Kings, nothing was able to escape your grasp. Therefore, your reward after various loot boosts has allotted you 20 Billion Gctic Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have obtained 19.5 Billion Gctic Power!]


    [Ding! You have automatically assimted the cultivation bases of all the beings you killed!]


    [Ding! Your cultivation has reached the Peak Quasar Lord Realm!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has drastically improved!]


    [Ding! You have received a massive amount of Traits and Physiques, ranging from the Mortal Rank to the High-Gctic King Rank. Thus, your Singrity Physique and Singrity Trait have taken one morerge step toward the peak of the X Rank!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has tremendously improved!]


    [Ding! Because of Automatic Loot Conversion, your Loot God Nourishment Rate has improved to ''43%'']


    [Ding! Due to the maniption of thews of Fate, you have obtained a vast number of White Tier Loot Halos!]


    [You have received 4.8 million White Tier Loot Halos and 2 Orange Tier Loot Halos!]


    .....

 Chapter 313: Changes In The System Interface

    .....


    [Ding! Would you like to convert all your White Tier Loot Halos into Orange Tier Loot Halos?]


    "Yes, that is fine."


    [Ding! You have converted 5 million White Tier Loot Halos into 5 Orange Tier Loot Halos. Adding onto your original 3 Orange Tier Loot Halos, you now have 8 Orange Tier Loot Halos!]


    [Ding! Your total Loot Boost Acquisition Rate has improved to 8 Trillion%]


    After these system notifications finished ringing out, Azmodeus felt anotherrge wave of power wash over him.


    OUNG!


    Feeling the immense strength coursing through his veins, he figured it was about time that he opened up his system interface to see all that had changed.


    Following this train of thought, a bright blue and golden light shed.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: 1st Order Loot God - 43% Nourishment]


    [Lifespan: ~51,000/1,777,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000] (Increased due to the Singrity Physique and Singrity Trait)]


    [Cultivation: Peak Quasar Lord Realm (Early)]


    [Battle Power: Half-Step Low-Universal Convergence Realm (Initial)]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: ~21 Billion Gctic Evolution Essence]


    {[Stats:]}


    [Gctic Power: 20 Billion]


    [Cultivation Talent: Absolute Peak of High Mortal Realm]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:


    [Singrity Trait] ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [Overall Attribute Boost: X Rank - (Level 5)] ¨C [0/1 Trillion GEE]


    {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters]}


    [Singrity (X Rank |Level 5|]


    [Various other Physique''s] ¡ú [Copse] ¡ú [Overall Attribute Boost: Half-Step Low-Universal Convergence Realm]


    {[Laws]} ¡ú


    [29,999 High-Star Laws: Level 5] ¡ú [Extreme Attribute Boost (x1 Googleplex+.] ¨C {[Comprehend thest High-Star Law in order to achieve a higher degree of Law Coalescence]}


    [For the host''s convenience, the previous Law section and below have been simplified (temporary).]


    ¡ª-------


    {[Infinite World]} ¡ú


    {[World Ruler: Harkath]}


    [World Age: 1.5 Quadrillion Years]


    [Area width: 1.2 Omega-verses] ¡ú [Grows in ordance with the strength of its residences.]


    [Upgrade Requirements: The Core of a 6 Layered ne of Infinity]


    [Rank of Residents: Primitive Mortal Lifeforms ¡ú Single-celled Organisms, Primitive Insects, Bugs, Small Birds, Fish, Large Birds, Dolphins, Large Fish, Monkeys, Large Reptiles, etc¡­]


    [Advanced Mortal Lifeforms ¡ú Magma Fish, Lava T-Rex''s, Fire Birds, Obsidian Devourers, etc¡­]


    [Low Spiritual Lifeforms ¡ú Humans, Sea Leviathans, Lava Wyrms, World Eaters, Krakens, Embryonic Dragons, etc¡­]


    [High Spiritual Lifeforms ¡ú High-Humans, High-Elves, High Orcs, High-Goblins, High-Beast People, True Dragons, Qilins, Kunpengs, Etc¡­]


    [Low Ascendant Lifeforms ¡ú Lord-Humans, Lord-Elves, Lord-Orcs, Lord-Goblins, Lord-Beast People, Lord Dragons, Lord Qilins, Lord Kunpengs, Etc¡­]


    [High Ascendant Lifeforms ¡ú Water Zealot, Nature Zealot, Ice Zealot, Fire Zealot, Acid Zealot, Aero Zealot, Fire Spirit Gods, Water Spirit Gods, Lordlings, Spiritlings, Ultra Terrerformers, Gorgon Nephelim, Super Elemental Elites, Elven Gods, Omega Fire Goblins, Super Ascendant Sonics]


    [Divine Lifeforms ¡ú Harkath, The Unparalleled Divine Emperor, sma Deity (Harkath''s Disciple and Inheritor)]


    [Time Dtion ¡ú 1:800,000]


    [Qi Density ¡ú 45x that of the outside world] ¡ú [Continue upgrading in order to encroach upon the Qi Density of a higher ne of existence.]


    ¡ª------


    Many things changed in Azmodeus''s system interface. However, the first thing he noticed was the fact that ''Cosmos'' had changed to ''Omega-verses''.


    Of course, this was mostly because of the 5 and a Half Layered ne of Infinity Core that he ''borrowed'' from one of the ''18 Apex Rulers of the 83rd Gxy Cluster'', but it was also partly attributed to the work done by Harkath and his disciple.


    ''A disciple that seemed to have inherited the Divine Crown and Sigil of the Divine, subsequently making him the second Divine Rank Expert in the Infinite World.''


    While thinking about how much that sma Spirit had grown up from his previous emo-like state, Azmodeus also took a few nces at his Battle Power and cultivation.


    "Even though I am in the Peak Quasar Lord Realm and my Battle Power is in the Half-Step Low-Universal Convergence Realm, I still feel that I''m not progressing fast enough¡­ Not fast enough¡­"


    No matter how little time it took to make a breakthrough, nothing ever seemed to be good enough for the Loot Goblin!


    So what if it only took a couple days to make four consecutive breakthroughs!? So what!?


    He knew of a certain Noah who could aplish such a thing in a tenth of the time!


    His current speed wasn''t good enough! Not even close!


    "Time to work even harder in improving my everything!"


    Before powerful existences in the Low-Universal Convergence Realm could make the first move, Azmodeus had already sent out hundreds of his Primordial Essence Clones. Furthermore, he had trillions of Mirror Mirages sh into view!


    "You all! Go and kill some shit! I want the surrounding 100 or so Gxy Clusters gobbled up within the next ten minutes!"


    "Yes!"


    Following thismand, all of the various versions of Azmodeus shot through the void like shooting stars.


    With death and destruction at the forefront of their minds, they would do whatever was necessary in order to obtain the maximum amount of loot!!


    ¡­


    With the passing of a few hours, Azmodeus''s speed of improvement increased by leaps and bounds! Like a rocket injected with a million tons of doped jet fuel, all aspects of his existence shot straight to the moon!


    Although 8200 Gxy Clusters were forever erased from the Starry Expanse, the result of these mass genocides was the direct advancement of Azmodeus''s cultivation base!


    From the Peak Quasar Lord Realm to the peak of the Half-Step Low-Gctic Traverser Realm, he leaped over the realms like they weren''t shit!


    On top of his cultivation, there was also his Battle Power, which had advanced straight into the Initial Stages of the Low-Universal Convergence Realm!


    As easy as that, Azmodeus''s Battle Power achieved a level equal to that of a realm he learned of not even 24 hours ago¡­


    However, was he content with such meager results!?


    "Of course fucking not! Why the hell should I be satisfied with garbage!?"


    His maniacal shouts resounded throughout time and space as he blitzed through the void, destroying every Gxy Cluster that so much as looked in his direction!


    Countless lives were lost with each passing second. And eventually, this caused a few ancient existences in the Low-Universal Convergence Realm to notice a grand disturbance in the bnce of the universe.


    .....

 Chapter 314: Joining The Immortal Demon Vanquishing Forces!?

    ****


    Within a blinding Cosmical Dimension located at the top of the Starry Expanse.


    "The Enigma of this generation¡­ His progress is beyond the expectations of anything that anybody could have predicted¡­ In a mere couple days, his strength improved by multiplerge realms. And if he continues at this pace, then it won''t be long before¡­ before we too meet our ''End''."


    An antiquated voice resonated with the very essence of the universe, reaching the ears of the other Low-Universal Convergence Realm Experts.


    "What should we do about this¡­? If he does ultimately find us and devour us, he will obtain our memories. And if that happens, it is all but guaranteed that he will learn of the ''One True Master'' and those two Aberrations that created him¡­"


    "Should we go about this in a conservative manner and advocate for peace¡­?"


    "If the Enigma obtains our memories, even the Cosmo Verse will soon follow the destruction of the Starry Expanse¡­"


    "We could ask for help from the Immortals, but those damn bastards cut off all ess to the Immortal Realm a million eons ago¡­"


    "Even a High-Multiversal Ancestor¡­ In the face of a genuine Enigma, what will an ancestor like that be able to aplish¡­?"


    "...."


    Listening to the opinions of the innumerable beings convened in this blinding space, the leader of them all stepped forth from his position.


    WAAA!


    With an aura in the High-Universal Harmony Realm, he was clearly the strongest among all those gathered in the Cosmical Dimension.


    However, even with such strength, not once did he consider fighting the Enigma head-on¡­


    "There is only one thing we can do in order to escape the grasp of the Enigma¡­" He spoke with a dire tone, his trembling aura indicating his anxiousness.


    Upon acquiring everyone''s attention, he said, "We must leave the Starry Expanse and let the Enigma consume the entire thing¡­ If this is made possible, we can get into contact with a High-Multiversal Ancestor and ask him to slice a streak in the void that leads to the ne of existence located between the Immortal Realm and the High-Mortal Realm."


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    Upon hearing this ludicrous suggestion, everyone''s starry eyes widened in horror.


    "You wish for everyone in all Multiverses, Cosmos, and the Cosmo Verse itself to escape to the most dangerous ce in two worlds!?" They all shouted in unison, theirbined auras forcing the dazzling dimension to its knees!


    "I know what you all are thinking, but at least in Hell''s Paradise, we will stand a chance of survival if we join up with the Immortal Demon Vanquishing Forces on the front lines."


    The leader of the Starry Expanse attempted to assuage the surging emotions of his subordinates. However, his words only seemed to put them even more on edge¡­


    "You want us to join the Immortal Demon Vanquishing Forces!? Why don''t you just kill us now and be done with it!?"


    "Even the weakest members of the Immortal Demon Vanquishing Forces are in the Low-Multiversal Realm, and you want us to join them?? Frankly, sir, are you out of your goddamn mind!?"


    A tired sigh escaped the mouth of the Starry Expanse Ruler, his slow breath emting all the troubles hidden deep within his heart.


    "As I said before¡­ We have no other choice¡­ Even though we are weak, we can still work our way up from Pill ves or Refinement ves. Maybe, just maybe, we might even receive an opportunity to breakthrough into the Low-Multiversal Realm and officially join the Immortal Demon Vanquishing Forces. Though, that is a hard maybe¡­"


    "..." "..." "..."


    Listening to everything that their leader had to say, everyone was made abundantly clear of how few options they actually had...


    In the end, they bit their lips until sparkly blood drizzled down their chins. Then, with reluctancy in their voices, they muttered, "If this is the only way¡­ We will go through with your n, My Lord."


    After hearing the semi-positive responses of everyone in the Cosmical Dimension, a small starry smile formed on the face of the Starry Expanse''s Leader. After which, he nodded his head and said, "We head out right away-"


    CRACKA¡ªBOOUUOOOM!


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    In repeated session, eyes widened in surprise. However, before anyone could quantify the situation, trillions of tiny existences appeared in the Cosmical Dimension. Then, with the help of High-Universal-Rank Weapons, the tiny Devils drilled into the enormous bodies of the strongest people in the Starry Expanse!


    Like ants armed with the hottest of butter knives, they cut down the elephants using nothing but their will for more loot!


    "Loot!!"


    The tiny existences erupted with exponentially greater power, piercing straight through the brain matter of Low-Universal Convergence Realm Cultivators!


    BLING!


    [Ding! You have killed 13 Low-Universal Convergence Realm Cultivators of the Starry Expanse. The reward is 14 Trillion Gctic Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have obtained 14 Trillion Gctic Power!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has been drastically improved!]


    [Ding! You have automatically converted the loot of all the existences you killed. As a result, your Loot God Nourishment Rate has increased to 46%]


    [Ding! You have received a vast number of Physiques and Traits. Thus, your Singrity Physique and Singrity Trait have reached the absolute peak of X Rank: Level 5. Furthermore, you can begin to transcend the X Rank and reach the XR Rank. All you need to do is fully destroy and assimte the Starry Expanse!]


    [Ding! Due to the maniption of the Laws of Fate involved in the acquisition of loot, you have received 3.5 Billion White Tier Halos as well as 5000 Orange Tier Halos!]


    [Ding! Would you like to convert all your White Tier Halos into Orange Tier Halos?]


    "Yes, feel free to do whatever the hell you want. After all, you were going to do it anyway."


    [Ding! For once, you are actually right, Dear Host!]


    [Ding! 5.2 Billion White Tier Halos have been converted into Orange Tier Halos. Therefore, your total Orange Tier Halo count has surpassed 10,000 and firmly nted itself at 11,234]


    [Ding! Your Cumtive Loot Boost Acquisition Rate has improved to 11.234 Quadrillion%!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has tremendously improved!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has increased into the 2nd Order Low-Universal Convergence Realm (Initial)!]


    .....

 Chapter 315: How About No?

    .....


    As various system notifications rang out in the background, Azmodeus and all his clones worked at utmost capacity in killing absolutely everything in the Cosmical Dimension!


    "Ahhh!!"


    "The Enigma! How did he get in here!?"


    "How did he be so strong in less than a few seconds!? No, it''s those weapons¡­ How are they at the same level as the only High-Universal-Rank Weapon in the Starry Expanse!? There are trillions of them!!"


    "This must be a nightmare¡­ Surely¡­ Ahhh!"


    20 Low-Universal Realm Cultivators¡­ 50¡­ 70¡­ 150¡­ 390¡­ 1500¡­ 9000¡­


    Toward the end of an utterly one-sided massacre, more than 25 thousand Low-Universal Convergence Realm Cultivators died under the hands of Azmodeus!


    However, even with such casualties, not even a tenth of the total Low-Universal Convergence Realm Cultivators had died¡­


    "Why are you here!? You shouldn''t be here!!! You can''t be here!!"


    Delirious shouts echoed out in the Cosmical Dimension as Universal Realm experts sted through the void, attempting to thwart the savage massacres of their brethren!


    SHING! SHING!


    But in the end, no matter how much power they expended, nothing was enough to ovee the tiny existences drilling their way through their bodies!


    With every passing nanosecond, another thousand Low-Universal Convergence Realm Cultivators died. And by the time that a full second vanished, more than 150 thousand Low-Universal Convergence Realm Experts were assimted into the Crimson Devil!


    Standing in the void, surrounded by numerous giant corpses, a crimson-haired man with a devilish face reveled in the fountains of blood spraying down on him from up above. As ecstacy overtook his facial features, he watched as an uncountable number of system notifications bombarded him from all directions.


    When there was only the struggling Starry Expanse Leader still left alive in the Cosmical Dimension, Azmodeus decided to appraise arge chunk of the pop-ups.


    BLING!


    [Ding! You have killed 200,000+ Low-Universal Convergence Realm Cultivators of the Starry Expanse. With their cultivation ranging from the 1st Order to the 3rd Order, the amount of GEE per kill varies.]


    [Ding! After all Loot Boost Acquisition Rates have been applied, your total Gctic Evolution Essence amount hase out to 50 Quintillion Gctic Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! With your Battle Power having long since achieved the Universal Realm, your Gctic Evolution Essence has been automatically converted into a higher level ''Universal Evolution Essence'']


    [Ding! Every 100 Quintillion Gctic Evolution Essence is worth 1 point of Universal Evolution Essence. Therefore, you have received 0.5 Universal Evolution Essence, or (0.5 UEE) for abbreviation.]


    [Ding! Gctic Power has been automatically converted in the same manner!]


    [Ding! You have obtained 0.5 Universal Power and contain within your fists the power of half a Universe!]


    [Ding! You have received countless high-level Physiques and Traits. As a result, your Singrity Physique and Singrity Trait have stacked even more exp in X Rank: Level 5.]


    [Ding! All your Loot has been automatically converted. As a result, your Loot God Nourishment Rate has increased to ''49.9%''!]


    [Ding! In order to progress into the 50% mark, you will need to kill the Leader of the Starry Expanse, and you will have to assimte the Starry Expanse into your existence!]


    [Ding! Due to the defiance of the Laws of Fate that dictate all existence, you have received a great amount of loot-affecting items!]


    [Ding! You have received 1 Quadrillion White Tier Halos and 2 Billion Orange Tier Loot Halos!]


    [Ding! You can convert 1 Quadrillion White Tier Halos into a Green Tier Loot Halo. And furthermore, you can also convert 1 Billion Orange Tier Loot Halos into a single Green Tier Loot Halo.]


    [Ding! Naturally, the benefits of a Green Tier Loot Halo will far outweigh those of both Orange and White Tier Loot Halos!]


    [Ding! You said yes!? Very well! Converting all Loot Halos right away!]


    "I love how this system just does whatever the hell it wants¡­ Great¡­"


    Even though Azmodeus was a little annoyed by the system, he knew that it would never do anything to reduce loot margins. So, in the end, he let it be.


    After all, nothing besides loot truly mattered to him¡­


    BLING!


    [Ding! All of your current Loot Halos have allowed you to obtain a total of three Green Tier Loot Halos. Therefore, your current Loot Boost Percentage Rate has been increased to ''3,000,000,000,000,000,000,000'' or ''3 Sextillion%'' inyman''s terms.]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has improved by leaps and bounds!]


    [Ding! Host, make sure you kill the Starry Expanse Leader and assimte the Starry Expanse! Don''t fuck this up!]


    "..."


    Conveniently ignoring thest littlement made by the system, Azmodeus returned his attention to the starry man currently being bombarded by his various clones.


    FWIP!


    Blink-stepping over to his location, Azmodeus said, "Sup, big boss. You are the one who rules over these parts, huh?"


    Attempting to get the countless tiny existences away from his enormous body, the Starry Expanse Leader failed to notice that a version of the Enigma had zipped up to his size.


    "The Enigma¡­ His true body¡­"


    Even though he had a chance of taking the Enigma by surprise and ultimately killing him, there was no way that the Enigma would be stupid enough to sit there and die.


    In the end, he heaved an ancient sigh before asking, "Can you stop attacking me for a second, so we can talk-"


    "How about no?"


    Simple and concise, that was all Azmodeus said before zooming forward at a speed far faster than that of light. Blurry and devilish, his figure appeared in front of the Starry Leader in half an instant. Then, with immense might, he converted Sanguinary into a gauntlet and smashed forth with all hisprehensions in the Scythe Law!


    "???"


    Confused by the seemingly benign attack, the Starry Leader weaved to the side. However, in the spot hended on, yet another version of the Enigma wasying in wait!


    SHING!


    With the sh of a scythe, the Starry Expanse Leader was once again forced to dodge out of the way.


    Even though he could quite easily thwart these attacks with his cultivation base and a High-Universal Rank Weapon, he still felt that there was a chance for peace.


    But with even more versions of Azmodeus spawning from thin air, the Starry Leader quickly came to the understanding that peace was no longer an option. So, with no more holding back, he unleashed the full immensity of his aura!


    .....

 Chapter 316: The Righteous Suffer While The Wicked Prosper

    .....


    OOOM!


    Pushing back all clones in a radius of billions of light years, the Starry Leader''s hair spiked up and changed to a color analogous to that of the wide nket of stars that engulfed the night sky!


    "You are foolish if you believe that killing me is the only option you have! Peace! I gave you the option for peace, but you do not appreciate my generosity! If death is what you so desire, then I will be the first one to kill an Enigma in thest 100 billion Eons!!!"


    WAAA!


    Exploding out with even greater power, the Starry Leader''s aura threatened to consume everything in existence!


    The entirety of the Starry Expanse was thrown into a state of disarray!


    All of the Elden Gods were forced from their deep slumbers, only to see the night sky light on fire¡­


    "Ahh¡­ This is quite the spectacle! Imend you, big boss! You truly know how to put on a good show!" pping his hands, Azmodeus marveled at the pretty colors permeating the entire universe.


    Of course, he was going to die, but there was no harm in appreciating the effort of his opponent. So, like a true gentleman, a smile was stered across his face as he and all his clones were obliterated from the universe!


    CRACKA¡ªBOOOM!


    An ear-deafening explosion rang out in the Starry Expanse as all the remaining Apex existences were alerted of the drastic move made by the Leader of the Starry Expanse.


    "Is he dead¡­?"


    "The Enigma¡­ Dead?"


    "Should we consider the End as being averted¡­?"


    Various Elden Gods in the Low-Universal Convergence Realm discussed among themselves.


    Pondering the authenticity of the Enigma''s death, their minds hoped that the End was thwarted.


    But deep down, they knew.


    They knew there was no way to prevent the End¡­


    And just as they expected, the Enigma came back in full force, possessing strength even greater than before!


    shing around with Sanguinary and Excalibur, Azmodeus and all his clones shed with the massive starry god in the depths of the void.


    Crackling and nging, strikes bounced off, and some hit.


    Many clones died, and time ceaselessly passed.


    In the midst of their intense battle, Azmodeus had a breakthrough into the Low-Gctic Traverser Realm. Then, without respite, his cultivation made another jump into the 2nd Order Low-Gctic Realm!


    In less time than it took to finish a shopping trip with your grandmother, Azmodeus blitzed his way all the way to the peak of the 2nd Order Low-Gctic Traverser Realm!


    With his Battle Power now in the 3rd Order Low-Universal Realm, he was inching ever closer to the power level of the Starry Expanse Leader¡­


    Realizing this daunting fact, the Starry Leader no longer pulled his punches.


    Sending everything he had at the Enigma, he attempted to defy fate!


    He wished to do the impossible!


    But unfortunately for him, he was neither the protagonist nor the max lvl Sigma¡­


    -


    SHING! SHING!


    Under the onught of trillions of attacks at the peak of the Half-Step High-Universal Realm, the Starry Expanse Leader had his arms and legs diced up into countless tiny meat chunks!


    Whooom¡ª!


    With the after-winds of the powerful attacks still passing through to the other side of his body, he felt the brunt force of the exponential strength of an Enigma¡­


    One bound to the Path of Infinity¡ªone who would surpass everything that was anything.


    Floating through the void of space with a leak in his life force, the Starry Expanse Leaderprehended another universal truth¡­


    "The righteous suffer while the wicked prosper¡­ So this is what it''s like to be on the losing side of things¡­"


    Since young, the Starry Expanse Leader was the hope of his father, an Immortal from the Immortal Realm. However, upon seeing just how little talent he was capable of disying, his father banished him to a High-Mortal Realm.


    Never meant to view the rays of the Immortal Realm again, he grew content with his status as the ruler of a Seventh Layered ne of Infinity.


    But with such lofty status, he also started to secretly yearn for more¡­


    The love and attention of his father¡ªthat was all he ever wanted.


    But up until the very end, the Starry Expanse Leader was not able to receive the affection that he so badly desired¡­


    SHING!


    With despair stered across his face, the Starry Expanse Leader had all aspects of his existence split into halves.


    Through the usage of the ultimate version of |Atomic sh|, the person known as Mo Zhang was no more.


    In ce of his life, a number of system notifications rammed into the area directly perpendicr to Azmodeus''s vision.


    "Yo¡­ Can you not blind me every time this happens??"


    [Ding! No can do, host! After all, where would be the fun in doing that?]


    The system''s response was instantaneous, and Azmodeus''s annoyance came just as fast.


    But in the end, he was far too obsessed with loot to bother with that dickhead system of his. So, while thinking about the kind system that he used to have, he perused his system notifications.


    BLING!


    [Ding! You have killed the Leader of the Starry Expanse (about damn time). The reward for this okayish aplishment is 5 Universal Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! Your Evolution Essence Bank has increased to ''5.5 Universal Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have obtained 4.5 Universal Power. In other words, you now have the strength of ~5 universes!]


    [Ding! You have automatically converted the loot of the High-Universal Realm Starry Expanse Leader!]


    [Ding! As soon as you Assimte the Starry Expanse, you can surpass the 50% point for your Loot God Nourishment Rate! (PS, this is your Q to get it done right away! Loves you!)]


    "Well¡­ You''re still a dickhead." Silently flipping off the system interface, Azmodeus continued to nce at the other pop-ups.


    BLING!


    [Ding! You have received arge number of Traits and Physiques, including those in the High-Universal Rank!]


    [Ding! As a result of all the Physiques and Traits you received, your Singrity Physique and Singrity Trait have obtained even more exp!]


    [Ding! Due to the alterations made against the Law of Fate, you have obtained arge number of Loot Halos, ranging from the White Tier to the Green Tier!]


    [Ding! After automatic conversions, killing the Starry Expanse Leader has granted you 25 Green Tier Loot Halos![


    [Ding! Your total Loot Boost Acquisition Rate has increased to ''25 Sextillion%'']


    ...¡­

 Chapter 317: Lightning Is The Only Way!

    ...¡­


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has tremendously improved!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has achieved the very epitome of the Half-Step High-Universal Realm!]


    [Ding! Due to the efforts of your other half, your cultivation has increased during the time that you have been looking through your system notifications!]


    WAAA!


    [Ding! Your cultivation has broken through to the Half-Step High-Gctic Realm!]


    Following all of the most recent system notifications, Azmodeus took some time to appraise the current situation of the Starry Expanse.


    "Even though the entire ce has been prated like a whore on Christmas, there is still a lot more loot to be had. So, to make things simple, why don''t I just go Atomic- Just kidding¡­ lol." Shaking his head at the naivety of some people, he decided to try something else this time around.


    ''Thest few map areas, I kinda just went supernova and called it too easy, gg''s. But this round, I think I will use something a little different¡­''


    ''Atomic sh, was it?''


    Getting into a shing stance, Azmodeus bent his legs back and held onto the handle of Excalibur in katana form.


    Gathering up all the energy he had inside his Dantian Space, he directed it all toward the very tip of Excalibur. Then, after umting every High-Star Law, his Singrity Physique, Singrity Trait, and Scythe sh into this move, he positioned his body even lower than before.


    OUNG¡ª


    Feeling the essence of the void that encapsted the Starry Expanse, Azmodeus let out a couple cold breaths of air. Then, as quick as a sh of lightning, he unsheathed Excalibur and shed out at the Elden God''s and the Starry Expanse!


    SLASH¡ª¡ª¡ªSHING! SHING! SHING!


    When the sh made contact with the void, it split up into an untold number of individual slices. Then, without the slightest ounce of resistance, the Starry Expanse was cleaved in two!


    From an outside perspective, the Starry Expanse was like a bright, constantly shing cloud of stars. And then, out of nowhere, the cloud was bisected!


    Leaving both halves to crackle and spasm, the sword sh relentlessly continued its advance, even while in the infinite void outside the Starry Expanse.


    It was only after the sword arc dispersed that Azmodeus received the opportunity to appraise the damage.


    One might believe that something like this actually had the chance of satisfying him¡ª!


    "Not enough¡­ Not right¡­" Getting back into the same shing position, Azmodeus repeatedly mumbled how it wasn''t good enough.


    "It was supposed to be diced up into countless tiny pieces! But instead of such a dope-ass result, this weak sauce disy is what I get!?"


    Extremely unsatisfied with the first |Atomic sh|, he sent out a second one!


    SLASH¡ª¡ª!!


    This time, the Starry Expanse was further split into dozens of different pieces, killing off thousands of Elden Gods.


    However, it still wasn''t enough!


    "Need to be faster and stronger!" Sheathing and unsheathing Excalibur once more, Azmodeus put his 1000% into this strike!


    CRACKA¡ªBOOOMALA¡ªSHING¡ª¡ª!!!


    The Starry Expanse violently shook beforeing apart at the seams. After which, it split into hundreds of thousands of void chunks!


    But once again¡­


    "Not Enough!!! Just need to be faster!!!"


    WAAA!


    Forcibly breaking through to the 1st Order High-Gctic Realm, Azmodeus had his Battle Power rocket right up to the peak of a 1st Order High-Universal King!


    "Lightning is the only way!!!"


    With the quickness of the fastest streaks of lightning, Azmodeus went Beyond Plus Ultra!


    Unlike the strikes that came before, this one arrived and was delivered silently. But in spite of its discreteness, the end result could only be described as something truly catastrophic¡­


    Just as Azmodeus wanted it to be, the Starry Expanse was split up so many times that even an atom wasrger than a piece of the Seventh Layered ne of Infinity!


    Of course, even with such immense destruction, he made sure to leave the Core of the Infinity ne untouched.


    "Hmm¡­" Staring out at the empty higher-level void outside the Starry Expanse, Azmodeus couldn''t help but utter, "Noice." After which, he gathered up the remaining traces of the Starry Expanse and absorbed it into his cultivation.


    WAAA!


    Advancing his cultivation to the peak of the 1st Order High-Gctic Realm, Azmodeus also took this chance to snatch up the remaining Infinity Cores that he needed.


    Thereafter, he watched as the system notifications quite literally hit him in the face.


    BLING!


    [Ding! You havepletely destroyed and assimted the Seventh Layered ne of Infinity, the Starry Expanse. The reward is 95 Universal Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have obtained 91 Universal Power, meaning that within your fists, you now contain the strength of ~97 Universes!]


    [Ding! After erasing the lives of countless existences ranging from the Mortal Realm to the High-Universal Realm, you have received arge number of Physiques and Traits!]


    [Ding! Your Singrity Physique and Singrity Trait have had their shackles broken, meaning that they have both advanced into the XR Rank! Furthermore, they have jumped straight to Level 2 of the XR Rank!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has tremendously improved!]


    [Ding! You have automatically converted the loot of all the existences you killed. As a result of this and the Loot Essence you already had in the backlog, your Loot God Nourishment Rate has advanced to ''58.5%''.]


    [Ding! You have sessfully fulfilled the requirements necessary to activate your next Loot God Racial Trait!]


    "Wait, not again¡­-"


    [Ding! The host does not need to worry about going unconscious this time around, lol. As opposed to thest time, only a single thing will be changed about your existence!]


    [Ding! You have received the ''Automatic Cultivation Acquisition'' Loot God Racial Trait. This trait will allow you to permanently assimte the cultivation bases of anyone or anything you kill!]


    [Ding! If before it was random and didn''t always activate, then now it has be a permanent and vital part of your existence!]


    [Ding! This has already been used on all the existences you erased in the Starry Expanse. Therefore, your cultivation has made yet anotherrge jump, reaching the |2nd Order High-Gctic (Early) Realm|]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has improved by leaps and bounds, permitting you to pass over into the |2nd Order High-Universal (Initial) Realm|]


    [Ding! Due to the various alterations made to the Laws that dictate all Loot, you have received arge number of Loot Halos, ranging from the White Tier to the Green Tier!]


    [Ding! After automatic conversion, you have sessfully obtained 5,000 Green Tier Loot Halos!]


    [Ding! Your Loot Boost Acquisition Rate has been improved to ''5 Septillion%''!!]


    "Ahh¡­ Umu?"


    Looking over the numerous system notifications, Azmodeus realized that things had worked out quite well in his favor. After all, with ''Automatic Cultivation Assimtion'', he would no longer have to worry about sparing even the trace parts of a loot bag''s existence.


    "Well, with this in my arsenal and a Battle Power in the 2nd Order High-Universal Realm, I have all that I need to begin traversing the great expanse of void beyond this tiny ce."


    Staring out at the all-epassing void around him, Azmodeus couldn''t help but expect the delicious loot that hid around every corner and crevice!


    FWIP!


    With his figure vanishing from its spot, he and all his clones darted through the boundless void.


    Aiming to find any signs of life, they split up and scoured everything in sight.


    .....

 Chapter 318: Immortals, Immortal Funnel

    ****


    Meanwhile, in a fairy-likend located in a mystical ce beyond the stars, an immortal sat underneath a raging waterfall.


    Listening to the vibrant sounds of nature that surrounded him, his body looked like it hadn''t moved an inch in countless years.


    However, out of nowhere, both the raging waterfall and a plethora of animal sounds seemed to freeze in time. Then, like a statue suddenly gaining consciousness, the immortal opened his eyes, revealing a gaze that contained the many profundities of a Dao beyond theprehension of a mortal''s insignificant brain.


    "Ho..?"


    With a voice that caused even the atmosphere to bend and mold into its sound waves, he got up off the ground. He then stared at a space below him.


    Seemingly searching around for something and finding nothing useful, his expression morphed into a contemtive one. "It does appear that another Enigma has been born. But this one is beyond even my sight. And for that to be possible¡­" Suddenly, he shot his head in the direction of a floating golden pce that sat perpendicr to his.


    Then, with a slight pull of his body, he appeared above the pce.


    Looking around for a good friend of his, the immortal eventually caught sight of a middle-aged man with an extraordinary appearance. "Ling Chao, perhaps he will know more about this urrence." Phasing to an area right in front of Ling Chao, he waited for his friend to finish the cross-dimensional game of chess that he was ying.


    However, in the midst of his game, Ling Chao said, "Ya know, Fang Ju. The immortal I''mpeting against is the one that beat you in thest Immortal Gathering. And from what I can tell, his skills have definitely improved, haha." Like an aloof immortal, Ling Chao stroked his beard, carefully cing his hands on a gxy-colored board.


    After an amount of time that couldn''t be properly measured by human standards, Ling Chao ultimately came out on top. Swiping his hand, he whisked the dimensional board away from its ce on the table.


    Thereafter, he looked toward the slightly younger Fang Ju. And as if he already knew what his junior hade for, he said, "The Enigma in that particr High-Mortal Realm has a rather special background. In fact, it is partly because of that background that he couldpletely conquer a Seventh Layered ne of Infinity before turning 1 million years old. Jajaja, he is quite the impressive one."


    Despite his senior ying it off as nothing much, Fang Ju knew exactly what this level of talent implied for the ''Eternal Jade Heavens''.


    "If this Enigma is special among his kind, and he has been born under our jurisdiction, does that mean we can use him to progress the Eternal Jade Heaven''s Immortal Realm further into the Immortal Funnel¡­?"


    Hearing Fang Ju''s question, Ling Chao entered a rather profound state. "The Immortal Funnel, eh¡­? Our Immortal Realm has been stuck at the edges of such a construct for too many years to count. Unless this Enigma is something truly exceptional, it is highly unlikely that his existence will alter the course of that trend."


    The Immortal Funnel.


    As the name implies, it was something akin to a funnel. And for the Immortal Realms, it was more like a race track.


    With all Immortal Realms swirling around inside this tunnel, their goals were all the same: to go further and deeper into the Immortal Tunnel.


    No one knew why they wanted to reach the very center of the Immortal Funnel. But what they did know was that their life''s greatest purpose was to make it to the center of the funnel.


    -


    ''To be speaking about the Immortal Funnel, hmm¡­ I guess it could be possible that our position could move a tad bit closer to the depths.''


    ''But there is also a chance that our position could regress because of the existence of a mysterious Enigma.''


    Even Ling Chao was not clear on the exact details of the Enigma in one of the many countless High-Mortal Realms. All he knew was that the Enigma was either rted to a current immortal or an immortal from the past. As for where this immortal resided or what their realm was, Ling Chao waspletely in the dark.


    In the end, he heaved an ancient sigh before saying, "You needn''t bother yourself with this matter, Fang Ju. For it is only within the hands of fate that our destinies are weaved out. And whether that be in resplendence or dimness, the universe will ultimately bnce things into ce."


    "...There you go again, speaking as if you are some Immortal Prophet from the Immortal Confucius Faction." Same as his senior, Fang Ju heaved a sigh. However, it was more because of the personality of his senior brother than the matter involving the Enigma.


    Suddenly recalling something, he lightly shook his head and said, "Say, do you know where the Master is?"


    "The master?" Speaking of that title, Ling Chao felt a shiver crawl down his spine. Then, with a foolish expression, he said, "The master¡­ Maybe he is out and about with another Immortal Fairy from the Immortal Fairy Realm? Who really knows, hah!"


    "..."


    Listening to the ridiculous yet usible response made by his senior brother, Fang Ju sighed for what felt like the tenth time in the past 1 trillion eons.


    "That master of ours is the ruler of an entire Immortal Realm, and yet he conducts himself in such a manner¡­ Does he truly not have any shame?"


    Feeling that he had already been away from his cultivation for far too long, Fang Ju quickly returned to his Floating Pce. Forgetting about the peculiar matter with the Enigma, he instead focused on his immortal cultivation.


    As his junior brother acted as industrious as ever, Ling Chao''s face suddenly darkened. Then, with a sling of his golden-lined sleeves, he attempted to find any trace of the Enigma''s presence in the High-Mortal Realm termed ''Mortal''s Cavern''.


    However, even after searching for a few minutes, nothing was found¡­


    "It would appear that the Enigma has already surpassed the limits of the High-Universal Realm and has ascended into Hell''s Paradise. At his current rate of progression, he will soon ascend to the Immortal Realm as well. And if that happens¡­" An evil smirk crept up Ling Chao''s face as he knew just how to make use of this unknown variable.


    With an Evil Cultivator disguised as a Righteous Cultivator and his hand having many parts to y in the future advancement of the Enigma, said Enigma was currently¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 319: Hells Paradise

    ...¡­


    "Lost¡­ Why does this always happen to kind and noble people like me¡­?"


    Wandering around in a blood-rednd, Azmodeus was like a lost puppy dog. Looking in one direction and then the next, only to find out that he was lost as fuck no matter which direction he looked!


    Crackita!


    An eerie bone-cracking sound echoed out from behind Azmodeus. Therefore, of course he had to look at what interrupted his very intense thoughts.


    Upon seeing a skeleton-like soldier in beaten-up armor bumrush him, he sighed a little before saying, "Just another one of you weirdos? Why are there so many of you around here¡­ In fact, where the hell am I anyway? I broke through into the Low-Multiversal Realm for Battle Power, and then I find myself in some crimson graveyard with dead people that randomlye to life??"


    While wondering just how the hell he wound up in such a debacle, one of his fingers flicked a little. After which, the skeleton had its existence erased from the face of the world.


    BOOOOM!


    Watching as the finger flick''s residual force created a massive tunnel-shaped crater in the ground, Azmodeus found it weird that there were so many High-Universal Realm skeletons in this ce.


    "Even in the boundless void outside the Starry Expanse, High-Universal Realm loot bags were few and far between. Which was also why it took more than 2 hours in order to reach the Low-Multiversal Realm..."


    Bemoaning the ''slow'' speed at which he progressed his cultivation, Azmodeus noticed some more bone cracking in the vicinity.


    "Holy shit! Do you guys not have a life or something!? Why do you keep bothering me??"


    Even though the loot they gave him was quite nice, he was still annoyed that he couldn''t think properly with them in his presence.


    SHING! SHING! SHING!


    After shooting out countless |Sword sh| attacks, Azmodeus watched as thousands of system notifications bombarded his vision.


    Once again, he was not allowed to think about where he ended up¡­


    Ultimately deciding to just go with the flow and reap some free loot, Azmodeus moved further into the bloody world.


    With more and more sword shes being unleashed, even greater numbers of system notifications were transmitted to him.


    Taking a quick second to look over them, he also made sure to use his other hand in order to ward off all the loot bags just wishing for death!


    BLING!


    [Ding! You have killed 10,000+ Low-Level Immortal Demonspawn. The reward is 15 million Universal Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have obtained 14.5 million Universal Power! Which is to say that you now contain within your fists the strength of 14.5 million Universes plus what you already had!]


    [Ding! You have received arge number of Physiques and Traits from the army of the undead. As a result, this has caused your Singrity Physique and Singrity Trait to advance into Level 3 of the XR Rank!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has drastically improved!]


    [Ding! You have automatically converted the loot of all the low-level Immortal Demonspawn. Therefore, your Loot God Nourishment Rate has increased to 65.7%!]


    [Ding! Due to the active alterations taken against the Laws that dictate loot, you have obtained arge number of Loot Halos, ranging from the White Tier to the Green Tier!]


    [Ding! After automatic conversions, you have obtained 1.3 million Green Tier Loot Halos!]


    [Ding! Would you like to use up 1 million Green Tier Loot Halos in order to create a single Yellow Tier Loot Halo?]


    "Umu? Well, I guess so¡­"


    [Ding! After creating your very first Yellow Tier Loot Halo, your Loot Boost Acquisition Rate has been improved by leaps and bounds!]


    [Ding! Since the exact percentile has grown toorge, the Loot Boost Acquisition Rate indicator will be measured in terms of scientific notation!]


    [Ding! Your Total Loot Boost Acquisition Rate has improved to a grand ''100?2%!]


    "100% to the power of 42? That sounds wayrger than whatever it was before¡­ Hmm¡­ So, if I like, hit a low-level Immortal Demonspawn; just how much loot will I obtain?"


    Testing out his theory at once, Azmodeus leapt up off the ground.


    Standing in mid-air a few thousand meters away from the surface, he patiently waited for one of the corpses to move.


    Crackity!


    After seeing a slightlyrger bony corpse make that same eerie sound, Azmodeus plummeted toward the earth like a meteor!


    BOOOOOM!


    In less than an instant, that High-Universal Realm Immortal Demonspawn died. And along with its death, there came some system notifications and a massive increase in strength!


    WAAA!


    In the instant that the Low-Level Immortal Demonspawn met its demise, Azmodeus''s cultivation rocketed straight up to the 3rd Order Low-Universal Realm, passing over minor realms as easily as that!


    With the formation of a veryrge universe inside his Dantian Space, his cultivation breakthrough was deemed a great sess!


    "Well, hot shit! My cultivation directly achieved the peak of the 3rd Order Low-Universal Realm, and my Battle Power has firmly nted itself inside the 2nd Order Low-Multiversal Realm!"


    Without ever having even met another Low-Multiversal Realm Cultivator, Azmodeus had already achieved a Battle Power well into the 2nd Order of said realm¡­


    He was a freak of nature.


    And with the Yellow Tier Loot Halos, he would only be exponentially more freakish¡­


    "Hmm¡­ If I continue progressing at this rate, I wonder if I will ascend to immortality pretty soon¡­? I mean, probably not, right?"


    Sweating from his forehead, Azmodeus genuinely started to be concerned with how fast he was advancing¡­ One second, he was constant, and the next second, he became a million times stronger than he just was¡­


    "That can''t possibly be normal¡­ But, well, I do love loot, so I think I will just overlook it. Yep, yep, Umu!"


    Figuring that such breakthroughs would only benefit him, he got into a lotus position and started to solidify his cultivation foundation.


    However, within less than a second of having his other halfmence the solidification, it was already done and over with¡­


    "Ahh¡­ Have I be too OP¡­?" Looking down at hisrge hands, Azmodeus couldn''t help but think of himself as a serious freak-


    RAGHHHHH!!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 320: Rampaging Through Hells Paradise

    ...¡­


    RAGHHHHH!!


    Out of nowhere, an ear-deafening demonic roar reverberated throughout time and space, reaching the ears of the Loot Goblin within an instant!


    "Ho? Is that a big loot bag, I hear?" Looking toward the source of the roar with a greedy gleam in his blood red gaze, Azmodeus noticed a small red blip out of the corner of his eye.


    "Is it fighting those low-level Immortal Demonspawn or something?" Taking a closer look with enhanced zoom vision, he realized that there was indeed arger demon-like monster fighting arge group of the low-level Immortal Demonspawn.


    However, contrary to what he first believed, the demon was not fighting, but rather, it was devouring the low-level Immortal Demonspawn.


    "Wha!? Why is it eating straight bones and rotted corpses!? The fuck!? Is this thing really that hungry!?"


    Observing the demon''s appearance, it was over 1000 meters in height and had huge bat-like wings. As it was red in color with long, spiraling ck horns, it definitely fit the bill of a mindless demonic monster.


    "Well, no matter. Even if it has gone insane, it will still be loot in the end."


    Putting his thoughts into action, Azmodeus leapt from the ground, causing cracks to spread in a spiderweb shape.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Multiple sonic booms sted out in the dark red night sky as a crimson devil zed right toward a different type of devil!


    "!?!?"


    Noticing a small gnat from the corner of its massive slitted eyes, the demon jumped away from the various low-level Immortal Demonspawn. After which, it pped its wings and took off into the wind!


    Upon reaching a sufficient distance in the sky, a dark red miasma leaked out of its mouth. Slightly glowing and sure as hell lethal, the miasma steadily increased in intensity. Until finally, the demon''s throat expanded and the miasma congrated before sting out of the demon''s throat in the form of a beam of death!


    WHAZOOOOOM!


    Blitzing through the sky, the blood-red beam of miasma ultimately hit its target. And without waiting for the death to be confirmed, the demon lunged forth at a speed that made it look like a blur of devilish light!


    Prating its own beam of miasma, the demon tunneled through it before emerging where the target should be. Then, with all the strength in its mighty ws, it shed down at the tiny spec!


    SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!


    Not one, not two, but thousands of w shes were unleashed on the far tinier crimson devil!


    By the end of this long beat-down session, the demon assumed that its prey was dead. Therefore, it stopped its barrage of immensely powerful attacks and went to grab at the strong food for which it could consume-


    SHING!


    The moment the demon''s hand approached its prey, the hand as well as the arm had a spiraling line of blood unravel across it. Then, without warning, the spiraling blood line caused the entire arm to explode in a firework of blood and bones!


    RARGHHHH!!!


    The demon bellowed out in pain, quickly retreating from the scene. However, the moment it fled, its life and death had already been decided¡­


    SHING! SHING!


    An untold number of those blood lines emerged on the rest of the massive demon''s body. Then, with a crisp shinging sound, its body was diced up into a countless number of meat chunks!


    Leaving the speed stream andnding on the ground, Azmodeus looked at his system interface while feeling the blood rain drench him.


    BLING!


    [Ding! You have killed a mid-level Immortal Demonspawn in the 1st Order Low-Multiversal Realm. The reward is 500 Quindecillion Universal Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have obtained 480 Quindecillion Universal Power!]


    [Ding! You have received arge number of Physiques and Traits. After going through Loot Boost Acquisition multipliers, that number has been further increased!]


    [Ding! Your Singrity Physique and Singrity Trait have improved to Level 5 of the XR Rank!]


    [Ding! Kill a high-level Immortal Demonspawn in the 3rd Order Low-Multiversal Realm in order to advance your Singrity Physique and Singrity Trait into the ''UR Rank''!]


    [Ding! You have automatically converted the loot and cultivation base of the high-level Immortal Demonspawn!]


    [Ding! Your Loot God Nourishment Rate has increased to ''85.6%'' after Loot Acquisition Boosts have been applied!]


    [Ding! Following the application of Loot Boost Acquisition Rates, your cultivation has increased by insane amounts!]


    [Ding! Breaking through!]


    [Ding! Breaking through!]


    [Ding! Your cultivation has advanced into the 2nd Order High-Universal Realm!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has drastically increased!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has improved to the ''3rd Order Low-Multiversal Realm (absolute peak)'']


    [Ding! Due to the alterations of thews that govern loot, you have received arge number of Loot Halos, ranging from the White Tier to the Yellow Tier!]


    [Ding! After automatic conversions and loot boosts, you have obtained 500,000,000 Yellow Tier Loot Halos!]


    [Ding! Your Loot Boost Acquisition Rate has improved by massive amounts!]


    [Ding! You need 100 Septillion Yellow Tier Loot Halos if you wish to merge for the next Tier of Loot Halo!]


    [Ding! Your Loot Boost Acquisition Rate has reached ''100??%]


    Watching thest of the system notificationse in, Azmodeus figured it was time to finally admit something¡­


    "I''ve be too OP¡­" Feeling the power coursing through his veins, he could no longer deny the fact of the matter.


    He had be too OP!


    ''The Infinite Evolution System Made Me Too OP!''


    Even though that was how Azmodeus felt about the subject, he still sent out his Primordial Essence Clones and Mirror Mirages. After all, there was more loot to be had!


    Inside his Dantian Space, more than 100 million Universes were swirling around in circr motion. And from two seconds ago, there was no more than a single universe¡­


    The power contained with his fists as opposed to a couple seconds ago, well, the difference was astronomical¡­


    But was this good enough for Azmodeus?


    Of course f*cking not!!!


    With unrelenting movements, he and all his clones scoured Hell''s Paradise, killing any and all low-level, mid-level, and high-level Immortal Demonspawn!


    Azmodeus was on the verge of achieving a Battle Power in the High-Multiversal Realm and his cultivation had already passed into the 3rd Order High-Universal Realm!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 321: The Shiny Clowns!

    ...¡­


    Before long, the infamy of the Crimson Devil spread throughout the innumerable amount of miles that encapsted Hell''s Paradise.


    Eventually, it reached the ears of the Immortal Demon Vanquishing Forces.


    The Immortal Demon Vanquishing Force was a group of powerful cultivators that could be considered the ancestors of the people who lived in the High-Mortal Realm, ''Mortal''s Cave''.


    Upon reaching what they believed to be their absolute peak, they forcefully ascended into the ''Halfway Immortal Realm'' known as ''Hell''s Paradise''.


    It was in this ne of existence rife with death and destruction that they honed their skills, attempting to make a breakthrough that they believed to be impossible.


    With their lifespans bordering on infinity, they quite literally had all the time in the world to make a breakthrough.


    However, only a few among billions of Multiversal Realm Experts actually made a breakthrough. Whereas the rest of them were forced to fight off the unlimited number of Immortal Demonspawn in Hell''s Paradise¡­


    -----


    Immortal Demonspawn and Hell''s Paradise.


    It was said that before time immemorial, Hell''s Paradise was filled to brim with life, vibrant mountains, lush forests, and an overall fairy-like atmosphere. But with evil consuming the hearts of all living beings, the Immortal Demonspawn came to be¡­


    Corrupting the world and spreading the gue, the Immortal Demonspawn multiplied and conquered every inch of life.


    Like a zombie virus drug on steroids, countless trillions of ''Half-Immortals'' had their cultivations reduced to the Multiversal Realm. Then, like zombies, they infected everything in sight.


    Even the very world itself was reduced from a ''Pseudo-Immortal Realm'' to an abomination that sat underneath no correct ranking system¡­


    -----


    ''Ahhh¡­ So that is the gist of the situation here¡­''


    Spurt!


    Pulling his erged scythe out of the head of a highest-level Immortal Demonspawn, Azmodeus obtained all the memories he needed to operate around Hell''s Paradise.


    "That Immortal Demonspawn possessed quite a bit of intelligence. Although it was only to the level where it was useful if someone else absorbed them, it was still better than the rest of those weaklings."


    Casually sitting atop an insurmountable mountain of demon corpses, Azmodeus wondered if that grandiose demon he just killed was quite powerful when he was still a Half-Immortal.


    "I mean, it only makes sense that he was extremely strong when he wasn''t so mindless¡­ It''s truly too bad that I couldn''t convert his old self into a loot bag¡­"


    Heaving an exasperated sigh, he caught a nce at the iing system notifications.


    BLING!


    [Ding! You have killed millions of Immortal Demonspawn, ranging from the High-Universal Realm to the 3rd Order Low-Multiversal Realm!]


    [Ding! You have killed a highest-level Immortal Demonspawn that was in the 1st Order High-Multiversal Realm. The reward is toorge to quantify; thus, your Evolution Essence has been converted into a higher form!]


    [Ding! You have obtained 1.3 Multiversal Evolution Essence for killing the various lower level Immortal Demonspawn!]


    [Ding! You have obtained 5.5 Multiversal Evolution Essence for killing the highest-level Immortal Demonspawn!]


    [Ding! You have obtained 6.1 Multiversal Power from thebined loot of all your kills!]


    WAAA!


    Feeling a wave of power wash over his body, Azmodeus nodded his head before looking over the rest of the system notifications.


    BLING!


    [Ding! You have received arge number of Physiques and Traits, ranging from the Low-Gctic Rank to the High-Multiversal Rank!]


    [Ding! Your Singrity Physique and Singrity Trait have improved to Level 2 of the UR Rank


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has tremendously improved!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has improved to the ''1st Order High-Multiversal Realm (peak)]


    [Ding! You have automatically converted both the loot and the cultivation of the existences you have killed!]


    [Ding! Your Loot God Nourishment Rate has increased to ''96.5%'' and your cultivation has taken a leap to the ''Half-Step Low-Multiversal Realm (absolute peak)'']


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has improved by leaps and bounds!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has increased to the ''1st Order High-Multiversal Realm (absolute peak)'']


    [Ding! Due to the alterations of the fate that dictates the Law of Loot, you have received arge number of Loot Halos, ranging from the White Tier to the Yellow Tier!]


    [Ding! After automatic conversions and Loot Boost Acquisition Boosts, you havebined all your Loot Halos ande out with 1.5 Sextillion Yellow Tier Loot Halos!]


    [Ding! Your Loot Boost Acquisition Rate has improved to ''100?3%'']


    After all of the system notifications finished ringing out, Azmodeus looked down at the mountain of bodies he sat atop.


    "It truly is too bad that I can''t absorb their cultivation bases twice¡­"


    With the system already doing it for him, that meant his normal demonic assimtion techniques were no longer necessary.


    Aftermenting over this fact for a second, he noticed a few shiny dots approaching him from the distance.


    "Hmm¡­ Who the hell are those weirdos¡­?"


    Trying to get a better look at the neers, Azmodeus cupped his hands and zoomed in his vision. The moment the quality stabilized, he was immediately able to see that these shiny people were not Immortal Demonspawn. Rather, they were humans!


    "Well, it does appear that they are not full humans, as there are some beastkin, hybrids, and the like. But whateves, at least they are better than those weirdos with no intellect."


    Nodding his head in approval, Azmodeus pulled out a cosmically dazzling throne and set it down on the mountain of demon bodies. After which, he patiently waited for the visitors to arrive and greet him.


    When they did finallye into view, they sure as hell gave one hell of a greeting!


    SHING! SHING!


    With two des pointed toward his throat and four other des an inch away from prating his back and stomach, Azmodeus leaned his fist against his chin with an amused glint in his gaze.


    "Don''t you dare move a muscle, demon! If you do, then you will be struck down!" Edging the tip of his sword ever closer to the neck of the extraordinarily handsome demon, the leader''s expression hardened and his grip tightened.


    "Umu? What did I do to you guys? I don''t recall offending a bunch of erm¡­ shiny clowns?"


    Scrutinizing their appearances, Azmodeus didn''t know how else to describe them. After all, their faces were painted with some form of Faction symbol, and their bodies werepletely covered in shiny armor and jewelry.


    "Yep, yep, shiny clowns! As I was saying, I don''t know-"


    SHING!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 322: The 7th Demonstar, Malakar

    ...¡­


    SHING!


    After narrowly dodging the strike of a de with a head swerve, Azmodeus returned his head back to where it just was.


    Feeling the irritation of the leader who missed his beheading attack, Azmodeus said, "Sorry, bro. If I knew it would make you this mad, I would''ve let you cut off a hair strand or something. Haircuts are quite nice every once in a while, umu!" Bobbing his head a little, he stuck his finger in the air, nning to use it to further entuate his point.


    However, the moment his finger gained some airtime, the Captain of the 97th Squadron Demon Vanquishers once again shed out with his longsword.


    SHING!


    This time, the Captain put the full force of the 3rd Order Low-Multiversal Realm into his attack!


    "Ho?" Feeling the immense rage put behind the iing attack, Azmodeus became serious.


    Or not¡­


    Making use of both his extended pointer finger and thumb, he gently grabbed the edge of the immensely powerful de. Watching as the force of the attack was dispersed with ease, he lifted up the de, subsequently causing the Captain to gain some airtime himself.


    "!?!?" "!?!?" "!?!?"


    The rest of the members of the 97th Demon Vanquisher Squadron looked toward their captain, only to see him sh from the sky to the ground!


    BANG!


    With irresistible force, the 97th Demon Vanquisher Captain had his body pulled to the ground. Then, with the smashing of his face into the blood-red dirt, he lost consciousness!


    Looking at the froth leaking from the mouth of their captain, the other 97th Demon Vanquishers attempted to prate the body of the humanoid demon!


    CLANG! CLANG!


    Like metal hitting something far harder and tougher than itself, their des produced a nging sound as they rebounded off the imprable body of the demon. Then, with their arms still iling in the air while recoiling from the impact, the demon blurred from his spot and teleported between all of the 97th Demon Vanquishers.


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    With only a second to realize that they were beyond fucked, their vision blurred before they were knocked unconscious in the same manner as their captain¡­


    "It does appear that a few ostriches have emerged from among the mortal poption¡­ There truly only are a bunch of weirdos in Hell''s Paradise."


    Clicking his tongue at the stupidity of these idiots, Azmodeus picked up their bodies and stacked them all on his shoulder. Then, like the flowing of a feather in the wind, he disappeared from atop the mountain of demon corpses.


    As for where he was heading with the still-alive loot bags? Well, clearly he was going to go toward whichever direction they came from!


    "Always trace things back to their source. This was a lesson bestowed upon me by Master Oogway, umu!"


    Flying through the dark red evening sky like a fleeting shadow, Azmodeus went further and further down the rabbit hole!


    ****


    As Azmodeus was turning into Alice from Alice in Wondend, a certain grouping of demons was happening a few trillion miles north of his location.


    In the center of a crater-riddennd that looked something akin to Mars, a massive demon materialized into view.


    Over 100 miles in height and terrifying as hell, this demon walked thends like he owned the whole damn ce!


    But it was not this demon that was considered one of the most powerful Immortal Demonspawn. Rather, it was the 6''4 tall humanoid demon sitting on top of the giant demon''s head!


    Mkar, ranked 7th among the 12 Demonstars of Hell''s Paradise.


    Able topete with even the founding ancestors of ''Mortal''s Cave'' and the ''Immortal Demon Vanquishers'', Mkar was considered a demon among demons!


    "Tell me, has another Demonstar been born in the outer regions of Hell''s Paradise?" Calmly speaking toward nk air, Mkar waited for a response.


    FWIP!


    Appearing from a secretyer of the void, a semi-humanoid in Butler attire immediately hit the top of the giant demon''s head with a thud.


    "There have been a number of Demon Legions that have gone missing in the outer regions over thest few hours," he said respectfully. "And from what the Intel details, the cause of their deaths did not originate from any mortal techniques. On the contrary, there are even slight traces of demonic energy in the vicinity of every attack."


    Hearing the report put Mkar in a state of deep thought. But after a moment to digest this information, he asked, "Highest cultivation of this ''Potential Demonstar''s'' kills?"


    Pulling out a spreadsheet created from some unknown demonic substance, the High-Multiversal Realm butler demon said, "From the most recent reports, one of your kindred in the 1st Order High-Multiversal Realm has just fallen under the de of this unknown killer."


    Seemingly unresponsive to this information, Mkar said, "If that is the limit of his strength, then have a few of my generals go and get rid of this annoyance. While this is being aplished, I still have a meeting to attend." Turning away from the butler, Mkar suddenly remembered something; thus, he swiveled his head back toward the butler.


    His face morphed from an oddly handsome and refined one to something far more sinister. Then, with killing intent practically erupting from every fiber of his being, he said, "Don''t tell the other Demonstars of the potential Demonstar, and under no circumstances are you allowed to fuck this up. Is that understood¡­?"


    As if his earlier terrifying appearance were all just an illusion, hisplete indifference came back in full and he returned to sipping on a bloody substance.


    Looking out at the rapidly shing scenery as the giant demon traversed the mountains, Mkar was clearly expecting his butler to catch the hint and take a hike.


    Thankfully, the butler was of above-average intelligence. Therefore, he faded back into ayer of the void.


    Thereafter, Mkar was allowed to sit on his mount and meander around in his own thoughts.


    Thoughts.


    For Immortal Demonspawn, it was something utterly dominated by the inherent urge to spread their gue-like curse to all of existence.


    Although those in the 1st Order through Half-Step Half Immortal Realm were able to formte coherent thoughts. In the end, all those thoughts were there just to lead up to the final goal of creating more of their kind and destroying everything in existence.


    Like mental patients with the strength necessary to rule the world, the Demonstars utilized their mental illnesses in order tomand their subordinates to do whatever was necessary to reach the end of... everything...


    ...¡­

 Chapter 323: Joining The Demon Vanquishers...?

    ****


    Meanwhile, back on the side of the Crimson Devil.


    With loot and benefits being the only things on his mind, he weaved in and out of groups of Immortal Demonspawn while making his way toward the origin of the people on his shoulder.


    SHING! SHING!


    SPURT! SPURT!


    While shing and slicing up the bodies of millions of Immortal Demonspawn, Azmodeus''s Battle Power had long since reached the 2nd Order High-Multiversal Realm. And furthermore, his cultivation had progressed into the ''1st Order Low-Multiversal Realm (Early)''.


    All in all, his gains were exponentially increasing, and they were doing so by the second!


    "Hmm¡­"


    Cleaving the bodies of skyscraper-sized demons got Azmodeus to thinking¡­


    "If I were to nuke this entire ne of existence, wouldn''t my gains be kind of insane?"


    SHING!


    SPURT!


    While ripping a massive demon in half, Azmodeus truly started to ponder the benefits of simply saying boom boom to Hell''s Paradise. Upon which, he couldn''t help but wonder just how much strength he would need to aplish such an insane task.


    "Well, I guess I will think about it more when the time arrives for a full loot acquisition bananza. But for now, I seem to have some more shiny clowns in front of me¡­"


    Directly adjacent to Azmodeus were more than 200 armored men and women in and above the 2nd Order Low-Multiversal Realm, with one even being in the 2nd Order High-Multiversal Realm!


    "Yo!" That was all Azmodeus said before tossing over the still-alive bodies of the 97th Demon Vanquishers. "These are yours, aren''t they?"


    Thud!


    Catching the unconscious bodies of fellow Demon Vanquishers, the gathered Experts became extremely confused.


    They were sent out of their respective Demon Vanquisher Factions upon hearing of a potential humanoid Demonstar. And they were expecting a very tough battle to the death!


    But never had they heard of an Immortal Demonspawn sparing the lives of mortals and returning them back to the Demon Vanquishers¡­


    To say the least, this situation was¡­ perplexing¡­


    "Are you really an Immortal Demonspawn Demonstar?" asked one of the Demon Vanquishers.


    "Me?" Pointing at himself in confusion, a small cackle escaped Azmodeus''s mouth as he said, "Now why would you think that? Haha!"


    "..." "..." "..."


    Staring at the devilish man holding his stomach whileughing his ass off, the Demon Vanquishers became even more puzzled.


    ''What is happening right now¡­?''


    Thinking in unison, they had no clue how to go about handling what was urring before them¡­


    Luckily, Azmodeus was there to break the ice as he stopped hisughter and said, "I may not be a demon, but I''m not exactly a human either. You can think of me as an uhmm¡­ like a new race? Oh, and I am new around these parts, so I would appreciate a rundown of this ce and how to get to the higher realms above us. Thanks in advance, fes."


    Sticking his thumb in the air, Azmodeus treated the hundreds of Demon Vanquishers like some old friends¡­


    Whispering to his superior, a 1st Order High-Multiversal Realm Demon Vanquisher said, "Sir, should we still go through with the execution of this demon¡­?"


    "..."


    Focusing his stern gaze on the goofy-looking, crimson-haired man, the superior found not a single threatening quality in his presence. "Maybe we got the wrong person? He seems to be your typical stray ascender and likely came from Mortal''s Cave, the same as all of us."


    "Sir, ording to the data readers, this one is definitely the one that mercilessly killed countless demons across the Outer Expanse. His kill count is even higher than most of us¡­ and we have been here for numerous eons¡­"


    Listening to the discreet report of his subordinate, the superior looked back at the smiling expression of the red-eyed humanoid. "Are you sure¡­?" He asked.


    "Y-Yes, Sir¡­ The reports are 100% correct¡­"


    While nervously sweating from his pores, the subordinate observed the data on the target once again. Seeing that the target''s kill count was even higher than his, his sweating only became more profuse.


    "Hmm¡­" Entering a contemtive state, the superior decided it was time he made his decision. So, without further hesitation, he floated away from the rest of his battalion.


    Approaching the friendly-looking man parallel to him, he started out by saying, "So, tell me, Neer. How would you feel about joining the Demon Vanquishers and killing demons to your heart''s content? And before you ask about the benefits, I will go ahead and tell you that we know the locations of the strongest Immortal Demonspawn and which ones will give you the best fights. On top of that-"


    "Say less, big fe! I will join your little gig!" Suddenly appearing in front of therge, robust frame of the stone-faced Superior, Azmodeus was all smiles.


    As he pped the Superior on the back, Azmodeus appeared to have already be best friends with him¡­


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    Not expecting their leader to offer such a proposal, the other members of the Demon Vanquishers widened their eyes in disbelief. And just as they were about to speak up in disapproval, Azmodeus phased away from the leader and appeared in front of all the apprehensive Demon Vanquishers.


    Out of nowhere, his presence multiplied by a billion, and his demeanor morphed into something otherworldly and evil, but not exactly demonic.


    RUMBLE!


    His mere presence was enough to force the various Demon Vanquishers to their knees; even the 1st Order High-Multiversal Realm Cultivators were unable to resist his might!


    "!?!?"


    The Leader suddenly swiveled his head around and was about to make a move against this confusing man. But upon seeing the little peace sign behind the crimson man''s back, the Leader held back his punches.


    He didn''t mean to toot his own horn, but he believed himself to be quite the perceptive person. And it was with this perceptiveness that he realized the demon-like human was a super battle maniac; thus, he proposed that earlier offer, knowing that he would immediately ept.


    Now, if his perceptiveness didn''t fail him this time around, then the new recruit was clearly trying to make use of the ''intimidation tactic'' in order to get everybody to know their ce.


    ''Hai¡­ I can already foresee the troubles that this recruit will get himself into¡­''


    ...¡­

 Chapter 324: One Big Experiment

    ...¡­


    Patiently waiting for the recruit to finish his disy of strength, the Demon Vanquisher Leader took out amunication talisman and contacted his direct superiors about the matter concerning the ''Potential Demonstar''.


    There was still a chance that the recruit was ying the fool so as to pull the rug out from beneath them. But with the Leader''s ability to read people, he could confidently tell his superiors that such a scenario was unlikely to happen. And even if it did, what could a 2nd Order High-Multiversal Realm Cultivator possibly do against beings half a step away from bing Half-Immortals?


    It was with this information that the Superior received permission to open up the gates of the Demon Vanquisher''s Central Capital.


    Harrowsgate.


    It was thergest city on the side of the Immortal Demon Vanquishers, and it could also be considered thest bastion of all races'', used to defend themselves in their ever-war with the Immortal Demonspawn!


    Upon finishing up the spooking of the numerous Demon Vanquishers, Azmodeus was able to personally enter into this glorious city!


    ''Contrary to the outside world, this ce seems to be under the effects of a wide array of Formation Rune Arrays, and all of them work in conjunction to alter the atmosphere of this ce. Green grass, blue sky, fluffy clouds, and trees for as far as the eye can see. This city is quite remarkable for thest centerpiece of the stand against the Immortal Demonspawn.''


    While appraising the interior infrastructure of Harrowsgate, Azmodeus received a good reading on the approximate technological level of the city.


    ''Around Modern¡­ Maybe just a tad bit futuristic, but still behind the times when stacked up against something like the civilizations in the Starry Expanse. Primitive people are far easier to loot, so this works out quite well, umu!''


    Briefly turning his head behind him, Azmodeus looked at the 200 or so Demon Vanquishers that were trembling in fear while trailing behind him and the Leader.


    "Why are guys still so on edge? Just chill out a little; I won''t eat you or anything like that!"


    While looking at him sh his pearly whites like a shark, the Demon Vanquishers found that very hard to believe¡­


    "Alright, newbie. Stop messing with them like that. They are technically your superiors, so speaking to them in such a manner is especially disrespectful-"


    "Ahh, you are so funny, old dude! But there is no need to worry about me and my buddies back there; I will take care of them and make sure we get along ''real well''."


    Taking cursory nces at his good ol pals, Azmodeus was seemingly telling them not to snitch on anything he may or may not have done or will do!


    Snitches get stitches, and when he was done with them, you sure as hell bet they would be needing stitches!


    Shiver!


    Shuddering at the mere thought of getting on that demon''s bad side, the Immortal Demon Vanquishers kept to themselves. As they continued to travel across the grassy hills of the city''s outeryer, they tried their best to not even so much as look in the demon''s direction.


    It was really only the Superior and Azmodeus talking, focusing around theplexities of Immortal Vanquisher society and how one was supposed to ascend this ne and go to the true Immortal Realm.


    ''So from what I have gathered thus far through the utilization of my unparalleled interrogation technique, Hell''s Paradise is not the only one of such Half-Immortal Realms. And it is also not the only one to have been invaded by the Immortal Demonspawn virus.''


    ''As for what this virus is¡­ well, not many besides the strongest ancestors of this realm would know. After all, right around when the virus started to spread, the Immortal bastards above barred off all ess to their realms. In other words, they left everyone in here and the other Half-Immortal Realms to rot and die¡­''


    ''It''s almost like the Immortal''s treat this ce as if it were one big¡­ experiment¡­?''


    Coming to some rather presumptuous usations, Azmodeus and the Superior resumed their talk, finishing up the conversation with proper etiquette and all that bullsh*t.


    The Superior knew that the new recruit was not taking anything seriously, but it was the same way with all fresh recruits. And with time, everyone eventually adapted and limated to the rules and chain of power.


    Being a battle maniac and murderhobo, Azmodeus was clearly a more unique case. But in the end, he would crack all the same; they always did.


    ¡­


    After a few minutes of travel, Azmodeus checked up on his clones and saw that they were hard at work.


    Inching ever closer to the Middle Stages of the 1st Order Low-Multiversal Realm, the next mountain of Immortal Demonspawn corpses would surely take him over the edge.


    But until that point came around, Azmodeus still had some benefits he needed to work for.


    Why else would he join some corny ass Immortal Demon Vanqusiher clown parade if not for the benefits!?


    Everything was done for the benefits! Every move he made was all to lead up to the benefits and loot that would be acquired!


    Azmodeus couldn''t give two shits about thest bastion of the races battling against the Immortal Demonspawn! And he sure as hell had no fucks to give for their ''noble cause''!


    The only things on his mind were Benefits, Loot, and Power!


    Whether it be when he walked through the grandiose gates of Harrowsgate or even when he met the upper management of the Immortal Demon Vanquishers. Whether in a ''safe'' or ''dangerous'' environment or when he had to back up and appear more passive or show his stuff and be aggressive¡ªeverything was done with benefits as the goal!


    Anything was permissible, and there were no limits to how far Azmodeus was willing to go!


    Betrayal, genocide, murder, death¡ªnone of it made a difference for him!


    It was with this mindset that in less than 4 hours, Azmodeus''s Battle Power achieved the 3rd Order High-Multiversal Realm, and he became a General of his own toon!


    .....

 Chapter 325: A Victory, A Test, A Rank Up

    .....


    Whilemanding around the stupid red clowns to maximize his benefits, Azmodeus''s progress only became faster and faster!


    By the time that he secretly made a breakthrough into the 2nd Order Low-Multiversal Realm, it was already time to fight the generals that Mkar sent out to kill him.


    Invading Harrowsgate and making a mess of the ce, the Demonic Generals ignored the advance of the human generals and focused on only one man!


    BOOM!!!


    SHING! SHING! SHING!


    Taking their battle to the skies, Azmodeus single handedly fought off 5 Demonic Generals of the 3rd Order High-Multiversal Realm, and he did so whileughing like a maniac!


    Perfectly parrying sword, spear, and halberd attacks, Azmodeus was like a God-tier Soul''s game yer!


    As they produced sparks crashing through building after building, a tenth of the massive city was reduced to rubble. And from that rubble, Immortal Demon Vanquisher General Azmodeus came out with 5 heads in his hands!


    HOORAAHH!!


    Cheering him on from down below, the passionate cries of the Demon Vanquishers could be heard from all around!


    The victory of their general was a victory for the people as a whole!


    However, in reality, Azmodeus''s victory really was only his victory¡­


    -


    Step. Step. Step.


    Walking through the confines of the Main Building of the Immortal Demon Vanquisher HQ, Azmodeus made his way toward a set ofrge golden doors. Entering through these doors, he saw an old man with a long white beard and white hair sitting behind a marble desk. In front of this stern old man were five other people on the older side of the spectrum.


    "..." "..." "..."


    Staring at the man who just came into the room, the Demon Vanquisher Admiral and five High-Generals seemed to be trying to peer into his secrets.


    Advancing from a strength in the initial 2nd Order High-Multiversal Realm to the peak of the 3rd Order High-Multiversal Realm in such a short time should be impossible. Therefore, they had alle to the natural assumption that their new general had been hiding his strength.


    Now, why would someone hide their strength from them¡­? That was unless they were a¡­


    "Spy from the Immortal Demonspawn Faction."


    While fiercely ring at the crimson-haired general, a female High-General moved toward his position and released an aura half a step away from the Half-Immortal Realm!


    "Ho?"


    A snarky smirk formed on Azmodeus''s face as his feet sank into the marble ground and his ligaments burst open. But even with such damage being dealt out to him, his excitement only seemed to exponentially bubble up!


    "Although I don''t know why you are targeting me, Miss Feisty, I can tell you that if you take a single step closer to me, I will lob that wrinkled head right off your shoulders."


    Like a bipr oddity, Azmodeus''s smiling expression morphed into something far icier as he fixated his soul-piercing gaze on the old woman in front of him.


    Tap¡­


    Stopping in her tracks, the High-General suddenly realized what she had instinctually done. And just as she was going to snap out of it and bellow out in rage, a deep, gruff voice sounded from behind her, saying:


    "That is enough, Ya Lian. We already have solid evidence that this new general is not an Immortal Demonspawn spy. And though his sudden strength boosts are more than a little odd, that is no reason to treat him like this."


    Waving hisrge, scarred hand, the Admiral recalled his rabid dog. "I''m sorry about her, youngster," he said while rubbing his forehead. "Even though she is older than Mortals Cave, she has never been the best at controlling her emotions."


    "Umu¡­"


    Getting up off the ground and looking at the clearly apologetic Admiral, Azmodeus entered a rather inexplicable state.


    It was only after gauging the various scars and bruised hands of everyone in the room that he said, "Don''t worry about it, uhmm¡­"


    "The name is Admiral Kang. And I am also one of the three leading figures of the Immortal Demonspawn."


    "Ahh, yeah, yeah, I obviously knew that; I was just testing you, old dude. And I can confidently say that you passed the test." Sticking up his thumb with a goofy smile on his face, it was almost like Azmodeus didn''t feel the pain originating from his busted knee caps¡­


    "I see." Admiral Kang had to once again raise his hand, stopping the High-Generals from acting up and embarrassing him even further.


    After which, he took a shiny golden medallion out of his Storage Ring and threw it toward the youngster.


    Piang!


    While catching the medallion, Azmodeus heard Admiral Kang say, "Immortal Demonspawn are not able to go more than an hour without killing other things that aren''t Immortal Demonspawn, and there are no exceptions. Thus, it ispletely impossible that you are an Immortal Demonspawn.


    As for your sudden improvements in strength, well, everybody has their secrets, and none of us n on prying any further on that subject. Isn''t that right, everyone?"


    Flipping his darkened gaze across all five of his High-Generals, Admiral Kang was clearly implying many things with his words. And even though everyone in the room was curious about the strength of the new general, getting too nosy was strictly prohibited in the Demon Vanquisher Faction.


    The High-Generals understood this iron-d rule all too well, which was why they decided to keep quiet and clench their fists in frustration.


    On the other hand, Admiral Kang was all smiles; with a stretched out finger, he said, "That medallion is something that will permit you ess to the secret archives of the Immortal Demon Vanquisher Faction, and it can also be considered a direct rank up in status.


    From now on, you are no longer just a stand-in general, but rather, you have everything that a genuine General has.


    Now, you may be wondering what we get out of letting you, who has not even been here a day, and the truth is that we just want a bigger chance at killing all the Immortal Demonspawn¡­ from the beginning of time up until the present; that has always been our sole and final goal."


    The Admiral''s words put all the High-Generals in a strange state. After all, their entire purpose in this life had be theplete extermination of every living Immortal Demonspawn¡­


    As for Azmodeus''s goals¡­


    .....

 Chapter 326: Quadrillions Of Years

    .....


    ''Heh, these loot bags really are quite interesting. Although I will end up killing all of them before I leave Hell''s Paradise, I can always y along with their little charade for now.''


    With sinister thoughts swirling around inside his head, Azmodeus hid his killing intent beneath a friendly smile. "Ai, this is truly a great honor for one as lowly as myself," he said. "But well, you can now consider this a done deal! I will join your little gang, and we can be the pirate kings- I mean, we will kill all those dirty Immortal Demonspawn bastards!"


    "..." "..."


    The High-Genrals and the Admiral were more than a little taken aback by the entricity of the new general. However, upon realizing that this sort of attitude was just what they needed, Admiral Kang said, "You are free to go, General Azmodeus. And you are free to do as you wish with your new personal army of 10 million.


    We all hope you have luck in further advancing our eternity-long endeavor against the Immortal Demonspawn."


    Bang!


    Using his telekinesis to open up the doors of his office, the Admiral was obviously indicating Azmodeus to go on his merry way. Of course, Azmodeus was not against doing just that. Therefore, he walked through the open doors and heard them close behind him.


    Looking toward the closed doors for a second before returning his gaze back in front of him, Azmodeus started to whistle and walk away with his hands behind his head.


    Seemingly not caring a single bit about the ongoing discussion happening in the Admiral''s office, Azmodeus left the main building before leaving the HQ altogether.


    Thereafter, he made his way toward his ''assigned army.''


    Of course, this entire army was made up of his Mirror Mirages and Primordial Essence Clones. Whereas the acual Demon Vanquishers had, well¡­


    "They''re fucking dead¡­ lol." Musing over that fact, Azmodeus gave all his ''new'' soldiers some orders.


    He had to put on this little y because he was abundantly aware of the ''secret'' people ced around him and his army.


    Watching him at all times, there was no room for slip ups.


    After finishing up the ''speech'' and assignment of all his soldiers, Azmodeus walked away from a makeshift podium and headed back toward the battlefield, ready to kill some more Immortal Demonspawn!


    While Azmodeus''s main body was ceaselessly working away at the grind, his other half put all his effort into the further evolution of the Infinite World.


    With all of the Infinity Cores within his possession, it was time to snap out half of existence-


    ''Err¡­ I mean, it''s time that I max the shit out of this Infinite World,'' he thought. ''Anything less than perfection, and I will consider myself a failure of a god!''


    With his mind set on the task at hand, Azmodeus took out the Core of a 6th Layered ne of Infinity and threw it up into the air. Then, with a bright sh of dazzling resplendence, he watched as the Infinite World underwent a life-changing transformation!


    WAAA!


    Covering the whole world in an effulgent glow, everything was epassed in a spell that sped up time.


    With only one man to watch it all go down in real time, the world looked like nothing more than a blur of rapidly shing memories¡­


    100 billion years... 10 trillion years¡­ 100 trillion years¡­ 1 quadrillion years¡­ 10 quadrillion years¡­


    An absurd amount of time had passed by for both Harkath and all his subjects.


    Eventually, it reached a point where they were no longer ''his subjects''; rather, they were the subjects of the ''Void Monarch''.


    Ascending the Divine Throne and bing the 2nd Absolute Ruler of Pandora, the Void Monarch left his shell as the sma Spirit.


    Allowing his master to peacefully retire, the Void Monarch''s reignsted for 30 quadrillion years. However, he too became tired of ruling all of existence. Therefore, he retired by his 40 quadrillion-year birthday.


    As for the one who took his ce¡ªwell, there were too many to count¡­


    Over the span of 20 quadrillion years, the Divine Crown and Sigil of the Divine were passed around like hot potatoes.


    When Pandora became 70 quadrillion years old, there had been a total of 37 Absolute Rulers of the Infinite World. And from those 37 Absolute Rulers, only Harkath and the Void Monarch were still left alive.


    Lifespan was one hell of a bitch, and unless you had the drive to strive in cultivation like Harkath and the Void Monarch, your age would eventually catch up to you. Then, without a doubt, you would die¡­


    Even those in the Divine Realm had lifespans, and with the average lifespan of a 1st Order Divine Realm Expert being around 1 quadrillion years, it made sense that so many Absolute Rulers hade into creation.


    And it was alsopletely reasonable that so many had unfortunately died¡­


    But as with most things in time, life continued to move on without them.


    Another 100 quadrillion years flew by in the blink of an eye, and with Harkath being the first person to break through to the 3rd Order Divine Realm, he reimed his throne as the Absolute Ruler of the world!


    Being both the 1st and 125th Absolute Ruler of Pandora, Harkath''s status among the people was unmatched!


    It even reached a point where the Crimson God''s ce in the hearts of the people was innately reced with the notion of being devout to Harkath, the Leviathan God¡­


    Did Azmodeus care about this little piece of information? Well, to bepletely honest, he didn''t give a f*ck!


    From the very beginning, he had no shits to give for being the ''Absolute Ruler'' or whatever! All he ever wanted were the benefits that came from someone having this position!


    With Harkath back in office and improving things on the global scale, Azmodeus couldn''t be any happier!


    ''With the Qi speed rate here as opposed to the outside world surpassing a rate of ''80x'' and the time difference exceeding ''2,000,000'', I only see the cha-ching sign in front of my eyes...!''


    ...¡­

 Chapter 327: The Rise Of The Gravity Race

    ...¡­


    Looking at the exponentially improving benefits, Azmodeus reclined in his chair and continued to watch as the benefits only became more and more enticing.


    By the 200 quadrillion-year mark, Pandora had undergone one life-altering change after the next.


    With the full unveiling of the Gravity Biome, a new race of shiny, purple stone people entered the world outside. In time, they adjusted to the fact that there were other vastly different races out there. And instead of dering war on the entire world like most of the races had done before them, they decided to take a more conservative approach.


    Treating the other races like business partners, the Gravity Race acquired the affection of every single race. Thus, their standing in the world rose up like a rocket!


    Before long, there were even a few among them who read the Divine Scriptures passed down from the Leviathan God.


    From these scriptures, they were able to produce Divine Realm Experts, and not just one or two, but millions of them!


    With an unstoppable force like this one, they disyed their might to the entire world!


    However, instead of bing conceited tyrants like all the races before them, the Gravity Race decided to create an Arena organization and ce branches of this organization all across the world!


    Inviting every other race to fight them in tournaments, the renown of the Gravity Race became better and better among the people of Pandora!


    Treating everything and everyone fairly and equally, the social standing of the Gravity Race reached an all-time high!


    But like a snake hiding amongst a group of sheep, they bided their time and waited¡­


    With another 200 quadrillion years having flown by in the blink of an eye, the ''World Arenas'' had a global status beyond that of even the Leviathan God himself.


    Include that in the fact that they now had thousands of 3rd Order Divine Realm cultivators among their ranks, and they believed they had everything they needed¡­


    Everything they needed in order to overthrow the supremely powerful Leviathan God!


    Having discreetly put all the people of Pandora under their control with the World Arenas, the Gravity Race put their eternity-long ns in motion and turned the whole world against the Leviathan God!


    Completely confident in their sess, they had all their mindless ves and puppets surround the Leviathan God''s starry pce in the heavens. After which, they demanded that hee out with his hands up and allow them to prod him in the butt with their des!


    Of course, what their n failed to delve into was a possible breakthrough¡­


    Coming out of a quadrillion-year-long slumber, Harkath shattered the very fabric of reality and forced every member of the Gravity Race to their knees!


    Without resistance, they sumbed to the might of the goddamn, motherfucking Leviathan God!


    He once again proved why he was the oldest and most powerful being to have ever walked the face of the¡­


    Breaking through to the Cosmic Realm¡ªa realm of myth¡ªthat was all it took for the Gravity Race to give up any hope of aplishing their dreams¡­


    90% of the Divine Realm Gravity Race experts died as a form of petence. And furthermore, all of the mindless vesposed of the other races were freed of their curses.


    Not caring a single bit about the Gravity Race, Harkath silently permitted the other races to do whatever they wanted to get back at the Gravity Race.


    For the hundreds of quadrillions of years that followed, the Gravity Race was brought from the absolute peak of existence all the way to the very bottom rungs of society¡­


    However, when Pandora turned 1 Quintillion years old, Harkath once again vacated his position as the absolute ruler of the world.


    This meant a great many things for a lot of people. After all, for 99.999999% of the world, the Leviathan God was the only ruler they had ever known¡­


    But with time, the people of Pandora adjusted to the constant changes in leadership. And by the 1.5 quintillion year milestone, the first Gravity Race ruler hade into power!


    Ruling the world for more than 200 quadrillion years, he was the only other person to touch upon the Cosmic Realm!


    But s¡­


    Lifespan caught up to the poord before he could make a breakthrough into the Cosmic Realm¡­ Welp, he had one of the best runs yet.


    Appearing above the grandiose burial ceremony for the Gravity Race Absolute Ruler, Azmodeusmented on a few rather interesting topics.


    Thereafter, he returned to the background and let time pass by without him-


    "Wait, I still need to use up another Infinity Core and give Harkath the opportunity to breakthrough into the 2nd Order Cosmic Realm." Hitting his hand against the other in realization, Azmodeus grabbed a brilliantly glowing sphere from his storage space.


    This was a 6 and a halfyered core of infinity, and it was also the brightest one that he had ever seen!


    "Well, it was nice knowing you while you were here!" Waving the Infinity Core goodbye, Azmodeus threw it up into the air before letting it meld together with the Essence of Infinity.


    While this was urring, he decided to briefly open up the Infinite World part of his system.


    A bright blue and golden light shed before a pop-up appeared in front of him.


    BLING!


    ¡ª-------


    {[Infinite World]} ¡ú


    {[World Ruler: Omega Lord]}


    [World Age: 2.2 Quintillion Years]


    [Area width: 104 Quadrillion Omega-verses] ¡ú [Grows in ordance with the strength of its residences.]


    [Upgrade Requirements: The Core of a 6 and a Half Layered ne of Infinity]


    [Rank of Residents: Primitive Mortal Lifeforms ¡ú Single-celled Organisms, Primitive Insects, Bugs, Small Birds, Fish, Large Birds, Dolphins, Large Fish, Monkeys, Large Reptiles, etc¡­]


    [Advanced Mortal Lifeforms ¡ú Magma Fish, Lava T-Rex''s, Fire Birds, Obsidian Devourers, etc¡­]


    [Low Spiritual Lifeforms ¡ú Humans, Sea Leviathans, Lava Wyrms, World Eaters, Krakens, Embryonic Dragons, etc¡­]


    [High Spiritual Lifeforms ¡ú High-Humans, High-Elves, High Orcs, High-Goblins, High-Beast People, True Dragons, Qilins, Kunpengs, Etc¡­]


    [Low Ascendant Lifeforms ¡ú Lord-Humans, Lord-Elves, Lord-Orcs, Lord-Goblins, Lord-Beast People, Lord Dragons, Lord Qilins, Lord Kunpengs, Etc¡­]


    [High Ascendant Lifeforms ¡ú Water Zealot, Nature Zealot, Ice Zealot, Fire Zealot, Acid Zealot, Aero Zealot, Fire Spirit Gods, Water Spirit Gods, Lordlings, Spiritlings, Ultra Terrerformers, Gorgon Nephelim, Super Elemental Elites, Elven Gods, Omega Fire Goblins, Super Ascendant Sonics]


    [Divine Lifeforms ¡ú sma Deity (Harkath''s Disciple and Inheritor), Gravity Chairmen, Overseers of the North, Jurisdiction Bncers of the South, Rulers of the Boundless Expanse, Great Gods of the Fourth Dimension, Hegemonies of the Infinite Dimensions]


    [Cosmic Lifeforms ¡ú Harkath, The Forgotten Divine Emperor, The Herald of the Crimson God of Old]


    [Time Dtion ¡ú 1:4,000,000]


    [Qi Density ¡ú 110x that of the outside world] ¡ú[Continue upgrading in order to encroach upon the Qi Density of a higher ne of existence.]


    ¡ª------

 Chapter 328: Shadow Garden...?

    ...¡­


    "Ahh¡­ Things are progressing quite nicely! Especially when it pertains to my benefits! Oh, the benefits¡­!" Nearly salivating at the mouth, Azmodeus had to wipe his lips and refocus on the continued evolution of the Infinite World.


    OOOM!


    RUMBLE!!!


    Heavenly phenomena were urring left and right, throwing the entire world off bnce!


    "Master¡­ He is here again¡­ I missed him thest Heavenly Transfiguration, but that will not happen again¡­"


    WAAA!


    With an aura bordering on the High-Gctic Realm, Harkath vanished from his position and blitzed in the direction of the Heavenly Transfiguration''s Source!


    After spending countless years studying the fundamentalws of the world, Harkath had thoroughly prepared himself for this exact moment!


    He would meet his master! And he would get on his knees before begging for guidance!


    He hated bottlenecks, and he just wanted to breakthrough already¡­


    "Master, I aming for you!!!"


    Crying tears of blood, Harkath zed through the skies, transcending multipleyers of reality, all so as to meet his divine master!


    -


    "Seems like that little brat is getting impatient¡­ Damn, this is why he keeps on leaving his position as the Absolute Ruler of Pandora¡ªalways so damn restless!"


    Rubbing his dimples at the troublesome self proimed disciple of his, Azmodeus figured he''d open up the gates to his secretyer in space and let that moron stroll right in.


    After a few seconds of exceeding his limits and speeding upward at utterly insane speeds, Harkath finally arrived at where the Infinity Core was being assimted with the Infinite World. Finding this entire process a little too easy, he said, "Holy shit! Am I the chosen one!?"


    "No, you''re not the fucking chosen one; now get your ass in here." Spreading the secret opening just enough to allow a person to pass through, Azmodeus forcefully pulled the idiot into his dimension.


    "!!!"


    Face stretched back and his gums out in the open, Harkath felt like he was being pulled straight through a wind tunnel!


    "Ahhhh¡ª!!!"


    Never having felt such speed in his entire life, Harkath was sure that he was about to be ripped up into a billion different pieces!


    But as soon as that thought passed through his mind, the pull on his body came to a halt, and his scenery was changed to that of a small hut in the middle of a sea dimension.


    All low sitting water and nond¡ªthis ce was what Azmodeus decided to create in order to peruse the passing of the Infinite World''s timeline.


    It was also where he cultivated with this half of his existence¡­


    Thud!


    Landing on his butt, Harkath swiveled his head around in every direction, trying to find out where the hell he was. However, upon seeing the all too familiar face of the existence who created this world, he shot to his feet before getting right back on the ground in a kowtowing stance. "Disciple greets the mighty and extraordinarily benevolent master!


    This lowly one does not know how to best express his gratitude for allowing this one in this glorious dimension, but if you''ll have me, I-I can give you my bod-"


    Whack!


    "Please shut the hell up, you dumb brat!"


    With veins spreading all over his forehead, Azmodeus really felt like drowning this big clown under 100 tons of water. But considering how much he had done for him, he restrained his killing intent and said, "Let me guess¡­ You are having trouble with making a breakthrough into the 2nd Order Cosmic Realm."


    Profusely sweating from all pores, Harkath ignored the paining from his head and said, "Y-Yes, Master¡­ As you can see, this lowly one is stupid and ipetent¡­" clenching his fists until they turned white, Harkath was not only frustrated with himself but also at hisckluster potential.


    Thud!


    "???"


    Hearing something hit the ground beside him, Harkath opened his heavy eyes. With a strained voice, he said, "M-Master, this is¡­ This unfilial disciple doesn''t deserve such an honor!"


    Crying out the emotions that had built up over quintillions of years, Harkath soaked the water surface with his waterworks.


    Sigh¡­


    A tired sigh echoed throughout the dimension as a muscr handnded on his back and started to lightly p him. Expecting to hearforting words, Harkath was shocked to hear his master say, "You better stop whining like a little bitch. Get back to your world and work on improving it from the shadows. I expect to see the Qi Density increase by ten times next time I pay you a ''visit''.


    Now, take that Cosmic Technique and get your ass back to ving!"


    Wham!


    Kicking both Harkath and the book out of the dimension, they flew through the skies like putted footballs!


    "Maaassstteeerr¡ª!!!"


    Ignoring the screams of that moron, Azmodeus got back to watching time pass by while he cultivated.


    -


    With the continued passing of time, Harkath took over the rulership of Pandora. But contrary to being a very public ruler, he went with the ''Shadow Lord approach''.


    After taking the entire world under his heels from the dark, he finally found the time to breakthrough to the 2nd Order Cosmic Realm!


    It was only after making this breakthrough that Harkath created an organization called ''Shadow Garden'' and took it upon himself to gather up all the secret, busty talents of the world.


    Adding on to his current wives, he wived up all of the Shadow Garden members as well¡­


    Increasing both his fertility rate and number of offspring, Harkath was living the good ol life!


    By the 5 quintillion year mark, Shadow Garden became the leading Underworld Organization in Pandora, and it also obtained a total of 500 trillion main members as well as countless low-level members.


    "Holy fucking hot shit! That stupid idiot really knows how to get all of these women on his bedside! But damn, even I never expected him to be capable of this feat¡­"


    pping himself on the thighs at the ridiculousness of that Moron''s libido, Azmodeus sat back and watched the Heavenly Transfiguration y out at an even faster rate.


    He also made sure to check out the new Biome.


    The Metal Biome!


    A world made entirely of metal. It was the center hub for all things mechanical and technology advancing, with all their races being almost always focused on creating new things.


    It was also a Biomeposed of races that truly only sought the advancements of the auxiliary aspects of existence. Rather than power, they put all their time inbs or factories¡ªthat was just who they were.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 329: Martial God, Omega Core

    ...¡­


    When Pandora reached its 10-quintillion-year birthday, the Metal Race had essentially revolutionized the entire world. Putting it in a new age of mixed martial arts and technological advancements, the Infinite World had its total Qi Density increase to ''x200''!


    This was far more than Azmodeus had bargained for, but he wasn''t one toin about some damn good free benefits!


    "Raising that Harkath from the ground up really was worth it, umu!"


    While sitting above the heavens on a divinely iridescent cloud dragon, the absolute god of this world watched the rest of thetest Heavenly Transfiguration.


    By the 12-quintillion-year milestone, the second Cosmic Realm organism was born.


    Apparently being the second disciple of the Leviathan God, he was considered the official sessor of his master.


    However, it was quite clear that Harkath wasn''t yet ready to give up his throne as the ''Absolute Ruler of the Underworld'', so in the end, Jin Chao, the Martial God, was forced to wait.


    With another 10 quintillion years having flown by in the blink of an eye, Jin Chao got sick and tired of waiting for the old fart to pass on the throne. Therefore, he rose up in rebellion and started thergest war to ever arrive on Pandora!


    Bigger than all the races'' greed wars and bigger than the Uprising of the Gravity Race!


    The Martial War.


    It was one of many global wars, and it was also one of the numerous wars targeting Harkath, the Original Absolute God.


    This warsted for 15+ quintillion years, and even though Harkath could''ve ended the war in a single blow, everyone knew that war was good for business. Hence, it was only natural that Harkath permitted the continuation of the war.


    Allowing all their forces to fight to their heart''s content, their power was refined in the mes of war, subsequently causing the Qi Density of the world to once again improve!


    With thousands of Cosmic Realm cultivators popping up every day, the 2nd Order Cosmic Realm Martial God amassed himself a force rivaling his master''s army.


    It was on the day that marked the 28th Quintillionth birthday of Pandora that the Martial God got tired of waiting.


    Sending out everything he had, he nned to end it all in one go!


    However, with the fruits of the war reaching their absolute limit, Harkath figured it was about time to end this little farce. Therefore, he appeared above the ''Endless Cosmic Expanse'' and shed down with a thin, simple de.


    A few inches in diameter and white in color¡ªa single sh of this sword was all Harkath needed in order to erase more than 50% of the opposing forces!


    One simple strike to kill off 50%+ of the opposing powerhouses!


    The Martial God lost an arm in this one attack. Flying into a senseless rage, he burned through his life force and shot through the starry night sky, aiming to sever the head from his master''s body!


    Sigh¡­


    "Foolish child. Have you learned nothing?"


    Heaving an ancient, inexplicable sigh, Harkath was going to strike down his second disciple and be done with it. But before his de could reach its target, the Void Monarch materialized from the void and thwarted off his senior brother with ease!


    Thereafter, both the Void Monarch and the Martial God entered a very heated exchange.


    Many slurs and curses were thrown around as they continuously shattered the fabric of reality. And by the end of their intense battle, the Martial God was left without one of his eyes and one of his arms.


    Floating through the void of space, he wondered something that all powerful entities had in their minds before they perished¡­


    Why¡­?


    Why did I lose¡­?


    Why was I not strong enough to plow through any obstacles and acquire what I wanted??


    The thoughts of the powerful always seemed to align with one singr train of thought. And even now, Azmodeus had no idea why that was.


    "Is the system trying to show and teach me something else? Something that will allow me to progress further down the path of a Loot God¡­"


    Pondering this matter for a moment, Azmodeus failed to notice the ceaseless passing of time in the Infinite World.


    With the death of the Martial God, his origin returned to the world, and a new Leader of Shadow Garden was crowned.


    Taking away the main (harem) members of Shadow Garden, Harkath passed on everything else to his first and most loyal disciple, the Void Monarch!


    Unable to obtain the ultimate harem that his master possessed, the Martial God died with an untold number of regrets¡­


    "Damn. All that dude ever wanted was the beautiful women that hovered around his master. But in the end, he lost that privilege to the junior brother, who came in at thest second and stole all the credit. Well, f*ck¡­ I feel for ya, Martial God."


    Giving his regards to the Martial God, Azmodeus was able to give him a littlefort on his journey into the afterlife.


    After all was said and done, time resumed its ever-present grasp on everything in existence¡­


    With the 40 quintillionth birthday of Pandora rapidly approaching, Harkath lived the epitome offort with his harem in his 6th retirement¡­


    "Wait, just how many times has that moron retired?? It feels like just about every day, that idiot finds a new woman and decides that working is not worth it anymore¡­" Shaking his head in disappointment, Azmodeus focused on the progress made by the Metal Race.


    With the Metal Race being thetest race to join the party, they were also those with the newest and most original mindsets.


    This was especially proven to be the case when they gathered together at the center of the seemingly infinitely-sized world.


    Building something that would take countless years, they worked on the creation of the next major step in technological advancements!


    The Omega Core.


    It was what the Metal Race termed their brain baby, and it was also the name that would forever be etched down in the history books!


    Being a construct that could simultaneously improve every aspect of existence with a supeputer and an active Qi Fluctuator, the Omega Core was the future of Martial Arts!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 330: 500 Quintillion Years, Many Changes

    ...¡­


    The Omega Core''s supeputer was so advanced andplicated that no single scientist could ever hope to control even one of its Subordinate Functions¡­


    With its Prime Artificial Intelligence being called Gaia, it was also assigned 9 Subordinate Functions.


    Those 9 Functions were.


    {[GAIA]}


    MINERVA


    HEPHAESTUS


    AETHER


    POSEIDON


    DEMETER


    ARTEMIS


    ELEUTHIA


    APOLLO


    HADES


    Each of these 9 Subordinate Functions was tasked with directing and improving a prime aspect of existence in the Infinite World. From the grass to the mountains and seas¡ªeverything was put under the control of Gaia and the Omega Core.


    In other words, the Metal Race had created an Artificial World and ced it in the center of an already developed world¡­


    "Ho? I like where this is going!" Sporting a devilish smirk on his handsome face, Azmodeus scrolled through the timeline like fast forwarding on a DVD.


    When the 100-quintillion-year mark came around, the Omega Core and Gaia had already reached a point where the entire world was put under the control of one of the 9 Subordinate Functions. It was with this control that the entire world was set on a collision course for meteoric stardom!


    Increasing the overall Qi Density straight up to ''1500x'' and improving the rate at which the world expanded in size¡ªGaia was doing everything in its power to bring the world to a level never seen before!


    Nevertheless, with the Heavenly Transfigurationing to an end, Azmodeus was forced to take out thest and final Infinity Core of the Starry Expanse¡­


    "After I put this glowing ball into the integration process of the Infinite World, a ne of existence at the peak of the Mortal Realms will be born. And with Harkath at the peak of the 3rd Order Cosmic Realm, this is just the opportunity he needs to breakthrough into the realm that lies beyond!"


    Even Azmodeus himself had no idea what exactly the realm after the Cosmic Realm was, but he sure as hell wanted to figure that out!


    So, without further ado, he threw the miniature sun into the sky and let it naturally assimte with the Infinite World!


    BLINGGG!!!


    A sh of dazzling light unlike any other rained down on the vast world below, causing all the apex existences of Pandora to look up in awe.


    From the beginning of their existences to this point in time, they had never seen anything so splendid!


    It was like they were bathing in the presence of the birth of a Supreme God!


    However, with time, they adjusted to this impossible to locate light source. While treating it like a boon for reality, they quickly realized that the light acted as more than just a pretty decoration. In no time at all, the prime directives of Gaia were taken up by multiple notches, working together with the Heavenly Transfiguration to alter the very fabric of the world.


    Everything, from Qi Density advancements to cultural progressions, was suddenly increased by tens of thousands of times what it once was!


    The world itself started to expand at a rate that seemed inhuman!


    Pandora''s 100 Quintillionth birthday arrived in the blink of an eye, and by this point in time, Pandora was countless timesrger than it was when it was 80 Quintillion years old!


    A good analogy would be a speck of dust transforming into a wide, expansive sea of universes overnight¡­


    To say the least, these changes were monumental.


    Along with these changes, the Qi Density of the world spiked up by insane amounts, rocketing straight to ''10,000x''!


    Furthermore, the time dtion difference between Pandora and the outside world was increased to ''400,000,000''!


    There were no words to describe the shock that Azmodeus felt when testing how fast his other half now cultivated¡­


    "With this current speed, it should take me, what¡­? A few outside world seconds to make a breakthrough?"


    Slowly but surely, Azmodeus''s cultivation was catching up to his Battle Power. As for what would happen after he achieved perfect equilibrium in the Mortal Realm, well¡­


    "Guess I will just have to wait and see. There is no point in dwelling over something that will happen regardless of what I want." Clearing his expression and leaning his chin up against his cheek, Azmodeus went back to observing the changes urring in Pandora.


    150 Quintillion years: Pandora underwent a great alteration that forced the world leaders to give up every piece of their territory to the Gaia Mother Function. Upon achieving true equality, the Gaia Function evenly distributed all the territory in the order that would lead to the best productiveness.


    As a result of this even distribution, everything once again increased in effectiveness, leading to increased benefits for the Crimson God!


    250 Quintillion years: Gaia managed to gain control over the fundamental elements andws that made up the inner, most essibleyer of the Infinite World. From this control, Gaia sectioned off differentyers of the ''Astral Vortex'' and organized the Biomes in a manner that wasn''t so differentiated.


    Uniting under one g, the races mixed with one another and worked with more vigor. As a result of thismitment, not variagated by race, the productiveness of Pandora reached an all-time high!


    500 Quintillion years: Everything was progressing quite smoothly, and Gaia as well as the Omega Core achieved a level of godhood exceeding even that of the ''Ten Absolute Rulers of the World''.


    The Ten Absolute World Rulers came into power eons ago, and since that moment in time, they had publicly ruled over the ''lighter'' side of the world''s political spectrum.


    The Void Monarch was still the foremost strongest expert in the world, but being part of the Underworld, his power was not as well known as the Ten Absolute World Rulers.


    On the other hand, Harkath was too busy ying around with his countless wives and concubines to give a damn about the ongoings of the world below the heavens¡­


    Sitting just below the secret dimension that Azmodeus set up, Harkath took a very simr approach to watching the world pass him by.


    However, contrary to how Azmodeus went about it, Harkath decided to spend his time both cultivating and getting down and jiggy with the opposite gender¡­


    Sigh¡­


    "That idiot will always be a horndog. Up to his veryst day, I doubt that part of him will ever change¡­"


    While heaving another big sigh, Azmodeus let the rest of the Heavenly Transfiguration y out at a speed beyond believable.


    .....

 Chapter 331: The Omega Core Has Gone Rogue!

    .....


    1 Sextillion years: The Omega Core and Gaia had evolved to such a degree that they started to mass produce artificial Cosmic Realm Androids. Using the experience and memories of human Cosmic Realm Experts, this was made viable and usible.


    2 Sextillion years: the Cosmic Realm Androids were termed the ''A Unit'' and became the strongest force in all of Pandora. Having millions of 3rd Order Cosmic Realm Androids and countless in and below the 2nd Order Cosmic Realm, their strength equaled that of a veryrge gxy cluster in the Starry Expanse.


    5 Sextillion Years: the A Unit ruled over the entire world and transformed it into a futuristd of hyper-advanced buildings and martial technology. With the Android poption exceeding a turning point, they started to consider some rather ''drastic'' actions¡­


    10 Sextillion Years: Gaia and the Omega Core went rogue¡­


    "Well, sh*t, I saw thating from miles away. Ha!"


    Azmodeus found this situation far too funny as heughed his ass off above a sky filled to the brim with security drones.


    He couldn''t believe that Harkath and the Void Emperor ended up getting so caught up in their lusty tendencies that they overlooked the dangers of allowing a techno-empire to progress¡­


    "The funniest part about this entire thing is that both Harkath and the Void Emperor kiddo are half a step away from the Earth Immortal Realm, and yet they still got tricked by their ''human'' lovers. Knocking them unconscious and sending them to the Androids; now they''re being tortured even to this very moment in time!


    The Androids can''t even scratch the outeryer of their skin, so everyone is in quite the pickle!"


    Azmodeus was finding this all way too amusing, but he truly couldn''t help himself. After all, those idiots were too fucking dumb for words!


    In the end, he let go of his stomach and decided to send down a Mirror Mirage. Its strength was in the High-Multiversal Realm, so it should be more than enough to deal with the High-Gctic Realm Androids.


    "With the 3rd Order Cosmic Realm being roughly equal to the High-Gctic Realm, it''s no surprise that they can''t harm Harkath and the Void kiddo. After all, the Half-Step Earth Immortal Realm is equivalent to the Low-Universal Realm."


    Azmodeus was more than a little shocked by how fast those two morons were progressing, but considering how many years it had been, it made a lot of sense. Plus, they also practiced rather ''risque'' techniques¡­


    "In other words, those two idiots used their perversion to their advantage and discovered a realm that even I only understood the concepts behind¡­ How fucking stupid¡­"


    After shaking his head at the idiocy behind their achievements, Azmodeus went back to watching the passing of time.


    Within a few days, his Mirror Mirage saved the morons and let them do whatever they wanted with the Techno Empire.


    11 Sextillion years: the Techno Empire was ripped apart piece by piece until there was nothing left but scrap metal and scattered debris. The Omega Core was sliced into countless pieces and put in an equal number of boxes. Scattering them throughout Pandora, the boxes would never again see daylight.


    Harkath and the Void Emperor freed all the ''human ves'' from the clutches of the Androids. Then, with a mass rity spell, they brought back their intelligence and independence.


    The Gaia Mother Function and all nine of its Subordinate Functions were not entirely discarded. After all, from some searching around, Harkath figured out that it was the Omega Core that was corrupted, not Gaia and its Subordinate Functions.


    From a nigh-godlike construct to a truly beneficial aspect for mankind, Gaia was put under the direct control of the Void Emperor, by order of his master¡­


    "In other words, thatzy bum handed down the responsibilities to his only disciple. That poor Spirit from way back when is still living a very troubled life, I see."


    Getting a little kick out of this entertainment, Azmodeus watched the next few sextillion years with a rather intrigued glint in his crimson gaze.


    20 Sextillion years: Gaia put the whole world back on track; it got rid of all the ridiculously gaudy futuristic structures, erased the presence of AI with too much independence, and had everything optimized for further advancements.


    On the other hand, Harkath and the Void Emperor were aszy and horny as always. Even going so far as to forgive the Android wives that betrayed them, they then lived motherfucking happily ever after!!


    "Fuck that shit!!"


    Not epting this dumbass oue, Azmodeus decided to truly y the role of God!


    Over the next 80 Sextillion years, he sent out world-ending cmities after the next, throwing the entire world into one big shitstorm!


    Azmodeus threw absolutely everything he had at them, forcing Pandora and its people to adapt and evolve through hardships!!


    From aliens to out-of-the-blue gues¡ªhe chucked anything he could think up!


    Even Zombie Apocalypses and other mysterious apocalypses were not off the table¡­


    Harkath and the Void Emperor had no other choice but to keep oning out of their lovey-dovey seclusions and fight off anything that threatened the overall peace of the world.


    It was also through these numerous battles that they were able to advance even further in their cultivation. Leaning off of the extreme innate talent andprehension levels that they already possessed, they made quick work of therge hurdles that prevented them from reaching the Earth Immortal Realm!


    110 Sextillion years: Gaia took the Qi Density of the world past ''1,000,000x'' and improved the time dtion to a rate of ''150,000,000:1''. On top of this, Harkath made a breakthrough into the Earth Immortal Realm, causing Heavenly Phenomena to pop up all over the world!


    Of course, that was just Azmodeus using the power of fake bullshitery to y the part of the Heavenly Dao, but still¡­


    "I bet that moron felt like he was the fucking shit¡­ Har¡­"


    Though a little exasperated over that self proimed disciple of his, Azmodeus didn''t stop his fast forwarding of the events.


    ...¡­

 Chapter 332: Edging 1 Septillion Years

    ...¡­


    With the whole world shing past Azmodeus''s eyes at a speed beyond quantifiable, everything began to take on a shape that exceeded the typical 1D, 2D, 3D, and above constructs. It was almost like staring at a rapidly shing beam of light. But within that light, Azmodeus could control it in a way that made it possible for him to pick and choose what he saw and how he saw it.


    250 Sextillion years: Gaia, Harkath, and the Void Emperor did their utmost in preventing the various apocalypses, even going so far as to neglect time spent with their wives. In time, this led to dissatisfaction among them and, in more extreme cases, unfaithfulness.


    Cheating on their husbands with a number of other Cosmic Lifeforms, a certain few wives thought they would get away with their unfaithfulness for many days toe.


    However, when Harkath and his disciple caught onto their transgressions, well, let''s just say that death would''ve been a luxury for them¡­


    Fortunately, their suffering ended early when Harkath and the Void Emperor got tired of seeing their faces.


    Of course, there were still a few wives that were unsatisfied, and with time, that unsatisfaction festered and spread out like the gue. In less than 100 Sextillion years, the wives of the two strongest experts in the world rose up in rebellion. Numbering in the quadrillions, they were an absolute unit to be contended with!


    But even with girl power on their side, shit went all the way sideways, and their heads ended up on spikes by the end of the day¡­


    None of them were particrly weak, with a few even being in the Half-Step Earth Immortal Realm. But when pitted up against two Earth Immortal Sovereigns from the ''Origin Era'', they stood no chance in hell ofing out victorious.


    In spite of this turmoil among two of thergest royal families in the world, there were still a modest 2 or 3 million wives still alive on both Harkath and his disciples'' sides. Therefore, they were able to continue going about their lives with peace of mind.


    However, like the absolute tyrant that he was, Azmodeus decided this oue was far from satisfactory; thus, he clicked his tongue and summoned up a Cthulhu.


    It was only after watching Harkath and the Void Emperor get beat up that Azmodeus finallyid off them and made the spiraling Cthulhu return to his Spirit Beast pouch. Though rather than a Spirit Beast pouch, it was more along the lines of an item that he used to terrorize whoever he felt like terrorizing¡­


    In fact, in the outside world, his other half was making use of the pouch and the Beast Storage Space in order to capture 3rd Order High-Multiversal Realm Immortal Demonspawn and keep them as Pokemon.


    With his other half nearing the absolute peak of Hell''s Paradise in terms ofbat power, Azmodeus realized that he needed to speed things up with the Infinite World and see just what it evolves into.


    These thoughts were at the forefront of his mind when he decided to sit back and watch the world burn. (Quite literally)


    He forced the elements of fire and oxygen in order to spontaneouslybust the air covering every inch of Pandora. He wanted to see how the highly advanced citizens would react to such an unparalleled cmity, and surprisingly enough, they took care of it within a few days.


    As they incurred minimal casualties and restored the world back to the way it was, Azmodeus would be lying if he said he wasn''t the least bit impressed by their quick and effective reactions.


    But then again, he wasn''t yet done with them¡­


    500 Sextillion years: Harkath and the Void Emperor took advantage of the global chaos, gaining more harem members than ever before.


    By this point in time, everyone in Pandora had known nothing other than the evesting effects of war; thus, their mindsets were refined and hardened to almost Spartan-like degrees.


    "Even though that is the case, those two morons are always too busy thinking with their other heads to even notice the ongoings of their own world¡­ Both of them are morons of the highest rank, and if I''m to be frank, I''m embarrassed to even be affiliated with them¡­"


    Heaving sigh after sigh, Azmodeus let the final few years of the Heavenly Transfiguration y out in grand motion.


    750 Sextillion years: Gaia did most of the work, but a new world system was built and manufactured. It was one that gave every living thing in the world a system interface and a way to advance the ''level'' on their system interfaces. Though this system was strictly limited to Pandora, it was still a major step forward.


    850 Sextillion years: Because of the ''Universal System'', millions of Earth Immortals were born into the world. All of them ruled over their own infinite expanses of the world that seemed to have no edges.


    950 Sextillion years: Feeling that something truly Earth-shattering was changing within the very fundamental essence of the world, Harkath left his home and found the secret, non-corruptable dimension where Gaia was hanging out.


    He asked Gaia and the Subordinate Functions about the unusual things he had been feeling, but even the omniscient worldputer was unable to give a satisfactory answer. Leaving in immense disappointment, Harkath spent the next period of time delving into the deepest, darkest mysteries of the world.


    999 Sextillion years: Pandora and all of its boundless constructs underwent something known as the ''Immortal Awakening''. It was something very rare and almost impossible to replicate. But if put in simple terms, it was the phenomenon that urred when a world attempted to make the jump from a Mortal World to an Immortal World.


    In other words, the Infinite World was attempting something that shouldn''t even be possible!


    With the years ticking by like the hands of a clock, the 999 Sextillion year milestone inched ever closer to the 1 Septillion year mark.


    Then the time finally arrived¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 333: After 1 Septillion Years, Demonstar Belphegor

    ...¡­


    1 Septillion years: The moment Pandora reached this grand age milestone, all of time seemed to freeze for an instant. Harkath, Gaia, the Void Emperor, and anyone else in the Infinite World¡ªall at once, every single one of them froze in ce.


    One might have assumed that someone asked them ''English or Spanish'' but that simply wasn''t the case. The truth was that the major evolution of a Mortal World to an Immortal World was one that paused and rewrote absolutely everything from the previous dimensional timeline.


    Think of a software update for a phone and then take that to the global level¡ªthis was what was happening to Pandora at this very moment in time.


    -


    After a brief period thatsted both an instant and an eternity, Pandora itself underwent a qualitative change that sent the entire world spiraling into a field of the unknown. Upon taking countless megaparsecs to a dimension not meant to be a part of Pandora, something beyond the scope of God opened its singr, infinitely-sized eyeball.


    It enveloped even the outside Hell''s Paradise and the higher Immortal Realms in its unfathomable gaze, putting everything under the whim of its existence.


    However, with a bright sh of crimson-colored light, the matter that made up Pandora was zorped back to its original ce on the timeline of Infinity.


    After arriving back in the Infinite World, Pandora went from a world of varying biomes and habitats to something that truly exhibited the epitome of coalescence. It put the entire world in a state of utter respelendance as the organic atmosphere transformed into something fantastical¡ªinto something alien.


    Everything that Harkath and the races built up for countless years was erased, instead reced with a nk state¡ªone might even call it a fresh start.


    When Azmodeus and the rest came back to their senses, they were all weed with the sight of andscape that went above and beyond in terms of surrealism. It possessed the beauty of an immortal painting and passively exuded an ambience of superior aspects of existence, Pandora had improved to a level that couldn''t be described in mere words¡­


    "Well, I have no clue what in the hell just happened to me, but considering that this ce has evolved into some form of Immortal World, I will take it upon myself to look at my system interface."


    After opening up just the Infinite World part of his system interface, a bright blue and golden light shed in front of Azmodeus.


    BLING!


    ¡ª-------


    {[Infinite Immortal World:]}


    {[World Ruler: None]}


    [World Age: <0.1 Immortal Years]


    [Area width: <0.1 Immortal Land Plot] ¡ú [Grows in ordance with the strength of its residences.]


    [Upgrade Requirements: The Core of a Lowest-Level Immortal ne]


    [Rank of Residents: Primitive Mortal Lifeforms ¡ú Single-celled Organisms, Primitive Insects, Bugs, Small Birds, Fish, Large Birds, Dolphins, Large Fish, Monkeys, Large Reptiles, etc¡­]


    [Advanced Mortal Lifeforms ¡ú Magma Fish, Lava T-Rex''s, Fire Birds, Obsidian Devourers, etc¡­]


    [Low Spiritual Lifeforms ¡ú Humans, Sea Leviathans, Lava Wyrms, World Eaters, Krakens, Embryonic Dragons, etc¡­]


    [High Spiritual Lifeforms ¡ú High-Humans, High-Elves, High Orcs, High-Goblins, High-Beast People, True Dragons, Qilins, Kunpengs, Etc¡­]


    [Low Ascendant Lifeforms ¡ú Lord-Humans, Lord-Elves, Lord-Orcs, Lord-Goblins, Lord-Beast People, Lord Dragons, Lord Qilins, Lord Kunpengs, Etc¡­]


    [High Ascendant Lifeforms ¡ú Water Zealot, Nature Zealot, Ice Zealot, Fire Zealot, Acid Zealot, Aero Zealot, Fire Spirit Gods, Water Spirit Gods, Lordlings, Spiritlings, Ultra Terrerformers, Gorgon Nephelim, Super Elemental Elites, Elven Gods, Omega Fire Goblins, Super Ascendant Sonics]


    [Divine Lifeforms ¡ú sma Deity (Harkath''s Disciple and Inheritor), Gravity Chairmen, Overseers of the North, Jurisdiction Bncers of the South, Rulers of the Boundless Expanse, Great Gods of the Fourth Dimension, Hegemonies of the Infinite Dimensions]


    [Cosmic Lifeforms ¡ú Countless Higher Existences of Pandora]


    [Pseudo Immortal Lifeforms ¡ú Harkath, The Forgotten Divine Emperor, The Herald of the Crimson God of Old, The Void Emperor, Gaia, and a few million others.]


    [True Immortal Lifeforms ¡ú None] (All Lifeforms have the opportunity to immediately advance into being Immortal Lifeforms, though their strength will be dependent on their strength before evolving into Immortal Lifeforms)


    [Time Dtion ¡ú 1:10,000,000,000]


    [Qi Density ¡ú ''1,000,000,000x'' that of the outside world] (Only applies for Mortal Level energy and below) ¡ú[Continue upgrading in order to encroach upon the Qi Density of a higher ne of existence.]


    ¡ª------


    "Ahh¡­ ''Only applies for Mortal Level energy and below'', huh?"


    This was all Azmodeus needed to know in order to understand that things would begin changing once he ascended past Hell''s Paradise and reached an actual Immortal ne.


    Speaking of Hell''s Paradise, some rather interesting things have urred with the other half of Azmodeus''s existence¡­


    ****


    In and riddled with craters, red on all sides, and rife with the smell of iron from all directions, there stood a man with long raven ck hair. While standing in ce like a sword of the heavens, he made his overwhelming presence known atop a pile of 3rd Order High-Multiversal Realm Demon corpses.


    "Why do you look like a human, possess the aura of a Demonstar, and kill our kind!?"


    Shouting from below the pile of bodies, Demonstar #12 was forced to watch the demon-like human devour the essence of all his demon beasts. Completely and utterly baffled by the sight before him, he could do nothing but kneel and wait for the monster to speak.


    And speak the monster did, saying, "You are a Demonstar¡­ Hmm¡­ Sorry, but I think I may or may not have killed all your pets¡­" Pointing down at the massive Immortal Demonspawn corpses piled beneath him, Azmodeus made it seem like he simplymitted a little oopsie¡­


    Well, in reality, he really did do a little oopsie. After all, from the get-go, he had no idea that the Immortal Demonspawn he killed were the pets of a Demonstar. If he knew that information beforehand, then there were better ways to go about killing them. For example, an borate trap could''ve beenid down¡ªone that would''ve lured in more than just a single Demonstar.


    "Anyway, since you are the only one here, I guess I will just take care of you and make the others annoyed enough toe out of hiding."


    If anyone else said these oundish things, then they would surely beughed and sneered at. However, upon staring into the piercing, demonic gaze on the monster''s face, Demonstar Belphegor trembled in fear, understanding that everything he said would be exactly what would happen¡­


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 334: Lucifer, The Absolute Evil Incarnate

    ...¡­.


    "So, anyst words?" Azmodeus asked.


    "Wait just a minute! Can you not at least give me the opportunity to run away!?"


    SHING!


    Moving at a speed verging on hyper-insanity, Azmodeus moved and reappeared back in the spot he was just at. "Those were some unusualst words, but whatevs. If that is what you wish to say, then I fulfilled your wish." Mumbling to himself, Azmodeus turned his face away from the frozen Demonstar and walked toward the mountain of corpses.


    After sitting down and leisurely cing his fist against his chin, he watched as the damage finally registered for Bnghor. Starting from his head to his torso, and then to his lower body and legs¡ªhe was dissected in every way imaginable.


    Spurt! Spurt!


    With his blood sttering the surroundings, a couple of system notifications arrived for Azmodeus.


    BLING!


    [Ding! You have killed thousands of 3rd Order High-Multiversal Realm Immortal Demonspawn. The reward is 500 Quadrillion Multiversal Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have killed an Immortal Demonspawn Demonstar, going by the name of Bnghor. With your kill being in the Half-Step Realm that separates the High-Multiversal Realm and the Half-Immortal Realm, your reward has been multiplied!]


    [The reward is 100 Quintillion Multiversal Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have obtained 93 Quintillion Multiversal Power, meaning that you now contain within your fists the power of 93 Quintillion Multiverses.]


    [Ding! You have received a ridiculous number of Physiques and Traits, all ranging from the Mortal Rank to the Half-Step Half-Immortal Realm. This has caused both your Singrity Physique and Singrity Trait to transcend all limits and reach the maximum ''A-Bomb Rank''. There is only one level in this rank, and to progress further, you will need topletely alter your existence.]


    [Ding! You have automatically converted the Loot Essence of the beings you killed. As a result, your Loot God Nourishment Rate has achieved a rate of ''99.99%'']


    [Ding! Your Singrity Technique (Scythe sh) has also reached the A-bomb Rank! It is rmended that the host go through with a major metamorphic change before upgrading any further.]


    [Ding! Having increased all your High-Star Law Comprehensions to the absolute limit of Level 5, all you need in order to achieve Immortal Coalescence is the energy gathered from an ascension. You will learn of the 30,000th High-Star Law after beginning your ascension!]


    [Ding! With your current Multiversal Evolution Essence amount, you can use up 99% of it and advance your Race to the 2nd Order Loot God Realm. In this 99%, you can also upgrade the rest of your aspects of existence and reach a level where aplete reboot will ur. From the Infinite World to your stats to your skills, clones, and parameters¡ªeverything will be reset, improved, and then simplified.]


    [Ding! It is rmended that the host officially go through with the ascension process before going through with the metaphysical alteration of your entire existence.]


    "Hmm¡­ It looks like I have been maxed out in everything but my Battle Power and Cultivation Realm. One is lingering in the 2nd Order High-Multiversal Realm, while the other is around the Late stages of that middle realm between Great Major Realms."


    While looking over everything in retrospect, Azmodeus realized that he was very close to maxing his stats in the beginner area, which meant that he needed to rebirth and go to a higher-level area.


    "Welp, I still have a few breakthroughs to make, and I also need to kill the rest of the Immortal Demonstars and the Immortal Demon Vanquisher Faction itself."


    Azmodeus had already set up Mirror Mirages and Primordial Essence Clones in every inch of the Immortal Vanquisher HQ, and all they were waiting for was the go-ahead from their main body. Only then could hemence the true final objective of his ''visit'' to Hell''s Paradise.


    With his n at the forefront of his mind, he vanished from his spot and blitzed through time and space, attempting to find the trail of a rabid demon.


    ¡­


    After a few hours of ying some games of hide, seek, and then murder everything in sight, Azmodeus ultimately found and killed 11 of the 12 Demonstars, including Mkar.


    He died with many grievances, but giving absolutely no f*cks, Azmodeus used him and a few of his buddies to achieve a Battle Power at the absolute peak of the Half-Step Half-Immortal Realm. After which, he and the final Demonstar, Lucifer, faced each other with equally menacing presences.


    The air crackled and the tension was palpable, but in the midst of such a spine-tingling atmosphere, two monsters stared at each other with inexplicable emotions present in their apathetic expressions.


    "..."


    Being the first one to speak, Lucifer''s ancient jaw moved for the first time in eons. Making eerie noises as it went up and down, he said, "Your existence¡­ You are the True Enigma of this generation? The one who came after those two anomalies¡­ Very well¡­ Since they are the ones who birthed you, I shall allow you the honor of joining them in the afterlife."


    RUMBLE!


    Possessing a figurerger than a universe and a face equally as looming, Lucifer whipped around his massive, spiked tail. While causing the wind to whistle and crack, the tail suddenly stopped its arbitrary swinging and shot out at the tiny humanoid frame standing on the enormous teau opposite the one he was on.


    Deciding to have their grand battle on the ''Abyssal teaus'', they chose the location with one of the highest poptions in all of Hell''s Paradise.


    With every step they took, many civilizations crumbled underneath their soles, almost as if they were giants standing inside an ant pile in a sandbox¡­


    CRACKLE!!!


    A savage streak of dark yellow lighting fell from the heavens, controlled by Lucifer in order to give his tail a trace aspect of the energy from the Immortal Realm.


    "Over time, only two people have acquired the ability to move around trace amounts of the Immortal Energy that seeps into Hell''s Paradise from the true Immortal Realm. Those two people are the Head Chairman of the Immortal Demon Vanquisher Faction and¡­"


    CRACKA¡ªBOOOOM!!!


    "Me."


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 335: Forced Ascension, Eternal Jade Heavens

    ...¡­.


    CRACKA¡ªBOOOOM!!!


    While shing out with a power exceeding anything the other Demonstars could''ve hoped to match, Lucifer stood with hisrge, muscr arms crossed over one another. He posed himself in a position simr to a certain white alien in a show about spiky-haired aliens.


    "..."


    Lucifer nkly watched as everything in ''that direction'' was erased from the map.


    Literally everything in ''that direction'' was no longer there¡­


    In a fan-shaped wave of destruction, more than 10% of the boundlessly wide Hell''s Paradise vanished.


    "???"


    Honing in on this location from countless miles away, a pair of eyes just as ancient as Lucifer''s materialized in the heavens above. While looking over everything with narrowed eyes and a discerning glint, the pair of eyes had their eyshes flicker for a moment. Then, with a voice just as antiquated, everyone heard something say, "Lucifer, you know the rules.


    If you are to break the rules set in ce, then the Immortals will descend. And from that point onward, your fate no longer has anything to do with me."


    "..."


    Turning his emotionless expression up to the pair of heavenly eyes, Lucifer flicked his fingers and said, "Go away, old man. I have long tired of the monotony of this world, and if they wish toe down and confront us, then I wee it."


    A silence pervaded the atmosphere between the two, and then within the expectations of the ancient pair of eyes, Lucifer''s finger flick caused the eyes to blow away in a puff of smoke.


    As the energy that made up the eyes dispersed into the surroundings, the mysterious old man''s voice reverberated once more, saying, "If this is your choice, then so be it. But Lucifer, do understand that messing with a True Enigma has never led to anything good for us. If, despite knowing that, you still wish to go through with this fool''s errand, then do as you will.


    But keep in mind that if you die once again, I will not be able to save you likest time."


    With those words acting as the prelude to what was to happen, ''that direction'' suddenly erupted with an aura so dark and deathly that the entire world was forced to bear witness to the creation of the organism that would destroy it.


    OOOM!


    Viewing all of Hell''s Paradise as nothing more than a speck of dust in the middle of a vast assortment of void particles, an unfathomable, demonic presence overlooked everything from above a tiny Loot God''s insignificant body.


    "I see¡­ It does appear that the old man was right for once in his life. But what he failed to ount for was that his death was also on the near horizon."


    While watching firsthand as countless powerful crimson auras cropped up from all over Hell''s Paradise, both the Head of the Demon Vanquishers and Lucifer visibly witnessed theplete copse of the world¡­


    |Ultimate Serious Series: Atomic sh Ultimatum|


    With the resonance of a technique name that hyper-transcended what a mortal could wield, Hell''s Paradise was washed over by a light that ridded the world of all evil. To be more specific, it saved the world from both evil and good and everything in between¡­


    The Loot Essence and Clone Essence of all existences in this reality were transferred to a singr organism, and then all at once, it was used up in order to attempt something that even Immortal''s thought to be impossible.


    A Forced Ascension.


    ¡ª-------------


    An indefinite amount of time passed; the location: unknown.


    "Have you taken a look at the man who appeared at a corner of the Royal Castle a few hours ago? Out of nowhere, someone with red hair bypassed all immortal security and showed up in the area right outside the Eldest Princess''s room!


    The guards, King, and officials originally assumed he was a criminal, and they were going to kill him without remorse. But when they realized that he was genuinely unconscious, they held their hands and threw him in the dungeons instead.


    His fate is totally out in the air, but from what I hear, the Eldest Princess immediately took a liking to the face of this man¡­ It''s even said that she asked her father to lessen the punishment on her behalf¡­!"


    Silently speaking to a fellow person in peasant attire was a man with a horse-shaped face. He whispered to the other man''s ears while looking up at arge cliff and the magnificent pearl white castle that sat on its edges.


    "Sigh¡­ You really are one to get caught up in those silly rumors, aren''t you? If you were half as focused on your job as you were with believing everything you hear, then farming productivity would be at an all-time high!"


    While berating his friend in a disappointed tone, this peasant looked to the castle and noticed more than a few unusually active guardsmen pacing around in circles.


    "Hmm? Is something happening in the Royal Castle¡­?"


    While mumbling to himself, he couldn''t help but recall what his friend had said about the mysterious man that appeared in the Royal Castle not too long ago. Though, he quickly discarded that train of thought and went back to gathering the seeds for the next harvest.


    His friend tagged along soon after, although reluctantly he might add.


    This ce was known as Everveil, and it was one of the many Immortal Kingdoms sitting in a remote corner of the massive Immortal Realm that went by the name of ''Eternal Jade Heavens''. It was also a kingdom well known for its agriculture and highly intuitive ways of farming Immortal Food.


    In the Immortal Realms, everybody was at the very minimum, in the Half-Immortal Realm. From the lowliest of ves all the way to the strongest of rulers¡ªall were at least a Rank 1 Half-Immortal.


    Just like mortals, they too needed to consume food, or rather immortal food, in order to survive. It was not easy for normal physiques to withstand the constant flow of Immortal Energy that permeated the Eternal Jade Heavens and other Immortal Realms.


    Therefore, those in the Half-Immortal Realm who were still adjusting to the radically dangerous climate needed to consume ''Immortal Food'' to keep their bodies stabilized.


    If they didn''t consume enough Immortal Food to nourish their bodies, then even with their eternal lifespans, they would still die¡­


    This was where Rank 1 Immortal Kingdoms like Everveil came in. They grew and nurtured Immortal Crops that were split among their own people. After which, the surplus would be sectioned off and sent to other regions in exchange for a currency known as ''Immortal Crystals.''


    A few Rank 1 Immortal Crystals were enough for the averagemoner Immortal family to survive for around a month. Whereas Rank 2 Immortal Crystals were what the Everveil Royal Family and high-ranking nobles used with each other.


    It was in a mystical kingdom with an economical climate like this one that was currently in the midst of deciding what to do with the crimson-haired man that just woke up in his cell¡­


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 336: Waking Up In a Cell

    ...¡­.


    "Is this the Immortal Realm¡­? I don''t quite recall what happened after confronting Lucifer, but I likely already ascended, right¡­?"


    A hoarse, raspy voice hummed within the confines of a damp and cold prison cell.


    With a dozen hard iron bars acting as the reminder that Azmodeus was no longer the strongest, he was left to sit and meander around in his thoughts.


    While sitting on a marble b bench with a pondering look, he noticed that he could feel¡­ He could feel the cold seeping out of the moisture contained within the hanging bench. It was a feeling that had eluded him for far too long¡ªit made him feel oddly human¡­


    This feeling led to Azmodeus noticing something else that was also rather peculiar.


    "My left ear; I have gone deaf in it¡­"


    After fully epting what the Infinite Evolution System said all that time ago, he realized that he would slowly but surely lose everything. And there was absolutely nothing he could do to prevent it¡­


    "Well, shit¡­! No use staying in such a glum mood; I might as well check out my system interface and see just how much has changed! There must surely be something in there that will clear the clouds and brighten the day...! Surely..."


    Putting the depressing thoughts to the back of his mind, Azmodeus called upon the Infinite Evolution System, and an illusory blue holographic screen answered his call.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: 2nd Order Loot God - 0.01% Nourishment]


    [Lifespan: Infinite]


    [Cultivation: Grade 1 Half-Immortal (Initial)]


    [Battle Power: Grade 1 Half-Immortal (Early)]


    [Immortal Power: 0.1]]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 0.1 Immortal Evolution Essence]


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Cultivation Talent: White Tier Immortal (Initial)]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    [Singrity Coalescence: White Tier Immortal (Initial)] ¡ú


    (All exterior aspects of existence have been converted into this singr Trait]


    {[Immortal Lines:]}


    [White Tier: 1]


    (Instead of Laws, Immortals cultivate something known as ''Immortal Lines.'' All your previous 30,000 Laws were only enough to acquire a single Immortal Line of the White Tier. Comprehend more Immortal profundities to obtain more.)


    ¡ª-------


    After ncing over this part of his system interface, Azmodeus also looked at his Infinite Immortal World.


    BLING!


    ¡ª-------


    {[Infinite Immortal World:]}


    {[World Ruler: None]}


    [World Age: 0.1 Immortal Year]


    [Area width: 0.1 Immortal Land Plot]


    [Upgrade Requirements: The Core of a Lowest-Level Immortal ne]


    [Rank 1 Immortal Lifeforms ¡ú Everyone]


    [Time Dtion ¡ú 1:1.10]


    [Qi Density ¡ú ''1.10x'' that of the outside world]


    ¡ª------


    [Ding! Host, do note that Immortal Years are worth far more than Mortal Years; thus, the rates for the Infinite Immortal World have been drastically altered. But worry not because the values are still the same, and in fact, they have tremendously improved!]


    "Yeah, yeah, whatever, you scammer¡­!" Clicking his tongue, Azmodeus then went back a few steps and looked over the attribute part of his system interface again. "Everything looks pretty good, but I am rather curious about where those Immortal Lines will take my power."


    He noticed something else while content with that aspect of his system interface.


    "Where is my Singrity Technique and Loot Halos? I get that my Singrity Physique and Singrity Trait have been transformed into Singrity Coalescence, but what about thest one?"


    Deciding to bring this question to the system, the response he received was, [Ding! The Singrity Trait known as Scythe sh has been integrated into the very essence of your existence. Therefore, there was no need to include it in your stats. As for your Loot Halos¡­ The system simply forgot¡­]


    "Of course you did." pping his forehead in exasperation, Azmodeus swiped away the pop-up screen and waited for it to get a revision.


    Luckily, it didn''t take long before a revised system interface was thrown in front of him.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: 2nd Order Loot God - 0.01% Nourishment]


    [Lifespan: Infinite]


    [Cultivation: Grade 1 Half-Immortal (Initial)]


    [Battle Power: Grade 1 Half-Immortal (Early)]


    [Immortal Power: 0.1]]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 0.1 Immortal Evolution Essence]


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Cultivation Talent: White Tier Immortal (Initial)]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    [Singrity Coalescence: White Tier Immortal (Initial)]


    {[Immortal Lines:]}


    [White Tier Loot Lines: 1]


    {[Loot Halos:]}


    [Red Tier Loot Halos: 1]


    ¡ª-------


    "Hmm¡­ Why are there only Red Tier Loot Halos?" Azmodeus asked as he looked at the pop-up screen with a questioning glint in his gaze. "What happened to the rest of the Tiers?"


    [Ding! The system automatically converted all your Loot Halos upon ascension. After all, none of the lower-ranking Halos would have any effect on Loot Acquisition in the Immortal Realms. In fact, the system did your ungrateful self a favor by converting all your Loot Halos into a single Red Tier Loot Halo.]


    [Ding! The host should be grateful!]


    "Is that so¡­?"


    Azmodeus''s face suddenly became far darker than before, and he was starting to feel the urge to take this cocky system interface to a recycling station. But showing remarkable restraint, he held himself back, instead focusing on his surroundings.


    "Hmm¡­ This ce¡­ I mean, it''s quite obviously a dungeon. But what I don''t understand is why I woke up in one¡­"


    [Ding! The Host was likely locked up!]


    "Nah fucking shit, smartass!"


    While clicking his tongue in frustration, Azmodeus looked away from the annoyingly smug system interface. In the process of turning his head to the left, he saw something utterly mind-boggling.


    Looking through a window that separated the room from the outside world with a few metal bars, he glimpsed into something that seemed far too surreal for him¡­


    "This ce¡­ It really is the Immortal Realm," Azmodeus muttered to himself as he watched ethereal entities of untold magnificence soar through the skies and zip off into the distance. "Their cultivation; I can''t even begin to glean into their depths¡­"


    It was terrifying to imagine, but he truly had be one of the weakest beings in the world.


    Even little Immortal children were more powerful than he was¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 337: The Queen Of Thots

    ...¡­


    "Well, shit¡­ This makes it all the weirder that someone like me was thrown into a prison cell. And from the looks of it, I have been here for at least a few hours," Azmodeus said as he scrutinized the butt print that he left on the marble bench. "Anyway, first things first."


    After shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he turned to look at the long iron bars that prevented him from leaving through a cracked cobblestone hallway.


    The first thing he tried was bending the bars; the result was obviously one of disappointment¡­


    "As I thought, from my speed to my strength and everything else, all of it has been adjusted to the¡­ Immortal Lines that make the world go around?" Scratching his head in confusion, he said, "Maybe they are like World Lines but the Immortal version? So Immortal World Lines."


    Azmodeus hit the mark on the bullseye, but no one would tell him that¡­


    "Just like with the Astral ne, these Immortal World Lines make my strength appear less than it previously was. But in reality, I am leagues above my past self in terms of power."


    While sitting on the bench, Azmodeus thought over many things until eventually¡­


    Creack¡ª


    The sound of creaking resounded in the hallow underground dungeons as a rustic metal gate door opened with a ng. Then, with somewhat organized steps, five men in armor walked through the dungeon before making it to where the only prisoner was. Afterward, they unisonly turned toward the cell.


    The two men at the front moved out of the way, allowing a sixth presence to be known in the underground dungeon.


    "A woman¡­?" Looking up from his rxed sitting position, Azmodeus saw a girl with long, curly ck hair.


    She had a button nose, long babydoll eyshes, bright red lips, expensive jewelry, and a well-endowed womanly figure.


    ''In other words¡­ she''s most definitely a Thot! I know a Thot when I see one, and thisdy smells like the Queen of Thots!''


    Sensing the Thotness from miles away, Azmodeus narrowed his eyes in suspicion before staring at the nobledy like a predatory devil.


    Shiver.


    The gaze focused only on her caused an electrical current to spread throughout the busty body of the Eldest Princess of the Everveil Empire. But for some odd reason, a euphorical smirk crept up her stunning face¡­


    ''Oh sh*t, this woman spells so much trouble that even if I were a wizard, there would be no way in hell I could hope to escape the spells I''m feeling¡­''


    "Excuse me, sir."


    Taking Azmodeus out of his thoughts, the Eldest Princess spoke up with an almost sickeningly sweet feminine voice. She sessfully garnered his attention, saying, "I apologize for how my father and his attendants have treated you like a criminal. But you see, you appeared outside my room in the dead of night, and everyone assumed you were a pervert.


    My father and everyone else were ready to execute you right then and there, but after some adamant convincing, I got them to keep you in here until you woke up."


    Getting to this part of her exnation, a crimson tinge formed on her rosy cheeks.


    ''Ahhh, so it''s this sort of setup, huh? Pinning the entire me on everyone but herself and then talking about all the trouble she went through to ''save the day.'' Just as I expected, this woman is a certified Thot. In fact, I wouldn''t doubt it if someone told me she was the one who threw me in this cell.


    Gaining both my favor and putting herself in better lighting¡ªI must say, it''s not that shabby a n.''


    Azmodeus nodded a couple of times in acknowledgment before his gaze turned icy cold, and he once again returned to ring at the hateful woman.


    The same shock spread through the Eldest Princess''s body, but rather than anger her, it only seemed to heighten her excitement further.


    Working quickly to prevent a creepy smile from forming on her face, she lightly coughed before saying, "I know you must be in a state of bewilderment and are likely angry at the people who look like your captors, but I will soon show you that we are just trying to help you."


    As she took elegant steps away from her guards, they were about to follow along, but with a simple hand raise, they stopped in their tracks and awaited furthermands.


    ''Like robots¡­ Bereft of even the smallest amount of independence¡­ It is obvious that this woman has scarred their minds in one way or another.''


    Going even more on guard, Azmodeus was ready to strike out at any given moment.


    However, when he tried circting his energy¡­


    ''Nothing¡­ My strength might as well be equivalent to a chicken¡­''


    He also realized that this was likely why the crazy noblewoman was courageous enough to leave the side of what were obviously her personal guards. Being beyond the Half-Immortal Realm, the difference between her and him was like the difference between heaven and earth.


    Tap, Tap, Tap.


    As she approached the metal bars of the prison cell, the Eldest Princess, Yan Jie, circted her Immortal Energy and effortlessly bent the bars enough to allow her to walk in. She then walked up to the menacing devil-eyed man and lifted his chiseled chin with her index finger. "You really are the most handsome man I''ve ever seen," she said.


    "Even among the high-ranking immortals, I''ve never seen one anywhere close to your level."


    SHING!


    "!!!"


    Suddenly feeling an immense surge of killing intent, Yan Jie retracted her hand and backed up a few steps.


    Viewing the red-eyed man once more, she frighteningly looked up and saw a premonition of unequivocally, all-epassing¡­ death.


    However, as if it were all a bad nightmare, it came and went in the blink of an eye.


    Bing genuinely enraged by the resistance of her ''toy,'' she angrily shouted, "You dare show off your useless sorcery in front of me!? Do you have any idea what I could do to you!?"


    Her pretty and refined facial features quickly morphed into something far uglier and far more sinister. While glowering at the apathetic man, she took it a step further and grabbed his cor before pping him in the face¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 338: Gains Through Getting Beat

    ...¡­


    Although Yan Jie repeatedly pped Azmodeus, and the sound of pping mixed with the gushing of blood echoed out in the underground prison, not a single other person moved a muscle. Not the guards or the one being abused; the only one currently doing anything was the short-tempered, high maintenance princess.


    p! p! p!


    Even though his face was bruised to purple and golden blood stained the left side of his cheek, Azmodeus was as emotionless as he was before the system erased his emotion limiters.


    He simply stared at the ugly, scornful look on the face of a nut case. ''Even though I already knew the true colors of this two-faced b*tch before I met her, I''m still left amazed by her ''benevolence.'' In fact, she is being so benevolent that I ought to repay the favor one of these days,'' he thought.


    While holding malicious thoughts within his subconscious, Azmodeus continued to take the beatings until the Princess finally tired of the monotony. As she stormed out of the cell in a terrible mood, she restored the cell bars to what they once were. After which, she and her guards returned to whence they came.


    After leaving him to meander inside his own thoughts, Azmodeus wiped the blood smears off his face and opened up his system interface, thinking of his next course of action.


    ''I asked the system during that beating, but it seems that my Primordial Essence Clones and Mirror Mirages have been reduced to dust. It said there would be a new ''Immortal Clone'' function, but I doubt that wille anytime soon,'' he thought. ''Therefore, there is only one real way to escape this cell and truly start exploring this loot-filled world¡­''


    While side-ncing at the golden blood drizzling down his lips, Azmodeus realized that he better get used to blood and pain if he wished to go through with what came next.


    Unluckily, or luckily, in this case, he had long since grown used to pain¡­


    As he lifted his right fist, he gathered all his power, and then, entirely out of the blue, he punched himself in the pit of his stomach!


    Kuk!


    Azmodeus caved in under the excruciating pain, coughing up arge blot of blood. As he fell against the far side wall of the cell, he clutched his chest, trying his best to get his breathing back under control.


    "Everything, including pain, has been tremendously amplified in this world, but cough! Th-That is fine with me¡­"


    A determined gleam passed through his piercing gaze, and then, without respite, he once again threw a full-power punch into his chest!


    Kuk!


    Blood once again sttered the dreary prison cell walls a deep golden shade. But without waiting for the damp roof water to wash away the blood, Azmodeus hit himself once more¡­


    Kuk!


    Spurt!


    Again.


    Kuk!


    And again.


    After more than ten rounds of hitting himself as hard as possible, the system notification he had been waiting for finally came.


    BLING!


    [Ding! The host has sessfully refined his body enough to acquire a Low-White Tier Immortal Physique called ''Immortal''s Resilience'']


    [Ding! The host can upgrade this Immortal Physique by further Refining his body! Good luck¡­]


    "J-Just what I was wanting¡­"


    After feeling a spike in his overall power level, Azmodeus managed to stop himself from passing out just in the nick of time. As he regained most of his stamina, he returned to the deed, nning to do whatever it took to be stronger.


    As for the reason he didn''t attempt cultivation or anything else¡ªwell, he didn''t have a proper Immortal Cultivation Technique.


    There was the chance that he could escape this dimension with the Infinite Immortal World, but like previous examples, it would likely just send him right back to where he was transferred from. Thus, the only real choice he had was the bloody sight happening inside a cell of the Everveil Kingdom''s secret dungeon.


    After a few hours of beating himself silly, Azmodeus''s reckless actions finally started to bear fruit.


    [Ding! Your Immortal Physique ''Immortal''s Resilience'' has reached the High-White Tier from the Mid-White Tier!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has improved to the ''Grade 1 Half-Immortal Realm (Late)]


    Though the improvements may not seem like much, Azmodeus could feel that his strength had at least doubled. And for the Immortal Realm, an increase of 100% was considered quite substantial. After all, with the Immortal Realm being a ne of existence that hyper-transcended everything below it, a 100% increase would be worth a value unable to be measured in the Mortal Realm.


    "Shit¡­ Still not enough¡­"


    Azmodeus was intelligent enough to know that this was nowhere near sufficient to bend the cell''s metal bars. Therefore, he returned to the art of ''Beating oneself to the verge of death.''


    He made use of all the time he had, knowing damn well that the noble b*tch would be returning¡­


    ¡­


    Roughly 57 hourster.


    CLANG!


    After loudly mming open the gate door leading to the castle''s underground area, Yan Jie and her unit of metal tin cans approached the solitary cell containing a man. They reached the cell bars and took a good look at the interior.


    Yan Jie saw absolutely nothing unusual. There were no golden blood stains, and Azmodeus''s body had all butpletely healed up, just as Yan Jie expected it to.


    She couldn''t exactly have her new pretty toy not pretty anymore; now could she¡­?


    With a deeply rooted maliciousness hidden with those dazzling eyes of hers, she activated her powers and opened up the cell the same as she did a couple days ago.


    "It seems you are as lively as ever, my dear."


    As she looked at the vicious glint in the devilish man''s primitive gaze, Yan Jie just knew that she would have even more fun with her little toy!


    A few minutes quickly passed¡­


    p! p!


    While pping around that pretty face of his, Yan Jie straddled the bloody-faced man, reveling in the feelings she felt when looking at his expression of ''resistance.''


    Seeing such a sight only seemed to excite her even more, resulting in her psing down with even more fervor!


    Like a helpless chick, Lucifery down on the cracked and moldy cobblestoned cell floor, calmly observing the crazed looks that shed past his captor''s face.


    ''As her personality dictates, she really does hit like a little bitch. And that is not nearly enough to help progress my Immortal''s Resilience Physique.''


    While nkly staring at the ps viscously whacking his face, Azmodeus also took a few cursory nces at his system notifications.


    BLING!


    ...¡­

 Chapter 339: Beating Oneself... Is Da Way?

    ...¡­


    BLING!


    [Ding! You have further refined your ''Immortal''s Resilience'' Immortal Physique. As a result, it has reached the ''Absolute Peak White Immortal Tier'']


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has progressed from the ''Grade 1 Half-Immortal Realm (Limit)'' to the ''Grade 2 Half-Immortal Realm (Initial)'']


    ''Ahhh, finally some real progress¡­''


    Quite satisfied with his results so far, Azmodeus concealed his improvement in strength and continued to take the repeated beatings of the crazy b*tch.


    After a few more minutes of watching her toy ''squirm'' and ''writhe'' in pain, Yan Jie left the cell with a crooked grin. With the echoing steps of both her and her guards acting as the signal, Azmodeus suddenly got up off the ground and wiped the look of pain off his face.


    [Ding! You have further refined your ''Immortal''s Resilience'' Immortal Physique. As a result, it has reached the Orange Tier from the White Tier.]


    [Ding! Immortal''s Resilience has reached the ''Low-Orange Tier'']


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has improved to the ''Grade 2 Half-Immortal Realm (Early)]


    Feeling a wave of power wash over his body, Azmodeus got up and walked over to his bench. After which, he wasted no time and went back to beating the sh*t out of himself¡­


    Wham!


    Kuk!


    Wham!


    Kuk!


    Once again, the sound of flesh hitting flesh and blood sttering resounded through the enclosed walls of the underground prison area.


    Time ceaselessly passed for the Immortals living in Everveil, and before long, they all seemed to forget about the man who mysteriously appeared outside the Eldest Princess''s chambers.


    However, those deep into the kingdom''s internal affairs kept the matter of the ''Special Prisoner'' in the back of their minds. This event, like many that came before, reminded the high officials and servants of the cruelty of their young princess.


    Every few days, she would take an evening stroll into the secret underground dungeons, and on those days, the servants could swear that they heard faint cries of pain echo throughout the Royal Castle¡­


    -


    ''Four weeks¡­ It has been exactly one month since I arrived in the Immortal Realm. So far, my strength has tremendously improved, and my system interface looks something like¡­''


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: 2nd Order Loot God - 0.01% Nourishment]


    [Lifespan: Inapplicable/Infinite]


    [Cultivation: Grade 1 Half-Immortal (Initial)]


    [Battle Power: Grade 4 Half-Immortal (Peak)]


    [Immortal Power: 0.5]]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 0.1 Immortal Evolution Essence]


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Cultivation Talent: White Tier Immortal (Initial)]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    [Singrity Coalescence: White Tier Immortal (Initial)]


    {[Immortal Physiques:]}


    [Immortal''s Resilience: Late-Orange Tier]


    {[Immortal Lines:]}


    [White Tier Loot Lines: 1]


    {[Loot Halos:]}


    [Red Tier Loot Halos: 1]


    ¡ª-------


    "Even after all this time, my Immortal Power has yet to cross over into the single digits¡­" Slightly disappointed, Azmodeus shook his head as he clenched and unclenched his bloody fists.


    Ooom¡­


    Feeling the trace amounts of Immortal Energy flowing through his veins, he figured he had be as strong as your average adult in this world. Skipping over the status of child, Azmodeus was definitely getting up there in power, albeit rather slowly¡­


    Though if any other Immortal citizen read his thoughts of progressing ''slowly,'' they would surely bart-simpson choke him to death before blowing their brains out.


    Thankfully, Azmdodes was trapped in a hollow prison, so there was no chance that his thoughts could identally slip out of his mouth. Instead, the only thing falling out of his mouth was more and more golden blood¡­


    Wham!


    Kuk!


    Wham!


    Kuk!


    While beating himself up during his free time, he patiently waited for the generous princess toe to pay him a visit, where she would also beat him up.


    All in all, Azmodeus''s new favorite pastime was getting the sh*t beaten out of him. Though no ''idents'' have urred, who knew when the devil might slip up and let out a deuce¡­


    As time passed like a flowing river, the Kingdom of Everveil went on like usual. No wars sprouted up, and the agricultural aspects of the kingdom were flourishing.


    However, in the confines of a cell that they created, a true monster was being beaten and forged in their blood, sweat, and tears¡­


    Two years had passed since Azmodeus arrived in the Immortal World. During that time, he refined his Immortal''s Resilience Physique without breaking even the slightest bit. Because of his unmatched mindset to strive and evolve, his body adapted, and his power skyrocketed!


    His Immortal''s Resilience just ranked up into the Green Tier; as for his Battle Power¡­


    BLING!


    [Ding! Through the constant refinements of your physical body, your Battle Power has reached the ''Grade 7 Half-Immortal Realm (Middle)'']


    "About as strong as the average Immortal Vige Warrior in this Kingdom¡­" Softly murmuring to himself in a hoarse voice, the long-term side effects of not drinking any Immortal Water were beginning to rear their heads.


    Just like Immortal Food, a low-level Immortal also needed Immortal Water if they wished to prevent going crazy before ultimately dying.


    "By my calctions, I have approximately 10 years before my body can no longer keep up with theck of Immortal Energy-filled nutrients¡­ For Immortals, such a period of time is likely just a drop in the ocean. But for me, every second is valuable."


    It felt like just about every night, he would receive a b*tch as his one and only visitor. During their time together, his immortal physique improved by leaps and bounds. But if he were being honest, he wished there was more than just her hitting him¡­


    "Well, regardless of my slow rate of advancement, I feel that getting Immortal''s Resilience to the Yellow Rank should be enough to get me to the peak of the Half-Immortal Realm. From there, I can work on chipping away at the window bars."


    As he nced at the sharp metal piece he kept hidden inside his cell, Azmodeus was already thinking of escaping the old-fashioned way. Except instead of a spoon, he had his bare hands and a piece of metal!


    He also had the |Scythe sh|, which had somehow integrated into the core of his existence. But he doubted whether it would be any help at this point in time.


    Already having a n set in ce, Azmodeus resumed his daily routine, which almost entirely consisted of beating the stuffing out of himself¡­


    ...¡­

 Chapter 340: Breaking Free!

    ...¡­


    10 yearster.


    Having sessfully advanced Immortal''s Resilience to the Yellow Rank, it was finally time for Azmodeus to open up his system interface and nce over the fruits of his efforts.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: 2nd Order Loot God - 0.01% Nourishment]


    [Lifespan: Inapplicable/Infinite]


    [Cultivation: Grade 1 Half-Immortal (Initial)]


    [Battle Power: Grade 9 Half-Immortal (Limit)]


    [Immortal Power: 2.7]]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 0.1 Immortal Evolution Essence]


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Cultivation Talent: White Tier Immortal (Initial)]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    [Singrity Coalescence: White Tier Immortal (Initial)]


    {[Immortal Physiques:]}


    [Immortal''s Resilience: Low-Yellow Tier]


    {[Immortal Lines:]}


    [White Tier Loot Lines: 1]


    {[Loot Halos:]}


    [Red Tier Loot Halos: 1]


    ¡ª-------


    "Very nice," muttered Azmodeus. His slitted demonic eyes intently focused on the ''Limit'' part of his Battle Power.


    He didn''t like limits¡­ So he would definitely need to change that.


    However, other than that, everything was looking very good. So, like usual, he got back to hitting himself-


    "Wait¡­ bad habit¡­" Stopping his fists in the process of punching himself, Azmodeus wryly chuckled before looking toward the metal bars of the cell window.


    He had be so ustomed to making self-abuse his daily routine that hepletely overlooked the fact that his strength was now significant enough to begin the escape n. Realizing this, Azmodeus walked over to his cell window and picked up the metal piece he kept hidden. Bringing the concealed weapon to the cell window bars, he started to chip away at the bottom of the middle bar.


    Contrary to what happened thest time he attempted this, he now possessed the necessary strength to dig away at the cement that supported the metal bars.


    Although it would definitely take quite a while for any real progress to be made, Azmodeus was confident that he could break out before the next time the crazy b*tch decided to pay him a visit.


    Time passed with him gnawing away at the cell that had held him captive for thest decade, and when a shallow hole could be seen below the middle cell bars, Azmodeus knew he was close. All he had to do was keep going at it!


    For his entire life, all he had done was try¡­ He would try and try until he seeded. No matter what he had to sacrifice, his mind and body would work in unison in order to make the sacrifice.


    Azmodeus had lost many things in his long, seemingly eternal life. Pain, bodily damage, permanent loss, emotional scarring, and¡­ people ¡ª he had lost almost everything that would''ve or could''ve made him human.


    From this loss, he realized that life, and especially the path to Infinity, would never allow the Traverser to have anything¡­


    To progress to the absolute peak and beyond, one must gain everything they''ve ever even slightly yearned for. And then they must lose it all¡­ bit by bit and piece by piece¡ªa Traverser of Infinity was not allowed to permanently retain anything. This was not optional, and though a traverser may not know it, their life would be constantly turned upside down.


    Only the genuinely worthy traversers, those who strive and thrive through the loss ¡ª only people like that were worthy enough to see the light that blinded them from Infinity.


    Azmodeus learned of loss, but he first had to have it before he learned of it. And though it may seem like a cruel twist of fate or destiny, everything that he had was given to him because it was meant to be.


    How could one learn of loss if they hadn''t first experienced it?


    From the functionality of his five senses to the allure of women ¡ª Azmodeus first needed to have it all in order to understand true loss.


    He never wanted a harem, and he never wanted romance or to feel the touch of a woman. He didn''t particrly care about his ability to properly hear either. After all, when does one simply ponder a potential loss of hearing?


    However, now that he lost the first few things, even though he never wanted them, he still felt the feeling of loss associated with that particr theft.


    The Infinite Evolution System and the Path of Infinity were designed to help a traverser of Infinity imagine, visualize, and experience what could ur in any infinite number of timelines.


    In the end, Azmodeus''s torture in the underground dungeon of the Everveil Royal Castle was just another form of loss. It was just one of countless experiences that would truly engrain the essence of suffering into his very core¡­


    But, with suffering, a true infinity Traverser would resist; they would actively attempt to defy their fate. And just as he refused to fall into depression after being forced to recall his memories of ''them'', this time around, he would not give up just because he was trapped in a cell!


    With an unmatched mindset, tempered through the loss he''d experienced thus far, he ceaselessly chipped away at his cell bars!


    He was no bird in a cage! He was no prisoner of fate! He refused!


    He refused to allow himself to give up and stay content!


    HE REFUSED!!!


    Crack¡ª!


    Then, as if the mechanisms of destiny acknowledged his will, the cell window bars cracked!


    Before the bars could fall and potentially attract the attention of any onlookers or guards, Azmodeus swiftly shot his hands toward them all. Making use of his lightning quick reflexes and rough hand calluses, he gathered up the window bars and set them down on the ground right beside him. He then promptly leaped through the hole that was just big enough to allow him to squeeze in.


    Thud!


    In the dead of night, with the luminescent moon looming over the Eternal Jade Heavens Immortal Realm, the only prisoner of the secret castle dungeons slipped out of his cell.


    Azmodeus stood in the middle of an open field under a sky bathed in soft, silvery luminescence. The grass shimmered like velvet beneath the night''s quiet glow. Looking up at the low-hung moon, he watched as it spilled its pale moonlight across the earth, turning each de of grass into a delicate fment.


    Bathing in this resplendent moonlight, he felt like the ten years he spent in that prison cell were suddenly all worth it.


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 341: To Experience Loss, Becoming A Night Worker

    ...¡­.


    "To experience loss, one must first have something. I lost my freedom, and now my freedom has returned. I understand¡­"


    Under the presence of therge, dazzling immortal moon, Azmodeus vanished from his spot, leaving des of grass to flutter into the wind.


    Within a few moments, his fleeting figure was seen dancing among the grassy fields surrounding the Everveil Kingdom from all sides. Observing the scenery around him, he caught a glimpse of the kingdom during the moonlit hour. Reflecting its rays off the sides of the city buildings, the moon acted as the ambiance that told a tale depicting night workers'' lives.


    Not just the selling their body for money type, but the kind of night workers that constructed structures and maintained the facilities that made the city function properly.


    They were the true backbone of the kingdom. Though the ones fighting for their kingdom or ruling over the kingdom from above also had their parts to y, the ones who went unnoticed were more vital to the continuation of the kingdom''s economy for many generations toe.


    It was people like this that Azmodeus decided to approach, and he did so with an offer in mind. Of course, before he reached a group of them, he activated his Heavenly Transfiguration Technique and changed every aspect of his existence.


    From his face to his aura and outfit ¡ª everything might as well have been considered indistinguishable from his previous self. And to any onlookers, no matter their strength, he would appear like your typical middle-aged nightworker.


    His cultivation being in the Grade 9 Half-Immortal Realm was just the cherry on top. Thus, with an impable disguise and identity, Azmodeus walked up to a group of men and women wearing yellow construction hats. Simr to modern earthlings, they wore your typical construction getup. The evidence of their hard, dangerous work could be seen in the form of tears and mysterious stains on their attire.


    "???" "???"


    Upon hearing unfamiliar footsteps, all of the construction workers suddenly looked in the same direction. Getting a good look at who the footsteps belonged to, arge square-faced construction man stepped forth. "And what business do you have with us?" He asked in a gruff tone.


    "..."


    Taking a moment to appraise the appearance and demeanor of this construction man, Azmodeus''s rather soothing voice started out by saying, "I have just arrived in town. As Ie from a mining city to the east, I am familiar with hard work.


    Therefore, I will keep things simple in saying that I wish to find some work." Extending hisrge hand for a handshake, it took a second of brooding for the construction man to stretch out his hand as well. Though his hand was quite a bitrger than Azmodeus''s, their grips were roughly the same in strength, and that was all the construction manager needed to know. "You have yourself a job!


    From dusk till dawn, for 7 days a week, are you really up for it?"


    "Yes, I am." Azmodeus''s response was instantaneous.


    It was this resolve that led to a smile forming on the rough faces of everyone in the construction crew. After quickly bing acquainted, Azmodeus was told to stay in their on-premises trailers until he found a ce to stay. Upon which, Azmodeus replied in a positive manner and swiftly found himself a bed to sleep on.


    Waiting for dawn to arrive, he pretended to sleep while thinking over his most recent actions.


    ''In the end, the only choice I had was something along the lines of what I''ve done. From what I asionally heard from outside the prison cell with my enhanced hearing, this kingdom is one where you can really only enter and never leave. Even Human Immortal Realm Cultivators are said to be stuck here until they could afford the cost of migration.


    Which, from what I gathered, is a price tag beyond anything a normal person could hope to amass.''


    ''With all of this in mind, and with the addition of a few more whispers from around the city, I was able to learn of the best course of action I could take. That is, unless I wanted to take the risk and encounter the Earth Immortal Realm Border Guards at the nation''s border.''


    ''If they had even the smallest chance of catching me and learning of my ''rtionship'' with the eldest princess of their kingdom¡­ well, I doubt even 7 cat lives would be enough to save me¡­''


    The only thing that Azmodeus could think of in order to counter everything that could potentially be after his head or freedom was the sequence of events before him. Taking up a job while in disguise and having that job be one entirely focused on the night schedule. With this, he could work during the night while attempting to snoop around for an Immortal Cultivation Technique.


    Whereas during the day, he would continue to refine his body under the guise of ''resting''.


    Rinsing and repeating this process while keeping his head low, more than half a year quickly flew by¡­


    On a day just like all the ones that came before, Azmodeus worked with his construction crew to sketch out and build magically powered structures. Using Immortal Energy as their power source, they came with all-inclusive electricity. Plus, they were already furnished and intricately detailed by the time Azmodeus and ''his'' crew were done with them.


    It didn''t used to be like this, but after the ''Super Newbie'' joined the crew, everything started to change for a particr branch of the ''Everveil Immortal Construction Company''. Instead of doing exactly as their outside superiors told them to do, Azmodeus switched things up and threw out some bones, hoping that someone would catch them.


    Because of this and a headstrong attitude that the constructionpany had never seen, the superiors began to take him up on some of his proposals. And it was after some trial and error that they realized just how much of a construction genius the Super Newbie was. So, without giving it a second thought, thepany let him take over the reins of construction spanning multiple city blocks!


    In less than 3 months of working as the Manager of his Construction Team, Azmodeus showed his immense worth to thepany. Therefore, it was today that they called him over to the head office, nning to offer him a position as ''''General Manager'' of District 1-A0689''.


    Though it was only control over one of the countless districts in the massive Everveil Kingdom, it was definitely a major step forward. Hence, it was no surprise that he epted their offer and started working on arger scale the very next day.


    During thest half year, the Royal Castle''s powerful guardsmen began patrolling the capital with an unnatural amount of agitation. It were these peculiarities that let Azmodeus know that he needed to speed things up, lest the guards get a little too close to his scent.


    It was beyond obvious that the Eldest Princess was infuriated over the escape of her ''helpless toy''. As she sent out her father''s men in order to find him, it was pretty clear that she was trying to cover up for her own negligence. Growingcent with her own power and status, she practically refused to imagine a scenario where one of her ''toys'' escaped.


    Thus, she left no security around her toys and didn''t so much as have any of her spies keep a watch on them.


    In the end, herck of vignce was her mistake. And it would also serve as the cause of her undoing¡­


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 342: Cultivating Once Again, Human Immortal Realm

    ...¡­.


    Time persistently made its marks in the etches of the world; even if it were the Immortal Realm, time would still remain flowing forever.


    It had been more than 5 years since Azmodeus took up his job as a grunt construction worker. Now the top dawg of more than 1000 Districts, he had be the High District Manager of one of the 8 Large Provinces of the Eastern Royal Capital. Being only one of five other Immortal High District Managers in his Province, he could be considered one of the top brass.


    With such an illustrious status, Azmodeus learned what he wanted to know about Immortal Cultivation Techniques. From this information, he figured out that every Immortal Cultivation Technique acted as a sort of anchor to an Immortal for different cultivation milestones.


    Only being able to pick a single ''Foundational Immortal Cultivation Technique'' for the Half-Immortal, Human Immortal, and Earth Immortal Realms, citizens of the Immortal Worlds had to choose wisely if they wanted a future in cultivation.


    For Azmodeus, this meant he needed one of the absolute best Immortal Techniques he could obtain. And with his current status and ie, he had everything he needed to buy the most solid Immortal Cultivation Technique that could be purchased with money.


    Although it wasn''t the absolute best there ever was, it was good enough to make covering up his inadequacies far more manageable in theter Immortal Realms.


    After walking into a room with construction tools scattered around the interior, Azmodeus approached a table where a cloaked man stood.


    "Here is what you ordered, Sir Ming Po."


    Speaking respectfully, the cloaked man ced a beautifully carved case on the table that separated him from Ming Po. Opening up this case, a pure white tome with golden outlines was presented to one of the High District Managers of this Province.


    "...I see¡­ You may leave now."


    "Yes, sir."


    Upon hearing the door close with the disappearance of the cloaked man, Azmodeus sat down on a chair and picked up the tomb from its case. After reading therge, italic letters that read ''Primordial Immortal Arts,'' he opened up its brittle cover and keenly focused on the first few words of the first page.


    "Well, this is quite a pleasant surprise."


    Even though Azmodeus was no professional when it came to appraising, he could almost immediately tell that these Immortal Arts were the real deal.


    To be honest, he was expecting to receive a fake. Of course, he would''ve aimed to track down the buyer and torture the real thing out of him. But now, with the genuine article already within his grasp, that was no longer necessary.


    Without further contemtion, Azmodeus circted Elusive Ascension in conjunction with the Primordial Immortal Arts.


    Using these techniques got him thinking about Jue Mei and the other girls. While lost in his thoughts, he wasn''t even aware that he had already taken his first step on the path of Immortal Cultivation¡­


    "Oh?" That was all he said when he finally realized what had happened.


    Progressing from the ''Grade 1 Half-Immortal (Initial)'' stage to the ''Grade 1 Half-Immortal (Early)'' stage was a decent aplishment. But Azmodeus was far more interested in his new control over Immortal Energy.


    If his power had been limited to his physical aspects of existence before, then he could now vividly feel the Immortal Energy within his Dantian Space.


    "Wait, Dantian Space?"


    Looking into his body, Azmodeus now had control over his divine sense, and with that control, he could view his new and improved Dantian Space. The first thing he noticed was that the overall size of his Dantian Space had been severely reduced. The second thing was the austere sight before him¡­


    "The ce ispletely barren¡ªlike a vast, empty desert." Sighing a little at the sad example of a ''sea,'' Azmodeus noticed a few droplets of a light golden liquid. "Is that the Immortal Energy I just gathered?" He asked himself.


    Approaching the Immortal Energy droplets with his divine sense, he quickly understood that he was right in his deductions.


    "So, it seems I need to start over and fill everything from the beginning again¡­ Well, fuck me sideways¡­"


    The only plus side he could tell of was that each droplet of Immortal Energy was worth countless amounts more than his previous Energy Seabined. Besides that, merely looking at the decrepitnd was enough to throw an ordinary person into depression.


    After a few seconds of looking at more and more Immortal Energy droplets gathering in the center of his divine sea, Azmodeus left with his divine sense. Upon arriving in the outside world, the first thing he did was speed up his cirction of Elusive Ascension and the Primordial Immortal Arts. He did this with the assistance of a few¡­ pills¡­


    One might call him a druggy. And they would be absolutely right!


    To supplement hisck of cultivation talent, Azmodeus had to do what he had to do. And in this particr situation, he had to make use of his status in order to acquire all the drugs that a crackhead could ever want!


    Bing the epitome of a thrifty tycoon, Azmodeus gobbled up massive amounts of multi-colored pills. Ranging from the Half-Immortal Rank to the Earth Immortal Rank, he truly showed off just how much worth he had amassed in thest decade.


    WAAA!


    It took no more than 15 minutes for Azmodeus to make a breakthrough from a Grade 1 Half-Immortal to a Grade 2 Half-Immortal!


    This was only possible because of the pill-gobbling technique that Jue Mei had given him all those years ago. Otherwise, he would likely be progressing his cultivation at the normal pace, which meant that hundreds of years would''ve passed before he made this breakthrough¡­


    But regardless of what may not have been if yatayata happened, Azmodeus had now regained his speedster mojo. And with his surging urge to gain more power burning brightly within his heart, he spent his day off leaping over realms like they weren''t even the fart!


    {[Grade 2 Half-Immortal (Early)]}


    {[Grade 2 Half-Immortal (Middle)]}


    {[Grade 2 Half-Immortal (Peak)]}


    {[Grade 2 Half-Immortal (Limit)]}


    {[Grade 3 Half-Immortal (Early)]}


    {[Grade 3 Half-Immortal (Limit)]}


    {[Grade 4 Half-Immortal (Initial)]}


    {[Grade 4 Half-Immortal (Peak)]}


    In the span of 24 hours, Azmodeus managed to achieve a realm equivalent to that of the average Immortal child in Everveil!


    "Well, now that I think about it retrospectively, it really isn''t all that impressive¡­"


    Letting out a wry chuckle, Azmodeus pulled up his system interface and saw that something very interesting had been altered.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: 2nd Order Loot God - 0.01% Nourishment]


    [Lifespan: Inapplicable/Infinite]


    [Cultivation: Grade 4 Half-Immortal (Peak)]


    [Battle Power: Grade 1 Human Immortal (Early)]


    [Immortal Power: 23.2]]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 0.1 Immortal Evolution Essence]


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Cultivation Talent: White Tier Immortal (Initial)]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    [Singrity Coalescence: White Tier Immortal (Initial)]


    {[Immortal Physiques:]}


    [Immortal''s Resilience: Peak-Yellow Tier]


    {[Immortal Lines:]}


    [White Tier Loot Lines: 1]


    {[Loot Halos:]}


    [Red Tier Loot Halos: 1]


    ¡ª-------


    "Well, damn! Without me even realizing it, my Battle Power broke past the Half-Immortal Realm and reached the Human Immortal Realm!"


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 343: Grade 4 Human Immortal Realm

    ...¡­.


    Clearly quite ecstatic over this information, Azmodeus''s icy boss facade slowly but surely started to crack.


    Being reced with his usual mentally insane peronsana, it wouldn''t be long before hisplete craziness burst out in full¡­


    However, before he could allow his loot-craving self to rear its head, he would need to have the necessary strength to begin acting like his usual self. For that to happen, Azmodeus decided to continueying low, at least until he had enough strength to begin taking on cultivators in the Earth Immortal Realm.


    In the Immortal World, cultivation was very simple in the starter stages. One just had to either actively gather Immortal Energy within their Dantian Space or passively gather it.


    For most Immortal citizens, who just wished to live normal lives, they would progress in their cultivation without even needing to do anything other than eat and drink actively. Just those two actions were enough for Immortal Energy to begin naturally umting inside one''s body.


    This would, of course, change after a certain point. But for the Half-Immortal and Human Immortal Realms, they might as well be no different than the Body Refinement Realm in the Mortal Realms. In other words, just about anybody could progress to the peak of the Half-Immortal Realm, and sometimes even the Human Immortal Realm was not out of reach.


    It was only in the Peak Human Immortal Realm and Earth Immortal Realm that cultivation progress truly started to be determined by the quality of one''s cultivation talent.


    For Azmodeus, however, he was simply a different breed¡­


    Even though he wascking in cultivation talent, he made up for it with the sheerck of fucks to give when it came to how much of a drug lord he was willing to be. Thanks to these qualities, he only needed exactly 3 days to achieve a cultivation base as a Grade 7 Half-Immortal!


    Once again exhibiting that he was unparalleled in the act of bunny-hopping over the Immortal Realms, Azmodeus also showed that his ability to y low'' was unmatched.


    Even though guards often patrolled the area and looked around for anyone suspicious, not once did they look in his direction. After all, he was one of the people who made the city go round; therefore, not a single person suspected him of being the ''toy'' that escaped more than a decade ago.


    To this very day, the eldest princess of the Everveil Kingdom could be seen walking around the Royal Castle in a soured mood. She lost the most handsome man she had everid her eyes on, and now everyone else just looked like sh*t!


    Annoyed was an understatement for how she felt as ofte!


    Yan Jie simply wanted to get her favorite toy back and teach him who the bossdy was! Why did everything always have to go wrong for her!?


    Lamenting her luck while brooding in the confines of her safe castle room, she was utterly oblivious to precisely what she had brought upon herself.


    If she had just left ''him'' alone and gone on her merry way, then ''he'' would''ve spared her and the Everveil Kingdom, considering it was his starter area. But after what she had done, there was no going back, and for inviting the devil right to her doorsteps, she would soon understand what true torture represented.


    ¡­


    Time passed like a shadow, fleeting and transient.


    More than 3 months had flown by in the blink of an eye. It was during this period of time that Azmodeus''s cultivation rocketed upward like an unstoppable force!


    {[Grade 8 Half-Immortal]}


    {[Grade 9 Half-Immortal]}


    {[Grade 1 Human Immortal]}


    {[Grade 2 Human Immortal]}


    {[Grade 3 Human Immortal]}


    {[Grade 4 Human Immortal]}


    In such a short amount of time, Azmodeus forced his cultivation from that of a child to that of a veteran soldier of the Everveil Royal Army!


    Furthermore, that wasn''t the only thing that reached for the stars. Opening up his system interface, Azmodeus realized that his Battle Power was on another level thanks to the higher form of Immortal Energy Refinement that he had been doing!


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: 2nd Order Loot God - 0.01% Nourishment]


    [Lifespan: Inapplicable/Infinite]


    [Cultivation: Grade 4 Human Immortal (Middle)]


    [Battle Power: Grade 6 Human Immortal (Late)]


    [Immortal Power: 487.1]]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 0.1 Immortal Evolution Essence]


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Cultivation Talent: White Tier Immortal (Initial)]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    [Singrity Coalescence: White Tier Immortal (Initial)]


    {[Immortal Physiques:]}


    [Immortal''s Resilience: Low-Red Tier]


    {[Immortal Lines:]}


    [White Tier Loot Lines: 1]


    {[Loot Halos:]}


    [Red Tier Loot Halos: 1]


    ¡ª-------


    Azmodeus had still yet to learn how to obtain more Immortal Lines to increase his Battle Power, but he had a feeling that reaching the Earth Immortal Realm would get him closer to the truth.


    "Well, excluding the matter of Immortal Lines, my Battle Power is inching ever closer to the Earth Immortal Realm. In other words, it won''t be long before I can begin farming Evolution Essence again."


    He had been itching to get back to grind ever since arriving in the Immortal Realm, and now he was so close to bringing his dreams to fruition!


    Of course, that was assuming he didn''t go broke before that could happen¡­


    "With my current worth, I have enough money tost- wait¡­ Why are my bank ounts so low¡­?"


    After pulling up a few holographic screens that disyed just how much money he possessed, Azmodeus realized something absolutely devastating.


    "I''m f*cking broke!!"


    Looking at the numbers in front of him, he saw that he had a worth just about as good as a cracked-up hobo on Halloween!


    "If I don''t have any money and I need money, then I need to get more money."


    After conducting those advanced calctions inside his head, Azmodeus pondered ways that he could go about acquiring massive amounts of money. Quickly, he realized he had only one real option in this situation.


    "I must give up everything and return to monke!" He eximed.


    Doing just as he said he would, Azmodeus ripped up his business suit and changed his disguise.


    After transforming from a middle-aged man just trying to make an honest living to arge, muscr man covered from head to toe in shiny armor, he set off for a massive building in the city square!


    ...¡­.

 Chapter 344: The Immortal Hunters Guild

    .......


    The Immortal Hunter''s Guild.


    The people who worked in this ce were what the noblemen called the ''savage monkeys.'' Starting at the Human Immortal Realm, just about anyone could apply to be an Immortal Hunter. Moreover, as long as one possessed the necessary strength, one could easily ascend the Immortal Hunter''s Guild ranks.


    It was an organization where strength and battle experience really were the only things that mattered, making it far from what Azmodeus required as a construction worker.


    But regardless of what this or that was or wasn''t, Azmodeus wanted to get back on the eternal grind ahead of schedule, so that''s exactly what he did!


    -


    While walking through the crowded streets of Everveil''s Royal Capital, Azmodeus was put amidst the hustle and bustle of an enormous city dominated by powerful immortals. Ranging from the Half-Immortal Realm to over 5 Major Realms above, he experienced what it was like to be in the true jewel of the kingdom.


    Although Azmodeus had seen and even spoken with Immortals beyond the Earth Immortal Realm, it was different this time around. Rather than influential people who used their families'' money in order to gain their power, the Immortals outside the Immortal Hunter''s Guild were of the more dangerous type.


    ''They are people who used their own strength to obtain more strength. They are nowhere near the same as those silk pants I met previously.''


    Azmodeus''s thoughts stirred as he blended in with the crowd of weapon-carrying maniacs. Acting just as they would, he took long, lofty strides toward the front doors of the Immortal''s Hunter Guild. After entering through those doors, everyone inside immediately honed in on his existence.


    In that moment, Azmodeus could feel dozens of presences that could crush him with just their thoughts. But even under such daunting auras, he faltered not one bit. Walking through their piercing gazes, he neared the front counter. At the same time, Azmodeus realized he was no longer being stared at.


    Instead, everyone returned to what they were previously doing, whether that was chitchatting or discussing new quests.


    "Hello, sir. What can I do for you today?"


    Taken out of his thoughts by the cordial voice of the receptionistdy, Azmodeus looked up at her and noticed that even her cultivation was leagues above his own...


    In spite of that fact, he found his gruff, gnarly voice and said, "I would like to sign up."


    "You would like to sign up?" Asked the receptionistdy.


    "Yes, that is what I said. Now, can it be done?"


    Understanding that there was more to this Human Immortal Realm Cultivator than just his cultivation base, the receptionistdy stopped her little act. Quickly, she reached under a wooden counter and grabbed a pen and some paper. Handing both to therge, robust man before her, she said, "All you need to do is put your name and cultivation level here and here.


    After that, I will test you with this to verify the truth of the matter."


    Taking out an iridescent ball from her storage ring, the receptionistdy put the ball on the counter. Waiting for her guest to finish singing the papers, she stood there with her hands sped over the other. Wearing a warm, friendly smile on her beautiful face, she appeared quite heavenly on the outside. But when it came to the Immortal Hunter''s Guild, nothing was ever as it seemed...


    Regardless of that information, Azmodeus finished signing the documents. Putting the pen and paper off to the side, he pulled the crystal ball close and touched it with both hands. Just as he expected, a bright sh of pearlescence lit up the area above the counter. Eventually, it calmed down and presented a series of words for the receptionistdy and Azmodeus.


    [Cultivation Value: Grade 4 Human Immortal]


    [Battle Power: Grade 6 Human Immortal]


    For some reason, these results put a slight look of surprise on the receptionist''s face. Bringing up what was on her mind, she said, "To have a Battle Power two minor realms above your own... were you, by chance, born with a ''unique physique''?"


    Lucifer nodded his head in confirmation and took his hands off the crystal ball. After watching the words fade from its surface, he turned his face up to the receptionistdy, only to see a plethora of inexplicable emotions pass through her expression.


    Ultimately, she returned toplete neutrality and said, "Normally, your cultivation would only allow you to be an F-Rank Immortal Hunter. But since your Battle Power is so high inparison, I have decided to use my authority to bump you up into the E-Rank."


    "Oh? And what can I do with this Rank?" Asked Azmodeus, his brows raised to a point.


    "For starters, you can skip past the mandatory menial tasks that F-Rank and below Immortal Hunters must ept andplete. Furthermore, you have the option to ept quests without a party, though it is still highly uninvisable. There are other benefits, but those are likely the ones to most affect you right now."


    Bowing her hand above the wooden counter, the receptionist summoned a holographic screen. On the screen, a long page of words described the intricacies of the ranking system, particrly those pertaining to the F-Rank and below.


    Taking a few brief nces at this page, Azmodeus made use of his highly advanced memory retention rate. Imbibing everything shown before him, he received a good rundown of the Immortal Hunter''s Guild. And from what he could tell, the guild wasn''t all that different from the Adventurer''s Guilds in Prometheus and the Astral ne.


    Even the Starry Expanse had a simr organization setup for this rather precarious profession.


    "Hmm..."


    After mulling over the subject for a couple of seconds, Azmodeus ultimately snapped out of his reverie with the sound of something sliding across the counter. Looking at what produced this disturbance, he saw a small metallic square with a needle sticking out from its center.


    "This is...?"


    .......

 Chapter 345: Time To Go Demon Wyvern Hunting

    .......


    "This is...?"


    Without even needing to ask the question, the receptionistdy stuck out her hands like she was presenting an extraordinary item. "This here is what will allow the Immortal Hunter''s Guild to keep track of your kills while out on the field.


    As you may already be aware, the quests thate through the guild''s doors are those that have a rtively high probability of leading to the death of something... or someone. Therefore, it is only natural that we have something to track of these sorts of things."


    Listening to her exnation, Azmodeus understood that this ''tracker'' was for the good of both the guild and the hunter. Putting his suspicions aside for now, he stuck his index finger on the needle and picked it up, causing light golden blood to draw.


    OOOM!


    Another sh of iridescent light shed above the receptionist''s desk before once more returning to tranquility.


    FWIP!


    Out of nowhere, a small slip of golden talisman paper materialized from thin air. Landing in the hands of the receptionist, it then vanished as quickly as it came. Though Azmodeus found this urrence a tad bit odd, he paid it no heed. Instead, he asked, "Are we done?"


    Seemingly lost in her own thoughts, it took the receptionist a moment before responding, "Yes, all you need is this F-Rank Immortal Hunter token, and you can begin taking up quests from that board over there."


    After setting a copper medallion on the counter with one hand and using the other hand to point out a board with papers pinned on it, the receptionistdy said, "You can only choose quests a rank above your own, and even then, you will be taking a huge risk. It is rmended that you choose from the F-Rank and below categories, especially when considering your cultivation."


    Nodding his head a few times in affirmation, Azmodeus said, "I see."


    He then moved away from the counter, bidding farewell to the receptionist with a small head bob.


    Approaching the quest board, he quickly found a few quests in the F-Rank and took them for himself. Not wishing to raise too much suspicion by going above his pay grade, Azmodeus felt that this was the best course of action he could take.


    In no time at all, he was already leaving the loud establishment through the two almost wild, wild West-like doors. Upon reaching the active city outside, he made his way toward where the quests told him his targets were located.


    Azmodeus''s Quests.


    {[Quest 1 - F-Rank:]}


    [Head to the western parts of District D-J10078. In the central sewer area of This district, you will find a nest of Human Immortal Realm Sewer Rats. Exterminate the nest of rats and kill at least 100 of them in the process of destroying the nest. --- Each rat will be in the Grade 5 Human Immortal Realm.]


    [Reward: 210 Rank 1 Immortal Crystals]


    The first quest was a rather simple one, and for Azmodeus, it wouldn''t pose much of an issue.


    As for the second and third ones...


    {[Quest 2 - F-Rank:]}


    [In the slums of District K-42369, there is a red home. The homeowner has reported a potential case of Immortal Darth Scorpions in the area. Being able to change their size and shapes at will, they could be the size of an ant one second and thenrger than a city block the very next second.


    It is rmended that the Immortal Huntery down an Immortal Formation that is capable of restricting the aspects of size maniption. ---- The Immortal Darth Scorpions range from the Grade 3 Human Immortal Realm to the Grade 6 Human Immortal Realm.]


    [Reward: 340 Rank 1 Immortal Crystals]


    -------


    {[Quest 3 - F-Rank:]}


    [In one of the corporate buildings of the ''Fresh Cruisers'' floating shippany in the Eastern province, there is a demon wyvern causing havoc in the backyard of thepany''s CEO. It is located somewhere in the forest outside therge corporate building.


    Originally a Grade 3 Earth Immortal Realm creature, but after being severely injured by the CEO''s personal guards, its Combat Power has been reduced to the Grade 7 Human Immortal Realm. --- A party of 20 or more Grade 6 Human Immortals is rmended.]


    [Reward: 800 Rank 1 Immortal Crystals]


    -------


    Azmodeus nned to first take out Quest 1 and Quest 2, saving Quest 3 forst. Having the highest rtive difficulty among the 3, it was only natural to amass more strength before taking it on.


    Setting out toplete these quests right away, Azmodeus kicked up dust and sand beneath his feet, vanishing from his spot not even half an instantter.


    {[Immortal Essence acquired whilepleting Quest 1 and Quest 2:]}


    [Ding! You have killed 123 Hell Rats, all of which were Grade 5 Human Immortals. The reward is 15.8 Immortal Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have killed 75 Immortal Darth Scorpions, all of which possessed cultivation ranging from the Grade 3 Human Immortal Realm to the Grade 6 Human Immortal Realm. The reward is 28.5 Immortal Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! With Immortal Evolution Essence, you can either save it and use it for future things, or you can spend it on progressing your Cultivation and Immortal Lines.]


    "Hmm...?"


    "Sceeech...!!"


    After slicing up thest Immortal Darth Scorpion in District K-42369, Azmodeus was surprised to hear the most recent system notifications. Getting right down to the matter at hand, he asked, "How much does a single White Tier Immortal Line cost? And what does it affect?"


    [Ding! A White Tier Immortal Line will cost the host 10 Immortal Evolution Essence! And every Immortal Line will increase every aspect of Immortal Energy for those who own them. In the case of the White Tier Immortal Lines, all aspects of Immortal Energy will be multiplied by 2.]


    "So that means my power when using Immortal Energy in attacks will also be multiplied by 2?"


    [Ding! Yes, that is correct.]


    "Alrighty, feel free to deduct 20 Immortal Evolution Essence and give me two White Tier Immortal Lines. Oh, and dump the rest of the Immortal Evolution Essence into my cultivation."


    [Ding! Is the host sure that he would like to go through with these purchases?]


    "Tsk, when did you start being so considerate? Just go through with the purchase like you were going to do either way."


    [Ding! Very well!]


    Not even a momentter...


    [Ding! You have received 2 Immortal Lines of the White Tier. Every aspect of your Immortal Energy has multiplied by ''4x'']


    [Ding! After spending more than 20 Immortal Evolution Essence on progressing your cultivation, it has advanced from ''Grade 4 Human Immortal (Limit)'' to ''Grade 5 Human Immortal (Early)'']


    WAAA!


    Feeling a wave of power wash over his body, Azmodeus also felt his internal sea of Immortal Energy''s total water value increase by tenfold!


    "This breakthrough is quite a pleasant surprise. To bepletely honest, I wasn''t even expecting to have this much of a cultivation increase from such a negligible amount of Immortal Evolution Essence. But then again, I guess Immortal Evolution Essence works on a different wavelength than the previous Multiversal Evolution Essence."


    After getting a good feel for the power coursing through his veins, Azmodeus looked toward the direction where his third and final quest was located.


    "Time to go Demon Wyvern hunting."


    .......

 Chapter 346: Merciless

    .......


    FWIP!


    After vanishing from his spot, Azmodeus leapt over the countless rooftops that filled the city from all directions. Quickly, he found himself in the forest outside the CEO''s building. While searching the area with a hawklike gaze, it didn''t take him very long to find the Demon Wyvern that he would be killing today.


    Wide-bodied and with a wingspan that was evenrger, the Demon Wyvern was a dark brown color and had a face analogous to that of a dragon. Still, it was a far cry from what an actual Immortal Dragon would look like.


    At the moment, half its body was covered in greenish-red blood. As it leaned up against arge boulder in the middle of a mountain valley, scars from its previous battles could be seen all over it.


    Add that to the menacing re present within its primitive gaze, and it was highly unlikely that any Immortal Beasts would be daring enough to consider fighting it head on...


    "..."


    Standing at the very tip of a jagged mountain ledge, Azmodeus nkly stared down at the haggard appearance of the 200-meterrge reptilian monster.


    Bzzzttt...


    Vibrating by his side, the sword he kept on his person was clearly ready to taste blood. And who was he to deny his de what it wanted?


    After disappearing from his spot like a fleeting ghost, he could be seen hundreds of meters in the sky. He wanted to go higher, but with his limited cultivation base, that just wasn''t possible. Still, being at thistitude was good enough to keep him out of the divine sense range of the Demon Wyvern.


    Making use of thisck of awareness, Azmodeus gathered Immortal Energy from his Dantian Space and evenly circted it throughout his body.


    Slightly violent fluctuations of Immortal Energy urred around the deathly silent figure of the crimson-haired man, but that wasn''t enough to stop him from umting even more Immortal Energy.


    After focusing all of it on his lower body, he bent down in a flipped-over position. He kicked forward with every ounce of power within him, causing him to shoot up into the skies like a ballistic missle!


    FWWWWHHHH--


    "!?!?"


    The only thing that the Demon Wyvern was able to make sense of was a crisp, cutting sound. Then, without the slightest chance of resistance, an unknown flying object sted a hole right through its head!


    SPURT!


    Extending from its noggin to a halfway point in between its hips, everything from point A to point B was no longer there. In its ce was arge, red-haired man standing in its innards.


    While letting the blood and guts rain down from the sky onto his emotionless figure, Azmodeus looked toward the still-alive Demon Wyvern. Then, like a crimson blur, he vanished from his spot and then reappeared in that same spot in an instant.


    In his hands was the bus-sized beating heart of the Demon Wyvern.


    "Your death; it''s one that will give me more loot. For that, you should be content with the value that your life has. You are valued."


    After speaking these words tly, Azmodeus crushed the Wyvern''s heart within his hands and absorbed its essence. As he watched his cultivation advance in quality, he took a cursory nce at the life rapidly fading from the reptilian eyes of the massive creature.


    In that moment, the Demon Wyvern felt like it had met something... something truly terrifying.


    From beginning to end, and without debate, it was the prey.


    [Ding! You have killed an Immortal Demon Wyvern in a weakened state (Grade 7 Human Immortal). The reward is 96 Immortal Evolution Essence!]


    While looking at this system notification, Azmodeus also observed his cultivation settle at...


    {[Grade 5 Human Immortal (Middle}]}


    "It wasn''t like I went through another breakthrough or anything, but this is still better than nothing."


    After putting his focus on the remains of the Demon Wyvern corpse, Azmodeus just knew that it would leave a bad aftertaste in his mouth if he wasted food. Therefore, he stretched out his hand and had his slimy ck tendrils cover the entire corpse. Then, with an instant to watch the ck substance wiggle and squirm, the corpse shrank and vanished from view.


    {[Grade 5 Human Immortal (Late)]}


    "Noice," Azmodeus said in a rich American ent. He then focused his attention on his physique and immortal lines. Seeing that the former was still in the Early-Red Tier, he couldn''t help but be a little disappointed.


    "Hmm... Guess I should see how much I need to rank that Physique up-" Before he could finish his words, the system interrupted him, saying:


    [Ding! The host needs to spend 100 Immortal Evolution Essence to upgrade ''Immortal''s Resilience'' to the ''Mid-Red'' Tier.]


    "Well, to be fair, the price tag isn''t all that bad. But right now, I just don''t want to spend that much... Ai, system, could you please put 40 Immortal Evolution Essence into my cultivation and put the rest into purchasing Immortal Lines?"


    [Ding! Yes, this can be done!]


    [Ding! You have purchased 6 Immortal Lines of the White Tier! Your total Immortal Energy multiplier has improved to ''16x'']


    [Ding! Your cultivation has advanced to ''Grade 5 Human Immortal (Peak)'']


    OOOM!


    While feeling a wave of strength wash over his physical form, Azmodeus also heard the faint whispers of what were most definitely other people. Assuming that they were the guards of the CEO, he dawdled no longer and left the area.


    As he returned to the Immortal Hunter''s Branch Office, Azmodeus also decided to make a few detours and kill a couple Immortal Beasts. Though just about everything was stronger than he was, there were still some on the weaker side, and they were who he took advantage of.


    By the end of his ten-minute return trip, his system interface looked like this:


    BLING!


    --------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: 2nd Order Loot God - 0.03% Nourishment]


    [Lifespan: Inapplicable/Infinite]


    [Cultivation: Grade 6 Human Immortal (Initial)]


    [Battle Power: Grade 8 Human Immortal (Early)]


    [Immortal Power: 1,540]]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 243 Immortal Evolution Essence]


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Cultivation Talent: White Tier Immortal (Initial)]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    [Singrity Coalescence: White Tier Immortal (Initial)]


    {[Immortal Physiques:]}


    [Immortal''s Resilience: Low-Red Tier]


    {[Immortal Lines:]}


    [White Tier Loot Lines: 12 (x24)]


    {[Loot Halos:]}


    [Red Tier Loot Halos: 5 (25%)]


    ---------

 Chapter 347: Grade 7 Human Immortal Realm

    ...¡­..


    "My Loot God Nourishment Rate has finally started to go up. Oh, and I have gotten some Red Tier Loot Halos. Nice, nice, very nice."


    Azmodeus muttered to himself and bobbed his head as he stood outside the doors of the Immortal Hunter''s Guild Branch Building. Deciding to use up his Immortal Evolution Essence while entering the building, a few things were quickly altered.


    [Cultivation: Grade 6 Human Immortal (Early)]


    [Battle Power: Grade 8 Human Immortal (Middle)]


    [Singrity Coalescence: White Tier Immortal (Late)]


    {[Immortal Physiques:]}


    [Immortal''s Resilience: Mid-Red Tier]


    {[Immortal Lines:]}


    [White Tier Loot Lines: 18 (x36)]


    After taking a few brief nces at all the changes, Azmodeus put most of his focus into walking over to the receptionist''s desk. Promptly, he ced his wrist on the wooden desk.


    "Seems like you read the guide in an in-depth manner." Lightly giggling over this, the receptionist took his wrist and scanned it with a handheld tool.


    Turning to look at a screen off to the side, she nodded a few times and even showed a hint of surprise every now and then.


    After taking a moment to regain her bearings, she ced her dainty, polished hand over her red lips and said, "It seems that ''Special Physique'' of yours is more special than you let on."


    An inexplicable glint shed past her eyes for a second, but it quickly disappeared, making one assume that it was never there to begin with.


    "???"


    Azmodeus noticed this urrence, but after sensing no visible malicious intent, he responded to her question, saying, "Yes, you could say that. Now, am I clear for all three quests?"


    "Why, yes, yes. You havepleted all three quests; your reward will be sent to your arm bracelet in a few minutes."


    While speaking in that same friendly and cordial feminine voice, the receptionist tapped a few things on a holographic screen. "Yourpletion of these quests as a solo hunter will also be recorded in your profile," she said politely. "I assume this is fine with you?"


    "Yes, that is fine."


    It wasn''t like Azmodeus had much of a choice in the matter, so he answered with the only thing he could.


    "Very good."


    After making a few more clickity sounds, the receptionist looked toward Azmodeus and said, "You are still F-Rank for now. But if you keep at it as you have been, it won''t be long before you rank up to E-Rank and beyond!"


    "Alright¡­"


    Not really knowing how to take this information, Azmodeus simply replied in aid back manner. Then, with a small head bow, he left the counter and approached the quest board. After taking more than 10 F-Rank Quests off the board, he put them in his Storage Ring and left the building.


    While watching him leave through the swinging wooden doors, the receptionist couldn''t resist putting more focus on this Immortal Hunter.


    "Hey, Ru Ling."


    Taking her out of her reverie, Ru Ling looked toward another receptionist. Her friend, Bo Ning. They had known each other since forever ago, and even joined the Immortal Hunter''s Guild at the same time.


    Finally getting around to responding to her friend, Ru Ling said, "Yes?"


    "Why were you staring at that guy so much? He doesn''t really seem like your type, and I was just wondering-" not giving her friend the chance to jump to any wild theories, Ru Ling interrupted her, saying:


    "Stop wondering so much, Bo Ning. That man; there is just something rather intriguing about his aura. That is all."


    After ignoring her busty blonde friend and getting back to work, Ru Ling couldn''t stop herself from thinking about just what that mysterious man would surprise her with next.


    "Humph¡­!"


    Although a little vexed over the way Ru Ling was acting, Bo Ning snorted before returning to her position and attending to the other Immortal Hunters.


    ****


    Meanwhile, in the depths of a literal pit of snakes that seemed to stretch on for Infinity, Azmodeus was using Sanguinary and Excalibur to sh up all the Half-Immortal Realm snake beasts.


    None of them were worth very much, but with an unlimited number of them, the Immortal Evolution Essence and cultivation gains definitely started to add up. Moreover, killing one hundred of these things was also part of a quest, so everything else was just a bonus in Azmodeus''s mind.


    It had been over 3 hours since hepleted his first 3 quests. During this period of time, his total questpletion counter had already surpassed 20, going on 30!


    This was most assuredly a record in this Immortal Hunter Branch Building, but for Azmodeus, it was him holding back.


    If not for this restraint, his system interface wouldn''t look so sad right now¡­


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: 2nd Order Loot God - 0.08% Nourishment]


    [Lifespan: Inapplicable/Infinite]


    [Cultivation: Grade 7 Human Immortal (Middle)]


    [Battle Power: Grade 9 Human Immortal (Limit)]


    [Immortal Power: 6,920]]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 4,780 Immortal Evolution Essence]


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Cultivation Talent: Orange Tier Immortal (Early)]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    [Singrity Coalescence: Orange Tier Immortal (Middle)]


    {[Immortal Physiques:]}


    [Immortal''s Resilience: Mid-Red Tier]


    {[Immortal Lines:]}


    [White Tier Loot Lines: 130 (x260)]


    {[Loot Halos:]}


    [Red Tier Loot Halos: 50 (250%)]


    ¡ª-------


    "Ai¡­ Over 30 Questspleted and still not in the Earth Immortal Realm. If I keep on progressing at this turtle pace, I''ll never be able to reach the Heavenly Immortal Realm before the start of the next month¡­"


    Aftermenting over this information for a few moments, Azmodeus walked away from the deepest depths of a dimly lit cavern. However, it quickly came to light that this ''cavern'' was not actually a cavern. Rather, it was the internal stomach of an utterly massive snake monster.


    As it was in the Grade 9 Human Immortal Realm, it was clearly quite the fearsome existence before its Dantian Space was shattered by a lone crimson-haired man.


    [Ding! You have killed a Demon Mourner Serpent in the Grade 9 Human Immortal Realm. The reward is 1000 Immortal Evolution Essence!]


    "Ho? 1000 Immortal Evolution Essence for killing this thing is definitely a boon," Azmodeus mused to himself as he sted a hole right through the side of the snake corpse''s interior.


    Upon seeing the bright rays of sunlight shine down on his blood-covered figure, he jumped through the hole and appeared in the outside world. After taking a couple more leaps, Azmodeus soon disappeared from view.


    But before that happened, a few slimy ck tendrils shot out from his fleeting silhouette. After enveloping the giant snake''s corpse in its entirety, a few minor cultivation increases were alloted.


    ....

 Chapter 348: Grade 1 Earth Immortal Realm Combat Power

    ....


    {[Grade 7 Human Immortal (Late]}


    {[Grade 7 Human Immortal (Peak]}


    [Ding! You have obtained 21 Red Tier Loot Halos!]


    [Ding! Your Loot God Nourishment Rate has improved to ''0.09%'' after the most recent automatic loot conversion.]


    "Oh, very nice indeed. At this rate, it won''t be long before I breakthrough into the Grade 8 Human Immortal Realm." While nodding his head in quick session, Azmodeus suddenly turned his focus toward a rampaging Immortal Monster in the distance. "But for that breakthrough to happen, I will need to find a few more ''willing'' loot bags."


    A cold smile crept up his handsome face, and then, without warning, he morphed into his |Loot God Form|.


    As he grew shimmering spiraling horns of a dark golden shade and the body of a demonic dragon in humanoid form, his existence quickly took on the shape of something terrifying.


    But as a great man once said: Sometimes, to fight a great evil, one must be a greater evil.


    In the Immortal World, life spanned on for Infinity. But just like weak, helpless Mortals, they could die. But for Azmodeus, neither his lifespan nor longevity mattered one single bit, only potential loot. That was all that mattered.


    If he had to shed away his humanity to pursue benefits and loot, then so be it; he would do it without hesitation.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Countless sonic booms reverberated through the surroundings as Azmodeus blitzed toward his mark!


    "Roooarrghh!!!"


    A massive kaiju-like monster turned its scaly face away from its equally massive monster opponent. Seeing that a bug wished to interfere in its noble battle, the kauiju built up a great amount of purplish blue energy within its throat. Then, with a ring, spine-crawling sound, the purple energy was unleashed from its throat in the form arge beam of purple energy!


    "Another ssic, eh?"


    While muttering to himself, Azmodeus suddenly stopped midair and positioned himself in a way that made him look like he was about to thwart a rapidly approaching object.


    Entirely out of the expected, he did just that. As he easily centered his arms around the all-epassing beam of energy, he quite literally grabbed it and altered its course!


    Although not in the traditional sense, there was no doubt that Azmodeus put his hands around the purple beam of light and flipped it upwards!


    BAZOOOOM!


    Shooting up into the mid-evening sky, the radiant beam of light ultimately exploded a few tens of thousands of meters in the air, a sight that looked no less than an atomic firework!


    Azmodeus conveniently ignored the huge mushroom cloud forming up above him. Instead, he put all his attention on the puzzled kaiju monster. The beast couldn''t even begin toprehend what had just happened, but before it received the chance to ponder the matter, the area in front of it was overwhelmed with an uncountable number of sword arcs!


    |Serious Series: Serious shes to Infinity|


    "Roooarrghh!!!"


    Letting out an unwilling bellow, the kaiju monster rotated with the full force of everything it had. Circting every ounce of its energy, its scales and fins glowed to a unbelievable level. Then, under the discerning eyes of its previous opponent, the kaiju activated its final move!


    |Kaiju Bomb: World Destroyer|


    After dispersing the energy evenly throughout its entire body, the Kaiju released it all at once in the form of a nuclear energy bomb from hell!


    Fiercely colliding in the sky, both devastating attacks fought for supremacy. However, it quickly became apparent that there would be only one true winner from this bout¡­


    CRACKA¡ªBOOOOM!!!


    While erasing everything in a circr direction, the sword shes forged their path past even the Grade 9 Human Immortal Realm Kaiju. Before they had the time to react, the sword shes reached a few kaiju monsters as a vast array of system notifications soon appeared.


    "..."


    While looking at the mountain ranges eviscerated in the aftermath of his Sword sh, Azmodeus also nced at the pop-up screens.


    BLING!


    [Ding! You have killed a ck Lordling Kaiju Monster of the Grade 9 Human Immortal Realm. The reward is 1,200 Immortal Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have killed five other Kaiju Monsters in the Grade 9 Human Immortal Realm. The reward is 7,690 Immortal Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have obtained 8,120 Immortal Power!]


    [Ding! You have received 103 Red Tier Loot Halos, increasing your total Loot percentage increase rates by 515%]


    [Ding! Your Loot God Nourishment Rate has increased to ''0.10%'' after the most recent automatic loot conversions!]


    "Hmm¡­ Yo, system, could you activate Automatic Cultivation Acquisitions again?"


    [Ding! Yes, the host now has the necessary strength to ask such a thing!]


    [Ding! After Automatic Loot Conversions, your Cultivation has broken through into the Grade 8 Human Immortal Realm!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has broken through into the Grade 1 Earth Immortal Realm!]


    WAAA!


    Azmodeus''s aura tremendously increased in intensity!


    "Well, hot damn! A breakthrough and an improvement of my Battle Power in the Earth Immortal Realm. It does appear that things are finally looking up!"


    Clearly ecstatic over these new advancements, his blitzing figure in the sky took on a darker shade of red. While returning to the Immortal''s Hunter Guild building, his aura only became progressively more bubbly.


    With everything done and out of the way, it was finally time for him to rank up into E-Rank, which was yet another thing to be happy about!


    ¡­


    In a few minutes, Azmodeus was already standing outside the front doors of the Immortal Hunter''s Guild. Entering through those same doors, he quickly made his way over to where Ru Ling was standing.


    He promptly stuck up his hand and showed her the holographic bracelet. After letting her scan the bracelet, he heard her smilingly say, "You havepleted just enough quests and received enough quest reputation to take the rank-up test! Would you like to go through with it right away, or¡­?"


    "Right away, if you can," Azmodeus said tly.


    Ru Ling''s smile widened at this response. Quickly, she took out an odd metallic key-like object and said, "If you take this key and head down that way, you will find a door with a number that matches the one on the key. This is how you will start the fighting simtion necessary to be an E-Rank Immortal Hunter."


    ...

 Chapter 349: E-Rank Immortal Hunter

    ...


    Ru Ling pointed toward the number 69 on the key and a brightly lit hallway to the area behind her. "If you don''t have strength nearing the Earth Immortal Realm, it is rmended that you wait ande back to take the test when you''re strong enough," she said.


    Even though she had this odd feeling that he would never fail to amaze her, she still doubted that his cultivation had increased so much in such a short amount of time. In fact, it wouldn''t be an understatement to say that it was impossible.


    Unless Azmodeus had somehow fooled the strength testing system and managed to conceal his true strength, there was just no way he already had power equivalent to that of a-


    "???"


    Suddenly, Ru Ling looked up from her thoughts. She realized that Azmodeus was no longer there. Rather, she could faintly hear the sound of metal nging in the background. Before she knew it, the man in question walked through the automatic sliding doors of room #69.


    While wearing an expression as emotionless as it usually was, he slowly walked up to the desk and said, "The simtion; I destroyed all the simted monsters, and a screen said I passed. Does this mean that I am good to go?"


    "..."


    Completely taken aback by what she was listening to, Ru Ling looked at Azmodeus like she was looking at a freak of the highest level. Wanting to ask what his true power level was, she said, "How is-"


    However, before she could finish her words, she figured that he had a reason for keeping things on the down low. Therefore, she simply inhaled a few deep breaths of air, then reached under the counter and pulled out a medallion that was more bronze than copper.


    "This is your E-Rank Immortal Hunter Token," she said. Extending out the hand holding the token, she grabbed Azmodeus''s hand and ced it in his palm. shing a dazzling pearly white smile, she said, "I don''t know what it is that you need to keep hidden, but you can be assured that I will not tell a single other soul what just transpired here. That much, you have my guarantee."


    "???"


    Although confused over what exactly she was talking about, Azmodeus still took the token away from the two feminine hands cupping over his own. He turned around and walked away from the counter. Sticking up an arm, he said, "Thanks, I guess."


    Even though this was not much of a gesture of gratitude, for Ru Ling, it was enough to sate her emotions. For the rest of her shift, she seemed to be in a bubbly mood ten times happier than she previously appeared.


    ¡ª-----


    On Azmodeus''s way out of the Immortal Hunter''s Guild, he picked a few posters off the quest board. After putting them inside his storage ring, he left the building and set off for his next grand farming session. This time, however, he would be taking things up by a step and go head to head against organisms in the Earth Immortal Realm!


    Within the next ten minutes, Azmodeus already found his first E-Rank Immortal Beast. It was a oddly shaped aquatic dinosaur-like creature, but instead of being in the water, it flopped around onnd and gobbled up farm animals like aplete menace.


    In the end, Everveil was an Agricultural Kingdom, and as such, having invasive species like this ''Draconic Water Wyvern'' were big no-no''s. Hence, it was with the full green light that Azmodeus initiated Battle with this terrifying creature. Quickly, they took their battle to the skies and fought long and hard for a good 3 minutes.


    However, when those 3 minutes were done and over with, the Earth Immortal Realm Draconic Water Wyvern was impaled in its side. As it spiraled toward the ground like an unstoppable ballistic missile, it crashed right into the backside of a mountain!


    After destroying a good chunk of the mountain and the earth beneath it, itsrge, iling body could be seen struggling to escape the long, lightning spear plunged into its side. But with the appearance of the crimson-haired devil that struck it in such a way, the Draconic Water Wyvern immediately realized that all resistance was futile¡­


    With the echoing of a crisp sword unsheathing, the head of the Draconic Water Wyvern was separated from the rest of its huge body. As it was reced with a fountain of orangish green blood, Azmodeus stood there and digested his gains.


    [Ding! You have killed a Draconic Water Wyvern in the Grade 1 Earth Immortal Realm. The reward is 12,000 Immortal Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have obtained 11,500 Immortal Power!]


    [Ding! You have received 406 Red Tier Loot Halos, bringing your total Loot Acquisition Rate up by multiple notches!]


    [Ding! Your Loot God Nourishment Rate has improved to ''0.11%'' after automatic loot acquisition!]


    [Ding! You have automatically converted the cultivation of the Draconic Water Wyvern into your existence!]


    [Ding! Your cultivation has increased to the ''Grade 8 Human Immortal Realm (Peak)]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has tremendously improved!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has achieved ''Grade 1 Earth Immortal (Middle)]


    "Well, these gains were definitely quite the pleasant surprise. Yep, yep, umu."


    While nodding his head in quick session, Azmodeus walked up to the shriveled corpse of the Draconic Water Wyvern. Instantly, he plunged his sword into the chest area of the corpse. After digging around a moment or two, he ended up slicing the corpse''s chest into multiple evenly diced pieces. From that bloody mess, arge, round, shiny core levitated toward Azmodeus.


    "The Core of a Grade 1 Earth Immortal should fetch at least a few dozen Rank 2 Immortal Crystals, and that is what I call a profit!"


    While thinking like a true profiteer, Azmodeus marked this quest off his list and moved onto the next quest he had toplete. Which, from the quest description, had to do with a giant, Grade 2 Earth Immortal Realm spider spreading terror in a small mountain vige to the east side of District K-4230.


    The Everveil Kingdom was an absurdlyrge stretch of contrasting territory and biomes, even reaching the extent of innumerable different locations.


    When Azmodeus was working as the Head Manager of thousands of districts, he was only able to ''control'' the operations of hispany in these huge districts. This was the most he could do, as he was not even close to being strong enough to visit all these locations.


    To be honest, with his measly strength, it was a divine miracle that Azmodeus could even attain a high ranking position like the one he had. But regardless of how weak he was whenpared to the Heavenly Immortal Realm High Managers from other provinces, his experience and ingenuity more than made up for it.


    Then again, none of that really mattered now. After all, he left and quit his job, even going so far as to do so without first putting in a two week notice¡­


    Even so, it wasn''t his previous profession that truly detailed the grandeur of the Everveil Kingdom. And from what Azmodeus could tell, there was no way to guess just howrge the kingdom and its surrounding nations were.


    Then there was the fact that the Everveil Kingdom was one of the lowest ranking Kingdoms in all of the Eternal Jade Heavens Realm. This in and of itself was an extremely daunting notion for the still weak crimson-eyed man.


    But just like all the seemingly out-of-reach realms in the Astral ne and Starry Expanse, Azmodeus would once again show everyone that he was the unrivaled #1 when it came to speeding through realms!


    ....

 Chapter 350: One Of The Kingdoms Greatest Calamities

    ....


    At the bottom of a deep bluish red sea, a giant sword made of an unknown material suddenly erupted with a blinding sh of golden light!


    Scaring away the fish and giant sea monsters in the surrounding water, the blinding light only came to an abrupt stop when a massive world wrapped around its hilt.


    However, it quickly became known that this ''world'' was not actually a world. Instead, it was the tentacle of a monster sorge and terrifying that even dozens of Everveil Districts could notpare to its size.


    After obtaining a firm grip on the massive de''s hilt, the sword was promptly pulled into the air and slung around like a string of centrifugal force. It spun around at a speed that made both it and the tentacle look like a blur of light, and then the sword was suddenly released from its grip!


    While flying upwards at multiple times the speed of light, the giant sword looked like nothing less than a dazzling star in the night sky!


    However, even with such force put behind it and a progressively faster speed bordering on insanity, the sword could not reach an area that wasn''tpletely surrounded by water. Though, for some reason, it felt like something about that would change. But before it could, the momentum put behind the flying sword died out, and the sword energy fizzled into oblivion¡­


    "Even with the life weapon of the All-Epassing Realm Immortal that came searching for me, I was still unable to see an end to the bottomless chasm that keeps the world up above away from me. The Everveil Sovereign¡­ If you are alive after so long has passed, I will make sure you dearly regret ever sealing me in the ''Endless Titan Chasm.''"


    While reverberating in an ancient static-like voice, two glowing worlds suddenly materialized from the depths of the Endless Titan Chasm. However, just as fast as these world-sized eyes appeared, they vanished just as quickly.


    The Endless Titan Chasm returned to deafening silence, and as the unbelievably powerful lesser creatures went back to swimming around the slumbering body of the Great Kraken Titan, something started to change. At the very upper limit of the Endless Titan Chasm, a translucent barrier began to have violent currents spread throughout its boundless area surface.


    It wouldn''t be long now¡­ Not much longer before one of the Kingdom''s greatest cmities once more appears in the Everveil Kingdom, ready to devour any immortals that get in its way¡­


    *****


    Back in the upside area of the Everveil Kingdom, Azmodeus finished up his tenth E-Rank Quest. With the death of the final Grade 3 Earth Immortal Realm ''Abyssal Mole,'' he decided to take a brief nce at his system interface.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: 2nd Order Loot God - 0.13% Nourishment]


    [Lifespan: Inapplicable/Infinite]


    [Cultivation: Grade 9 Human Immortal (Limit)]


    [Battle Power: Grade 3 Earth Immortal (Peak)]


    [Immortal Power: 135,600]]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 253,000 Immortal Evolution Essence]


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Cultivation Talent: Orange Tier Immortal (Early)]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    [Singrity Coalescence: Green Tier Immortal (Early)]


    {[Immortal Physiques:]}


    [Immortal''s Resilience: Late-Red Tier]


    {[Immortal Lines:]}


    [White Tier Lines: 8,500 (x17,000)]


    {[Loot Halos:]}


    [Red Tier Loot Halos: 1,100 (5,500%)]


    ¡ª-------


    "Still nowhere close to bing a 3rd Order Loot God, but my Cultivation and Battle Power are definitely improving by leaps and bounds¡­"


    After inspecting every article in his system interface, Azmodeus would be lying if he said he wasn''t the slightest bit pleased with his results thus far. But then again¡­


    "The grind doesn''t simply end with just this. There are still a countless number of E-Rank Quests, and if I wish to reach the Heavenly Immortal Realm, I will need to grind those like no tomorrow!"


    After getting his feet to follow his thoughts, he left an underground tunnel area and returned to the Immortal Hunter Branch Building. He swiftly entered the center area of the Royal Capital and found his way right back to Ru Ling, the receptionist, nning to turn in his quests and take on a bunch more.


    "I see you have once again made astounding progress," she said smilingly. While taking the scanner away from his wrist, she was nothing but smiles.


    "Yes¡­"


    Still adjusting to the constant friendliness of this receptionist, Azmodeus found it challenging to even keep up appearances. Still, he wasn''t someone who was rude to people who helped him obtain more loot; therefore, he tried his best to amodate to this woman''s bubbly aura.


    Noticing his attempts at adjusting to her mood, Ri Ling giggled softly. Using her other hand, she pointed at the far-off quest board. "Don''t you have some more quests to do?" She askedughingly.


    "Mhmm¡­"


    Taking this opportunity as his chance to escape this conversation, Azmodeus slipped away from the receptionist''s desk and snatched up a few dozen quests.


    While watching him skedaddle out of there, Ru Ling couldn''t stop herself from leaning her chin against her hands and staring at him leave. As she looked at his receding figure, it was unknown what was going through her mind-


    "You like him or what?"


    Interrupting her pleasant thoughts, her friend, Bo Ning, brushed up against her shoulder with a cheeky expression.


    "...I already told you that it isn''t like that¡­"


    "Yeah, sure, sure~ Whatever you say~"


    After giggling mischievously, Bo Ning returned to her post and attended to the customers on the other side of the counter.


    "I already told her that wasn''t how it was¡­ Humph¡­!"


    Ru Ling puffed out her cheeks and pouted a little, staring at where Azmodeus wasst standing. However, seeing as he was already long gone, she returned to her job.


    ¡­


    Time passed like the sand in an hourss, and before anyone knew it, a whole two weeks had flown by in the Eternal Jade Heavens Immortal Realm.


    While going from E-Rank Quests to D-Rank Quests and then C-Rank Quests, Azmodeus ascended straight to the Grade 9 Heavenly Immortal Realm!


    He treated the Immortal Realms as if they were mere stepping stones! And with his rank up into C-Rank arriving today, it was finally time to begin taking on Golden Immortals!


    If he could be a Golden Immortal himself, then all the better!


    ....

 Chapter 351: True Pandemonium Cleaver

    ....


    "Hmm¡­ Although my Battle Power has achieved the Grade 9 Heavenly Immortal Realm, my cultivation is still in the Grade 3 Heavenly Immortal Realm. I guess those two new Immortal Physiques and Immortal Lines really did a number on increasing the chasm thaty between my cultivation and his actual strength."


    Over thisst half month, Azmodeus amassed a grand number of Immortal Lines. Whenpared to other Immortals, he had the same amount of Immortal Lines as a Grade 2 Golden Immortal!


    It was because of this disparity in growth that his Battle Power spiraled out of control!


    Then there were the two new Immortal Physiques¡­


    With Immortal''s Resilience reaching the Limit-Red Tier and the Purple Tier nowhere in sight, Azmodeus had to branch off into different avenues. One of which just so happened to be the increased acquisition of more Immortal Physiques.


    Although the majority of Immortal Physiques were something that someone was born with, a select few could be obtained through meeting certain ''special conditions''. Like a side quest in a game, if one ''did this like this in that way,'' they would eventually be able to meet the requirements to activate an Immortal Physique.


    Just like with Immortal''s Resilience, Azmodeus went through multiple iterations of torture, all in hopes of acquiring more Immortal Physiques.


    After drowning himself in the sea monster-festered body of water called ''Ice Prison'' for three days straight, Azmodeus was able to strive through adversity and obtain the ''Ice Lord'' Immortal Physique.


    Upon obtaining his second Physique, he immediately worked on attaining his third Physique. ''Nature Wrangler'' was the Physique''s name; to activate it, he had to choke himself out with the weed appendages of a Grade 6 Heavenly Immortal Realm Spore Demiurchin.


    Considering that Azmodeus got the first two Physiques toward the beginning of his half-month grind, he spent thetter few days grinding away at upgrading the Physiques. For Ice Prison, he covered himself in a self-harmfulyer of ice armor and perpetually prodded himself with the spikes on the armor.


    As for Nature Wrangler, Azmodeus condensed the Nature Element to a length and density that would make choking himself out far easier. Yes, you heard it correctly; he was choking himself out.


    Making use of this thin rope and barely noticeable ice armor, Azmodeus put himself through torture that no sane person would even dream of entertaining. And he did so all in the pursuit of greater strength.


    He may be way ahead of the game with his Battle Power more than 6 minor realms above his cultivation, but he worked his ass off every step of the way in order to reach that point.


    "Anyway, I do wonder if I''ll be able to reach the Golden Immortal Realm in Battle Power before my rank up into the C Rankes around. I mean, I still have a few hours until I take the test, so I should be fine¡­ Probably¡­"


    After looking toward a massive moving mountain in the distance, Azmodeus released a small, wry chuckle and shot toward the moving object like a ballistic missile!


    He unsheathed Excalibur and raised it up in front of him before starting to spin his body in a counterclockwise circr motion. He infused the full might of his Grade 9 Heavenly Immortal Realm power as he turned himself into a stupidly overpowered drill!


    His target this time around was a Grade 1 Golden Immortal Realm Land Stomper, which meant that there was no room for restraint!


    "Roooarrrghhh!!!!"


    Out of the corner of its eye, the monstrous Land Stomper noticed the tiny existence crashing toward it. In response to this attack, it let out a hair-tingling roar.


    Though this roar did nothing in terms of slowing or stopping the advance of the small humanoid, it worked well in making its Almighty presence known to the world.


    With its roar acting as its entrance music, the Land Stomper retracted its head and limbs into its shell. After which, a countless number of bright light beams erupted from its numerous pores. They shot out and spread across the sky, blitzing toward the approaching Immortal. Acting like an anti-air system, they aimed to blow the daring Immortal out of the sky!


    "Umu¡­"


    Upon seeing the sky get blotted out by rocket-likeser beams, Azmodeus realized that it was time to begin making use of the dodge-and-swerve tactic.


    Putting his silly thoughts into action, he pulled out Sanguinary and held it off to the side. After positioning it just the way he wanted, Azmodeus saw theser missiles bombard him from every known direction. With each one capable ofpletely killing a Grade 9 Heavenly Immortal, it was fair to say that any normal Heavenly Immortal would be beyond fucked¡­


    Azmodeus, however, was no ordinary Heavenly Immortal.


    It was with an unbelievable level of skill and technique that he moved both Sanguinary and Excalibur in perfect sync. As they shed and slightly redirected the course of theser missiles, Azmodeus had not once entertained the idea of slowing down oring to a halt. He simply kept on flying ¡ª flying and thwarting.


    Before long, he was already right in front of the shelled-up mountain-sized Land Stomper. Without hesitation, he darted into the back end area of the massive turtle-like monster. After going in through the nastiest of tunnels, it didn''t take long for him to activate Sanguinary and Excalibur to maximum capacity.


    Azmodeus put them one over the other and had them morph into something greater than just a scythe and a longsword.


    |Great Pandemonium: True Pandemonium Cleaver|


    With the name of this unparalleled technique resounding through both time and space, Sanguinary and Excalibur melded into a dazzling mass of iridescent goo. Then, with a respelendant sh of light, they transformed into a singr weapon!


    True Pandemonium Cleaver!


    Over twice the size of his body and curved in a way that made its brilliancee to light, this weapon was ck, red, mean, and ready to cleave!


    ...

 Chapter 352: Grade 2 Golden Immortal Realm

    ...


    After lobbing the terrifying Pandemonium Cleaver over his shoulder, Azmodeus had a sudden increase in speed kick in. He pulled himself forward at what looked like a blur of crimson lightning, quickly finding himself very deep into the intestines of the Land Stomper.


    Upon looking up and seeing a wild mess of internal organs, he moved swiftly and devastatingly. As veins began to show and pop on his muscr arms, he put everything he had into this attack!


    RUMBLE!!!


    The power contained within that menacing de was enough to violently shake the insides of the Land Stomper. Right away, the creature noticed this unusual urrence inside its body, but unfortunately, it was far toote to do anything about it.


    As its head and body parts poked back out of its shell, a dark red blot of light could be seen expanding within it!


    "Roooarrghhh!!!!!"


    The Land Stomper started to freak out and thrash around, decimating a few mountain ranges in its rage. But no matter what sort of tantrum it threw, the damage had already been dealt¡­


    |Pandemonium sh|


    Being the evolved version of |Scythe sh|, this technique was the true pinnacle of Azmodeus''s efforts thus far!


    It was with this technique that the bright blot of crimson light reached an all-time high. It reached a point where the innards and outards of the powerful beast could no longer hold on. Completely out of expectations, the huge turtle exploded in arge mass of blood and guts!


    After dying thend red for as far as the eye could see, all that remained of the mighty turtle was its lonesome blood-stained shell. Being the size of a mountain range, it would surely make for a good set of armor¡­


    "..."


    While standing atop the shell like an aloof immortal, Azmodeus watched as the system automatically absorbed the cultivation and essence of the Land Stomper. Then came the system notifications¡­


    BLING!


    [Ding! You have killed a Land Stomper Immortal Beast of the Grade 1 Golden Immortal Realm. The reward is 10.3 million Immortal Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have obtained 9.8 million Immortal Power!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has tremendously improved!]


    [Ding! You have automatically converted the cultivation base of the Land Stomper to your own.]


    [Ding! Your cultivation has advanced to ''Grade 4 Heavenly Immortal (Early)]


    [Ding! After automatic loot conversions, your Loot God Nourishment Rate has improved to ''0.19%'']


    [Ding! You have received 102,000 Red Tier Loot Halos. As a result, your Loot Acquisition Rate has improved by leaps and bounds!]


    After reading over the most recent system notifications, Azmodeus decided to open up his system interface and view all the changes.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: 2nd Order Loot God - 0.19% Nourishment]


    [Lifespan: Inapplicable/Infinite]


    [Cultivation: Grade 4 Heavenly Immortal (Early)]


    [Battle Power: Grade 1 Golden Immortal (Initial)]


    [Immortal Power: 12,190,000]]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 12,570,000 Immortal Evolution Essence]


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Cultivation Talent: Orange Tier Immortal (Early)]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    [Singrity Coalescence: Green Tier Immortal (Early)]


    {[Immortal Physiques:]}


    [Immortal''s Resilience: Late-Red Tier]


    {[Immortal Lines:]}


    [White Tier Lines: 25,500 (x51,000)]


    {[Loot Halos:]}


    [Red Tier Loot Halos: 131,000 (655,000%)]


    ¡ª-------


    "Ai¡­ Well, I think it''s about time I invest in some more Immortal Lines and get my Battle Power even higher!"


    Following through with this train of thought, Azmodeus dumped 60% of his current Immortal Evolution Essence into buying Immortal Lines. From this purchasing spree, he was able to acquire 650,000+ White Tier Immortal Lines!


    Upon looking at his Immortal Energy multiplier once more, he saw that it had achieved a staggering 1.4 million multiplicative affecter!


    WAAA!


    At once, his Battle Power was sent straight to the moon!


    From the ''Grade 1 Golden Immortal (Initial)'' to the ''Grade 2 Golden Immortal (Early)'', the advancements were palpable!


    While clenching and unclenching his fists, Azmodeus muttered, "With this level of strength, I can most definitely start taking on the lower level B-Rank quests, though I will need to go through with that rank up before such a thing could happen."


    Putting his thoughts into action, he vanished from his spot and returned to the Immortal Hunter''s Branch Office. After half a minute, he found himself entering the building. Walking up to Ru Ling, the first thing he said was, "Hey¡­"


    Azmodeus¡­ Well, he had next to no idea how exactly he should be interacting with this brown-haired beauty. If he had it his way, he would ignore all people like the gue and continue the grind with no distractions.


    But since that was not an option in this world¡­


    "Nice to see you again, Azmodeus! I was beginning to think that you got lost out there¡­"


    Exhibiting a clear level of worry, Ru Ling held her cheek and visibly pouted in front of the God of Loot. However, as if falling on deaf ears, Azmodeus ced his arm on the table. Seeing no real reaction out of therge, muscr man, Ru Ling''s pout became genuine. Still, her job was first and foremost; therefore, she took out the scanner and scanned his bracelet.


    After receiving all relevant information transmitted from the bracelet, she disyed a shocked expression. Even though she had seen his unbelievable feats many times before, it was always something to behold each and every time.


    Having long since assumed that Azmodeus was hiding his strength and that he definitely wouldn''t appreciate someone snitching on him, she took it upon herself to keep his secret. It was a secret just between the two of them, and for some reason, she liked it that way.


    "..."


    While nkly staring at the woman, Azmodeus was immediately able to tell what sort of thoughts were swirling around within her mind. And for the life of him, he wished that nobody would again think about him that way.


    Thest time he allowed himself to be careless and take in any girl that had those thoughts, well¡­


    ''This time is not like the times before¡­ Do not allow yourself to be stupid, Azmodeus. Perpetual progression¡­ that is all that truly matters.''


    ...

 Chapter 353: Capable Of Change

    ...


    While thinking to himself in a pessimistic way, Azmodeus retracted his hand, narrowly escaping the tender caresses of Ru Ling. Though she was obviously disappointed and a little vexed that he did this, he had no room to care¡ªnot anymore.


    Tens of thousands of years ago, Azmodeus might have given her a chance. He just might''ve allowed yet another woman to camp the area outside his lonesome heart, but that time was no more.


    Though change was hard toe by in a person, he could see and admit that he had definitely changed¡­


    Azmodeus may have a number of screws loose, and he may be crazy, goofy, emotionless, and insane at times. But in the end, things had changed.


    Then again, when it came to women, his personality would forever remain the same. Cold and distant, detached and aloof. Women would, of course, asionally see these traits as attractive. But with time, they would grow tired of being ignored, and eventually, they would forget about the target of their affection altogether.


    If Azmodeus were to live among different organisms for the rest of the Path to Infinity, then there was no room for ''mistakes''. He refused to allow himself to be the man that he was with Nao Long, Yang Hua, and the other girls.


    This time around, he had to be different; he had to do differently. It was no longer a matter of it being an option. He just had to do it.


    In a way, Azmodeus was like a cracked eggshell. The stuff on the inside was holding him together, but only just barely. If something significant were to set him off, then it was unknown just what he would be¡­ what would be of him when the outer shell shatters¡­


    Preferring not to think about this topic any further, Azmodeus politely nodded his head at Ru Ling before making his way toward the testing simtion rooms.


    Though Ru Ling was still a little aggrieved over his coldness, she had already be quite ustomed to it over thest half month. Hence, it was with a clear mind that she opened up Simtion Door #12. "I figured you would being tomence your rank up into C-Rank as soon as possible," she said. "So I already prepared the room for you.


    Oh, and I made sure to hide the score you got from the simtion, just like you requested."


    Ru Ling shed a momentarily dazzling smile and watched as her crush strolled through door #12. However, before he fully entered the simtion, he momentarily nced at the brown-haired receptionist. It was only after looking at her for a second and heaving a tired sigh that he put his whole body through the door, having it shut right behind him.


    "That look¡­ He''s never looked at me like that before¡­"


    Ru Ling didn''t quite know how to take the look Azmodeus gave her. But for some unknown reason, it felt like butterflies were dancing around in her stomach, causing her body to heat up to a bubbly degree.


    As she experienced something that she had never felt in her entire life, the target of her affection was currently in the midst of battling town-sized Immortal Monsters in the simtion.


    Although Azmodeus had no real issue taking on and killing any of the Grade 1 and Grade 2 Golden Immortal Realm simtion monsters, he still made it seem like he was having a tough fight. After all, even though Ru Ling said what she did about the scoreboard, he could never be too careful.


    He doubted that she would ever disclose sensitive information about him, but one could never be too cautious. And as far as she knew, it probably seemed like his ''advances in strength'' were, in actuality, just him unveiling more and more of the strength that he already had.


    When it came to the human mind, it tended to have a limit to how much nonsense it was willing to believe. It was because of this phenomenon that Azmodeus was simply seen as an expert who came down the mountain to y the pig for reasons unknown.


    Simply put, he didn''t haveplete faith in the integrity or falsely ced loyalty of Ru Ling; he was just someone who understood the human mind. Believing only in his own experience with such a subject, he put his faith in no one.


    It was better that way¡­


    -


    After a few minutes of killing the simted Golden Immortal Realm beasts, Azmodeus sessfully passed the virtual test, and he did so withpletely average results. It was better this way, as he had no clue just who could be watching from afar.


    Though, if he were being honest, he highly doubted that any bigshots would have any interest in a mere Golden Immortal¡­


    ''Now that I am in this strength bracket, I am able to better recall the approximate strength of those Royal Guardsmen. And at the very minimum, they are one to two realms above the Golden Immortal Realm. With such foes as my goals to defeat, I have no room to growcent. Doing so would only work to quicken my death.''


    When Azmodeus was locked in and in full-on grind mode, he didn''t seem to be capable of veering his thoughts in a direction that wasn''t oh-so-serious.


    However, when the actual grind was happening, he turned into more of a child. While wearing a maniacal grin andughing like a crazy person, he was the picture-perfect example of a bipr person.


    Then again, this warped personality wasn''t exactly one of his making. Rather, it was a side effect of the Infinite Evolution System getting rid of the emotion limiters that had been with him for what felt like an eternity.


    Now that he had time to think about it, there was something odd about the system just up and taking away his emotion limiters. After all, it didn''t seem like that was previously possible¡­


    ....

 Chapter 354: Eight Months Later

    ....


    ''Well, knowing that shitty system, it likely calcted the likelihood of me reaching for Infinity with the mindset I had before. Upon calcting, it must''ve figured out something that I am unaware of¡­ After which, it decided to make a drastic move.''


    ''But then again, it probably just wants me to learn something else¡­ God, sometimes I can''t help but feel like a schoolboy, with the system being my teacher¡­ Ai¡­''


    While meandering in his own thoughts, Azmodeus rose from his sitting position and left Simtion Room #12. In mere moments, he once again found himself face-to-face with Ru Ling.


    Wearing a cheeky smirk on her beautiful face, it was pretty clear that she was about to tease him. And just as he expected¡­


    "So~ You want this shiny gold medallion in my hands, now do you~? Fufu~"


    While holding a golden token close to her ample chest, Ru Ling seemed to be having the time of her life. However, after a second or two of seeing Azmodeus''s expression remain exactly the same as before, she puffed up her right cheek. "You''re no fun," she said.


    "I see¡­"


    While muttering these two words, the golden medallion had already found its way into his hands. Looking down at the intricately carved metal medallion, he said, "Thanks¡­" After which, he walked away from the counter. But not before hearing Ru Ling say, "You still remember the date you promised me for giving you those special C-Rank Quests, don''t you~?"


    "..."


    Azmodeus wentpletely silent upon hearing what she said. He had indeed forgotten about the ''date,'' which was, in actuality, what he promised as ''6 hours of my time''. But of course, she interpreted it as a ''date,'' and now he was left to deal with his previous actions¡­


    "Listen, I didn''t-" Before Azmodeus could even say what he wanted to say, he was interrupted by Ru Ling''s voice, saying:


    "You remember the promise you made, don''t you¡­?"


    "..."


    Heaving an exasperated sigh, Azmodeus turned his head away from Ru Ling and approached the quest board. After picking off a few of the B-Rank posters, he tiredly said, "Tonight, at 6, in the Central District¡­ Only 6 hours¡­"


    Without turning his face back once, he left the building and vanished without a trace. In his ce, he left a grown woman who suddenly turned all giddy and girly, acting very unlike her usual self.


    The old Azmodeus would have passed her off as nothing but an annoyance and maybe even killed her, but the new version of him knew when to repay favors. And though their rtionship would never be more than it was, he would entertain her until she tired of his existence.


    Azmodeus believed that, in the end, everything would elude him and leave him alone¡­ and there was some modicum of truth to this seemingly baseless belief. After all, Fate was a b*tch¡­


    "Fate is a b*tch¡­ Ai¡­"


    While gliding among the clouds, a number of thoughts could be seen passing through the eyes of the crimson-haired man. But as swiftly as they came, they disappeared just as quickly, instead reced by the same insatiable yearning for more.


    ¡­


    8 monthster.


    Sitting at a window sill by the entrance of a quaint coffee shop in Everveil''s Central District, Azmodeus held a mildly warm cup of Joe in his hands. While feeling the cup''s warmth permeate through his skin, he couldn''t stop himself from realizing just how right he was 8 months ago.


    Just as was predicted, Ru Ling became tired of being ignored all the time. Inherently, women carved attention, and this stood true even in the immortal realm.


    To be constantly ignored by the one you loved¡­ Well, that was something more painful than it was enjoyable. So, like the mature woman she was, Ru Ling moved on and even found herself a husband who seemed like a pretty alright guy.


    However, was Azmodeus all right after learning of this¡­?


    The truth was that he couldn''t really find a part of him that cared¡­ But if he were to say something, then it would be that he was d that the one who helped him keep his head down found her happiness.


    "Happiness¡­ What an unusual concept¡­ To what degree does one realize that they possess the capacity for happiness?"


    With the light dimming on the horizon and the wind settling in the lively city, Azmodeus was left to sit and ponder by a coffee shop''s window sill. He wondered how, just like Mortals, Immortals acted in a way that made them seem not all that different.


    "Life itself is such a dilemma¡­ How intriguing¡­"


    While brooding over a whole lot of nothing, Azmodeus took a few brief nces at his system interface. Immediately, he realized that it was finally time to begin the usurpation of this kingdom and its leadership.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: 2nd Order Loot God - 1.8% Nourishment]


    [Lifespan: Inapplicable/Infinite]


    [Cultivation: Grade 5 Great Pinnacle Golden Immortal (Middle)]


    [Battle Power: Grade 9 Great Pinnacle Golden Immortal (Initial)]


    [Immortal Power: 105 Quadrillion]]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 150 Quadrillion Immortal Evolution Essence]


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Cultivation Talent: Purple Tier Immortal (Early)]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    [Singrity Coalescence: Purple Tier Immortal (Early)]


    {[Immortal Physiques:]}


    [Immortal''s Resilience: Mid-Purple Tier]


    {[Immortal Lines:]}


    [White Tier Lines: 17 Quadrillion (x34 Quadrillion)]


    {[Loot Halos:]}


    [Red Tier Loot Halos: 12 Quadrillion (24 Quadrillion%)]


    ¡ª-------


    "Although I am nearing the peak of the Great Pinnacle Golden Immortal Realm, I still feel as if there are stronger forces at y behind the scenes of the Everveil Kingdom¡­ But what¡­? Where are they¡­?"


    Having already used his divine sense to scan the kingdom multiple times, Azmodeus had still yet to find anything with power above the Great Pinnacle Golden Immortal Realm. However, as if his own instincts were warning him of impending doom, he held off on his takeover n time and time again¡­


    "Ai¡­ Overthinking the matter will not do me any good. In the end, I guess it would simply be best if I just up and tested the waters. What''s the worst that could happen? I die?"


    ...

 Chapter 355: Rendezvous with the Sleeping Beauty

    ...


    Azmodeus feared neither pain nor death, and if that were the limit to which his repercussions would extend, then he would rather give it a shot and hope for loot.


    There was also a certain pretty princess that he had to say¡­ ''repay'' for her extreme amount of kindness in their earlier encounters.


    An evil smirk almost crept up Azmodeus''s handsome face, but before it could, it was reced by a deeply rooted coldness. While looking out the window as if the seasonal breeze would alter his future, he sat there and brooded. He thought about a great many things, one of which just so happened to be his purpose for revenge.


    Wasn''t revenge a thing for the petty and the weak?


    Why would someone like him, who would surpass the target for his revenge, feel the urge to have something like a yearning for revenge? Wasn''t that beneath him?


    Well, the truth was that Azmodeus was petty. He was likely one of the most petty people in the entire world.


    And even though small slights and inconsequential scoffs would be overlooked, those who dared y with his fate and control it. Well, people like that would serve a far more fulfilling purpose under the sharp end of his de.


    For loot, Azmodeus was willing to do whatever was necessary. And if that meant he had to discard his useless pride, then so be it.


    Yes, he was a hypocrite. And yes, he was a paradoxical dipshit. But if things stayed consistently consistent about him, then it was his drive to acquire more benefits and, subsequently, loot.


    As long as this forever remained the same, then it was doubtful that Azmodeus would ever truly change. Deep down, he would forever remain the same greedy person.


    One whose greed knew no bounds. This was the fate of all who feverishly treaded the path of Infinite Evolution.


    ¡ª--------


    The days passed by, unnoticed by all in the Immortal Realm.


    As everyone peacefully slept within their homes in the Grade 1 Everveil Kingdom, a stealthy shadow lingered in the night. Jumping from housetop to housetop like a fleeting shadow, his figure danced under the moonlit glow.


    Before long, Azmodeus found himself right outside the Royal Everveil Castle. With his status as an S-Rank Immortal Hunter, he could''ve reached this ce even during the daytime. However, it was rather his next destination that required him to make his move during the moonlit hour.


    With a n firmlyid down inside his mind, all Azmodeus had to do was follow through with what he envisioned.


    Bing, Bing, Bing.


    As his silent footsteps echoed throughout a limited space, he snuck past the Grade 3 Great Pinnacle Golden Immortal Realm guards stationed at the front of the castle. After bypassing all forms of security, Azmodeus found himself on top of the castle''s westernmost tower.


    This tower also just so happened to be the exact one that the Eldest Princess of the kingdom was staying in. It was usually heavily guarded and protected by cultivators at the peak of the Great Pinnacle Golden Immortal Realm. However, tonight, all of such influential experts were convening in avish underground room of the castle.


    They were currently in the midst of discussing the most recent decrease in Immortal Beasts in the surrounding areas. With this causing their crops to grow uninterrupted, it was very unsurprising that they gathered to celebrate this joyous asion.


    Though they assumed leaving everyone unguarded would be fine for a single night, Azmodeus considered this a fortuitous event!


    "With no one here, I have the highest chance of staying with my lovely princess without any bothers to interrupt our lovey-dovey time."


    With his faint whispers acting as the prelude for what was about toe, Azmodeus leaped up the side of the Western Tower wall. Ascending the pristine white bricks of the tower, he eventually made it to the top.


    Tap, Tap.


    Afternding on the cone-shaped shilling top, Azmodeus finally reached his destination. All he had to do now was slide right into the open window sill of the princess''s room and say hello.


    Doing just as his thoughts dictated, he made a few rather impossible-looking parkour moves and slipped in through the wide-open window. Upon arriving in the room, the first thing he looked at was the decorations.


    ''Well¡­ She definitely lives up to her reputation as a princess atop her tower,'' he thought awkwardly.


    The ce was all pink, with posters of knights and horses stered all across the walls. Then there was the furniture, which was also all pink and most assuredly extremely expensive.


    The whole room just screamed the word ''princess,'' but for the ideal princess, she hid a deep darkness that none of this pinkness could possibly hope to repress¡­


    Silence.


    As Azmodeus stealthily walked around inside the pink room, he quickly gained sight of the target of this little expedition. "My dear princess," he silently muttered, an evil grin spreading across his devilish face.


    Laying there without a care in the world, Yan Jie had her voluptuous body sprawled out on a bedrge enough to fit dozens of people. The cultivation of this sleeping beauty was the Grade 9 Golden Immortal Realm, and for Azmodeus, this might as well have meant that she was absolutely helpless to stop what was about to happen.


    Approaching the bed, Azmodeus looked over the sleeping beauty like a looming scythe of death. "Don''t you think it''s rather rude to be napping when a guest is over?" He asked, not expecting a response.


    Following theck of a response, Azmodeus outstretched hisrge hands and ced them over the face of the sleeping beauty. "Say, why won''t you wake up," he asked. "Do you perhaps require something a little warm to get your body up and Adam...?"


    Infusing fire immortal energy into his hand, he directed that same energy to his fingertips. Then, with a low sh of crimson light, he let the Fire immortal energy transfer over to the lovely Miss Princess.


    "What is happening!?!? AhhhHHHH!!!"


    ....

 Chapter 356: Yan Jies Despair

    ....


    "What is happening!?!? AhhhHHHH!!!"


    Starting out with a pained question and then ending off with a hair-tingling scream, Yan Jie squirmed on her bed as her face was being signed with an unreal level of heat!


    Unable to move her head underneath the strength of a singr hand, she could do nothing but twist and writhe in pain. Her toes curled to a point where they were on the verge of snapping off, and her muscles contracted to a level of inducing extreme amounts of pain on her.


    However, even though he was the one to create such a tearful scenario, Azmodeus didn''t seem to care a single bit. The emotionless look on his face emted the degree to which he was prepared to take this little fateful encounter of theirs.


    After a few seconds of hearing her face skin bubble and pop, Azmodeus finally got tired of listening to her annoying screams. Even though the sound barrier he ced down would hold up just fine, it was unknown if his eardrums had such robust longevity. Therefore, he took his hand off her face and watched as she clutched at the gruesome burn mark covering one half of her face.


    "Damn, that''s disgusting¡­"


    "Y-You bastard!!! Do you have any idea who I am!? Of what I can do to you for doing this to me!?"


    While backing to the back of her bedframe in fear, Yan Jie started to scream out all sorts of young master-like phrases. The outstretched trembling finger and the other hand covering the burned half of her face ¡ª she was definitely ying the innocent maiden part quite well.


    "But your words and actions don''t quite match up¡­ You can''t speak like a hooligan and then act like the victim. Welp, I guess I will just have to show you a new path."


    Putting both his hands to his face, Azmodeus pulled down on his forehead skin. Starting with the top of his face, he began real slow and then ripped his skin off with full force!


    "!?!?"


    While in extreme pain, Yan Jie saw something that she figured would be even more gruesome than the state of her face. However, the moment she caught a glimpse of the mysterious assant''s new appearance, she nearly choked on her own blood!


    "T-The toy¡­ From a decade ago¡­ H-How are you still alive!? And why are you so strong!?"


    As she screamed out with a distraught expression, Yan Jiepletely forgot about speeding up the healing process of her face. The look of utter dumbfoundment was enough to make the build-up to reach this point all worth it for Azmodeus!


    Thud, Crack. Thud, Crack.


    As his feet cracked the ground he stood on, Azmodeus walked from the foot side of the bed to the left side and then eventually right up to the shuddering princess.


    "G-Get away from me, you monster!!"


    Kicking and swiping out with her arms and legs, Yan Jie tried to keep the devil at bay. But unfortunately for her, all justice was delivered fair and just, and Azmodeus wasn''t someone to discriminate between man and woman.


    He grabbed onto both of her soft, tender legs before pulling him close to him. With their crotches rubbing against one another, Azmodeus cupped her tear-stained cheeks and stole her gaze.


    "Say, you''re a virgin, are you not?" He asked with a wide, devilish smirk.


    With her sinister personality, he had assumed that she had long since lost her V-card, but it turned out that was not the case. This worked quite well for him, because what was toe would be all the more satisfying.


    "Y-You¡­! What do you n to do to me!? I''m the eldest princess of the Everveil Kingdom; whatever you n to do will only make your punishment more severe!"


    With her face already fully healed, Yan Jie was able to use her hands to cover the breasts that were practically popping out of their lingerie.


    "Ai¡­" Awkwardly scratching his head, Azmodeus said, "What do you take me for? Some sort of monster!? No, no, no, I will be doing nothing to that slutty body of yours. Rather, I have a few friends who will do the job for me."


    FWIP! FWIP!


    Straight out of the Immortal Beast Storage Space, Azmodeus called upon threerge orcs, all of which were ''big,'' green, and ugly. Plus, they had a pungent smell about them, which only made Azmodeus''s evil grin widen with every emotion he witnessed from the princess.


    "N-No!!! You can''t do this to me!! Please, anything but this!! I''ll even let you do as you wish with my body; just don''t do this!!!"


    While whining with snot and tears running down her face, Yan Jie clenched onto Azmodeus''s robes and pleaded for mercy. However, all it took was a quick hand grab, and she was no longer holding onto her ''toy''.


    With threerge orcs taking the ce of the handsome youth, the drool dripping from their mouths and the savage, lust-filled glint in their gazes served as thest straw.


    Yan Jie snapped.


    WHIRL!


    She activated her immortal energy, prepared to take her life right then and there. But before that could happen, the connection she had with her immortal energy was severed and her energy reserves rapidly depleted.


    "W-Why¡­ Why is this happening to me!? I am a princess!!! Everyone is supposed to do what I say!!! So what if I tortured a few pretty men to death!? So what!?!? It is my right!!!"


    RIP! RIP!


    While she was hollering like an insane lunatic, the orcs had already ripped off the rest of her thin lingerie, putting her sexy body on full disy.


    "Oh? It does appear that there is something bigger than your mouth, but it is simply too bad that it''s far too filthy for my tastes. Luckily, I have my orc friends right here with me!"


    After giving them the go-ahead with his hand, the orcs ripped off what served as their armor. They disyed theirrge things in their proudest forms, causing Yan Jie to stop her rant, only to have pure, unadulterated despair overpower her expression.


    ...

 Chapter 357: Rank 2 Immortal Kingdoms

    ...


    Copsing to the bed sheets in the nude, Yan Jie''s mind broke, and she was left there in a state simr to a vegetable. As the orcs'' massive hands approached and touched her sensual body, her subconscious had already epted her fate.


    Just as she was about to get r*ped and lose her virginity, a muscr hand swiped across the air and de-summoned the orcs. The owner of that hand walked over to the princess once more.


    Seeing the state that she was in, Azmodeus cast a spell and brought back her mind.


    "Nooooo!!!!"


    The first thing Yan Jie did was scream out in pure agony!


    "Ai, Ai¡­ I was going to let the orcs do whatever they wanted with you, but even after using full mind restoration, you are still a goner. Hence, I have decided to just im my loot bag a little early. Don''t worry, you will die a virgin! But considering that you will most definitely be going to hell, well, I doubt you will retain your purity for very long. Welp, see ya never!"


    SHING!


    Before the space around him could even register what he had done, Azmodeus unsheathed his sword and sheathed it. Turning his head away from the beautiful nude body covered in blood lines, he left back the way he came in.


    He was already quite a distance away from the Royal Castle when he suddenly looked back and saw a small explosion of crimson go off in the eldest princess''s room. Shortly after, a few system notifications arrived.


    [Ding! You have killed a Grade 9 Golden Immortal. The reward is 1.5 Trillion Immortal Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have obtained 1.3 Trillion Immortal Power!]


    [Ding! You have¡­]


    A few more system notifications rang out, but Azmodeus ignored them and resumed his departure. The first ce he wanted to go was the Immortal Hunter''s Guild. He wanted to see if he couldplete the test to be an SS-Rank Immortal Hunter.


    Thest few times he tried, they ended in spectacr failure, but this time around, Azmodeus felt that he could beat the Immortal Demon King in the simtion.


    If he does ultimately end up passing the test, he will then be promptly recruited by very high-ranking Immortal Hunter''s from outside the Everveil Kingdom. The SS-Rank was when Immortals truly started to notice someone, so it was only natural that more focus would be put on it as opposed to the S-Rank and below.


    This was also because the SS-Rank almost directly corrted to the All-Epassing Immortal Realm, which was a major turning point on the path of an Immortal. After all, it was the realm where an immortal would obtain their own ''Immortal Domain''.


    The Immortal Demon King that prevented Azmodeus from ranking up to the SS-Rank was a Grade 1 All-Epassing Immortal, meaning that it too had its own Immortal Domain.


    "As long as I can beat that bastard, I can leave the kingdom borders ahead of time and do so without arousing any suspicion after the death of the Eldest Princess. All in all, that Immortal Demon King needs to kick rocks and die."


    Before long, Azmodeus''s ninja-like figure found its way to the Central District. Entering the Immortal Hunter Branch Building, he passed by Ru Ling, who was talking over the phone with her new boyfriend. Though he received a warm smile from her, it was no longer the same loving smile that he used to receive.


    ''This is for the best,'' he thought. ''Just as Yang Hua, Nao Long, and the other girls'' staying as far away from me as possible is for the best.''


    Azmodeus obviously knew that they were somewhere in the Immortal Realm, but not once had he attempted to venture out and find them.


    It was better for both parties if they stayed as far apart from one another as possible¡­


    "This is the path I have chosen. There is no longer any room left for regrets," he softly murmured underneath his breath, making his way into Simtion Room #1.


    ¡ª--------


    The days passed inside the Everveil Kingdom, and the death of the Eldest Princess had long since been disclosed to the public. The king was outraged at this discovery, but before he was a father, he was king, meaning that there was nothing he could personally do.


    However, that didn''t mean he wasn''t able tomand entire legions of goons, all of whom were willing to live and die for their king. Almost overnight, thousands of All-Epassing Realm Immortals were sent out to scour every rock and crevice of the kingdom. They were ordered to find the culprit and bring him back alive or not bothering back at all.


    But even with secret elite immortal soldiers in the Grade 6 All-Epassing Immortal Realm, not a single one of them got the king any closer to finding the culprit¡­


    The culprit in question finally managed to beat the Grade 1 All-Epassing Realm Immortal Demon King in Simtion Room #1. In other words, he had warranted the immediate arrival of an SS-Rank Immortal Hunter.


    The Immortal Hunter that came out to recruit this aspiring SS-Rank Immortal Hunter was none other than the Dragon yer, Yun Jin!


    Having yed more than ten dragons in the All-Epassing Immortal Realm, Yun Jin was one of the only people in the Heavenbreaker Province who truly deserved the title of ''Dragon yer''.


    The Heavenbreaker Province was the stretch ofnd that had the Everveil Kingdom as one of its many vassals. There were dozens of other kingdoms just like the Everveil Kingdom, some with even greater military power than Everveil. Still, there were two kingdoms in the Heavenbreaker Province with strength far beyond what Everveil could hope to fathom.


    The Skyweaver Kingdom and the Cloudstrife Kingdom.


    Both were Rank 2 Kingdoms, and both had forces far surpassing the Everveil Kingdom and other Rank 1 Kingdoms.


    Today, someone who grew up in the Skyweaver Kingdom was making a trip to a Branch of the Immortal Hunters Guild in the Everveil Kingdom.


    The Dragon yer, Yun Jin, was born and raised in the absurdly powerful Skyweaver Kingdom. He was abandoned by his noble parents at a young age, only to work his way up from the bottom and show them how mistaken they were in discarding him. Now in the Grade 9 All-Epassing Immortal Realm with ten Immortal Dragon Heads to his name, Yun Jin was an idol among men!


    ¡ª----------

 Chapter 358: True Dragon Slayer, Yun Jin

    ¡ª----------


    Click, ck. Click, ck.


    A horse''s trodding through the grassy ins of the Everveil Kingdom could be heard at Sonic speeds. As it galloped a few inches over the ground, it produced sonic booms wherever it went.


    This beast was a Leaping Horse and was in the Grade 1 All-Epassing Immortal Realm. It was also one of the many steads of the Great Dragon yer, Yun Jin!


    "Say, Sebastian."


    "Yes, my Lord?"


    Inside an extravagantly decorated carriage being pulled behind the Leaping Horse, a man with a dragon sword by his waist was talking to a respectful man in Butler attire. The first man had a chiseled face, thin sword-like brows, and a piercing gaze, making him quite handsome. Whereas the butler had a gruff, scarred face, with a few nicks and dings here and there.


    His hair was white and slicked back, and he also had a monocle over his left eye, which paired quite well with his muscr physique and ck and white suit.


    "My Lord¡­?"


    Sebastian had been waiting for a response, but it appeared that his lord had once again gotten lost in his own thoughts. Waiting patiently like a good servant, he eventually heard Yun Jin say, "What do we know about this ''Azmodeus''?"


    At this question, Sebastian lightly lifted up a finger and caused a shing blue screen to appear in front of them. "His name is Azmodeus; no visiblest name. He virtually appeared out of nowhere, started out as an F-Rank Immortal Hunter, and then he scaled the ranks to S-Rank in less than a year. Inyman''s terms, Azmodeus is an enigma."


    "An Enigma, huh¡­?" An interested gleam shed past Yun Jin''s slitted reptilian eyes.


    He was human, but after transmuting the spoils of his dragon hunts into his own body, Yun Jin began to look more dragonlike than human. With long, sharp ws, a whipping, scaly, spiked tail, and those slitted eyes of his, he could be considered a dragonoid. Along with this appearance, there was an innate fear-inducing effect that he had on the people who viewed his figure.


    Even those in the All-Epassing Immortal Realm were no exception to this rule¡­


    As Yun Jin stared out at the rapidly shing scenery from the carriage window, he suddenly remembered something, prompting him to ask, "This Azmodeus; is he an Enigma from one of the High-Mortal Realms? An Ascender with a special fate perhaps?"


    "...This could be usible, but we have no information on his past," Sebastian answered respectfully. Pulling up a few more tabs on the blue screen, he showed his master all the relevant information on his abilities and origin.


    After a few seconds of skimming through the information within his mind, Yun Jin made a rock shape with one hand and pped it against a t hand. "So it''s like this. Although nothing is for sure, I''m positive that if we ask him straight up, we''ll receive some more information.


    Even though he''s clearly trying to keep his head low, I have a feeling that he will tell me more about himself if I offer up something in return."


    "Something in return?" Asked Sebastian.


    "Yes, do you know of that Blue Dragon I killed in the Sporeread Kingdom? Well, from that dragon, I was able to acquire a ''Domain Crystal'' of the ''Dragon Type''."


    "A Dragon-Type Domain Crystal?? My Lord, are you trying to suggest giving such a valuable item to this Azmodeus!?"


    Even though he had never seen one in person, Sebastian knew that the value of a Dragon Type Domain Crystal was something that even Grade 9 All-Epassing Immortals would find hard to afford!


    After all, a Domain Crystal was something that assisted an Immortal in developing their very own Immortal Domain. Without one, it was virtually impossible to create and develop an Immortal Domain.


    Just a normal Domain Crystal was worth dozens of Rank 3 Immortal Crystals. Yet, Yun Jin was honestly considering giving up a Dragon Type Domain Crystal, which was worth thousands of times that amount!


    Capable of allowing the user to build and develop an Immortal Domain of the Dragon Type, Yun Jin''s Domain Crystal was something invaluable to anyone attempting a breakthrough into the All-Epassing Immortal Realm!


    Even though Azmodeus had advanced from the Grade 5 to the Grade 7 Great Pinnacle Golden Immortal Realm over thesest few days, his Battle Power had still yet to break past the limits of the Great Pinnacle Golden Immortal Realm¡­


    The gap between having and not having an Immortal Domain might as well have been impossible to gap. Even for Azmodeus, he just didn''t possess the necessary resources or techniques to make such a thing possible.


    He was close, but still not at that level¡­


    The only reason he managed to defeat the Grade 1 All-Epassing Immortal Realm Demon King was because the Immortals of this Immortal Realm were quite weak. For the system, the weakest among them were considered to be one realm behind.


    Azmodeus may have slightly superior strength to a Grade 1 All-Epassing Immortal in the Everveil Kingdom, but it was unknown how he would fare in the non-backwater locations. If he encountered a truly powerful Grade 1 All-Epassing Immortal, it wasn''t too far-fetched to say that instant death was his fate¡­


    That was just the reality of the Immortal Realm, and for Immortals, the All-Epassing Immortal Realm was a major turning point on the road of cultivation. It was one that would eventually lead to the Immortal Domain of the user epassing everything in existence!


    However, Azmodeus, being the kind of man that he was, believed that he would be able to have Battle Power in the All-Epassing Immortal Realm before breaking through to the realm.


    It was unfounded confidence, but it was the will of a True Enigma.


    After purchasing out countless Immortal Lines, Azmodeus now had the same amount as someone in the Grade 3 All-Epassing Immortal Realm. But it seemed even that was not enough to push him through the Battle Power bottleneck that obstructed his path forward¡­


    Moving onto Immortal Physiques after draining his Immortal Evolution Essence, Azmodeus realized that there might actually be a possible path forward.


    Pulling a highly advanced phone out of his pocket, he put it up to his ear and said, "Can you give me a book on all known Immortal Physiques in the Immortal Realm and how to acquire them?"


    "Yes, sir, right away," echoed a cordial voice from the other end of the phone.


    ....

 Chapter 359: Grade 8 Great Pinnacle Golden Immortal Realm

    ....


    p.


    After closing the phone and putting it back into his robe pocket, Azmodeus had some rather devilish thoughts swirl around inside his head. If before, his status was not great enough to aplish something like this, then with his halfway SS-Rank status, the limit to his authority practically had the sky as the limit!


    He had billions of Rank 2 Immortal Crystals to his name, and with such a sum, just about anybody in the Everveil Kingdom would do whatever he told them to do. Whether that be information, the market, killing people, or requesting items like what he had just done. For the new him, all of this was as easy as snapping his fingers-


    Snap!


    With a finger snap, a cloaked man arrived in Azmodeus''s personal cultivation room, dropped off arge silver book, and then left the room without a trace.


    Rising off the ground and picking up the huge book, Azmodeus quickly returned to his cultivation mat and read through its pages, nning something big inside his mind.


    ¡ª----------


    Ten dayster, on the day that the Dragon yer, Yun Jin, arrived in the Central District of the Everveil Kingdom.


    "Move out of the way!! A Dragon yer has arrived in the Capital!!!"


    Shouting from the sidelines, bystanders warned othermoners of the mighty-looking horse and carriage that were making their way through the polished streets of the Central District.


    Riding through the ce without doing anything special, just the emblem and g adorned on the side of the horse-drawn carriage were enough to cause everyone to look that way in awe. Moving aside without any qualms, the luckiest among them were even able to catch a glimpse of the vant appearance of a Dragon yer.


    And not just any Dragon yer, but Yun Jin!


    He was someone known for saving billions of Immortals from savage Immortal Dragon attacks! Even though some of the dragons were the size of multiple cities, he cut them down all the same!


    Just his mere presence in the Everveil Capital was enough to have the Kinge out to personally greet him. Along with hundreds of other high officials, they all gathered in front of the horse-drawn carriage and led Yun Jin toward the Royal Castle.


    Even though the King was still in grief, having a personage like this in their kingdom was enough to have him set aside his anger and put the kingdom first.


    After a few hours of trading a bunch of nonsense with one another, Yun Jin and the King parted ways. Of course, the King asked about his reason for visiting their humble kingdom, and Yun Jin responded with, "Meeting a new SS-rank Immortal Hunter that sprouted up in your Nation."


    King Everveil was beyond astonished by this information! Although he knew of multiple S-Rank Immortal Hunters who were close to the All-Epassing Immortal Realm, he didn''t even put them in his eyes. After all, he had hundreds of elite All-Epassing Realm Immortal Soldiers, and every single one of them was stronger than an S-Rank Immortal Hunter.


    As for SS-Rank Immortal Hunters¡­ Well, the higher-ups of the Immortal Hunters Association would always snatch up a talent like that whenever they appeared.


    Usually, King Everveil would be quite aware of which of his Immortal Hunters were about to make the breakthrough into the All-Epassing Immortal Realm. But it seemed as if one of them managed to slip past his watchful gaze.


    This was quite perplexing for King Everveil, warranting him to contact a few people and figure out the identity of this secret SS-Rank Immortal Hunter.


    A small part of him spected the possibility of this man somehow being connected to the recent death of his eldest daughter. But that was more of a venting method than anything, with no actual evidence to support this baseless belief.


    The minutes ticked by, and Yun Jin had just entered the Immortal Hunters Branch Building. After greeting the head of this branch office, he asked for the location of the Immortal Hunter ''Azmodeus''.


    The Branch Head had never heard of such a hunter, much less one who was able to catch the eye of a genuine Dragon yer. But, in the end, he was inferior in status to Yun Jin; therefore, he asked around and found the room number of this ''Azmodeus''.


    After giving the room number to Yun Jin, they went their separate ways. And just like King Everveil, the Branch Head called for his informants and asked for all information pertaining to ''Azmodeus''.


    As everyone was looking to figure out all they could about his existence, the man in question had just obtained his twenty-sixth Immortal Physique!


    "That makes number twenty six¡­"


    OOOM!


    After feeling a wave of energy wash over his body and change the structure of his bones and marrow, Azmodeus figured out a way to have this Physique work together with his other Physiques.


    Although all of them did different things, their main primary purposes were centered around the augmentation of the user''s body. Through these augmentations, Azmodeus''s Battle Power took major leaps!


    He felt that he was on the precipice of the breakthrough that he had been searching for; all he had to do was make onest final push and achieve a Battle Power in the All-Epassing Immortal Realm!


    However¡­


    "It does appear that I have run out of Physiques that I can acquire with the limited amount of conditional fluctuaters that I have avable to me¡­ Well, I did order enough to set up the conditions for a couple hundred more unique Physiques. But to get those, I will need to wait until the resources arrive¡­ For now, the only thing I can do to make that final jump is¡­"


    WHIRL!


    "Breakthrough."


    With his voice acting as the flipping of a switch, Azmodeus started his breakthrough into the Grade 8 Great Pinnacle Golden Immortal Realm with post-haste.


    In less than two minutes, his Dantian Space had even more Immortal Energy fill it up. And with it rippling off the water that was already there, the breakthrough was thus deemed aplete sess!


    OOOM!


    ...

 Chapter 360: Grade 1 All-Encompassing Immortal Realm BP, Scammers...?

    ...


    OOOM!


    "Grade 8 Great Pinnacle Golden Immortal¡­ One more breakthrough, and I will be at the bridge between this major realm and the All-Epassing Immortal Realm."


    While clenching and unclenching his fists, Azmodeus felt that he had finally attained the state of being that he had been aiming for. And just as he expected¡­


    BLING!


    [Battle Power: Grade 1 All-Epassing Immortal Realm (Initial)]


    "It looks like the system has registered my Battle Power as having achieved the Grade 1 All-Epassing Immortal Realm¡­ I think this would be a good time for celebration. But then again, there seem to be some visitors outside my humble abode¡­"


    Turning his cold, piercing eyes in the direction of a wall, Azmodeus seemed to peer straight through the wall and onto the other side. He saw a dragonoid-like man and an old man in Butler attire, both of whom were approaching his door from the extending hallway.


    "Hmm¡­ The Butler dude is weaker than I am¡­ However, that dragon guy¡­ He''s strong. Unbelievably strong¡­"


    Immediately going on alert, Azmodeus prepared some countermeasures and made it so that even if things took a turn for the worst, he could at least escape with a sliver of his soul. Though he would need to start over from the beginning again if that did happen, he already did it once, and the second time would surely be faster than the first time.


    "Well, if it reallyes down to that, I will have just added another person to my list of enemies."


    A cold gleam shed past his dark red eyes. Narrowing them in suspicion, he rose from the ground and approached the door. Opening it up before a knock coulde, he was weed with the sight of a tall dragon man and a butler just as tall.


    "Oh, hello there, Azmodeus. We are from the Immortal Hunters Association¡ª" Yun Jin tried introducing himself, but he was quickly interrupted by Azmodeus, saying:


    "Scammers?"


    "...No, not scammers," Yun Jin replied awkwardly.


    "If you aren''t scammers, then why do you look as if you''re about to take me out back and rob me of everything I have?" Asked Azmodeus, his eyes looking down at the expensive weapons being held by the two of them.


    "These? Oh, they are just the gifts I received from the King and High-Officials of the court. They aren''t for you-"


    "Wow, what a way to say that you didn''t bring any weing gifts; this is very disappointing."


    Azmodeus was about to walk away from the dumbfounded scammers and close the door behind him, but before he could, Yun Jin hurriedly said, "W-Wait, don''t be so hasty, friend! Haven''t you ever heard that patience is a virtue??"


    While holding the door open with his foot, Yun Jin spoke in a way that was the furthest thing from how he thought he would be acting upon meeting the new SS-Rank Immortal Hunter. But even with the sequence of events being out of his predictions, he still had to find a way to mend this misunderstanding.


    Just as he was about to take out the Dragon Type Immortal Domain Crystal and offer it to the newbie in exchange for friendship, Azmodeus spoke up once again, asking:


    "A virtue? Can you eat it?"


    "W-Well no, but you are missing the point!"


    "If you can''t eat it, then I don''t want it. And I don''t like scammers; go scam someone else."


    Turning away from the two visitors, Azmodeus walked away and returned to his cultivation mat. Then, without a care in the world, he circted the Qi in the room and cultivated, nning to reach the Grade 9 Great Pinnacle Golden Immortal Realm as soon as possible.


    "T-This is¡­ What is even happening here, Sebastian¡­? Are we being toyed with right now?" Asked Yun Jin, his long, fiery hair in a state of disarray.


    How a great and mighty Dragon yer was thrown through such a loop¡­ Well, that was something that even Sebastian didn''t know how to exin. In the end, he answered with, "Maybe this Azmodeus is quite the entric one, and because he is not aware of your esteemed identity, he believes you to be some sort of salesman scammer¡­"


    "Me? A scammer¡­?"


    Yun Jin couldn''t believe the drivel that he was listening to right now! How could he possibly look anything like a scammer!? That just didn''t make any sense!


    Looking purely at his attire, he had on a zing kimono with dragons adorned across the sides. The dragon earrings and the striking dragon sword at his side also added to his overall imposing appearance!


    How would one even take one look at him and immediately deem him to be a scammer!?


    "This Azmodeus¡­ H-He''s something else, alright¡­"


    Heaving a sigh, Yun Jin weed himself into the cultivation room and pulled out a few intricately carved chairs from his storage ring. Setting them down, both he and Sebastian sat on them and put all their focus on the crimson-haired man cultivating in a lotus position.


    Suddenly opening one of his eyes, Azmodeus said, "You scammers are still here? How unusual¡­"


    "U-Unusual¡­?"


    Yun Jin seemed to be biting his tongue a lot as ofte, but he just couldn''t help it when he interacted with this oddity of a man.


    ''With his personality, he might just actually be an Enigma from a High-Mortal Realm. If that truly is the case, then I will need his support for what is about to go down in the Heaven Breaker Province. Death is on the horizon,'' he thought.


    "A-Anyway, young friend Azmodeus. I am here today on order of the Immortal Hunters Association, all in order to bring you out of the Everveil Kingdom and toward the Main Headquarters of the Heavenbreaker Province-"


    "And him?" Asked Azmodeus, his right hand pointer finger directed toward Sebastian.


    "Sebastian? He is just here as my personal butler. As I was saying-"


    "So, you''re really rich, huh? To have a Grade 1 All-Epassing Immortal as a mere Butler¡­ Do you have any money to spare? There is this thing I''ve been wanting, but my bank ount says I''m not rich enough."


    ...

 Chapter 361: Azmodeus!!! Find This Criminal!!

    ...


    "???"


    Yun Jin had no clue what was going on anymore, but if he wasn''t mistaken, then he was most definitely getting robbed! And in broad daylight no less!?


    "Y-You¡­ Do you really need money that badly¡­?" He asked. No way was he expecting the newbie to be shameless enough to respond in an affirmative manner-!


    "Yes."


    "..."


    Silence.


    Both Azmodeus and Yun Jin simply stared at each other with nk stares. Neither of them knew what they should say next, but Azmodeus, being as shameless as he was, spoke up, saying:


    "About that money, you actually have some to give to this unfortunate soul? I have a grandma that needs taking care of, probably¡­ Oh, and there are these parents of mine. Pretty sure they went on the most wild trip for milk, so I need some funds to help them find that milk¡­"


    Azmodeus extended his hands in a cupped motion, not caring a single bit about upholding appearances or face.


    Silence.


    Once again, a deafening silence overwhelmed the cultivation room. Only was it broken when Yun Jin tapped on his Storage Ring and took out a jingly bag. "In here, there are 1000 Grade 3 Immortal Crystals. Consider it as a sign of good friendship," he said. Tossing the bag toward the cultivating man, he expected him to at least examine the contents of the bag.


    But contrary to his expectations, Azmodeus instantly transported that bag into his own bag. "Anymore goodies?" He asked without hesitation.


    "..."


    ''This Azmodeus¡­ He is¡­ Who birthed this sort of entric person?''


    Even if Yun Jin asked this question to the man himself, he would not receive any answer. After all, Azmodeus himself was not sure who''s vagina he came out of. All he knew was that it seemed like just about everyone in existence had somehow met his parents¡­


    "Anyway, that is not all I have for you today, friend Azmodeus. In fact, I hope that this next item will allow the both of us to enter a mutually beneficial rtionship. And all I need from you is your word that we will assist one another in times of need. I assume this is fine with you," Yun Jin asked.


    "I mean, you have already given me a lot of money, and considering that you did so quite casually, I can assume that you are a rich man. And maintaining friendship with a rich man is something that I would never openly decline¡­ So yeah, we can do this. As for the goodies¡­"


    Looking at Azmodeus''s shining eyes and blunt way of speaking, Yun Jin couldn''t help himself from acting helpless¡­


    "W-Well, young friend Azmodeus, this item is what I have brought for you today. I do hope that it is to your liking."


    BLING!


    "!!!"


    As soon as Azmodeus saw the dazzling objecting out of Yun Jin''s storage ring, he needed no exnation. He simply snatched it up and put it inside his own storage ring.


    "No need for any more formalities, good friend of mine! I look forward to many happy and productive days toe!"


    Shaking his hands with a radiant smile, Azmodeus was practically beaming from the top, leaving a vast contrast to the way that he was just acting.


    "???" "???"


    Although taken by surprise, Yun Jin and Sebastian took in the positive response of the newbie SS-Rank Immortal Hunter. Though a little forward, this Azmodeus definitely showed a lot of promise in their eyes.


    After a few more minutes of back and forth pleasantries, the conversation finally reached a point where it was time to talk about the newbieing back with them to the Skyweaver Kingdom. In this kingdom, there was both the Headquarters of the Immortal Hunters Association and the family of the Dragon yer, Yun Jin.


    Yun Jin wanted to get Azmodeus familiar with the other SS-Rank Immortal Hunters, and he also wanted to have him be ustomed to the inner workings of his organizations.


    If they were to have a healthy and beneficial rtionship, then they needed to be clear on exactly what they may be helping each other with.


    Though for him, the people beneath him would take care of most things, it was always a good thing to have another promising All-Epassing Immortal Realm Hunter on his side.


    As for what Yun Jin could help Azmodeus with. Well, that list would likely be a very long one¡­


    The discussion of moving locations was eventually brought up, and Azmodeus yed the part of a reluctant native. Not wishing to leave the ce he loved so dearly, he refused the Dragon yer over and over again!


    But in the end, Azmodeus had no choice but to ept when offered another bag of 1000 Rank 3 Immortal Crystals¡­ He had no choice in the matter!


    It was his moral obligation!


    After the big farce was over and done with, Azmodeus tagged along behind Yun Jin and Sebastian. Exiting the Branch Building together, they quickly found themselves stepping up into thevish carriage that had originally brought the Dragon yer to this Kingdom.


    "Who is that??"


    "A friend of the Dragon yer¡­? For some reason, I feel as if I have seen him somewhere before¡­"


    "Maybe he is a secret powerhouse!?"


    Whispering among themselves, the immortal peasants discussed the unusually familiar person hanging around the illustrious Dragon yer.


    Before long, their whispers faded off into the distance as the leaping horse had already entered the speed stream. Aiming to leave the Capital and the Everveil Kingdom itself, the carriage sped up its advance, leaping through the clouds as if jumping over jelly.


    It was also at this time that the Everveil King discovered something monumental¡­


    "That Azmodeus¡­ H-His aura signatures were matched to the trace ones located on the Eldest Princess''s tower the night of her death. And the results of this discovery¡­ They came back positive¡­"


    Silence.


    After listening to the report made by one of his assistants, King Everveil''s face suddenly morphed from peachy to a dark and violent red.


    "Azmodeus!!! Find this criminal and bring him back to my feet like the dog that he is!! I want him to grovel and beg for forgiveness before I dash away all his hopes and strike him down without remorse!!"


    RUMBLE!!!


    The King''s aura was on the verge of causing the entire castle to fall apart! If not for his honed self-restraint, then he surely would''ve killed everyone and everything in a ten million-mile radius!


    ¡ª---------

 Chapter 362: An Ancient Terror Awakens, The Everveil Kingdom Is Destroyed

    ¡ª---------


    Outside the Everveil Kingdom, a few hundred meters above a grouping of white, fluffy clouds.


    "So, young friend Azmodeus, where are you from?" Yun Jin asked. He sat on the front side of the carriage with Sebastian, looking at the crimson-haired man sitting on the opposite side.


    "Where am I from, you ask? Well, the short and sweet answer is that I''m from a backwater area. As for the long and lengthy answer¡­ That would be one too long to describe here and now¡­"


    While giving this response, Azmodeus had his chin to his fist, staring out at all the clouds they were galloping over. His mind seemed to be elsewhere when speaking of this topic, and it was quite obvious that he didn''t wish to speak any further about it. Therefore, out of respect for their rtionship, Yun Jin delved no further.


    However, with the little he did learn, he was able to piece together the clues and deduce that their young friend was, in fact, from a Mortal Realm. Though, as to which mortal realm that would be was still a mystery¡­


    ''If it''s a Mortal Realm with an open destiny spot, then it is highly likely that Azmodeus is a True Enigma. However, if it is one with a filled destiny spot, then there is simply no way that he is the True Enigma¡­ After all, a filled Destiny Spot means that a True Enigma has already grown and developed to full maturity.


    From there, the True Enigma will venture out into the ''Dunes of the Unknown'' that surround all Immortal Realms in the Immortal Funnel¡­ At that point, the True Enigma will have advanced their cultivation far above the All-Epassing Immortal Realm¡­''


    Even Yun Jin himself was envious of the power and authority that a True Enigma held, and his slightly contorted facial expression indicated that much.


    If given the chance, it wouldn''t be past him to befriend a True Enigma and do whatever it took to leech off the immense destiny that one held. As it even surpassed that of Divine Immortal Emperors, just a sliver of a True Enigma''s destiny was enough to allow for repeated ascension!


    But with filling a Destiny Spot being an almost impossible task, considering the high demand on Enigma candidates, it might as well have been an unrealistic, whimsical fantasy to hope on young friend Azmodeus being a True Enigma¡­


    ''Sigh¡­ If only the talent requirements weren''t so ridiculous when it came to the ascension of a True Enigma Candidate into a True Enigma¡­ Even those two freaks from all those years ago were considered a once in a blue moon urrence, likely never to happen again¡­''


    While bemoaning the fate of all Immortals under the pull of the Immortal Funnel, Yun Jin, Sebastian, and Azmodeus had a very peaceful carriage ride. asionally, they conversed, but more often than not, the three of them simply enjoyed the cool breeze that asionally blew through the carriage''s interior.


    After a few minutes of this peaceful ambience, the horse-drawn carriage finally arrived at its destination. The harrowing Gate of the Rank 2 Skyweaver Kingdom!


    During the ride, they had unknowingly flown over multiple Rank 1 Kingdoms, traversing an untold number of miles. And now, at the end of their brief journey, they found themselves sitting under the grandiose gates of one of the two powerhouse kingdoms.


    Though it appeared like an insurmountable wall of gold and silver to most Immortals, for Yun Jin, it might as well have been his home''s front-facing door.


    This familiarity with the ce was also put on full disy when a couple Grade 7 Great Pinnacle Golden Immortal Realm Guards walked to their carriage. After discussing a bit of cordial back and forth with Sebastian, they tipped their caps and permitted entry into the Skyweaver Kingdom.


    Click, ck. Click, ck.


    As the leaping horse slowly troddded toward a slight crack in the massive door, Azmodeus decided to bring up a question that he had been wondering about for a while now.


    "SS-Rank Immortal Hunters¡­ Howmon are they in this kingdom?" He asked curiously.


    "Hmm¡­? Oh, yes, yes." Catching his tongue and refocusing on young friend Azmodeus, Yun Jin said, "There are around five thousand SS-Rank Immortal Hunters in the Skyweaver Kingdom, as well as seven thousand in the Cloudstrife Kingdom."


    "...That many?" Asked Azmodeus, his expression emting the amount of astonishment he felt.


    Even though he figured the number would be quiterge, even that was a bit much¡­


    pping his knee, Yun Jin lightly shook his head. "Don''t get it wrong," he said. "SS-Rank Immortal Hunters are not scattered everywhere likemon, everyday cabbages; there are simply a lot of them after countless years of umtion-"


    KABOOOOOM!!!


    "???" "???"


    While in the midst of a conversation, both the Dragon yer and Azmodeus were shocked to hear an ear-deafening explosion reverberate for an unreal number of miles!


    At the source of this booming sound, there sprouted a massive mushroom cloud of destructive, crackling energies. And the scariest part was that the mushroom cloud was only bingrger andrger!


    It appeared to have originated in the Everveil Kingdom; however, even from so far away, the mushroom cloud was still around the size of a mid-distance car¡­


    "...T-This is¡­"


    A spine-tingling chill crept up Yun Jin''s back when he felt the overwhelmingly powerful presence shrouded beneath that cloud of death. The pit of his stomach curled and his hair stood on end. Even a true Immortal Dragon was not capable of garnering this sort of reaction from him, which could only mean one thing¡­


    "An Ancient Terror has awakened¡­ And this one is stronger than all the ones that have ever been reported¡­ The Everveil Kingdom; it''s gone, without a trace¡­"


    Fear crept up Yun Jin''s expression as he mumbled in a self-deprecating tone. Even if he moved proactively and informed the King of something he already knew, it would make no difference¡­


    "That thing¡­ Its power is beyond anything that should be in the Heavenbreaker Province¡­ T-This, it shouldn''t be possible¡­"


    All the color faded from Yun Jin''splexion, and it was no different for Sebastian and even the Immortal Guards outside. Everyone was trembling in fear and trepidation for what was toe¡­


    ...

 Chapter 363: The Great Kraken Titan

    ...


    Even Immortals feared the imminent threat of death.


    And with the mushroom cloud consuming even more Rank 1 Kingdoms, it was only a matter of time before they, too¡­


    Died.


    "Stop standing there like idiots and move out of the way!! We, the SSS-Rank Tiger Atomic Immortal Hunter Party, will deal with that Ancient Terror!!"


    Shouting from overhead, a group of seven in extravagantly decorated clothing zipped out of the Skyweaver Kingdom Capital and put their immense auras on full disy!


    OOOM!


    With cultivation bases in the Celestial Immortal Realm, they were able to both affect the air around them with their Immortal Domains, and even infuse trace amounts of the Celestial Law into their attacks!


    "The Tiger Atomic Squad is actually here!?" Snapping out of his fear-induced stupor, Yun Jin looked up and watched the seven colorful rockets shoot away from the Skyweaver Kingdom.


    "They have a reputation of killing an Ancient Terror a few thousand immortal years ago¡­ It''s what made them SSS-Rank Immortal Hunters in the first ce¡­ If it''s them, then they might just be able to-"


    As soon as Yun Jin had a sense of hope well up within his heart, his expression froze in ce when the mangled body of the Tiger Atomic Party Leader shot past his face¡­


    BOOOOM!!!


    The Tiger Atomic Party Leader sttered on the side of the massive kingdom walls. Nothing remained of his body that would indicate he was once human¡­


    After sliding down the cracked castle wall, the Tiger Atomic Leader breathed hisst.. and with his gooey innards squelching against the hard cold ground acting as a signal, all the surrounding immortals freaked out even more than before!


    "Ahhh!! We''re all going to die!!"


    "Please, someone!! Anyone!! Help us!!!"


    "I-I don''t want to die!!!"


    Running around, frantically knocking against one another, and even destroying the topography¡ªImmortals capable of destroying entire realms of reality lost every ounce of reason¡­


    "S-Sir Yun Jin¡­ What do we do?" Asked Sebastian, his eyes shakily looking around at all the tumultuous pandemonium.


    "What do we do¡­ What do we do you ask?" Despondently mumbling to himself, Yun Jin didn''t know how to answer this question asked of him.


    How the hell was he expected to know what to do!? If even the Tiger Atomic Party Leader ended up in such a state-


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    "!!!"


    In the midst of his own thoughts, Yun Jin saw six other bags of meatunch past him like cannonballs that fortold terrible omens of death¡­


    "We''re so rurally fucked¡­"


    Thud!


    Copsing to the ground outside his carriage, Yun Jin lost every ounce of confidence that he once possessed. It was instead reced with a dilipdating sense of despair¡­ a feeling that overwhelmed every other emotion inside him¡­


    "..."


    Turning his cold, emotionless eyes toward the kneeling Dragon yer, Azmodeus had his spections end uping true.


    ''I figured all that bravado would fold over the moment he came under any sort of stress, but I never would''ve figured it would be this bad¡­ Well, he did give me that Domain Crystal, so I won''t stab him in the back while he''s down, but still¡­ Ai¡­ What a waste¡­''


    Azmodeus''s thoughts faded off into the background, followed by the slow disappearance of his physical body.


    Unbeknownst to all those present, the newest SS-Rank Immortal Hunter gave up all the status that he had worked for thus far. He abandoned it without hesitation, because in the end, he knew that status meant nothing when faced with¡­ true power¡­


    Azmodeus had no clue what sort of apocalyptic cmity was consuming the Heavenbraker Province, and to be honest, he couldn''t find a part of him that cared.


    If death was all that awaited him if he stayed with these cowards and weaklings, then he would simply jump ship and locate arger ship. It was as simple as that.


    ''From what I gathered from that so-called Dragon yer, the nearest province that can handle something nearing the peak of the Celestial Immortal Realm¡­ To the east, the River Serpent Empire, Omega Dome¡­ That is where I shall go¡­''


    While thinking to himself in a calctive manner, Azmodeus suddenly felt five absurdly powerful auras sprout up from five different directions of the Skyweaver Kingdom. There were also another six who unleashed their auras to the peak of the heavens, all of whom originated from the neighboring Cloudstrife Kingdom.


    "You dare do as you please in our territory, you vile beast!?"


    RUMBLE!!!


    Bellowing at the top of his lungs, a wizened old man with an unbelievably powerful aura materialized in the skies that separated the two Rank 2 Kingdoms from the Ancient Terror.


    This old man was one of the oldest ancestors of the Skyweaver Kingdom, and he was also the only one to stay behind after the departure of his forefathers into higher-level areas.


    A Grade 9 Celestial Immortal! That was the sort of might that Lin Fu possessed as the head of his generation!


    Right beside him were four others, two of whom were Grade 8 Celestial Immortals, while the others were Grade 7 Celestial Immortals!


    "Don''t put us out of the fray just yet, old friend. We have a part to y in what is toe as well."


    FWIP! FWIP!


    Appearing right beside the group of five were the six ancestor protectors of the Cloudstrife Kingdom. Half of them were female, while the other half were male. And this stood true for their Grade 9 Celestial Immortal count as well.


    One female Grade 9 Celestial Immortal and one male Grade 9 Celestial Immortal. Together, that made a total of 3 Grade 9 Celestial Immortals, all of whom were prepared toy their antiquated bones to rest today!


    "Ho¡­?"


    OOOM!


    Reverberating through countless miles, a deep, ancient, and crackly voice found its way into the ears of all the gathered Ancestors. The voice emted what was most definitely¡­ amusement¡­ amusement at what it saw before it¡­


    "It has fully awakened¡­ The most heinous Ancient Terror to ever walk the face of the Heavenbreaker Province¡­"


    While umting Immortal Qi into his hands and weapons, Lin Fu''s tone turned dire. And with the mushroom cloud inching ever closer to their position in the sky, he uttered the name of this absolute monstrosity¡­


    "The Great Kraken Titan."


    OOOM!


    ....

 Chapter 364: The Omega Dome Sign-ups Area

    ....


    OOOM!


    As if the very province itself feared the utterance of that name, it started to violently shake, sending electric tremors throughout thends!


    "Prepare yourself, old friends. We may need to leave our lives behind us here today¡­ But even if that does ur, do know that I lived with no regrets¡­"


    Bzzzttt!!!


    The air between Lin Fu and the Ancient Terror crackled in tension, and with a raise of his eight-foot-long spear, he had fully prepared himself for what might happen¡­


    "Same here. This life was a good one."


    "I, too, have no regrets¡­"


    "Don''t you think we are too old to be worrying about things like death, Lin Fu? Haha!"


    "It''s best to die on the battlefield anyway, better than croaking in some random cave¡­ Ha¡­"


    "..."


    After listening to the responses given by friends he had known for tens of thousands of immortal years, Lin Fu couldn''t stop himself from cracking a small smile. One that disyed all theplex emotions he had been bottling up for as long as he could remember.


    "Then we live and die together."


    OOOM!!!


    All at once, the ancestors lunged from their positions, heading straight for the looming cloud of death!


    During their lunge, they noticed something change within therge, expanding cloud of death as two... absolutely horrifying eyes opened up right in the middle of the mushroom cloud...


    "If death as a group is what you wish for, then I will fulfill your wish in ce of your forefathers¡­"


    CRACKA¡ªBOOOOOOM!!!


    ¡ª----------


    "Hmm¡­?"


    Very far away from the Heavenbreaker Province, a cloaked man with long crimson-colored hair suddenly turned his head in a certain direction.


    For some reason, he could''ve sworn that he heard a very loud explosion go off¡­


    "Maybe it was just my imagination?"


    While thinking over this matter with a curious gleam in his eyes, Azmodeus was quickly taken out of his thoughts by a man behind a booth, saying:


    "Next!"


    Silence.


    "Next!!"


    Silence.


    "NEXT!!!"


    "Huh? Oh, yeah, registering for the Knight Examination of the Omega Dome¡­"


    Suddenly remembering why he was here, Azmodeus walked a bit ahead and signed his name and age on a piece of paper.


    If looks could kill, then the booth receptionist would have certainly killed him a hundred times over by now. But ignoring the look he was receiving, Azmodeus finished filling out the paper and then walked off to the side, which was where the other participants were gathered.


    Tap, Tap.


    After finding a metal chair underneath a short umbre, Azmodeus found his seat and escaped the searing heat beating down on him from above.


    The day was hot, and global warming was at an all-time high¡­


    ''Hai¡­ I didn''t even need to lie about my age and cultivation on that paper. After all, being 19 immortal years of age with a cultivation in the Grade 9 Great Pinnacle Golden Immortal Realm is considered quite average in the Saberspire Province¡­''


    Azmodeus had entered the Saberspire Province right after the appearance of that cloud of death. Then, within minutes, he found himself outside a sign-up building for the Knight Organization, Omega Dome. Which also just so happened to be located just before the main bridge that allowed one to enter the River Serpent Empire.


    The Omega Dome sign-up stand was set up for the downtrodden part of society outside the River Serpent Empire. As long as one was capable and lucky enough, they could take part in the ''Knight Test'' and be Apprentice Knights of the Omega Dome.


    The minimum requirement to be a Knight Apprentice was to have a cultivation in the Great Pinnacle Golden Immortal Realm and be under 25 immortal years of age.


    Being just under 20 Immortal years of age and at the peak of the Pinnacle Golden Immortal Realm, Azmodeus could be considered slightly above average.


    ''It''s odd that all my previous years of life only amounted to less than 10 Immortal years, plus what time I already spent here, but whatever¡­ This works out well in my favor.''


    ''A new start is always the optimal route to take. And it''s even better when the organization I''m going to join doesn''t even require the participant to disclose his actual identity¡­''


    ''Literally anybody could be a Knight Apprentice of the Omega Dome as long as they''re capable enough¡­''


    While cryptically brooding over a few different subjects, the line for participants had already shortened to a point where no one was left standing. At this point in time, an elegantly dressed man in a blue suit walked onto the scene with a sophisticated way of carrying himself.


    This man was the Knight Examiner that would be taking all of the applicants to the ce where the test would be held.


    As for his cultivation base¡­


    ''The first expert I encounter outside of the Heavenbreaker Province, and he''s already in the Celestial Immortal Realm¡­ Although I don''t know what Grade he is, I''m sure that it''s something greater than the Leader of the Tiger Atomic Immortal Hunter Party¡­''


    Taking Azmodeus out of his thoughts, the Knight Examiner walked up to all the people sitting underneath the umbre chairs. The first thing he did was scan their cultivation bases with his divine sense, and to say the least, he was disappointed.


    ''Besides three noble children who came here solely for the purpose of increasing their reputation among their peers in River Serpent Knight Academy, everyone else is beyondckluster¡­ The highest is of the Grade 4 All-Epassing Immortal Realm, and even then, that is barely enough to qualify for the basic training when they do eventually go to the Knight Academy¡­''


    ''There are a couple with a unique and somewhat special air about them, but what will that do when faced with the intense training regime that is about toe their way if they pass the entry test¡­ Hai¡­''


    Situated in a corner on the left side of the massive bridge that leads into the River Serpent Empire, a Grade 6 Celestial Immortal Examiner stood in front of a group of young adults. All were between the ages of 18 and 25, and all likely came here in hopes of turning their lives around.


    The Omega Dome and dreams of bing a genuine Omega Knight were their way out of the misfortune that was their past! This was their future!


    .....

 Chapter 365: The Serpent Gods Forest

    .....


    "Ha! Look at thesemoners! They have no clue just how big the world actually is¡­! What plebians!"


    Then there were the three noble children with cultivation in the Grade 9 All-Epassing Immortal Realm. Having already developed their Immortal Domains to apleted degree, they had no reason to be here.


    However, they wished to bring back stories of the sad, destitute people that didn''t have rich, powerful parents like they did. In a way, they simply wanted to make fun of those who weren''t born with a silver spoon up their ass like they were¡­


    ''These three idiots; they''re useful,'' Azmodeus thought sinisterly.


    He could make use of them in the Knight Trials that were toe, though he would first need to break through into the All-Epassing Immortal Realm.


    As an evil plot was being pieced together inside the head of an inconspicuous-looking young man with an average appearance, the cold-faced Knight Examiner suddenly turned around and said, "Follow me."


    It was no surprise that after thismand left the mouth of the Knight Examiner, the Knight Examination participants followed the order. They quickly caught up to the receding Knight Examiner as all of them left the bridge underhang.


    "???"


    Some of the participants were confused as to why they were walking in theplete opposite direction of the bridge that led into the Empire. Was the test not going to be held in the River Serpent Empire?


    One of the participants even found the courage to speak up and ask, "Why are we heading for the Serpent God''s Forest, Examiner, sir?"


    No response.


    The Knight Examiner tantly ignored what the young man had to say. He simply continued his advance toward an ominous-looking forest to the south of the bridge.


    "...Well¡­"


    The same participant who spoke up originally was now considering saying something else. But with a quick sping of his mouth by a friend of his, he faded into obscurity, being told to keep his head low if he still wanted that same head attached to his shoulders by nightfall.


    "The test." Beginning to speak, the Knight Examiner continued to takerge strides with his arms behind his back. "This test will be held in the Serpent God''s Forest, and under the watchful gaze of the Almighty Serpent God, you all will go through a trial that will gauge many aspects of your existence."


    Flick.


    Lightly flicking his fingers, the Knight Examinerunched a small pebble into the horizon. It destroyed the top of a mountain peak and did so without causing a single rock to slide down the rest of the mountain.


    "From your strength and ability to controlling that strength."


    Moving his eyes to a group of Owlbears fighting another group of Owlbears, the Knight Examiner waved his hands in that direction. He then said, "From strength and control to teamwork and seamless flow of abilities."


    At this part, the Knight Examiner, as well as all of the Knight Testees, had already entered the spooky Serpent God''s Forest. Most of them were too immersed in the examiner''s lecture to notice that this happened, but the more astute ones, like Azmodeus, knew right away.


    And the Knight Examiner also noticed the ones who noticed. This led to him marking down the participants with at least the smallest amount of potential. As for the others, well¡­


    In the Knight Examiner''s mind, they might as well have been considered useless trash.


    "From those four things then came awareness. In the Immortal World, being aware of everything that has happened or could happen will be how you survive. And then, finally¡­"


    "ROOAARRGGHH!!!!"


    Out of nowhere, a towering Immortal Monster in the Grade 9 All-Epassing Immortal Realm jumped from an overhanging tree canopy, aiming to gobble the Examiner whole!


    Despite the impending danger, the Knight Examiner didn''t once stop his lengthy lesson.


    In response to the bloodthirsty tiger monster, he simply lifted up a finger and flicked another pebble. This time, however, the pebble was one that aimed to kill¡­


    "Above all else, the most important part of this trial is the resolve to kill. Only with this resolve can you pass the test with flying colors and truly begin your journey as Knight Apprentices of the Omega Dome."


    SPURT!


    Not once did the Knight Examiner look at the attacking Immortal Beast, and not once did he bother with the cleanup that remained after he was finished with the hill-sized monster.


    "In this world, strength is all that matters. And learning how to properly utilize that strength and carry out the tasks set by the Omega Dome is what will allow you all to survive as Knight Apprentices. I am well aware that you all are new to the ways of the Immortal World and just became adults, but you will have to grow ustomed to power and death sooner rather thanter."


    Without stopping for a single moment, the Knight Examiner ignored the faint, nasty sounds of belching and barfing happening behind him.


    The Knight Participants were all very young, and even though they had cultivations equivalent to reality destroyers for the Mortal nes ¡ª in the Immortal Realm, they were not all that different from regrmoner children.


    The only ones who appeared rtively unaffected by the gruesome and bloody death of the Immortal Beast were the three bratty noble children and a select fewmoner children. Some of them had stomachs made of iron, while others had simply experienced things far worse than the death of a mere mindless monster.


    Not everyone had lived lives filled with daisies and tulups¡­ A lot of them had gone through events that the noble children would simply never be able to understand¡­


    "We are here."


    "???" "???" "???"


    Snapping everyone out of their reveries, they looked around themselves, only to realize that they had somehow already entered the Serpent God''s Forest!


    "H-How did this happen!?"


    "Where are we!?"


    "The Serpent God''s Forest¡­ There''s no way that we''re going to make it out of this alive! We''re all going to die!!"


    "This is fine¡­ Stop freaking out."


    ...¡­..

 Chapter 366: Were We Just Abandoned!?

    ...¡­..


    The vast majority of the Knight Participants lost their shit when they saw the spooky, willowy trees around them. In the illusory shape of snakes and hiding within them unimaginable terrors, these trees and the woods themselves practically shouted death¡­


    However, from the lot of Knight Participants, there were those who remained steadfast and unfazed in the face of this horrifying forest. Simply standing there and waiting for the Examiner to speak once more ¡ª these were the diamonds in the rough that the River Serpent Empire had been searching for.


    ''Two girls and three- no, four boys. I will see how the six of them perform during the Knight Trials. If they continue showing their promise, then I mighte back with quite the hall this year.''


    In the Knight Examiner''s mind, six out of forty participants being considered knight apprentices worth grooming was already a miracle in and of itself. Usually, even one or two out of forty would be seen as something worth celebrating!


    Out of these six, even if one or two of them failed to meet expectations, it would still end up being a yearly yield far exceeding the norm!


    Though the Knight Examiner didn''t show it on the outside, he was clearly quite pleased with the potential Knight Apprentice candidates this year. Still, regardless of how his mind had changed on the matter, the job of a Knight Examiner was one that didn''t allow him to be lenient on those who he felt had potential.


    ''The show must go on,'' he thought as he vanished from his spot, leaving the Knight Participants all alone in the dark, spooky forest.


    With the howling wind and asional screeches as the wakeup call, all of the color faded from the faces of the Knight Participants¡­


    "W-Were we just abandoned¡­?"


    "Is this some sort of bad dream¡­? S-Surely, this isn''t reality¡­ It can''t possibly be reality¡­!!"


    "You poormoners! Just sit back and watch how we get this done!"


    While the majority of the Knight Participants were freaking out, the three noble children were as calm as could be. They were so rxed about the whole matter that the smug smirk on their faces never left them.


    Two were boys with short ck hair, and thest one was a girl with long blonde hair. Based off appearances alone, they could be considered above average, and the girl also had a shapely body, which added to her overall charm.


    Of course, her almond-shaped eyes and long eyshes could do nothing to conceal thecency that was on disy for all to see¡­


    Although she was not the one to speak up first, she was the one who followed up by saying, "My name is Bo Ya, and if you don''t know of my reputation already, then I will tell you all right now that I am capable of saving you! After all, I am in the Grade 9 All-Epassing Immortal Realm ande from a very prestigious family¡ª"


    "Esceeetch!!!"


    From a pitch-ck part of the ominous forest, a hair-raising howl interrupted the conceited noble girl''s speech.


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    As this noise came from close by, everyone, including the nobles, looked toward the source of the noise. The first thing they saw was a pair of glowing red eyes a few meters off the ground, then came a second pair, and the third¡­


    Before long, there were dozens of pairs of glowing eyes in that part of the forest. And the worst part about it was that all the eyes belonged to the same monster¡­


    ''In the Serpent God''s Forest, there are enough powerful monsters to overwhelm the outeryers of the Empire. If these kids wish to change their fates or prove their worths, then they will need to first survive this trial,'' the Knight Examiner thought. ''Going through the hell mes themselves, they will have no choice but to adapt. Adapt, survive, and strive¡­ or die.''


    In this trial, the Knight Examiner was told not to interfere until the very end. Even if a participant was about to die, he would do nothing. And that stood true even for the nobles.


    Simr to regr society, noble society was just as harsh on those who showed no promise. No noble wanted useless and ipetent children to whom they would give everything they owned.


    The Knight Examiner was already under strict orders to allow the noble''s children to die if they couldn''t seed in something as small as surviving for a few hours in the Serpent God''s Forest.


    ''The true trial begins here,'' thought the Knight Examiner. After fully fading into the overhanging tree canopies, he vanished into obscurity.


    Merely acting as an observer in this test, he would fulfill his purpose without fail.


    Meanwhile, down on the ground below, a shadowy beast with countless glowing red eyes came out of the darkness and put its twenty-meter-wide body on disy.


    Thump, Thump.


    "A-A Serpent-headed Shadow Bear!? What is a Grade 1 Celestial Immortal Realm monster doing in a trial to be a Knight Apprentice!?"


    One of the participants shouted in horror, with his utterance of the beast''s name and its cultivation putting everyone on edge. Even the three noble children lost more than a little bit of theirposure.


    Losing all her previous bravado, Bo Ya was now shivering in ce. Feeling the aura and viewing the terrifying appearance of the shadow beast caused herplexion to turn pale. Looking to the dark forest around her, she shakily screamed, "Y-You can take us away from the trial now! I think we''ve learned our lesson!"


    Going along with the scared blonde woman, the other noble children chided in, saying, "Yeah, yeah! We have trulyprehended the generous lessons that you have bestowed upon us, sir Examiner! B-But don''t you think it''s about time to stop with the games!?"


    Thump, Thump, Thump.


    Even with the loud steps of the Shadow Bear daunting on all of them as it inched ever closer to the group, the rest of the afraid participants also put in their jittery input.


    "W-We don''t need to go this far over a mere trial, do we!? I think we have learned plenty from you with that informative speech from earlier¡­!"


    "Yes, yes, i-it was such a good speech!"


    ....

 Chapter 367: A Terryfyingly Hungry Bear!

    ....


    Thump, Thump, Thump.


    No matter how much snot drained from their nostrils, and no matter how much they slurred their words while speaking words of praise, the steps of the Shadow Bear only became louder and louder.


    After realizing that the Knight Examiner was not going toe out and save them with what they had shown thus far, the participants copsed to the ground and started to grovel.


    Through snot and saliva, one of the cowardly Knight Participants shouted, "P-Please! Ie from the countryside, and I can''t die like this! I promised the chief of my vige that I would go find a wife, make it rich, and then bring back some wealth to save the vige from poverty!"


    Silence.


    Thump. Thump! Thump! Thump!! Thump!!! THUMP!!!


    No longer hundreds of meters away from the scared shitless group, the shadow bear now loomed over them with its full mouth of razor-sharp teeth trickling stinky saliva onto the participants.


    "Ahhhh!!! Get away from me, monster!!" Suddenly screaming from the side, Bo Ya clutched her head in terror and bundled herself up into a ball.


    "Y-You monster! Stay away from her¡ª" Before one of the other nobles could finish what he was saying, blood had somehow appeared in the bear''s mouth. Staring at this blood in horror, the man''s eyes widened in terror upon turning his head down to look at Bo Ya.


    "D-Dead¡­ She''s dead!!!" He shouted at the top of his lungs,ing out in a deranged way toward the end.


    Nearly throwing up on himself, he clutched his stomach and copsed to the ground. As his face turned green, he puked all over the grass. Never in his life had he seen anything so gruesome!


    "!?!?" "!?!?"


    Themotion created by these two nobles attracted the attention of everybody there, and when they saw what was once Bo Ya, they, too, felt nauseous¡­


    Her entire upper half¡­ from the pelvis up, all of it was missing! It was instead reced with the sight of protruding rib bones and tendons!


    "Ahhhh!! Someone died!! Someone actually fucking died!!"


    "T-This can''t be real¡­! A dream¡­ Yes, yes, it must be a dream¡­!"


    "..."


    While everyone besides six were losing their shit and scattering in every direction, Azmodeus focused his piercing gaze on the blonde head hanging off the side of the t-faced bear''s mouth.


    ''It seems like this test is that kind of trial,'' he thought with an emotionless expression.


    Without hesitation, Azmodeus activated his stealth techniques and left the horrific scene under the dead of night. He was the first to leave; however, the other six quickly thought along simr lines and ran away as well.


    None of them were confident in dealing with a Grade 1 Celestial Immortal, and not a single one of them was dumb enough to throw their lives away. Therefore, it was only natural that they ran.


    As for the other thirty or so Knight Participants¡­


    "Ahhh!! Someone, please help me!! T-The blood! I want to go home!!"


    "Where''s my momma!? M-Momma!!!"


    All of them were young adults, and having just left the wings of their parents, they were unfamiliar with the cruelties of the world.


    Only six of them knew true suffering or sorrow, and all of them were smart enough to immediately flee the scene. On the other hand, the thirty odd participants who stayed would serve as nothing but bear chow¡­


    SPURT!


    "Ahhh!!! It hurts!!"


    SPURT!


    "P-Please, no!!"


    One by one, the Knight Participants were torn apart. And the most unnerving thing about this massacre was theplete stillness on the shadow bear''s expression. For all its snakeheads, their eyes were lifeless, and the blood of young immortals trickled down their lips¡­


    The sight was one that instilled even more fear in the hearts of the trembling Knight Participants. It was a primal sort of fear¡ªone that etched into their hearts the daunting fates that awaited them¡­


    SPURT!


    SPURT!


    As screams and gushing blood echoed through the spooky forest, the Shadow Bear finally finished mauling and devouring thest of the Knight Participants who stayed behind.


    After the original six, a little more than ten also ran away, although not nearly asposed as the first six. And this fact¡­


    It made the Shadow Bear angry.


    It was hungry¡­ so very hungry! It was so extremely hungry!!


    With its dozens of eyes remaining as nk as before, all its serpent heads suddenly shot in the same direction in an ominous way.


    It just sat there on its hind legs and stared in that one direction¡­


    Then, out of nowhere, it got on all fours and started to savagely run in the direction of one of the Knight Participants!


    Its target was one of thest ones to escape, and he was also someone who tripped on more than one asion in his attempt to escape the apex predator. Unable to fly under the restrictions of the Serpent God Forest, he was forced to rely on a mode of travel that he hadn''t practiced since he was a little kid.


    Add that to the stress and horror from this fucked-up Knight Trial, and it was no surprise that what it was running from had caught up to him¡­


    Drip, Drip, Drip.


    "Is it raining¡­?" The young man asked in confusion as he momentarily stopped in his tracks and looked behind him.


    "!!!"


    "N-No¡ª!!"


    CHOMP!


    Without even being able to finish his scream of terror, the Shadow Bear had already swallowed him whole and let his horror-filled screams travel through his throat. Clothes and all, the young man was devoured in his entirety. However¡­


    Still hungry.


    The shadow bear was still hungry!!! It wanted more food!!!


    Standing there in a foreboding way with human blood staining the fur around its gaping mouths, it seemed to be scanning its surroundings for something. A heat signature¡­


    When it located yet another heat signature, it leaped off the ground and dashed through the spooky forest with a monstrous glint in its many savage eyes.


    ...

 Chapter 368: Doing Something Unexpected...

    ...


    Before long, all but ten of the Knight Participants had died¡­


    Most were from those who ran away a tad bit toote; however, there was one among the six exceptional candidates that got caught and killed by the Shadow Bear. He was a young man who went by the name of Xiao Xiao, and now he was simply dead, dead¡­


    ''Ten left. Five of whom are exceptional, and the other five whom, even at this point in time, show barely any promise,'' the Knight Examiner thought with a dead look in his gaze.


    He was merely the one who tested for potential, and under any means necessary, he had to weed out the unfit from those who could excel in the Omega Dome.


    ''If they can''t figure out how to survive an unquestionably stronger opponent, then they will never be able to make it in the Omega Knights.''


    The Knight Examiner stayed just above the tree canopies, trailing behind the Shadow Bear as it chased after all the rats that managed to escape it earlier. He would not interfere in their matters of life or death, and he would only neutralize the Shadow Bear when the diamonds were separated from the coal.


    The Knight Examiner was simply waiting¡­ waiting for one of the kiddos to think of doing something other than just running or hiding.


    ''Shadow Bears, they have an unparalled sense of smell,'' the Examiner thought. ''If the children are as intelligent as they believe themselves to be, they will realize that running will do nothing but prolong the inevitable.''


    As the Examiner saw the Shadow Bear near the presence of one of the ''exceptional ones,'' he waited. He was waiting for the kiddo to do it¡­


    And just as he expected, the kid stopped running and looked toward the ground. He then used his Immortal Energy to dig out a deep pit, then he threw himself into the pit and buried his body underneath the dirt and soil of the Serpent God''s Forest.


    ''Finally,'' the Examiner thought with a small, satisfied smile. ''This one''s name is Chao Yan. I can see that even in stressful situations, he can think rationally and lucidly. Excluding everything I said earlier, this right here is the most important part of being an Omega Knight.''


    Sitting above the forest canopy, the Knight Examiner watched as the massive Shadow Bear stomped over the ground where the heat sourcest went dark. It sniffed around and searched the area for any scents, but no matter where it looked, the presence of the heat source was long gone¡­


    Not wishing to dwell on onest prey, the Shadow Bear vanished from its ce and hunted the next, nearest heat source.


    Dig, Dig, Dig.


    Getting himself out of the hole he made, Chao Yan confirmed that the coast was clear and then immediately darted in the opposite direction of the savage Shadow Bear.


    ''That is one sessful candidate,'' the Examiner thought in contentment. ''Now, let''s move onto the next target and see if he''s also able to pass the first trial of the Omega Knight Test.''


    From one participant to the next, the Examiner watched as most failed and some seeded.


    Of the original nine, a total of four had figured out the innate weakness of the Shadow Bear''s hunting tactics. Surprisingly, only three of the survivors were from the ''exceptional lot'', whereas thest one was from the group expected to all die.


    This surprised the Knight Examiner greatly, but what surprised him more was what thest and final participant did in response to the Shadow Bear threat.


    ''Azmodeus,'' the Examiner thought with furrowed brows. ''What exactly is he doing?''


    From the looks of it, the Examiner could swear that this 19-year-old young man wasying a trap!


    But that just couldn''t be right¡­ It was simply preposterous to believe one couldy a trap and ovee such a fearsome monster!


    But, right before his very eyes, the Examiner watched participant Azmodeus put together what was most certainly a trap.


    ''Looks like thest one will be a fail as well,'' the Examiner thought with a disappointed sigh.


    Just as he was about to pack things up and go gather the survivors, something unbelievable urred when the Shadow Bear encountered participant Azmodeus¡­


    As soon as the Shadow Bear moved like a sh of light and went to gobble him in a single bite, the ground beneath it suddenly caved in, and it fell hundreds of meters into a pit.


    Now, this would normally not pose a threat to a Grade 1 Celestial Immortal Beast as it could simply jump up out of the pit. However, this pit was dug out right above a hollow chasm that burrowed into the earth for an untold number of miles.


    Just like that, the speed and confidence of the apex predator led to it making a mistake that cost it its life¡­


    Even after two whole minutes of a deafening hush overwhelming that part of the forest, the Shadow Bear was still plummeting somewhere in the area underground. It was unknown exactly how long it would take for it to reach the bottom of the chasm.


    "...What was that?" The Examiner muttered in confusion after finallying to terms with what just urred.


    Never in his long career of dozens of immortal years had he ever seen a test participant do something like that!


    99% would run away from the Shadow Bear, whereas the other 1% would hide in the ground and pass the trial! That was how it was supposed to go!


    "Not like this¡­ It shouldn''t have happened like this," the Examiner said with a shaky tone. "To know of their being such arge chasm underneath our soles¡­ Just who is this young man?"


    Even though the Examiner was extremely curious about how participant Azmodeus was able to do that, he was, in the end, a professional. And as a professional, he had to abide by the rules of the test.


    In this case, it meant the Examiner had to gather the surving participants in order, which was to say that participant Azmodeus wasst in line¡­


    Wishing to speed up the process, the Knight Examiner left the shadowy tree canopy and shot toward the first participant that passed the test.


    As the Examiner picked up the other four surviving participants, Azmodeus suddenly turned his head in the direction where the Examiner was just standing.


    "I could''ve sworn that someone was up there," he said with a sharpness to his gaze. "Was it just my imagination, or¡­"


    The matter lingered for a couple seconds, then it was reced with a calm, tranquility. "If my guess is right, then the Examiner is likely going around to pick up the participants who passed this trial," he said evenly. "Now, if the Examiner was indeed around for the other participants and for myself, then he likely knows how the Shadow Bear was killed. This makes things easier."


    Azmodeus left his pondering and sat himself down on arge, cracked boulder. He figured it was best if he just stayed there and patiently waited for the Examiner.


    While doing this, he also decided to open up his system interface and peruse its contents.


    BLING!


    ...

 Chapter 369: It Was All Luck

    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: 2nd Order Loot God - 3.1% Nourishment]


    [Lifespan: 19 Immortal Years/Infinite]


    [Cultivation: Grade 9 Great Pinnacle Golden Immortal (Limit)]


    [Battle Power: Grade 3 All-Epassing Immortal (Middle)]


    [Immortal Power: 135 Sextillion]] - [Convert 100 Sextillion Immortal Power into 1 point of Grade 2 Immortal Power?]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 102 Sextillion Immortal Evolution Essence] - [Convert 100 Sextillion Immortal Evolution Essence into 1 point of Grade 2 Immortal Evolution Essence?]


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Cultivation Talent: Purple Tier Immortal (Late)]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    [Singrity Coalescence: Purple Tier Immortal (Late)]


    {[Immortal Physiques:]}


    [Immortal''s Resilience: Late-Purple Tier]


    {[Immortal Lines:]}


    [White Tier Lines: 123 Sextillion (x246 Sextillion)] - [Convert 100 Sextillion into 1 Orange Tier Loot Line]]


    {[Loot Halos:]}


    [Red Tier Loot Halos: 108 Sextillion (216 Sextillion%)] - [Convert 100 Sextillion into 1 Purple Tier Loot Halo?]


    ¡ª-------


    Seeing so many of the same things, Azmodeus immediately clicked yes for all the questions.


    BLING!


    The system interface shed a few bright blue and golden lights as 100 Sextillion of all his aspects were converted into 1 of the next Tier.


    After all was said and done, many improvements were made to Azmodeus''s system interface, with the most important change of all being the increases to Battle Power!


    [3rd Order All-Epassing Immortal (Middle)] ¡ú [4th Order All-Epassing Immortal (Peak)]


    Although the improvement may not have seemed like much, when it came to the All-Epassing Immortal Realm, an advancement of one minor realm and then some was considered unbelievably exceptional!


    WAaaa¡­


    After letting the Qi around his body settle down, Azmodeus looked at the surrounding bushery and heard the faint sound of rustling. Not long after, the debonair Eximaner popped out of the bush and locked eyes with Azmodeus.


    Behind the Examiner were the other four surviving participants, all of whom were also staring at Azmodeus.


    Many questions surfaced in their minds when they saw him, but before getting the chance to ask those questions, the Examiner stepped forth. "It is very nice to meet you formally, Azmodeus," he said in a respectful tone. "Now, as for how you managed to kill the Serpent-headed Shadow Bear¡ª" before even finishing his question, he was interrupted by Azmodeus, saying:


    "It was all luck."


    The Examiner''s friendly smile turned crooked. "That simply can''t be¡ª" he attempted to say.


    "Well, it is," Azmodeus interjected. "I just wanted to stub one of the Shadow Bear''s toes, but somehow, the ground beneath it copsed and it fell into a bottomless pit below, never to be seen again."


    Step, Step, Step.


    Walking toward the Examiner and the other surviving participants, Azmodeus not once opened his eyes. "If you are going to say that I''m some sort of once in a generation genius, then you are mistaken," he began. "I am simply someone who felt like trying something and ended up being pretty lucky. That is all."


    No response.


    While at a loss for words, the Examiner just stood in ce with twitching brows and a frozen smile.


    It wasn''t until he remembered the main reason for his gathering of the survivors that he snapped out of his stupor and sped Azmodeus''s shoulder as he was walking by. "Regardless of the truth concerning that matter, it is undeniable that you are one of the passing participants," he said. "As such, you will follow the others as we head into the Empire and Omega Dome to go through the other trials."


    Appearing resistant on the outside but uncaring on the inside, Azmodeus eventually sumbed under the pressure and slumped his head. "I''ll go," he muttered.


    After the useless fiasco was over with, the Examiner put the subject of Azmodeus to the back of his mind and walked in the direction they came in. The young knight participants tagged along not long after.


    However, as curiosity got the better of all of them, they whispered to the nonchnt, red-haired man walking beside them.


    "Is it true you killed the Shadow Bear?" they asked.


    "How strong are you to be able to kill something so strong?" they also asked. To which Azmodeus would respond with simple, "Don''t know''s" and "All luck".


    This useless chitter chatter went on for a good while, and before long, the small group had already made it out of the forest. Immediately afterwards, they headed toward the same bridge that they first met up at.


    However, different fromst time, they would now be traveling over the enormous bridge and to the front gates of the River Serpent Empire!


    ¡ª---------


    Directly outside the grandiose, golden, serpent-patterned gates of the River Serpent Empire.


    "This, younglings, is the gate that leads to your future," the Eximaner said with both his hands stretched out. "Follow behind me and see exactly what your future holds for you if you pass what is toe."


    "Yes, sir Examiner," said everyone but Azmodeus.


    "..."


    Following from the very back, Azmodeus stayed as non-descript as possible. Eventually, this led to him absentmindedly arriving in the middle of a vast grass meadow.


    For as far as the eye could see, there was the greenest of Immortal Grass, all flowing in one direction as the cool spring breeze swayed thend to and fro. The very earth itself appeared to be alive, and thumping atop these expansive, hilly ins were dragon-like monsters.


    They had only tworge hindlegs and two smaller, gnubby front arms. Their colors and sizes varied, but generally, they were just asrge if notrger than wagons. Atop these mighty and intimidating beasts were humans, all of whom grabbed them by their reigns and rode them through the grassy ins.


    "The Earth Dragons and their dragon riders," the Examiner said with an informative tone. "In the River Serpent Empire, and specifically, the outer reaches with no roads, the Earth Dragons are a very popr mode of transport. Plus, they are in the All-Epassing Immortal Realm at the very minimum."


    The Examiner and all the Knight Participants were riding inside of a wooden carriage, led by two of the very same Earth Dragon species. Both of them were 2nd Grade All-Epassing Immortals, and they behaved very well under the careful control of the Examiner.


    ....

 Chapter 370: Examiners Of The Omega Dome

    ....


    ''Ever since leaving the Everveil Kingdom, the Great Pinnacle Golden Immortal Realm has be the bottom,'' Azmodeus thought. ''Whereas the All-Epassing Immortal Realm has be the bare minimum to travel out into the world.''


    Although Azmodeus had long since expected it to be this way, it was still something else to actually experience it in person.


    Heaving a sigh, he looked away from the open back of the carriage and returned to silently meditation and cultivating.


    After a couple hours of travel, it finally came time for the Knight Examiner and the participants to get off the carriage and arrive at their destination.


    Step, Step.


    While getting out of the carriage, Azmodeus immediately noticed the extremely tall buildings all around him. Their tips were pyramid-shaped, and the material that made them up was very old and rustic, but not in a dirty brown kind of way. It was more dark gray and dreary, like a very old bell tower.


    Coincidentally, when Azmodeus''s eyes fell on the upper-center segment of one of the towers, he saw a massive golden bell. It shone with a resplendence that reflected the rays of light beaming down on the Omega Dome.


    The Omega Dome was, as its name implied, a sphere-shaped dome, and it sat to the far eastern side of the River Serpent Empire. It was made up of countless, high-reaching towers, each one holding within it one of the illustrious Omega Knights.


    The Omega Knights numbered in the dozens, and each one of them was a peak expert of the River Serpent Empire. Although not officially on the rankings, if they were, they would at least be in the top 30, with some like the Punisher Omega Knight going even further than that.


    They were the secret force that ruled over thew-enforcement department of the River Serpent Empire, and though their numbers were few, for the Empire, their value was indisputable.


    "This, younglings, will be where you will take the next Trials, and if you sessfully pass them, this will also be your home," the Examiner said as he beckoned the young adults toward a medium-sized brick building off to the side.


    The building was known as the ''Testing Facility'', and it was also where every single Knight Participant was required to go after passing the first trial of the test.


    "Speaking of the devil," the Examiner said with a crooked smile. Out of the corner of his eye, there approached another Examiner and his group of participants.


    "I see you have brought in quite the batch this year,"ughed a middle-aged man with a goatee. "Though you beat your record, it still must be tough to ept that others have simply done better than you, huh?"


    Listening to the snarky voice of Li Chin, the Examiner on Azmodeus''s side, Min Jin, had multiple veins pop up on his forehead.


    He really hated that conceited bastard! Like, he really, really hated him!


    "Why the long face, good ol friend," Li Chinughingly joked. He had already reached Min Jin, and was now patting him on the shoulder while having behind him more than ten Knight Participants.


    It was quite obvious that Li Chin was trying to show off and unt some sh*t. To which Min Jin had to do his best to remainposed and wear a friendly smile on his face.


    However, if that potbelly bastard kept on touching his shoulder, he would flip his lid and freak the fuck out!!


    Luckily¡­


    "You two are at it again?" A calming voice trailed out, followed by the appearance of a refined-looking man wearing a pair of sses.


    "Zhong Lan," Min Jin said with relief. "It''s nice to see you again this year."


    "Good to see you, too, Min Jin," Zhong Lan said as they shook hands and exchanged a few pleasantries.


    "..."


    Li Chin was going to speak up and mention this clear disregard for his existence, but upon seeing the 15+ participants that Zhong Lan had behind him, he shut his trap and kept to himself.


    It wasn''t long after this that a few more Knight Examiners entered the scene.


    Before long, there were more than thirty Knight Examiners gathered outside the doors to the Testing Facility. The time then came for them to walk in and test the aspects of the hundreds of participants.


    Azmodeus, his Examiner, Min Jin, and the rest were the first to walk in.


    "Hmm¡­?" Curious, Azmodeus observed the inside of the Training Facility and saw the walls lined with hangingmps that had crystal clear blue stones in them.


    ''Rank 4 Immortal Stones are being used as mere decoration,'' Azmodeus thought in awe. ''The River Serpent Empire and Omega Dome must be extremely rich if they can afford to be so wasteful.''


    Turning his greedy gaze down from the money hanging on the walls, his dark red eyes fell on arge blue crystal to the far end of the middle section of the hall. Sitting in the center of an upside-down cauldron, it practically exuded extravagance!


    "Listen up, younglings," the Examiner said evenly. "That big crystal there is what will be used to conduct the next trial, which also acts as the final trial. It will analyze everything about your existence and point out anything worthy of notice. Your future or failure as a potential Omega Knight will be decided here and now, so steel your nerves."


    Thud, Thud, Thud.


    Each step that Azmodeus and the other participants took toward the Crystal seemed to hold an entirely different meaning for them. It was a daunting and scary feeling.


    This was what would determine if they made it or broke it! Either they disy their worth here, or they go home in tears and continue living a life of insignificance!


    However, for Azmodeus, he was far more interested in the cost of the Crystal than his so-called ''future''.


    This Omega Dome was not the only shortcut he had to choose from; it was simply the one that was most convenient to try out first.


    If it didn''t work out, then so what?


    You wouldn''t be finding Azmodeus weeping in a corner while butthurt over not being qualified enough to join the Omega Knights.


    "Okay, now in the order I picked you up in the Serpent God''s Forest, please walk up to the Crystal and put your hands on it. Only then will we all be able to see your potential," the Examiner said as he gave the first of his participants a little nudge.


    ...

 Chapter 371: Testing Talents, Signing Blood Contracts

    ...


    "..."


    Jumping a few steps forward because of the ''nudge'', the first participant approached the Crystal with slow, nervous steps. As soon as he reached it and stuck out his hand, the time betwe his hand reaching the Crystal and touching it turned into something excruciatingly painful for the young man.


    Th, with a hand touch, a bright sh of words appeared in the air above the crystal!


    They read:


    [Overall Talt Level: E Rank]


    [Overall Pottial Level: D Rank.]


    [Special Talts: More than three prospects - Extd to see.]


    "Oh, a D Rank right off the bat? Not bad, kid," the Examiner said as he walked up to the Crystal and extded the special talts log.


    "D Rank Swordsmanship, E Rank Archery, and F Rank Gathering. Those are some very well bnced tnts," the Examiner nodded his head in satisfaction.


    After the first participant was done being tested, the other three participants followed his example and put their hands on the crystal. Of the lot, the one with the best results was called Chun Mu. With a C-Rank Pottial rating, she was obviously quite proud.


    With her button nose pointed at a nt, she walked and watched as the mysterious red-haired young man passed her by and touched the crystal without any bullcrap nervousness.


    "???" ''Surely his results won''t be better than mine,'' Chun Mu thought as she inttly observed the series of words that materialized above the crystal.


    They read:


    [Overall Talt: D Rank]


    [Overall Pottial Level: Unknown]


    [Special Talts: Undefined, Cannot be essed.]


    "???" "???" "???"


    Everyone prest in the Testing Facility wided their eyes wh they saw the results prested before them. Not once had they se someone get results like these!


    Ev the Examiner had never se anything like it!


    However, as if on key, they all thought of the exact same thing¡­


    "His prospects must be so low or so few that the Crystal cannot properly idtify them! That is hrious!" One of the boysughed and pped his stomach.


    He, along with the rest of the participants who survived in the Serpt God''s Forest, couldn''t believe they actually saw the red-haired young man as a threat. It was more of a joke than anything now that they thought about it¡­


    ''I guess I really was wrong in thinking that he was something special,'' the Examiner thought with a disappointed head shake. ''Still, he has a Talt rating of D, so he can at least be put to good use as a meat shield.''


    After setting the matter of the red-haired young man to the side, the Examiner turned toward a side door of the building. "You all were lucky ough to pass, so follow me to the Ctral Apprtice Knight Hall," he said coldly.


    As the official Knight Apprtices made their way to the Ctral Apprtice Knight Hall, everyone besides Azmodeus whispered and snickered to one another.


    They were clearly badmouthing him, but he was no child. He couldn''t be bothered to care about the pointless quipping of a bunch of childr.


    While trailing a few meters behind the second-furthest Knight Apprtice, Azmodeus whistled to himself and asionally looked out at the Omega Knight Towers in the distance.


    He wished to one day know what sort of Almighty existcesy within the confines of those towers, and who knows, maybe that day would arrive a lot sooner than expected¡­


    After making it into the rectangle-shaped Ctral Knight Apprtice Hall, the Examiner and the newly appointed Knight Apprtices walked up to a table. On that table was a pricker and multiple stacks of hoarse paper with the same things on all of them.


    "This is?" Asked one of the Knight Apprtices.


    The Knight Examiner walked ahead of the group and approached the pricker. "This will be what will fully solidify your tutorship as Knight Apprtices," he said calmly. "In the same order as before,e over to this pricker and th use your blood to sign your signature over here."


    For the first time so far, the Knight Apprtices were apprehsive about following the Examiner''smand. Signing a blood contract with contts that they couldn''t read was no small matter.


    "Ha¡­ You kiddos don''t need to be so nervous," the Examiner said with a reassuring smile. "The Omega Dome would do nothing to harm pottial Omega Knights, and though you can''t understand thenguage writt on the contract, you should still be able to feel the intt."


    "!!!" "!!!"


    Just as the Examiner said, the momt a contract was thrown in front of the first Knight Apprtice, he, along with the rest of them, could vividly feel the harmless intt contained within the contract pages.


    "You see? There is nothing to worry about," Min Jin dered as he pushed the first Knight Apprtice toward the pricker.


    "..."


    Although still a little apprehsive about signing a blood contract, in the d, the Knight Apprtice pricked his finger on the pricker and wrote his name on a contract paper.


    After this process was done with, a faint gold light erupted from the contract page. With that, the contract was finalized, and the next Knight Apprtice could now take the stage.


    One by one, the Knight Apprtices approached the pricker, and one by one, they signed their names on separate pieces of contract paper.


    Finally, it came time for Azmodeus''s turn¡­


    Step, Step, Step.


    Out of all those who approached the pricker, his steps seemed to bellow out the loudest, almost as if the contact itself feared doing him dirty.


    The other''s felt nothing out of ce, but Azmodeus sure could. And though he was curious about the unusual reactions in the atmosphere, he still walked up to the pricker and pricked his finger against it.


    After signing his name in blood on a contract paper, the same gold light erupted with thepletion of the signature. However, this one was a little differt. Albeit a very subtle and nigh unnoticeable differce, it was most definitely there.


    ''What was that?'' Azmodeus thought as he furrowed his brows in confusion. ''It almost feels like the faint gold ergy left this building and shot off toward a location extremely far away.''


    This mysterious phomon puzzled him, but after being urged to move away from the pricker by the Examiner, he had to leave the matter forter.


    ....

 Chapter 372: Fragments From The Past, Wake The F*ck Up!

    ....


    p, p.


    "Now, now everyone," Min Jin announced as he pped his hands. "Every single one of you is an official Knight Apprtice of the Omega Dome, and as such, I hope you all strive to bring the Omega Dome to greater heights!"


    Hearing this announcemt put the newly appointed Knight Apprtices in a slightly fired-up state. All of them hade from the boonies, and as such, they never had a purpose as noble as this one. In all fairness, their pumped-up attitudes were well-warranted.


    Of course, that was the case for everyone except one¡­


    As nonchnt as always, Azmodeus had his hands behind his head and his gaze focused anywhere but where themotion was situated.


    ''That kid is¡­ sigh¡­'' The Examiner thought in exasperation. "Anyway," he said as he pointed his hand toward the exit for the building. "I will now show you all to the Knight Apprtice Dorms, which is where you will receive free Basic Room and Board. Anything more than that will depd on your own capabilities."


    Beckoning the young adults with his hands, the Examiner''s words seemed to foretell some unforese evts in store for them.


    None besides Azmodeus noticed the underlying meaning hidd within Min Jin''s tone.


    ''There are definitely going to be some hardships ahead, but like usual, I will deal with everything by myself,'' Azmodeus thought as he narrowed his eyes at the overly fridly expression on the Examiner''s face.


    He knew better than to buy into all the flowery words and promises of paradise.


    Just like his previous vironmts, he would treat this ce as if life and death were a every corner.


    There was no telling what sort of organization he just joined¡­


    "Right this way," Min Jin said to Azmodeus.


    Still deep in thought, these words snapped Azmodeus out of his reverie and put him in active motion toward a far-off six-story building. The building was high in the sky, lined with lit-up windows, and had the typical college dorm vibe. Still, there was one thing that came off as rather off-putting for the Knight Apprtices.


    "Auras," Azmodeus muttered to himself. "Their are powerful Immortals residing in that building; some ev stronger than the Examiner."


    "Hmm¡­?" Hearing the faint murmurs of the peculiar red-haired Knight Apprtice, Min Jin softly chuckled. "Within the confines of the first geration Knight Apprtices are kiddos ev more powerful than I am. After all, I am just a servant of the Omega Dome."


    The Examinerughed it off, treating the tire subject as something only natural.


    "In case you all are curious," Min Jin said after catching his breath. "Knight Apprtices all start off weak like you bunch, but with time, the talted ones will begin to break apart from the sheep."


    "These are the Knight Apprtices who have a chance of going on to be guine Omega Knights," Min Jin exined. "And th there are those who couldn''t keep up with the times. People like me and the other Eximaners."


    Ev though he broached upon a touchy subject for most of the Examiners and other servants of the Omega Dome, he seemed unbothered about the whole ordeal.


    "We all used to be Knight Apprtices, but we couldn''t quite make the cut to be part of an elite force," Min Jin said with that same smile on his face. "Though it may sound depressing, and most of you will wind up with the same fate, the Omega Dome still treats its servants very well. And in most ces, we are treated like royalty."


    The Examiner seemed to recall a few euphoric experices as he erupted into a peel ofughter.


    After taking the time to calm his nerves, Min Jin stopped in front of the normal-looking doors of the dorm. Turning to look at his dumbfounded recruits, he once again burst out inughter. "The point of this little retelling is that you all should do your utmost to excel and not d up like me!"


    Min Jin proceeded to slowly fade away with that same grin on his face. "Oh, and try not to be too discouraged after getting a better understanding of how things work a here. Just try harder," he cautioned before fully vanishing from view.


    Silce.


    "Well, that was not ominous at all," Chun Mu said with an awkward look on her face. "Still, isn''t it incredibly exciting to be in a ce like this? Sured by monsters like those in this lowest-level dorm??"


    She turned toward the dorm door and oped it up. She th took her first step into a future that she couldn''t wait to experice. "I don''t know about you bunch, but I n to make it big here!" She eximed.


    "..."


    Looking at the valiant back of the ck-haired girl and that side view of her dazzling smile reminded Azmodeus of someone he tried his best to forget.


    ''They say that time is what allows the scars to show,'' he thought with a sigh. ''Over and over again, time proves itself to be right¡­''


    Following behind the group of giddy childr, Azmodeus, the gloomy red-haired young man, seemed to flow in and out of reality. Like an invisible kite, he tered the dorm and quietly left the group, making his way up multiple flights of stairs and evtually to his room.


    After seeing that the room number matched the one on the folded-up piece of paper that the Examiner had slipped into his pocket before he disappeared, Azmodeus neared the door and listlessly stood there for a second.


    ''Deja vu,'' he thought.


    Entering the room, Azmodeus observed the simple interior for a few momts, th he found himself sleeping on the full-sized cotton bed in the left-side cter part of the room.


    Time passed like a river stream, and a lonesome, brok man was allowed to spd some time in thend of dreams for the first time in what felt like forever¡­


    9 hours flew by in a sh.


    It was now morning, and it was time for everyone to wake the f*ck up!!


    "Cacadooddledooo!!!"


    ....

 Chapter 373: Cacadooddledooo!!!

    ....


    "Cacadooddledooo!!!"


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    After Azmodeus and all others in the dorm building were abruptly wok up, they looked out their windows and saw a massive red rooster standing on top of a mountain.


    Proud and dignified, it cawed to the top of its lungs, making sure that every living thing within hundreds of miles could list to its annoying cawing!


    The old tants of the dorm found nothing unusual about ''Jimmy, the Rooster'' doing its typical 5 a.m. wakeup call. They simply got out of bed and got dressed before heading down stairs and beginning yet another grueling day of training with the drill instructors.


    "What the hell was that!?"


    "There''s a huge rooster on that hill over there! Is anyone else seeing this sh*t!?"


    "The Omega Dome really is an tirely differt kind of vironmt¡­"


    Most of the dozs of new Knight Participants were astonished about the existce of a hill-sized rooster. However, there were those like Chun Mu and others who saw this evt as yet another learning experice.


    Th there was Azmodeus¡­


    While rubbing his eyes like a sleepy ck cat, he turned toward his closed window and stared at the huge red rooster in the distance.


    For some reason, his momtary staring caused Jimmy to pause in his cooing. But the momt Azmodeus looked away from him, he shook his feathers and returned to his incessant cooing.


    "Interesting," Azmodeus said dryly. "To have such arge and powerful Celestial Immortal Realm rm clock. The rich truly do live differt lives."


    Elegantly getting out of bed while murmuring to himself, Azmodeus also felt something bubble up within him.


    "Is my breakthrough into the All-Epassing Immortal Realm immint?" he asked as he ssed his overly active insides. "Guess I should use that Domain Crystal and get the breakthrough out of the way real quick."


    Treating a major breakthrough as if it were just brewing a cup of coffee, Azmodeus took out the Dragon-Type Domain Crystal and stuck it into his Dantian Space.


    Th, just as he thought it would, the breakthrough started and ded in an instant¡­


    Just like that, a Great Realm was transcded, and an All-Epassing Immortal Realm cultivator was born!


    "Having high-tier pills always in my system really does wonders," Azmodeus said evly. "However, I still need to mold my case-specific Domain into shape. But that will have to wait until after I obtain higher-level resources, those that are of differt elemts and high in quality."


    After figuring out what he had to do at ater point in time, Azmodeus quickly solidified his cultivation base as a Grade  All-Epassing Immortal and th made his way to where everyone was gathering outside.


    As he walked up to the far backside of a grouping of chitchating Knight Apprtices, old and new, he decided to op up his system interface and view all the changes.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: nd Order Loot God - 4.% Nourishmt]


    [Lifespan: 9 Immortal Years/Infinite]


    [Cultivation: Grade  All-Epassing Immortal (Initial)]


    [Battle Power: Grade 5 All-Epassing Immortal (Late)]


    [Grade  Immortal Power: 36]]


    [Evolution Essce Bank: .5 Grade  Immortal Evolution Essce]


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Cultivation Talt: Purple Tier Immortal (Peak)]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    [Singrity Coalee: Purple Tier Immortal (Peak)]


    {[Immortal Physiques:]}


    [Immortal''s Resilice: Peak-Purple Tier]


    {[Immortal Lines:]}


    [White Tier Lines: 73 Sextillion (x46 Sextillion)]


    [Orange Tier Lines:  (x4 Septillion)]


    {[Loot Halos:]}


    [Red Tier Loot Halos: 8 Sextillion (6 Sextillion%)]


    [Purple Tier Loot Halos: 3 (6 Septillion%)]


    ¡ª-------


    "Hmm¡­" Azmodeus muttered curiously. "With my Battle Power being in the Grade 5 All-Epassing Immortal Realm before I ev finish molding my Domain, I wonder what it will be after finishing the molding process."


    While lost in his own thoughts, Azmodeus failed to notice the trance of a stone-faced, bulky man with an imperious disposition.


    "Morning, Maggots!" The Drill Instructor shouted at the top of his lungs, making damn well sure that everyone was focused on only him.


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    Everyone immediately stood up straight and dropped whatever they were doing prior to the Drill Instructor''s trance.


    Not a single one of them wished to trifle with the owner of a presce way beyond the Celestial Immortal Realm!


    ''He''s strong,'' Azmodeus thought with a rxed posture. ''This one is far stronger than the Examiner that brought us all here.''


    While everyone else was focused on looking and acting their very best in front of such a powerful man, Azmodeus was gauging the intricacies of the Instructor''s aura.


    "???"


    Feeling this subtle prodding from afar, the Drill Instructor''s initial impression of this red-haired apprtice had already exceeded what he thought of everyone elsebined.


    ''Ev under the intangible pressure emitted from my body, that boy can still remainposed and focus on something that most would see as utterly pointless,'' the Drill Instructor thought without a change in his expression. ''Out of the newest Knight Apprtices this year, I see the most pottial in him.''


    After a stern, momtary nce at the nonchnt, red-haired young man, the Drill Instructor wt on to exin to the Knight Apprtices about what they would be doing from now on.


    Gathered in the square were also those who had be st Geration Knight Apprtices for quite a while, and, just like the newer members, they were not excluded from ''daily training''. Every day, outside the Omega Dome g''s, the Knight Apprtices were expected to ter a forest known only as the ''Newbie Crusher Forest''.


    In this forest, they would need to hunt or run away from Immortal Beasts until they sessfully acquired 0 Morning Points. These points were allocated based on the achievemts of the Knight Apprtice, and they were also extremely hard for newbies to obtain. Every Grade  All-Epassing Immortal Realm Beast killed would grant the Knight Apprtice 0.0 Morning Points.


    Every Grade thereafter would give double what the previous Grade gave.


    For newbie Knight Apprtices, it was virtually impossible to reach 0 Morning Points through this method. Thus, they tded to veer toward the second option, which was a ''running system''.


    ...

 Chapter 374: Gathering Morning Points, Just The Right Amount

    ...


    Every Grade  All-Epassing Immortal that the Knight Apprtice sessfully escaped from would award the Apprtice with a tth of what killing the beast would give. The same double-it-the-next-grade was also applied here.


    Now, there were th the Apprtices that could easily surpass the 0 Morning Points requiremt and th some. These were the Knight Apprtices who wt on the ''Apprtice Rankings''. The Apprtice Rankings decided things like how much food an Apprtice gets for their meals, the quality of the food, and any additional Immortal Resources.


    The Immortal Food itself was full of valuable, high-quality Immortal Energy, so anything above that was only reserved for those in the Top 5 for each geration of Knights.


    In other words, these rewards were not meant for the newbie¡­


    "Now that you maggots all know of what you need to be doing, get out there and damn well do it!!"


    The Drill Instructor''s booming voice shook everyone out of their stupors and st their bodies into motion as they ran after the sior Knight Apprtices. They would follow them into ''Newbie Crusher Forest'' and figure out what they would do from there.


    On the other hand, Azmodeus siltly moved away from the group of sardines and took his own path toward Newbie Crusher Forest.


    ''What is he up to,'' Chun Mu thought as she noticed the red-haired young man slip away from the crowd.


    She didn''t know why she paid such close atttion to the seemingly ordinary man, but for some reason, she felt like he was hiding more than he was willing to show...


    Still, that didn''t mean Chun Mu would leave her siors and follow this ''Azmodeus'' based on some whimsical feelings. Shaking her head in slight annoyance, she sprinted behind the other newbies and the siors in front. The young, red-haired man was still on her mind, but showing promise on her first day as an official Knight Apprtice was far more important to her.


    "Hmm?"


    Looking behind himself for a quick second, Azmodeus could''ve sworn that he felt someone staring right at him. But after a few momts of seeing nothing but the blowing, spring breeze carry a few doz leaves past his face, he wt back to his solo expedition into the Newbie Crusher Forest.


    Rustle, Rustle.


    As soon as he took a few steps into Newbie Crusher Forest, Azmodeus immediately heard something rustling in a few nearby bushes. Jumping out of the way just in the nick of time, he dodged a flying blur of gray and ck.


    BOOM!


    Blowing up a few trees in the distance, anybody would feel fortunate after just narrowly escaping disaster, but for Azmodeus¡­


    "A Middle Grade  All-Epassing Immortal Realm Beast," he said with a cunning grin. "This is the perfect beast to test out my new strgth."


    "Roooarrghhh!!!"


    The Immortal Beast in question was arge variant of tiger and had blue spots and two long, pointy horns on its forehead. Over twty meters tall and a force of nature ¡ª it would surely give the impudt human some trouble¡ª


    SHING!


    One clean sword slice and the Blue-spotted Immortal Tiger was split down the middle. Blood painted the suring greery a deep, crimson red thereafter.


    "..."


    Standing just out of range of this brief fountain of blood, Azmodeus stood in still motion with a facial expression bereft of emotion.


    "Time to begin the hunt," he said coldly.


    FWIP!


    His figure vanished from view, and the Tiger Corpse disappeared as well, leaving a murder sce without the body.


    After Azmodeus assimted the Immortal Beast Core and everything else that used to be the Blue-Spotted Immortal Tiger, he killed more Immortal Beasts. Leaving in his wake a trial of death and destruction, his kill count quickly racked up some gnarly numbers. From Grade  to Grade 5 and ev 6, he had already decimated eighty five Immortal Beasts and assimted their existces!


    Thanks to this killing spree, he was already more than halfway through the Grade  All-Epassing Immortal Realm, and his Grade  Immortal Power had exceeded 500!


    The Drill Instructor told them that the ''Morning Exercise'' wouldst a total of  hours, and without ev five minutes having passed, Azmodeus had plty of more growth to be had!


    ''Without joining the Omega Dome, I never would''ve be allowed ess into a forest like this one,'' he thought in satisfaction. ''Joining this Organization was indeed the correct choice, and they will also be what assists me in ascding the next five or so Major Realms.''


    Azmodeus wasn''t too ke on the realms after the Celestial Immortal Realm, but he knew that there were existces way beyond that realm inside the Omega Dome. Hce, he set five additional major realms as his short-term goal.


    By the t-minute mark, Azmodeus sessfully broke through the nd Grade All-Epassing Immortal Realm.


    By the thirty-minute milestone, he fully molded his unique ''Abyssal Dragon Immortal Domain'' into existce with the help of some high-level Immortal Beast materials. His cultivation had also tak a leap into the Grade 3 All-Epassing Immortal Realm.


    Wh the tire two hours were up, Azmodeus solidified his cultivation in the peak Grade 4 All-Epassing Immortal Realm, with his Battle Power well into the Grade 9 All-Epassing Immortal Realm!


    "I don''t know how many Morning Points I''ve obtained so far, but it''s probably more than ,000," Azmodeus said with a bit of confidce. "Of course, I will just follow the trd and aim for average results. Might just settle with telling the Instructor that I ran away most of the time and just luckily managed to kill a few Grade  and Grade  Immortal Beasts."


    He couldn''t go a raising too much atttion, so his results shouldn''t be too high, but they also couldn''t be too low. This way, everyone ds up happy!


    SHING!


    SPURT!


    Well, everyone besides the giant arrowhead ck snake that just got chopped into a thousand differt pieces, only to have each of those pieces diced up once more. And th to finish things off, those smaller pieces were chopped up again.


    In the middle of an explosion of blood particles was the Immortal Core of a Grade 9 All-Epassing Immortal Realm Beast. For Azmodeus, however, it was lunch.


    CHOMP!


    ...

 Chapter 375: That Tree Is Alive...

    CHOMP!


    With arge inted tendril of slimy ck energy, the Grade 9 All-Epassing Immortal Realm snake and its core sucked into the stomach of a truly voracious monster.


    Azmodeus wanted to keep hunting like this all day long, but as with all good things, they alwayse to a saddening end¡­


    "It''s time to head back," he dered as his peak Grade 9 All-Epassing Realm aura fluctuated a little with the disappearance of his physical body.


    Reducing in quality, it quickly went from Grade 9 to Grade 7, then to Grade 5, and finally back down to his original Grade 2 All-Epassing Immortal Realm cultivation base.


    He then made his way to where he could sense hundreds of heat signatures, ranging from the peak Great Pinnacle Golden Immortal Realm to the Celestial Realm and beyond. All were Knight Apprentices, and they were waiting for the Drill Instructor to appear in the wide, open grass field they were gathered in.


    "Hmm?"


    Upon seeing that even the senior Knight Apprentices beyond the Celestial Immortal Realm were beaten and battered, Azmodeus couldn''t stop himself from anticipating the loot that was toe.


    "Well done, maggots!"


    Interrupting his thoughts was the sudden appearance of the stone-faced Drill Instructor. Just his presence alone caused the grass fields to rapidly blow around and spiral at his beck and call.


    "It''s now time toe over here announce how many times you either ran away or killed an Immortal Beast," he shouted. "And our truth tester will be able to tell if you''re lying, so don''t even think about it!"


    "Yes, sir!"


    Everyone formed a straight line, with the older first-generation students standing at the very front of this line. Quickly announcing their results, the line shortened at a noticeable pace.


    After a few minutes passed, it was finally time for Azmodeus to announce what he got. And from what he could gather, the average result was around 120, so that''s precisely what he answered with.


    For a newbie, this was already quite good; thus, the Drill Instructor lightly nodded before listening to the results of thest few students.


    ''Looks like even that magical device is unable to tell if I''m lying,'' Azmodeus thought as he returned to the back of the group of Apprentices.


    After the announcements were done and over with, the Drill Instructor looked toward all the apprentices. "Those of you who failed will not be eating today!" He shouted.


    "!!!" "!!!"


    More than 80% of the newbie Knight Apprentices were unable to get anywhere close to 100 Morning Points, and now they weren''t allowed to eat for today!?


    Did the Drill Instructor wish for them to starve!?


    "Drill Instructor sir! Don''t you think this is a little excessive¡ª!?"


    Before a Newbie Knight Apprentice could even finish what he was saying, the Drill Instructor shot his menacing re at this boy and drilled into his very soul.


    "!!!"


    The Knight Apprentice nearly pissed himself in fright!


    "What was that, boy?"


    "N-Nothing, sir! Please ignore this worm!"


    The Knight Apprentice bowed at an angle in deep reverence and sweated buckets from all pores.


    "The next time I hear any more shit, I''m throwing the shitstain who spoke up into the Gnax Pit!! Is that understood!?"


    "Sir, yes, sir!!" Everyone shouted in unison.


    After all the Knight Apprentices realized their ce in this dynamic, the day continued as per usual in the Omega Dome. Next were lessons on the conduct and history of the Omega Knights, then came more training with the Drill Instructor, this time being hand-to-hand and 1 on 1 fight training.


    Then came lunch, afternoon martial arts training, and finally, reading ancient scriptures and techniques in the afternoon, all found in the Omega Library.


    Sleep was what ended Azmodeus''s first day as a Knight Apprentice¡­


    His results for the day:pletely average.


    However, his actual results:


    {[Grade 8 All-Epassing Immortal Realm cultivation base]}


    {[Grade 1 Celestial Immortal Realm Battle Power]}


    With the day having been aplete and utter sess, Azmodeus fell into thend of dreams and woke up bright and early the very next day.


    He woke up quite early, and as such, he figured he''d walk around campus before meeting with the Drill Instructor the same as the day before. As he strolled throughout campus grounds, he noticed a few things that he hadn''t previously paid any attention to. One of which just so happened to be the clear sectioning of generations between students.


    The 1st Generation students all lived in the outer dorms, and deeper into the Omega Dorm were the 2nd Generation and 3rd Generation students. They lived in what looked like different worlds, separated by shimmering, pearlescent fments.


    ''So that''s why I''ve never seen a 2nd Generation student,'' Azmodeus thought as he touched the barrier fment.


    "!!!"


    Almost immediately feeling a countermeasure for contact being activated, he retracted his hand and resumed his walk. He still had around fifty minutes before Jimmy woke everyone up; thus, he decided to settle down by arge tree on the Northern side of the 1st Generation grounds.


    Azmodeus then tipped his sun hut over his head and dozed off, nning to pass time while circting Elusive Ascension.


    However, in the middle of his slumber, he was abruptly woken up by a soft, feminine hand brushing against his shoulder. Turning his head up and looking toward the one who tapped him, he saw a truly breathtaking sight.


    In front of him stood a twenty-year-old woman with long silver hair, light misty blue eyes, and a devastatingly beautiful body. She wore a frilly white sundress and pretty, whiteced heels. Overall, she looked like a rare, exotic beauty from Russia.


    Pulling a few strands of her silver hair behind her right ear, she bent down a bit lower, further entuating her barely visible milky white breasts.


    "Are you new around here?" she asked with a dazzling smile. "Because this tree is not what you think it is," she added with a low giggle.


    "Not what I think it is?" Azmodeus parroted. "Is this not a normal tree?"


    "No," she replied with another lightugh as she pointed to the tree behind Azmodeus. "That tree is alive in the truest sense, and her name is Delh."


    ...

 Chapter 376: Sylvia, So You Think Im Pretty...?

    "..."


    Azmodeus''s eyes followed along the girl''s slender finger, and he saw what appeared to be a face. A face in the tree¡­


    "...Uhmm¡­ I''m sorry aboutying up against you," he apologized as he observed the quiet pout on the tree woman''s face.


    Only her upper body and head could be seen, but that was enough for Azmodeus to know that she was most assuredly grumbling over how rudely he just leaned up against her.


    ''Sometimes, I forget that I''m in the Immortal World,'' he thought in exasperation. ''I should get used to seeing all kinds of unusual, typically unexinable things¡­''


    "Hey¡­"


    "Hey..?"


    "Hello, are you still there?"


    "???"


    The sweet, delicate voice of the silver-haired beauty took Azmodeus out of his thoughts.


    Upon returning his gaze back to the mysterious, silver-haired woman, he saw that same wless face dangerously close to his own. Moreover, her voluptuous figure was doing its damndest to abide by thews of physics as it jiggled and bounced all over the ce.


    Out of consideration for the unknown girl, Azmodeus looked away from her hilltops and focused only on her stunning sapphire eyes.


    "Hmm¡­?" The girl seemed to understand his intentions, and this caused her smile to widen a little further. "So, you are new?" She asked sweetly.


    "Yes, I am new," Azmodeus answered truthfully. "I just started yesterday, and unfortunately, I was unaware of what¡­ or who this tree was. And again, I am sorry."


    He softly patted the tree''s roots in an attempt to soothe her. Luckily, Delh took this quite well, as she quivered a little in happiness.


    Originally, she didn''t like this human one bit, but with the pats, well, let''s just say that it was more than enough to change or tune. She even went so far as to take her protruding, woody nude body and travel down to the tree''s base. She then stuck her head out right beside the crimson-haired man, seemingly urging him for more pats.


    The silver-haired woman softly giggled at this sight. "Delh seems to like you quite a lot," she said. To which Azmodeus patted Delh''s extended head and said, "You think so?"


    "Yes, I do," the silver-haired woman confirmed as she rose from her bow and walked around Azmodeus''s sitting figure before falling down right beside him.


    "And I think I might like you a little bit as well."


    Azmodeus stared into those sapphire blue eyes of hers, noticing a serenity that he hadn''t known in a very long time. s¡­


    "Is that so?" He asked with a neutral expression.


    The silver-haired woman tilted her head in confusion at this dull response of his. "You seem unfazed after having a pretty girl tell you she likes you. Why is that¡­?" She asked, genuinely confused.


    "To think of yourself as pretty, isn''t that quite conceited¡­¡ª"


    "I''m not?"


    "No, you are. But that''s besides the point¡ª"


    "So you think I''m pretty?"


    "..."


    Silence.


    "You are an odd one," Azmodeus said after a moment of silence.


    "I think you are odd as well," the silver-haired girl said with a giggle.


    Her serene, blue eyes never left the dark red eyes of the man beside her, as she appeared to be enjoying herself more than a little bit. For those close to her, this would be an urrence beyond rare.


    "...So, your name," Azmodeus said. "Do you have one?"


    "Ho~? Already wishing to get personal~?" The silver-haired woman teased. "Isn''t that mighty bold of you, good sir~?"


    "..."


    Not able to take that piercing stare of his any longer, the silver-haired woman sumbed under the pressure and shifted her face away in a feigned bashful way. "My name is Sylvia, and don''t you forget it," she said jokingly.


    As he looked at Sylvia''s side view, Azmodeus could''ve sworn that he saw a crimson blush form on her face, if not for but a moment, before fading away.


    ''This girl,'' Azmodeus thought. ''She''s an unusual one.''


    "Azmodeus. That''s my name," he said as he tipped his hat over his face and went back to sleep.


    The tree Spirit, Delh, was mildly disappointed, but this development was fine as well. Saving more pats forter, she extended out a little further until her entire half-nude, woody body appeared outside the tree. She then snuggled up on Azmodeus''sp and fell asleep herself.


    The only one still awake was Sylvia, and she sported a couple of puffed-out cheeks that made her look like an adorable gerbil. She crossed her arms under her breast and harrumphed. "Fine, just ignore me then, big jerk," she grumbled.


    Despite her words, she inched ever closer to the sleeping, crimson-haired man and eventuallyid her head right next to his, just enough that only a couple air particles separated their heads.


    "Hey, Azmodeus," Sylvia said with her eyes still closed.


    Although he tried his best to ignore the beautiful woman, Azmodeus couldn''t properly focus with that intensity oozing from her aura.


    "What¡­?" He reluctantly asked.


    "I think we should be friends," Sylvia said with a concealed grin. "Don''t you think we should be friends?"


    "No, not really," Azmodeus replied instantaneously.


    "Wha!?" Sylvia shot her eyes open at once and twisted over into hisp before straddling his shoulders. "Why do you say that, you big meanie!?"


    With his eyes still shut tight, Azmodeus turned his head a little to the right and furrowed his brows. "I don''t need friends," he said straightforwardly. "Getting close to others has never gotten me anywhere. Only greater power brings me forward."


    Silence.


    Sylvia stopped shaking Azmodeus and simply stared at his almost mncholic expression.


    "I see¡­" She murmured as she got off hisp and started to walk away. "However."


    Suddenly turning her body toward the meditating man, she crossed her fingers over one another behind her back. "I still think we should be friends," she said with a mesmerizing smile.


    After a moment that felt like an eternity, Sylvia hoped away from therge tree with an inexplicably giddy look on her face.


    Even while deep in meditation, Azmodeus''s facial features were twitching like crazy.


    ''Women are¡­'' he thought. "Soplicated¡­" he finished aloud.


    After shaking his head to distract himself from the matter with the silver-haired beauty, Azmodeus returned to his cultivation.


    Ultimately, it came time for the usual morning routine, so he was forced to leave his mediation session and head to a wide courtyard square, which was where the Drill Instructor was already stationed and waiting. His hardened expression emted the extent to which he would go to whip his students into shape, and Azmodeus was all here for it¡­


    ¡ª---------

 Chapter 377: That, I Doubt

    After 7 days of going through the grueling training set out by the Drill Instructor, Azmodeus managed to get his cultivation base to the Grade 5 Celestial Immortal Realm. Moreover, his Battle Power also achieved the very peak of the Grade 9 Celestial Immortal Realm, only a step away from breaking into the Prime Immortal Realm!


    However, it was also during this period of time that a certain silver-haired beauty ''coincidentally'' encountered him whenever he was not in the midst of training or studies. In fact, even during studies, Sylvia always seemed to find her way right beside him, chiding him about how friends should study and help each other.


    Just like today¡­


    "Hey, Azzy!"


    "Don''t call me that," Azmodeus retorted as he put a hand up to the face of the girl trying to jump on him. "I''ve already told you to just call me Azmodeus," he added while pushing her face further away from him.


    They were both in the huge, expansive Omega Library, so they whispered throughout their entire exchange. And contrary to the studying or reading that one would normally do in a library, Sylvia only seemed to want to y around.


    "Weren''t friends supposed to ''help each other study''?" Azmodeus asked while his nose was still in a book on practical Immortal Energy applications.


    Sylvia iled her slender arms up and down, trying her best to break past his grip and give him a big ol hug. "This and that are different things," she insisted with puppy dog eyes.


    "That, I doubt," Azmodeus said as he gripped her head a little tighter. Careful not to harm her, he set her down in the seat right beside him, keeping her at least arm''s length at all times.


    "You''re no fun!" Sylvia quietly grumbled. "What''s so wrong with wanting to get a little closer to you¡­" she murmured underneath her breath.


    "What was that?"


    "N-Nothing at all, you big jerk!"


    Sylvia harrumphed before turning her head away from Azmodeus. She then pulled out a study book of her own and read its contents, trying her best to look anywhere but where that big jerk was situated.


    After a few minutes of Azmodeus studying and Sylvia pretending to study while stealing nces at the oblivious man beside her, she could no longer take it anymore.


    Bam!


    She rose from her desk and mmed it, then she looked at him and fervently shouted, "Let''s go out somewhere this afternoon!"


    Azmodeus turned to look at the flustered girl, then, with a face as straight as could be, he said, "No."


    "Whyyy!?" Sylvia asked with her chipmunk cheeks puffed up on one side.


    "Because I have more training to do this afternoon," Azmodeus said calmly. To which Sylvia shortened the gap between them and got right up in his face. "That isn''t a good enough excuse, you jerk!" Sheined. "Juste out with me, as friends!"


    Her sparkly blue eyes emphasized just how ambiguous the word ''friend'' meant to her. It was highly likely that she was expecting more from him than what two friends would normally do on a day out.


    "Still not going," Azmodeus said evenly. "I have better things to do than gallivant around campus¡ª"


    "I will bring you to that Campus Restaurant with the Prime Immortal meat tes!"


    "I will consider it," Azmodeus said with a sigh.


    "You can order whatever you want! It''s all on me!"


    With those sickly sweet words from Sylvia, Azmodeus''s previous resolve was no more. He immediately folded under the pressure and got the time for their ''meeting'', which she termed a ''date.''


    "Friends don''t go on dates," Azmodeus said with a twitching smile. "Have you ever seen two friends go to an expensive restaurant with a romantic atmosphere?"


    Sylvia''s eyes became erratic. "N-No¡­ But we are the bestest of friends, so it''s fine!" She said as she reassured herself of her intentions.


    "...Sure," Azmodeus said with a tinge of helplessness. ''I always was a sucker for benefits,'' he thought. ''But that is all; I will not go further down this path with Sylvia. She is simply an acquaintance.''


    As with all people or things in his life, he pushed them away before even having the chance to get close to them. Yang Hua and Nao Long were two such examples, and this girl would be no different.


    ¡ª----------


    After more than a month since arriving at the Omega Dome, Azmodeus had assumed that Sylvia would tire of him, just as all the girls before her had done. However, something was different about her. It was almost like she could see through his facade and peer into his true nature.


    And for him, that was scarier than any apocalyptic disaster could be¡­


    With her staying by his hip almost all the time, he was brought to the most extravagant and luxurious ces on campus. And with this extravagance camerge boosts to his cultivation.


    During this month, and with Sylvia''s help, he managed to reach the Stage 9 Celestial Immortal Realm, whereas his Battle Power passed the Grade 3 Prime Immortal Realm!


    Now, on this seemingly ordinary day, Azmodeus left his dorm room in thete afternoon, nning to meet up with Sylvia by arge stone fountain.


    Arriving at their meetup location, there she stood, dazzling and beautiful, like a radiant sun on a dimly lit day. She wore a ttering yellow sundress with a pair of matching earrings and shoes, as well as a light orange sun hut.


    "At a loss for words, my dear romeo~?" Sylvia teased as she stared at Azmodeus''s slightly enamored expression. "Have you finally fallen for my charms?" She asked while tipping her body over in a yful, seductive way.


    "...No, I''m just blinded by your narcissism, is all," Azmodeus retorted as he snapped out of his stupor. Changing the subject, he said, "I haven''t noticed till now, but you always have a hat on your head. Is there a reason for that?" He asked, curious.


    "Uhmm, well¡­"


    ...

 Chapter 378: All Known Immortal Realms

    Upon hearing his question, Sylvia stopped ying around and leaned her head downward. Clearly, she didn''t wish to talk about it, and Azmodeus wasn''t one to pry. To distract her, he subtly interlinked his arm with hers and directed her toward the ce they nned to meet today.


    Namely, it was the same tree they met at, the one possessed by the Tree Spirit, Delh. And at this tree, there were some Immortal Dishes of extremely high qualityid out. So high in fact that it was hard to believe a mere campus student like Sylvia could afford it.


    ''Now that I think about it, I don''t know much about Sylvia,'' Azmodeus thought as he sat himself and the profusely blushing beauty down beside Delh. ''To have so much wealth, Sylvia must be something else, alright.''


    Whooop~


    Delh instantly felt the familiar presences appear outside her body, prompting her to traverse the tree and pop out in human wood girl form. She wasted no time and snuggled right up to Azmodeus''s left side, making sure to get her daily pats in.


    For a while now, Delh has sort of been something akin to a friendly neighborhood cat for Azmodeus, although definitely a little ''bigger'' than any cat he''s ever seen. Still, she was pleasant to be around; she didn''t talk, and she exuded a natural Immortal Qi inducer around her immediate vicinity.


    Plus, Delh was easy on the eyes and resided in a part of campus far away from the hustle and bustle of school life. To be precise, she and her tree body were situated on a low, grassy hill to the western side of the 1st Generation Dorm Buildings.


    ''Speaking of Generations,'' Azmodeus thought. ''I need to breakthrough into the Prime Immortal Realm and somehow convince the Drill Instructor to allow me to take the qualifications test to be a 2nd Generation Knight Apprentice.''


    Over the past month, Azmodeus had read about many things pertaining to the inner workings of the Omega Dome, Riverserpent Empire, and Saberspire Province.


    For one, the River Serpent Empire was actually one of the strongest Empires in the Eternal Jade Heavens Immortal Realm. And the same could be said for the Saberspire Empire as they both had Immortal God Realm Ancestors at the top of their hierarchies.


    This was also right around when Azmodeus learned of the Immortal Realms of the Eternal Jade Heavens, which were organized like:


    30. Half-Immortal: Grade 1-9 ¡ú [Basic Realities]


    31. Human Immortal: Grade 1-9 ¡ú [Basic Realities]


    32. Earth Immortal: Grade 1-9 ¡ú [Basic Realities]


    33. Heavenly Immortal: Grade 1-9 ¡ú [Basic Realities]


    34. Golden Immortal: Grade 1-9 ¡ú [Basic Realities]


    35. Great Principle Golden Immortal: Grade 1-9 ¡ú [Basic Realities]


    36. All-Epassing Immortal: Grade 1-9 ¡ú [Basic Realities]


    37. Celestial Immortal: Grade 1-9 ¡ú [Basic Realities]


    38. Prime Immortal: Grade 1-9 ¡ú [Basic Realities]


    39. Immortal Venerable: Grade 1-9 ¡ú [Basic Realities]


    40. Immortal King: Grade 1-9 ¡ú [Basic Realities]


    41. Immortal Emperor: Grade 1-9 ¡ú [Basic Realities]


    42. Immortal God: Grade 1-9 ¡ú [Basic Realities]


    43. Immortal Transcendent ¡ú [1 Layer of Transcendence to 9 Layers of Transcendence.]


    Basic Realities referred to the degree to which an Immortal could affect the surrounding environment while making use of Immortal Lines.


    An Immortal Transcendent, on the other hand, was an Immortal that exceeded the maximum number of Crimson Tier Immortal Lines and transcended for something more.


    This was also the realm that signified the absolute apex forces in the Eternal Jade Heavens Immortal Realm. Additionally, they were the ones who eventually left the Immortal Realm and explored the Immortal Funnel, potentially making for artificial True Enigmas or Destiny Spot holders.


    Then came the Omega Dome in rtion to all the Immortal Cultivation Realms.


    First came the Examiners, who picked up and brought in any potential Knight Apprentices. They ranged anywhere from the Grade 1 Celestial Immortal Realm to the midgrades of the Prime Immortal Realm.


    Next were 1st Generation Knight Apprentices, who were usually ranked lower than the Examiners. They possessed cultivations from the peak All-Epassing Immortal Realm to the Grade 9 Celestial Immortal Realm.


    2nd Generation Knight Apprentices, however, were just 1st Generation Knight Apprentices but stronger and older. They began in the Grade 1 Prime Immortal Realm and typically reached the Grade 9 Prime Immortal Realm before bing 3rd Generation Knight Apprentices.


    After breaking through into the Immortal Venerable Realm, a 2nd Generation Knight Apprentice would then be a 3rd Generation Knight Apprentice. From there, they would keep on progressing their cultivation and knowledge until achieving the Grade 9 Immortal Venerable Realm.


    It was also as a 3rd Generation Knight Apprentice that one could officially leave the Omega Dome''s general territory and take on quests or missions for the Omega Dome. This would subsequently lead to greater battle experience and knowledge of the political climate or future avenues for interference.


    3rd Generation Knight Apprentices would more often than not choose to be somewhat of an understudy of genuine Omega Knight. As the Knight Apprentice followed behind the Omega Knight in his dishing out of thew, he would better learn of what his future duties would require of him.


    After acquiring enough experience, power, and rtions to powerful personas, a 3rd Generation Knight Apprentice would have three options to choose from.


    One, he could be an official Omega Knight and breakthrough into the Immortal Emperor Realm.


    Two, he could put his dreams to rest and settle for bing a teacher, professor, or drill Instructor after realizing that his talent was not sufficient enough.


    Three, he could be a high official or important person of neighboring territories and then live there from then onwards.


    The cultivation of the professors or Drill Instructors were almost always within the bounds of the Immortal Venerable or Immortal King Realm as they never were able to shatter their bottlenecks.


    The Omega Knights, on the other hand, started at the Grade 1 Immortal Emperor Realm and scaled up to the Grade 9 Immortal Emperor Realm!


    ''All in all, I have a long road ahead of me,'' Azmodeus thought as he helplessly looked at the silver-haired beautyying her whole body against his right side. She peacefully slept while unconsciously wagging her ahoge hair above her head.


    ''A long road indeed¡­''


    ¡ª-----------

 Chapter 379: Immortal Venerable Realm, Just Thinking

    Time continued to pass for all those in the Eternal Jade Immortal Realm, and within the confines of the Omega Dome, big waves were happening without anyone''s knowledge.


    Or rather, one of the 2nd Generation students was making a breakthrough into the Grade 1 Immortal Venerable Realm from the Grade 9 Prime Immortal Realm!


    After a meager six months of staying at the Omega Dome, Azmodeus managed to transcend three major realms, and this would make his fourth!


    Watching him from the sidelines were Sylvia and Delh, both of whom were sitting within the aura concealing barriers of the Divine Tree, also known as Delh.


    "You think he''ll be alright¡­?" Sylvia asked Delh as she held her wooden hands just a bit too tightly.


    "..."


    Delh looked at the silver-haired beauty with pleading eyes. She really wished Sylvia''s grip would loosen¡­ It hurt a lot¡­


    "Oh, I''m sorry, Delh," Sylvia profusely apologized after noticing what she had been doing to the tree Spirit. "I''m just a little nervous, is all," she said as she went right back to gripping Delh''s hands.


    "..."


    Delh started to silently cry, wishing that Azmodeus would hurry up ande back!


    Fortunately, the intense Qi winds swirling around inside the Divine Tree Dome finally settled down, and from the epicenter of the Qi emerged a crimson-haired man. His appearance had somehow reverted to what it was before his Heavenly Transfiguration, which led to divine visions materializing around his nigh transcendent figure.


    "...Was he always this handsome¡­?" Sylvia said to Delh as her grip somehow became tighter than before.


    ''Please help me!!'' Delh screamed out within her soul.


    "Hmm?"


    Azmodeus almost immediately saw the pleas of Deliah, which urged him over to the girls'' location at the top of the grassy hill. His aura was transcendental, and his appearance only added to the suave demeanor that he wore around like a badge of honor. Every step he took toward the girls produced heart palpitations and a growing sense of trepidation.


    ''W-What do I do¡­!? He''s getting closer!''


    Freaking out inside her mind, Sylvia''s pupils erratically flickered, and her grip on the poor Tree Spirit grew ever tighter.


    In the end, her flustered disposition led to her failing to notice the divinely handsome man approach her and bend down.


    "!!!"


    Sylvia saw Azmodeus stretch out one of his hands, and as she saw ite closer and closer to her face, her heartbeats became louder and louder. It eventually reached a point where it felt like her heart would beat out of her chest.


    Just as she felt she might die from a heart attack, the hand passed by her face and touched her hand.


    "!!!"


    "N-Nooo! Too soon!!¡ª"


    Sylvia was about to blow up in a puff of smoke and explode like a radioactive reactor, but before that could happen, she felt the veiny hand loosen her grip and then let go.


    "Wha¡­??"


    Sylvia opened her eyes and looked down at her hand, only to see that there was no longer anything left to grip and Delh was gone. She then turned her gaze up to the devilishly handsome Azmodeus and saw Delhtched onto his thigh, seemingly crying out her grievances.


    "Y-You¡­" At aplete loss for words, Sylvia repeated the same thing while pouting like a cute chipmunk. "You big jerk!" She shouted before turning her adorable face and less adorable body away from the confused crimson-haired man.


    She didn''t know why his appearance had changed so drastically, but she didn''t care! He was still a jerk through and through!


    ''Like usual, this woman is odd,'' Azmodeus thought as he neutrally nced at her pouting. ''Even after half a year, she hasn''t grown tired of me. It''s unusual¡­ Something must be wrong with her.''


    After reaching this conclusion, Azmodeus stared even deeper at Sylvia. However, it wasn''t really her that he was looking at or thinking about. Rather, it was the idea of her.


    She was perfect in almost every sense of the word. Her appearance was wless, her spiritly yet bubbly personality could be considered adorable beyondpare, and her devotion was on another level.


    Yet¡­


    ''I still don''t love her,'' Azmodeus thought as he saw something in Sylvia that no one else could see. ''Any normal person would have even the smallest amount of affection for her by now, but I don''t.''


    This subject was more than a little perplexing. After all, he no longer had his emotion limiters, which meant he could feel.


    Still, there was no capacity for affection or love in his heart. It was gone¡­ devoid of substance¡­ nilche¡­


    Azmodeus himself was unaware of the exact cause behind this oddity, but what he did know was that love was not in his cards. -read-now


    He was destined to be alone¡­


    ''To be alone forever,'' Azmodeus thought. ''How sad is that¡­?''


    This topic lingered on his mind for the rest of the day, and after interacting with Sylvia and Delh for a few more hours, the day came to a close. It was now time to reactivate his Heavenly Transfiguration disguise and return to his previous appearance.


    Surprisingly enough, neither Sylvia nor Deliah seemed to care what form he took. The way they looked at him always remained the same.


    "...If I were to one day disappear," Azmodeus said as he leaned against his arms while staring at the luminescent moon hanging above them. "Would you be sad?"


    "!!!" "!!!"


    "Of course I''d be sad!" Sylvia shouted hysterically. "And don''t you dare think about doing anything dangerous! Just let me handle all money and resource issues! My father told me I could take whatever I wanted from the family Treasury!"


    "Mhm! Mhm!"


    Although Delh said nothing much, she still violently shook Azmodeus and teared up at the eyes.


    "I see," he mumbled underneath his breath. "I wonder if they were sad as well¡­ When I left them all alone¡­"


    "What was that, you big jerk!?" Sylvia shouted while pouting with cheeks way too puffed up.


    "Nothing," Azmodeus said. "Just thinking."


    "Thinking about what...!?" Sylvia asked while working with Delh to shake him around even more than before.


    ....

 Chapter 380: 2 Years Later, The Silver Palace

    "Mhm! Mhm!"


    Both Sylvia and Delh were flustered and on edge for the rest of the night, not wishing to let go of him until they were sure he wouldn''t immediately vanish.


    always-on-MvLeMpYr


    ''I don''t understand,'' Azmodeus thought. ''Why do so many girls keep on falling in love with me¡­? Even without my otherworldly appearance, it keeps happening¡­ I just don''t understand why¡­''


    No matter how many times he restarted from the beginning and made a new life himself, not once had he escaped his fate.


    For most, this type of ''curse'' would be seen as something only meant for God''s Chosen. But for him, it served as a constant reminder for a life that he would never have.


    ''Love is meant for the weak and those who live lives of insignificance,'' Azmodeus thought as his mind drifted. ''That is what I''ve always believed. That is why my parents left me¡­ They didn''t wish to love something so weak¡­ They loved each other because they were equal¡­''


    ''No one is my equal.''


    ''I would never allow myself to be the equal of someone else.''


    ''In this life, I need to keep evolving. I need to be the absolute best.''


    ''Love is not meant for someone like me¡­''


    Azmodeus''s emotionless eyes fell on the two beautiful women sleeping on hisp. His eyes contained within them emotions that no words could possibly hope to describe.


    ''Just like the others, these two will leave,'' he thought. ''And I am fine with that¡­''


    He had no choice but to be fine with that.


    ¡ª---------


    In the Eternal Jade Heavens Immortal Realm, time continued to flow like the raging currents of a violent river stream.


    Two yearster.


    With the help of Sylvia and the vouching of the campus Divine Tree Spirit herself, Azmodeus was able to be a 3rd Generation Knight Apprentice under the guise of ''special guidance''.


    No one really believed that nonsense, but that didn''t mean anyone would prevent the advancement of a potential talent like Azmodeus.


    Having achieved the Grade 8 Immortal Venerable Realm before the age of 23 already made him a heavenly genius never before seen in the Immortal Realm, but with Delh and Sylvia backing him, his prospects were uncontested.


    Sylvia was the favorite daughter of a very high-ranking Immortal God, while Delh was the founding Divine Tree Spirit of the River Serpent Empire. Not even other Immortal Gods would dare to harm Azmodeus and the two girls without first preparing themselves for the consequences of their actions.


    Even so, that didn''t mean that people within the ''team'' weren''t willing to take more extreme measures against the one who appeared to have devices for two goddesses¡­


    To be specific, Sylvia''s father, the Silver Catastrophe, had requested the audience of her daughter and this ''Azmodeus'' that she always raved about when visiting home. And today just so happened to mark the day that Azmodeus, Delh, and Sylvia took leave from the Omega Dome and arrived right outside an extremelyrge silver dragon structure¡­


    "Your dad," Azmodeus said as he looked up at the insurmountable silver dragon. "Does he n to kill me?"


    "Probably not¡­"


    While giving this response, Sylvia''s eyes couldn''t seem to stay in one ce, and her hands fidgeted with one another. It was quite clear that she was not the least bit confident in what she told him.


    "Great," Azmodeus said with a sigh. "I never am able to escape the ones who want to kill me the most."


    "Mhm mhm," Delh silently agreed while sticking to Azmodeus''s right side.


    After getting a possible certain death discussion out of the way, the three of them ascended a spiraling flight of stairs that stretched up into the clouds above. This was the only way to enter the home of the Silver Catastrophe, and it was said to be one of a kind.


    It took a little over three minutes for the gang to speedily reach the top of the spiraling, marble stairs. The first thing they saw after stepping over thest stair were tworge silver creatures, otherwise known as¡­ dragons¡­


    "Grghhhhh!!"


    Both dragons were Grade 5 Immortal Emperors, and by the aggression present in their vicious growls, it was obvious that they didn''t like the tiny ant walking next to theirdy.


    "...They aren''t very friendly, are they?" Azmodeus asked Sylvia.


    "No, they''re really nice!" Sylvia rebuked as she stuck up a hand and smiled. "Isn''t that right, Saphron and Salia?" She inquired with a shadow shrouding her smile and eyes.


    "!!!" "!!!"


    The two scarily powerful silver dragons immediately knelt over and prostrated themselves before their youngdy. Though they were countless timesrger than the youngdy, neither of them were willing to get on her bad side. Therefore, they made way for her and permitted passage through therge silver gates that they guarded.


    "Grgghh¡­!"


    They still growled a bit when the unknown crimson-haired man walked past them with their youngdy interlinked with his right side.


    ''I haven''t bothered myself until now, but just how strong is Sylvia?'' Azmodeus thought as his eyes fell on the divinely beautiful exotic beauty holding his arm with a giddy smile on her face.


    ''She is only a couple years older than I am, and yet it almost seems as if her existence is shrouded in more mystery than mine. And for some reason, she reminds me of the... light¡­''


    As Azmodeus''s thoughts spiraled in an odd direction, he and the others had already passed through the massive silver gates. In front of them stood a reflective, almost translucent pce that simply screamed silver elegance.


    However, it was neither the two huge guarddog dragons nor the silver pce that had Azmodeus more in awe. Rather, it was the nigh-suffocating presence that resided within the confines of that silver pce''s highest zenith.


    ''So strong,'' he thought. ''So this is what an Immortal God feels like¡­''


    "It seems that daddy is¡­ a little more lively than usual," Sylviamented as her arms and breasts wrapped even tighter around Azmodeus.


    It was almost as if she were afraid he would up and disappear if she weren''t careful¡­


    ....

 Chapter 381: A Slap That Shook The Castle [Bonus Chapter]

    Step, Step, Step.


    Azmodeus, Sylvia, and Delh ascended a short flight of porcin stairs. Entering the pce, the first thing to greet them was the big man himself!


    Sylvia''s father had somehow teleported from the top of his pce to the very first floor, and he was wearing a tight-fitted silverish ck suit that made his explosive muscles really stand out. Additionally, the menacing thousand-yard stare he was directing at Azmodeus made for one hell of an intimidation factor.


    "Daddy, I am back!" Sylvia eximed as she temporarily let go of Azmodeus and ran to her father before leaping in his arms. "Was mom nice to you while I was away!?" She asked teasingly.


    The Silver Catastrophe''s hardened expression softened when his daughter hugged him, and just as he was about to forget what he was just thinking about, he once again saw that slimy bastard.


    the-ce-MVLeMpYr


    Not once had a man ever gotten within a hair''s width of his daughter!


    He had assumed that she just wasn''t interested in men, and that notion made him overjoyed beyond belief!


    But then came this unknown man!! He just had to show up in his daughter''s life and sign his own death sentence!!


    As he tenderly embraced his daughter, the only thing the stern Silver Catastrophe could think about was how terrible a death he would conjure up for this ''Azmodeus.''


    "So you are my daughter''s ''dear'' friend," Silver Catastrophe said as he somehow closed the distance between the two of them in an instant. "I appreciate all that you have done for my daughter, but don''t you think you are getting a little ahead of yourself¡­?"


    While looking at the creepy smiling expression on the big man with a silver mane, Azmodeus realized that he stood no chance in hell of beating him in a battle.


    ''Just one punch,'' he thought as his excitement grew. ''That is all it would take for this monster to end my life.''


    "Hmm?"


    Upon seeing that fiery look in Azmodeus''s gaze, the Silver Catastrophe felt something other than anger and killing intent. It was almost as if he had found a kindred¡­ one who thought like he did.


    "You are more interesting than I originally assumed you to be," he said as he closed the gap even further. "But that won''t save you from death''s embrace."


    OOOM!


    "!!!"


    Just the slightest sliver of the Silver Catastrophe''s aura was enough to put pressure on everything for an untold number of miles. And with a scythe looming over his head, Azmodeus''s death was all but guaranteed!


    Or, at least it would have been a guarantee¡­


    "Daddy! I already told you that you couldn''t harm him!" Sylvia shouted in annoyance as she got off of him and gathered extraordinary amounts of energy in her right hand.


    Then she¡­


    pped him!


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The booming sound of the Silver Catosphere crashing through wall after wall of the pce could be heard echoing out for a good ten seconds. At the end point of this p, he was foundying up against a pile of rubble¡­pletely unconscious and foaming from the mouth!


    "...How foolish I was to not realize that the final boss was with me this entire time," Azmodeus said in disbelief. His crimson eyes fully emted the amount of astonishment he was feeling at this very moment.


    "Humph! I didn''t mean to hit you so hard, but I asked you not to try and harm my Azzy! This was your own fault!"


    Sylvia crossed her arms under her breasts and lightly stomped the floor while lecturing a man who was already half way into the afterlife¡­


    Silvia Catas


    From birth, she grew up knowing that she was the absolute best. Whether that be in cultivation, literature studies, or the study of ssical arts. In everything she tried, she excelled in.


    Even so, Sylvia didn''t grow a big head. She simply went about her days the same as everybody else.


    Or, at least, that was the case until middle school¡­


    No longer able to conceal her monstrous nature, all the other kids in her academy feared her. Even the teachers were no exception.


    This hurt her¡­


    Sylvia only ever yearned to fit in with everybody else, but she couldn''t even do that.


    In the end, she graduated early from all grades and sses, instead spending her time wandering around the Saberspire Province. In particr, she liked the Omega Dome.


    Her days were usually pretty simr, but on one seemingly ordinary day shortly after her twenty-second birthday, she met someone.


    At first, this someone didn''t seem like much of anyone, but the more time Sylvia spent with this someone, the more she realized that he was different. There was something special about him, something that set him apart from the other people that she''s met.


    After a certain point, Sylvia spent almost every waking moment beside this special someone. She gave him whatever she felt that he needed, and she also made sure no one at the Omega Dome bothered him.


    Sylvia did this for him, but she also did it for herself. She wished to spend more time with him and better understand what it was that made him so special.


    However, this someone was quite reserved and kept to himself, so it was very hard to get him to open up or even look in her direction. But as with all the girls that came before, Sylvia figured she stood a chance as long as she persevered.


    With her cultivation in or above the Immortal God Realm, she could potentially take the target of her affection away by force. But that just didn''t sit right with her¡­


    The light within Sylvia told her that going about it in that manner was not the correct way.


    She didn''t know why she felt this way, but it was almost as if she had experienced something in the past that led to her instinctively knowing not to do something stupid.


    Sylvia had no clue what this instinct was or where it originated from, but she knew to trust it.


    This was what the Light told her¡­


    ¡ª---------

 Chapter 382: The Silver Catastrophe Wakes Up, Spending The Next Week All Alone

    "My baby girl!!!"


    The Silver Catastrophe shot up like a bullet while yelling like a banshee. He shifted his eyes in every direction, attempting to locate his precious daughter.


    However, all that stood around him were tall white walls and light gray curtains that shielded him from viewing whaty outside them. Below him was a soft cotton bed, and covering his body was a white gown. It was made abundantly clear that hended straight in the infirmary.


    Sylvia had indeed hit him a little too hard, so Azmodeus took the liberty of lifting him from the rubble and carrying him to where Sylvia told him the infirmary was. The nurses took care of the rest.


    It had been a little over three hours since Azmodeus and his gang arrived in the Silver Catastrophe''s home. The Silver Catasphrophe realized this almost right away, which caused hisplexion to morph from peachy to green, then to red and purple.


    "That damn bastard!!!" The Silver Catastrophe roared at the top of his lungs, causing the massive silver dragon pce to violently tremble.


    "...I think your dad is awake," Azmodeus said to the silver-haired girl sitting beside him. "Will he destroy his own home?" He asked, serious.


    Sylvia pressed her voluptuous breast even further against Azmodeus as her ahoge hair bounced all over the ce. "No, no, you don''t need to worry about Dad. My mother is likely right outside the infirmary, and she will give him more than just an earful!"


    She started to mischievously giggle while thinking about all the trouble her father was in.


    "...I see," Azmodeus said with a sigh. "So, when will we meet with your father if he is currently in a little predicament with your mother?"


    "Uhmm¡­ probably sometime this week!" Sylvia responded matter-of-factly.


    "Sometime this week¡­" Azmodeus parroted, as he could already feel the headacheing on. "And let me guess¡ª"


    "Yep! Me and you are going to spend the next week together. All alone¡­" Sylvia said as her voice faded off toward the end. "B-But don''t get any wrong ideas¡ª!"


    "I wasn''t; don''t worry."


    "Y-You also don''t need to respond so fast!" Sylvia said as she lightly hit Azmodeus in the arm. "You big jerk," she grumbled with a pout.


    Silence.


    A hush fell over one of the opulent lounge areas of the Silver Dragon Pce. However, it was quickly broken by the quiet muffling of Delh, who felt like she was being left out.


    "Mhm! Mhm!" Delh mumbled while rubbing herself all over Azmodeus.


    She wanted to join the conversation as well! But as a tree spirit, there was not much of an opportunity for that to be possible¡­


    As Azmodeus dealt with the two troublesome girls who kept to his side, time passed like a fleeting shadow. And before long, the previously designated week had flown by in a sh.


    During the past week, all Azmodeus did was cultivate, y board games with the girls, and wander around the pce. They also tried out the various facilities in the pce, met a countless number of servants, and spoke of various topics.


    It was only after a week of goofing around that a servant approached Azmodeus and told him and the youngdy to go to the Throne Room. Taking him up on this offer was how he ended up where he was right now.


    Sitting before him was the Silver Catastrophe in all his intimidating glory. He sat on his high-raised throne and focused his entire existence on the crimson-haired man standing below him.


    Right beside the throne stood the elegant and divinely beautiful Miss Moon, who had long silky silver hair just like her husband. She also possessed the same shapely body that her daughter had. And contrary to her menacing husband, Miss Moon stared at Azmodeus with a certain fondness in her gaze.


    OOOM!


    The Silver Catasphrophe was seething like an active volcano, practically about to explode in rage as he watched that slimy red bastard get all touchy-feely with his daughter!


    However, with a side punch from his wife, his aura dispersed into nothing.


    "Dear, do we need to go back in time and reinact what we have been doing for the past week?" Miss Moon asked with a ''friendly'' smile on her face.


    "No¡­ I will be tolerant," the Silver Catastrophe said as he sweated buckets. "Just please, no more¡­ I can''t take any more of that in my old age¡­"


    ''He seems to have been scarred by his wife,'' Azmodeus thought as he kind of fell bad for the guy. ''I''m sure you will recover,'' he silently prayed.


    "Anyway," Miss Moon said as she turned to look at her daughter. "Are you going to introduce me to this ''friend'' of yours?" She asked with a suggestive tone.


    Sylvia''s face immediately turned a deep crimson red. "Mother! Stop it!" She said with a flustered expression while taking asional nces at Azmodeus.


    She was disappointed to find himpletely unresponsive to what her mother said. This caused her cheeks to puff out and her ahoge hair to stand on end. "You big jerk," she softly murmured under her breath as she hit him in the arm.


    "Ho?"


    A small smirk emerged on Miss Moon''s wless face as she watched the interactions between her daughter and this mysterious man.


    ''It does seem like she really likes this boy,'' Miss Moon thought as she held a hand over her mouth. ''I think I would like to get to know him and see where he stands with my precious daughter.''


    "So, Sylvia," Miss Moon began with a motherly tone. "How far have you gone with him¡ª"


    Whooom!!!


    Before she could even finish what she was saying, Sylvia shed from her position and tried to cover up her mother''s mouth. However, as the mother of this monster, she herself was also a monster.


    Miss Moon lightly grabbed Sylvia''s hand and stationed her in mid-air. "My dear daughter, there''s no need to be embarrassed," she said teasingly. "I just want to know if I''ll be a grandmother soon."


    "!!!" "!!!"


    The Silver Catastrophe''s rage immediately returned in full, and Delh looked up at Azmodeus with many grievances.


    "Mhm¡­ Mhm¡­" she mumbled as her expression emted the amount of betrayal she felt.


    ...

 Chapter 383: Havent Even Kissed...

    "You damn slimy red bastard!!!"


    The Silver Catastrophe''s face transformed into something straight from the depths of the sevenyers of hell.


    OOOM!


    His explosive aura nearly blew the top off the pce as he was prepared to do whatever it took to kill the red bastard!


    However¡­


    "W-We haven''t done it yet, mother," Sylvia said as her face flushed red in embarrassment. "We haven''t even k-kissed¡­"


    Silence.


    "Really?" Miss Moon asked with genuine confusion.


    "Y-Yes," Sylvia confirmed with a face redder than blood.


    Miss Moon was genuinely bewildered for a moment, and it didn''t take long for her gaze to hone in on Azmodeus. "Are you infertile?" She asked bluntly.


    "...No," Azmodeus answered with an awkward look on his face.


    ''Damn it!!!'' The Silver Cataosphe screamed out inside his mind.


    He had prayed to all the gods above that the red bastard''s answer would be different, but it appeared that he had been abandoned by the gods¡­


    While still focused on Azmodeus, Miss Moon pinched her husband once more. "If your little friend is perfectly capable, then why have you not made a move on my daughter?"


    Miss Moon was honestly perplexed by this matter. It was obvious that her daughter loved this boy, and she likely wouldn''t be opposed to him making moves on her, so why?


    Miss Moon couldn''t understand why they hadn''t even kissed yet.


    She didn''t mean to brag, but with her daughter inheriting almost all her genes, she should be irresistible to the male gaze.


    To not do a single thing while constantly in the presence of her divinely beautiful daughter¡­ that was simply impossible¡­


    Yet, Azmodeus looked her right in the eye with an apathetic gaze and said, "I have not done anything to your daughter, nor will I ever do anything to her."


    Silence.


    "I see," Miss Moon said as her smile became brighter and brighter.


    She ignored her devastated daughter, also making sure to ignore the lifeless gleam in her eyes and the slightly pleased look on her husband''s face.


    "So, dear daughter," Miss Moon said as she let go of Sylvia''s hand. "How are you going to deal with this? Will you give up on him?"


    Upon hearing this question, Sylvia''s embarrassed expression was reced by a surging sense of determination. "I will never give up!" She said resolutely.


    Looking at the clenched fists of her poor baby girl, Miss Moon knew that she was serious about this matter. ''More serious than she''s ever been,'' Miss Moon thought as the way she looked at Azmodeus changed once more.


    Out of everyone in this world, Miss Moon knew her daughter best, and not once in her life had she seen her daughter so determined about something. It reminded her a little of herself when she met her husband¡­


    ''Well¡­ This isn''t good,'' Azmodeus thought as he closely observed the interaction between mother and daughter.


    It was now his time to be worried about something¡­


    "Alright, I''ve decided," Miss Moon said as she pped her hands. "From now on, my daughter will have a fiancee, and he will be none other than that young man right down there."


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    "Really, mother!? You mean it!? B-But what if Azmodeus doesn''t want this¡­ I-I can''t force him to like me¡­"


    "That slimy red bastard!!! I''ll kill him!!!"


    One was scared and very nervous yet also overjoyed, while the other was about to pop a blood vessel from all the anger coursing through his veins.


    "What nonsense is that, my dear?" Miss Moon asked as she pulled her daughter into her bosom. "If you truly like him, then you must not back down until his heart is yours. Oh, and from what I can sense, he ispletely capable down there. He just needs the right woman to stimte his primal urges¡ª"


    "T-That is enough, mother!" Sylvia said as she sped her mother''s mouth in embarrassment.


    "Fufu~ There is no need to get all embarrassed, my dear," Miss Moon said teasingly. "I was you at one point as well."


    "But seriously, this one is special. You need to lock him down before some other woman snatches him away from you," Miss Moon said as she looked toward Azmodeus and the Tree Spirit beside him. "And is that Delh? The Divine Tree Spirit of the Riverserpent Empire?"


    "Y-Yes," Sylvia answered absentmindedly, still thinking about naughty things with Azmodeus.


    "Yeah, you really need to up your game, dear daughter," Miss Moon sighed as she shook her head in disappointment.


    "???"


    Sylvia was initially confused, but after observing the look of infatuation on Delh''s face, she instantly knew what her mother was talking about.


    NovelBin-chapter


    "I understand, mother!" Sylvia said as she clenched her fists in determination. "I will make him mine!"


    Miss Moon''s smiled in satisfaction. "That''s my daughter!" She eximed as she hugged Sylvia even closer to her bosom. "Now, if you don''t wish to see your father go braindead from anger, I suggest you run away with that little lover boy of yours," she suggested while pointing at the tomato-headed man on the throne.


    "Mhmmkay, mother! I love you!" Sylvia said as she hugged her mother one more time before jumping down from the throne.


    "Time to go, Azzy!"


    She quickly grabbed Azmodeus''s hand and ran with him and Delh to the exit, utterly ignoring the rage-filled shouts of her father.


    ''This girl,'' Azmodeus thought as he stared at Sylvia''s radiantly beaming smile. ''So troublesome,'' he sighed before letting her take him wherever she wanted.


    Outside the bounds of the Silver Dragon Pce, Sylvia ran up arge hill while holding Azmodeus''s hand, seemingly having the time of her life.


    "Don''t you find it so exciting, Az!?"


    "Find what exciting¡­?"


    "Life, Az! Life! Isn''t it so exciting!? So thrilling!?"


    "Mhm! Mhm!" Delh fervently nodded her head, agreeing with Sylvia.


    ''Life, huh?'' Azmodeus thought as his mind retraced everything that happened in his long life.


    "I don''t know," he answered as if the question Sylvia asked was an extremely difficult one.


    "Azzy," Sylvia said as she suddenly stopped in her tracks. "I think you and I are alike."


    ...

 Chapter 384: It Has Always Been Me... And You

    While face-to-face with the Russian beauty, Azmodeus had no clue what was going on inside that head of hers. "How are we alike?" He asked out of curiosity.


    Sylvia spun around a little as she shed a smile capable of brightening up the whole world. "We are alike," she said. "Because you are lost, just as I was once lost before meeting you."


    "...I am lost?" Azmodeus asked himself as his eyes fell on his rough hands. "Why would you say that?"


    Sylvia hopped a bit closer to Azmodeus. "I know because of your eyes," she said with an illuminating smile. "The eyes are the gate to a person''s soul, and your eyes depict a story of excitement, thrill, anger, sadness¡­ and loss¡­"


    "You are lost," Sylvia repeated. "Just as I was."


    She put her slender hand up to Azmodeus''s heart and felt something all too familiar.


    "Even though you are lost," Sylvia said as her voice became sweeter. "I will find you."


    "Until the end of time, I will find you. Just as I always have¡­"


    "What do you mean by that¡ª??"


    OOOM!!!


    Before Azmodeus could understand the meaning behind her words, a dazzling ray of light beamed down from the heavens!


    It covered Sylvia in its entirety, causing her body to erupt with a splendiferous myriad of iridescence!


    "???" "???"


    Azmodeus took Delh and stepped back to a safe distance. Neither of them knew what was going on; however, it was definitely nothing good.


    FWIP! FWIP!


    Materializing into being were the Silver Catasphrophe and Miss Moon, both of whom looked up at the insurmountable beam of light with worry overtaking their expressions.


    "What is going on here, boy!?" The Silver Catasphrophe bellowed. "What did you do to my daughter!?"


    He automatically assumed that this event was Azmodeus''s fault, and he was prepared to fight him to the death if need be!


    However, with a single hand raise from Miss Moon, the raging silver giant settled down and went back to worriedly staring at his glowing daughter in the beam of lights'' center.


    "Azmodeus," Miss Moon said as she peered into his two crimson eyes. "Do you know what''s happening to our daughter right now?" She asked calmly.


    "No," Azmodeus answered truthfully. "She spoke of finding me, just as she ''always'' had, and then it looked like her mind went through a struggle with her body. This beam of light was the result of that struggle."


    Miss Moon''s face darkened as she realized something that she never thought to be possible. "A reincarnation¡­ my daughter is the reincarnation of someone more powerful than myself," she announced in a grave tone. "To be more powerful than I am, this being must be from outside the Eternal Jade Heavens Immortal Realm."


    "???"


    Azmodeus couldn''t understand how she inferred something so far-fetched from what had happened thus far. But when looking at the expression she was making, he knew that she 100% believed what she just announced.


    There were a plethora of things on his mind uponprehending the severity of the situation, but above all, he was worried.


    He didn''t know why, but his chest tightened when looking at the pain that singed Sylvia''s wless facial features. "How do we stop whatever is happening?" He asked in a strained tone.


    All of the color left Miss Moon''s face as her shoulders drooped. "We can''t," she said. "If the source of her reincarnation was weaker than me, then I could prevent the reincarnator from going any further. But in this case, t-there is nothing I can do¡­" Her voice cracked as she copsed to the ground.


    "My love!" The Silver Catastrophe shouted as he hurried over to his wife and kneeled down beside her. "What''s wrong!? Is Sylvia going to be okay!?"


    "I-I¡­"


    Miss Moon bit down on her lips until blood drew.


    She didn''t have the heart to tell her husband what happened when an extremely powerful reincarnator took back possession of the new vessel. It would devastate him¡­


    Even as an Immortal Transcendent Realm cultivator, there was absolutely nothing Miss Moon could do but clench her fist in frustration and weep.


    Drip, Drip, Drip.


    Her crystalline tears beating against the murky ground marked the end of something she cherished more than anything in the entire world.


    The light beam around Sylvia slowly dispersed, and from the light emerged a floating silver-haired woman who was no longer the same person she once was.


    "..."


    This familiar yet unfamiliar woman observed her surroundings. That was until she caught sight of the man she had been searching for.


    The woman calmly leviated over to Azmodeus. On her face was a smile so warm and inviting that all of existence would fall into her ample bosom with just a single word out of her mouth.


    Thud! Thud!


    The Silver Catasphrophe and Miss Moon suddenly fell to the ground unconscious.


    ''Why is sheing to me?'' Azmodeus thought in confusion. ''And why does it feel like I know her from somewhere¡­? Sylvia¡­ she''s still in there as well¡­'' read-this-on-NovelBin


    Being the only one thinking lucidly enough to notice, he realized that Sylvia was this woman, but also not this woman at the same time.


    Before this train of thought could lead him anywhere, the mysterious smiling woman floated down to him and stopped moving right when her button nose touched his nose.


    "I found you," she dered in a voice sweeter than ambrosia. "Just like all the times before, I found you once again. It''s always just been the two of us."


    "What do you mean¡ª" Before Azmodeus could finish asking his question, the mysterious silver-haired woman cupped his cheeks and took his lips for her own.


    Their hot breath mingled together as their tongues wrapped around one another, and under the presence of a mother and a father, the mysterious woman disengaged the kiss.


    With a string of saliva sensually connecting the two of them, the woman touched her lips with her index finger and then touched his lips with that same finger. "It has always just been the two of us," she said.


    "When we met as children in the Yang Sect, I fell in love. In a cave, I sat and waited, waited for the day that you''d arrive. And there you came¡­ I was a silly Drake, and you were the same person you''ve always been¡­"


    "I don''t understand what you''re saying¡ª"


    ....

 Chapter 385: Azmodeuss True Identity, Weaving A Story

    "I don''t understand what you''re saying¡ª"


    "Shhh," the woman whispered as she put her finger up to Azmodeus''s lips. "Let me weave you a story, my love. It is one that begins in a time long, long ago. A time when I ruled over the higher Immortal Fment Realities as one of the few Super Transcendent Immortals."


    With Azmodeus, Delh, Miss Moon, and Silver Catastrophe as the audience, the mysterious woman began a retelling that depicted a wonderful, vibrant life. Yet also a life filled with sorrow and unfairness¡­


    This was the story of an ordinary mortal who was pulled above the Infinite Boundless Realities and granted an audience with the Immortal Goddess Of Light.


    It all started with an idental summon¡­


    ¡ª---------


    A countless number of years ago, in the Super Transcendent Dimension of the Highest Tier Grotto Reality. In this ce sat a floating ce oozing of opulence and extravagance.


    The dimension was so colorful and vibrant that no normal mortal could possibly hope to quantify what exactly they were seeing. And inside the pce centered in the middle of this dimension teeming with diversity, there lived an Immortal Goddess.


    She was known by all worthy enough to know of her existence, and her beauty was unrivaled by even the heavens themselves.


    Aphrodite.


    .


    "My Lady Aphrodite, the summoning room requires your immediate attention," reported ady of immense beauty.


    She stood over the bedside of a woman far more beautiful than herself. The woman was sprawled out on a dazzling bed of satin and silver, and her unquestionably bountiful body was on view for all to see.


    Of course, her room was normally unbothered for innumerable eons, so very few times had someone ever bore witness to her vuluptuous figure. This, however, was one of those times.


    A woman untouched by man, awed by all.


    This woman rose from her peaceful slumber, allowing her mountains of jelly to wobble all over the ce. "What is it, Lilian?" She asked with a drowsy expression.


    "The Summoning Room, mydy¡ª"


    "What about it?"


    "The energy you inputted into it was too much for the summoning pool to handle. Therefore, there have been some¡­plications," Lilian said nervously.


    Aphrodite narrowed her sparkling eyes. "Complications?" She parroted.


    "Yes, mydy. It is now on the fritz, and you are the only one capable of manipting the amount of your energy coursing through the summoning pool," Lilian answered respectfully.


    "I see," Aphrodite said as she elegantly rolled out of bed and magically conjured up a scantily thin pink dress. "I will go and handle this matter right away."


    FWIP!


    Doing just as she said she would, Aphrodite vanished from her position and reappeared in a slick, gray-walled room with arge blue summoning circle located in the room''s center.


    The summoning circle was not consistently releasing energy. Rather, it was sparking and fluctuating, clearly on the verge of spiraling out of control.


    "A simple fix," Aphrodite said nonchntly. "Just a snap and it will return to norma¡ª"


    As she was saying this, something inexplicable urred out of the corner of her eye.


    In the middle of the summoning circle shed a bright white light, and from that light emerged the unconscious body of a raven-haired man around 18 or 19 years old.


    "Now, what is this?" Aphrodite said as she slowly approached the unconscious man. "A mortal," she announced after uncovering everything about his existence.


    "To have a mortal without the slightest smidgen of cultivation base appear in a Grotto Reality of this level," Aphrodite mused. "How interesting."


    She lifted up the boy, her curiosity having been piqued. She then returned to her chambers, informed Lilian of the problem having been fixed, and then nurtured the young man back to health.


    Oddly enough, it took a little more than ten days for the young man to recover from his fatigue enough to awaken from his semia.


    "Hwmm¡­"


    The young man slowly crept his eyes open, and the first thing he saw was a woman with an appearance so beautiful that no amount of words could hope to describe it. "W-Who are you?" He tried to ask with a steady voice but failed miserably under the power of her charm.


    The divinely beautiful woman let out a soothing, heavenly giggle. "My name is Aphrodite. Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love."


    "Aphrodite¡­ It''s a pretty name¡­"


    "Fufu~ You have a slippery tongue on you~ I think I will keep you around~"


    From that moment on, the young man was tasked with serving as one of the servants of Aphrodite''s home. After learning that he had talent for cultivation, Aphrodite herself started to personally train him.


    They spent every waking moment together; they did everything together, saw everything together, and eventually, their rtionship extended beyond that of merely master and servant.


    Then they fell in love¡­


    It was a forbidden love, one that would never be tolerated by the other Great Chaos Gods if they ever found out. After all, the only reason Aphrodite was untouched until now was because her Chaos Law dictated she never fall in love herself.


    She was only ever meant to guide the Eternal Energy of Love into the lives of other beings, never to experience love herself.


    That was her curse¡­ That was her destiny.


    However, the young man and Aphrodite didn''t care. For millions of years, they have loved each other, and for an eternity, they would continue loving each other.


    But all good things must eventuallye to an end.


    The information of Aphrodite''s illicit affair had somehow reached the ears of another Great Chaos God, and then it was known to all Great Chaos Gods¡­


    Without giving Aphrodite a chance to exin herself or even refute their usations, the Great Chaos Gods barged into her personal dimension and demanded that she hand over the young man.


    "You must leave me," Aphrodite cried while hugging the waist of the man she loved. "T-There is no other way. I will send you back to your Mortal World, and there you will live out the rest of your life. A-Away from me¡­"


    ....

 Chapter 386: Making a Sacrifice, This is Goodbye, Aphrodite

    Feeling the tears stain his shirt and listening to his wife''s strained voice, the young man''s face darkened as he gritted his teeth in anger.


    All his life, he had received affection from no one but Aphrodite. He was hers, and she was his.


    Aphrodite was his everything¡­


    And now there were narcissistic Chaos Gods who wished to take everything from him. His wife, his life, and his¡­ child¡­


    The young man now had a choice to make.


    Would he choose to leave his everything and escape, or would he choose to stay behind and die?


    The answer was obvious.


    "Aphrodite," the young man said with a softened voice as he cupped her cheeks and wiped her tears. "You know I can''t leave. You know that."


    "No!" Aphrodites screamed as she let go of her husband. "I know that you don''t want to leave, not that you can''t leave!"


    Even though her expression was ghastly and contorted in anger, the young man''s smile only grew fonder. "You know I can''t leave you," he repeated.


    Aphrodite exploded in anger as she threw her hands out and gathered Chaos Energy, causing her soft pink hair to wildly flutter all over the ce. "I don''t care what you want anymore!" She yelled as she prepared to tie her husband down by force and send him to the Mortal Realm.


    The young man''s expression became affectionate to a level bordering on insane infatuation. "You know I can''t leave you, but you also know that I have to leave you," he said as he activated something inside him, causing a bright sh of white light to burst forth.


    "!!!"


    Aphrodite''s divinely beautiful face immediately lost all color as she instantly knew what this light around her husband meant.


    "Noooo!! You can''t!! I refuse to lose you!!!" She frantically screamed while bashing her hands against the light. "I will give myself up!! J-Just please, don''t do this! Do-Don''t d-do this," she pleaded as her voice broke down, her body following right after.


    "You know," the young man said gently as the white light corroded the outeryer of his skin, tarnishing his handsome appearance. "From the very first moment Iid eyes on you, I knew you were the one. The one I would spend the rest of eternity thinking about."


    OOOM!


    The Great Chaos Gods broke through the innermost barrier of the dimension, rapidly approaching the goddess''s chambers.


    The young man slightly smiled at this urrence before continuing to speak. "Call me superficial, but I genuinely believed that I would love you forever. And when I heard from your mouth that we would have a kid, my joy was immeasurable," he said as his body continued to deteriorate.


    The way he stared affectionately at her only caused Aphrodite''s tears to stream down her face with even greater fervor. "I-I won''t allow it!" She deliriously screamed as she used 1000% of her power to break through the light.


    However, breaking something that one''s own divinew created was nearly impossible. That being even more the case if the creation in question had a rtion with her core existence.


    In other words, all of her attacks were futile.


    The young man reached out his hand and touched the light that encapsted him. As the skin on his fingers melted off his bones, his warm smile emted nothing but love for the woman in front of him and the life inside her.


    "I''ve loved you from day one," he said lovingly. "And just when I believed my love for you could grow no more, you went and proved me wrong."


    Drip, drop. Drip, drop.


    As more and more of the young man''s skin and bones melted off onto the floor, the despair within Aphrodite grew to levels verging onplete loss of mind.


    Yet, just as her mind was going to slip away, the young man''s melting hand slipped through the light barrier and gently cupped her face.


    "!!!"


    Aphrodite''s eyes moistened once more as she held his hand while staring at his warm smile,pletely under the belief that his hand was fine. That everything was fine.


    "Aphrodite," the young man said in a voice sweeter than honey.


    "Y-Yes," Aphrodite answered, her voice strained.


    She cupped his hand as if she were terrified to let go, and slowly, she began to open her eyes. She wished with all her being that this was just a nightmare and that everything would be fine as soon as she opened her eyes.


    "You know the names I proposed?" Asked the young man, his voice more distant than before.


    While still in the process of opening her eyes, Aphrodite lightly nodded. "I-I remember," she said.


    The young man leaned in closer, passing through the light barrier as if it weren''t even there. "Well, I didn''t want to tell you this before, but I liked yours more," he said jokingly. "After I''m¡­ gone, I hope you choose the ones you picked for if the baby turns out to be a boy or a girl."


    Aphrodite suddenly shot her eyes open, anger contorting her features. "What are you talking about¡ª"


    As soon as she viewed her husband''s appearance, her eyes lost all life as she fell to her knees and weeped. She cried harder than she had in her entire life.


    Aphrodite was the god of love. She wasn''t meant to cry; she wasn''t supposed to be crying.


    And yet she was¡­


    The young man retracted his hand from the bawling beauty, slowly watching as his hand''s bones melted until nothing was left.


    Piang.


    His hand snapped off at the base, and the rest of his arm followed not long after.


    "I must look like quite the freak, huh?" He saidughingly. "This is a terrible way to look when saying farewell, but it''s not like I had many other options."


    Aphrodite waspletely unresponsive to everything her husband was saying. The image in her mind still haunted her, and for the rest of her life, that image would be imprinted into her mind. Acting as a scar that she would never be able to forget.


    ....

 Chapter 387: The Death That Began Everything

    The young man treated the pain as thin air. Even as his nose crumbled and fell off his face, the only thing he could think about wasforting his everything.


    With his other hand, he stuck it through the light barrier and once more approached his wife with it. However, contrary to thest time, this hand softlynded on the top of her bed of gorgeous pink hair. He then began to gently rub back and forth.


    This affectionate gesture snapped Aphrodite out of her stupor. "W-We can figure something else out! Pl-Please, j-just don''t leave me¡­!" She screamed and mumbled with what little sanity she had left.


    "Pl-Please¡­"


    The moment she went to grab her husband''s other arm, Aphrodite realized that there was no longer a hand left to grab.


    All life left her face.


    Slowly, she crept her eyes upward, and every inch of the way, her heart was filled with hope. When left with nothing else, only hope could provide light unto thee.


    However, this time was not one of those times.


    "H-Husband," Aphrodite despondently mumbled, looking right at the smiling young man. "You''re still here," she said with relief. "That must mean you finally came to reason. From now on, you shouldn''t scare me like that."


    No response.


    Aphrodite furrowed her brows and puffed her cheeks. "You shouldn''t ignore me like that, you big dummy!" She grumbled while turning her head off to the side. "Do you have any idea what you almost just did!? And now you ignore me¡­ You''re just a big baka!"


    She refused to look at that snide smirk she just knew was stered on her husband''s face. Yet, after a few seconds of still no response, she turned her face back toward her husband, expecting to see his cheeky expression.


    "That''s enough joking around, my love¡ª"


    Silence.


    For an instant that felt like an eternity, a deafening hush overwhelmed all of existence.


    The dead Great Chaos Gods outside spoke not a word, the eloquent immortal birds sang no tunes, and the morning dew droplets no longer dripped off their perches.


    They say that silence is far more terrifying than loud noise.


    And they would be correct.


    They also say that love conquers all.


    And they would be wrong.


    "W-Why¡­"


    Aphrodite''s lifeless mumbling broke the silence that enveloped reality, her listless stare serving as the prelude to the advent of a lonely eternity.


    Tears incessantly streamed down her face, even as no emotion was present.


    "Why did you leave me¡­?"


    "I told you that we would find a different way, so why did you leave me¡­?"


    "Did you believe yourself to be doing something selfless¡­? Something that you thought was best for me¡­?"


    Aphrodite''s anger grew like a volcano as life returned to her expression. "You fucking bastard!!!" She erupted. "I don''t need your fucking selflessness!! I don''t need your bullshit white knight y!!! I hate you!! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!!!"


    "I don''t need any of that!! What didn''t you understand about that!? What didn''t you understand!?"


    Thud!


    Aphrodite stood up, copsed, stood up, and then copsed once more, all in repeated session.


    After rising for the final time, she transmitted all her power and hate into her hand and punched out with everything she had.


    BOOOOM!!!


    Thud!


    Aphrodite fell to the ground with a pain-stricken expression. "What don''t you understand¡­!? I didn''t need any of that¡­!" She silently yelled. "I needed you¡­!!!"


    Then, as if the flood gates had shattered and crashed down onto the world, Aphrodite''s excruciatingly painful cries echoed out across all immortal realms.


    For dozens of days, her cries could be heard by all. It was only after her tears ran dry that reality fully settled in.


    "He''s gone¡­"


    "I''m alone¡­"


    They say that love conquered all.


    They would be lying.


    As the God of Love, Aphrodite was forced to never fall in love, for if she did, dire consequences would await her.


    To bypass this curse, she decided to give full control over her emotions to a single mortal man, effectively making the Chaos Law of Love believe that he was in love with himself.


    She trusted the mortal. She trusted him with everything she had. In no alternate reality did she believe he would take advantage of her and alter her emotions by force.


    Fortunately, Aphrodite was correct in this blind faith. The young man would never do anything to harm her or make her feel something that she didn''t want to feel.


    However, that didn''t mean the young man wouldn''t do what was necessary if it really came down to it. And although his wife never spoke of this unique usage, he was able to make his guesses.


    If ever the Goddess of Love were to fall in love, then the consequences would be dire. Yet they would also allow the Goddess of Love to briefly break past all limitations and exceed the Grotto Realm''s power limiters.


    As the young man had taken over the Goddess of Love''s emotions, he had full control over this unique usage. All it took was an infusion of his love for her and then a follow-up of istion.


    After isting the emotion of love that he held for her within the bounds of the Chaos Law of Love, the young man was then able to convince the Law that this, too, was his emotion. (Which it was.)


    But rather than have the Chaos Law believe that the Goddess of Love fell in love with her emotion, the young man was able to convince it that he fell in love with himself.


    This caused the Law to be confused, and while taking advantage of its inability to reverse the problem, the young man unleashed the full immensity of his love for Aphrodite. This resulted in an all-out breakdown of the Law, and with nothing left to restrict it, the ''dire consequences'' were delivered.


    If ever the Goddess of Love were to fall in love, she would die, forget her love, be reborn, and then a curse would be ced on her core existence, unable to be removed.


    This curse would make it impossible for her to ever again fall in love.


    Call it a y on destiny or a sick joke by an evil god, but it was the truth. It was Azmodeus''s truth.


    ....

 Chapter 388: The Cursed One

    Aphrodite, or otherwise known as the Goddess of Light, was not the cursed one. She simply couldn''t retain her memories after having created so many incarnations of herself.


    With time, those memories would return to her. But initially, her incarnations might as well have been no different from the countless other girls in the universe.


    Azmodeus, on the other hand, was¡­ cursed.


    He was gued with something so powerful and permanent that it was impossible to be removed even if one''s power exceeded the limits ced on the Grotto Realms.


    Think of a building with only one block holding the whole thing up. If taken away, the building would copse, andplete destruction would be imminent.


    But the worst part about this analogy was that Azmodeus couldn''t even do that¡­


    The number of times he had met with an incarnation of Aphrodite was too many to count. And each time, she would fall in love with him, only hoping that he would one day feel the same.


    However, each and every time, without exception, Aphrodite''s incarnations would leave him after the curse''s activation. Some died, some lived, but either way, the curse would take them away from him.


    Many a times Azmodeus wished he could just die and get it over with. And many a times, he had tried and failed.


    He could die, yes. But his core existence could never actually die.


    Azmodeus would always reincarnate, and he would always meet one of Aphrodite''s incarnations.


    He wanted to fall in love but could not. They fell in love and then left him.


    Aphrodite wished to end his suffering and stop sending incarnations after him, but there was a greedy, selfish part of her that yearned for that sweet and kind young man she met in the summoning circle all those years ago. While at war with herself, she kept on sending out more incarnations. Sometimes, even multiple at the same time.


    Aphrodite assumed this would increase her chances of breaking the Goddess of Love''s Curse. It did not.


    "Now, do you understand?" Aphrodite said sweetly as she pulled her hands away from Azmodeus.


    She let him digest all the memories he was receiving. While doing so, she beckoned her hand toward the Divine Tree Spirit, Delh. "You are one of me," she stated gently. "Come now. The time limit is up for you."


    Although Delh had no idea what this mysterious, beautifuldy was talking about, something within her very essence told her to do as thedy said.


    So that''s what she did.


    FWIP!


    In an instant, Delh was no more, and all her emotions and personality were transmitted to Aphrodite, causing her expression to morph into euphoria as she experienced everything Delh experienced.


    "How I wish to spend eternity with you," Aphrodite said as she gently caressed Azmodeus''s face. "Not through bits and pieces of different versions of myself, but with the real me."


    Her expression suddenly morphed from caring to distraught. "Unfortunately, that is not meant for someone like me. Just as it is not meant for someone like you," she said somberly. "Thosest few Incarnations... You were close to loving them¡­ So close."


    Aphrodite''s tone matched her gloomy expression as the almost permanent tear marks on her face were illuminated under the willowy waves of the moon''s glow.


    "Now, you search for them," she said softly. "You make yourself believe that you aren''t searching for them. However, we both know that you are."


    Aphrodite''s saddened look morphed into something matching the glow of the moon as she lightly giggled, letting her emotions overflow onto the subtle moonlit glow.


    "You were always like that," she said as she reminisced. "Always so ridiculously shtupid¡­"


    For a second, her face perfectly matched up with that of Yang Hua, then it flipped over onto Nao Long. The Sect sisters, You Mei and Li Na, their master, Bing Nu Shen. Even Chi Wu, the Crimson Witch and his two disciples, Rou Tian and Pan Nu, were not excluded from the faces that covered Aphrodite''s face.


    However, besides those women, there were others. They were unfamiliar to the current Azmodeus, but the past versions of him would know exactly who they were¡­


    The most beautiful and most kind women in history had gathered around him over countless eons. There were thousands upon thousands of them, and they all seemed to have the same look on their wless faces as they stared fondly at the unconscious crimson-haired man.


    "Do you remember what you said to me when we first met?" Aphrodite said dolefully. "You said¡­ that I had a pretty name."


    Her touches became ever softer as she caressed Azmodeus''s face as if he were the most precious thing in the world.


    "I have lived a very long time. A time so long that no normal Immortal would stay sane if they lived the same length," Aphrodite said with a hint of loneliness.


    However, when she looked at every crease and curve on her husband''s extraordinarily handsome face, her affectionate smile creased as she bent down. Her fluorescent pink hair fell over her head and covered Azmodeus in a curtain. In that curtain, it was just the two of them.


    Aphrodite leaned her face just enough that her small button nose rubbed against his. "In all my life, not once had anyoneplimented my name," she said lovingly. "They would always rave about my appearance and give out superficial remarks, but never had anyone cared enough about something that wasn''t my body or face."


    "That was until¡­ meeting you."


    The warmth and love permeating the air around her was on the verge of bing palpable as she leaned in for a kiss.


    Yet, just before her soft red lips could make contact with his, something ethereal and unfathomable prevented her from going any further.


    Aphrodite''s expression emted her annoyance. "It seems like temporarily cheating the curse with that earlier kiss was a one-off thing," she said dejectedly. "One would think that I was not the Goddess of Love, but rather a victim of a curse from the actual Goddess of Love."


    As the mncholic tension increased in intensity, Aphrodite pulled back from the man she loved more than life itself.


    .....

 Chapter 389: Getting One Over On You...

    BZzzzztt!!


    Aphrodite''s otherworldly form started to spasm and release unknown waves of pink and white, causing the world to feel a powerful pressure. A pressure that contained within it all the soul-wrenching pain the Goddess of Love had kept bottled up since time immemorial.


    Her big, beautiful pink eyes softened as she ignored her own body. "It looks like my time, too, is up," she said as she went back to running her hands through Azmodeus''s fluffy hair. "Some part inside me hoped that you would wake up and we would ride our way to eternity¡­ together¡­"


    "But the main part of me knows that is not possible," she murmured as she took her husband''s head off herp and gentlyid it down on the flowing green grass.


    As parts of Aphrodite''s immacte figure chipped off and blew into the wind, the way she looked at Azmodeus never changed.


    When around 30% of her body had chipped away, she suddenly turned her head down and bit her lips. "This will be thest time," she mumbled. "Thest time that I''ll bother you with my presence."


    The wind whistled and the moon''s glow focused on the Goddess of Love''s sorrowful words as she couldn''t bring herself to look at the man whom she had forcefully sumbed to excruciating torture for countless millennia.


    "...I always was annoying, wasn''t I?" She suddenly said in a tearful voice. "Every version of myself was always in your way¡­ They cared not for what theycked or what their presence meant for your aspirations¡­"


    "I''ve always just wanted to be closer to you¡­"


    "...Was that so much to ask¡­? To want to return to the way that things once were¡­"


    "To return to him¡­?"


    Drip, Drop. Drip, Drop.


    Dark stormy clouds formed in the previously clear skies as an onught of rain beat down on a pitiful girl that had already been beaten down to the dirt for her entire life.


    Azmodeus was her salvation. He was her escape from her terrible, controlled life in a birdcage.


    And yet even he, too, left her¡­


    "...In the end," Aphrodite mumbled as she ran her hand through Azmodeus''s hair onest time. "I never got to tell you that we had a daughter¡­."


    Drip, Drop! Drip, Drop!


    The rain suddenly increased in intensity. It poured down so hard that Aphrodite''s cracked, beautiful face was shrouded by the droplets streaming from her eyes. Her expression waspletely out of view as she clenched the hem of her dress until the whites of her knuckles were visible.


    "I-I named her No-Nora¡­ Don''t you remember¡­?" She said in tears. "T-Thatt wass the name that yo-you told me not to c-choose¡­"


    Aphrodite''s goddess facade cracked and shattered as she broke down into tears and let the waterworks work together with the rain to stain the soil.


    "S-She always used to ask about her papa," she murmured in bits and pieces. "I-I¡­ I¡­ I would tell her that her papa was out fighting the strongest of monsters¡­ I.. I would tell her that he would one day emerge victorious and return home to his two girls¡­"


    By this point, Aphrodite was already bawling her eyes out as her cracked nails dug into the mushy soil right next to her husband.


    "...It¡­ It has been 500 Chaos Eras since that point in time¡­ After¡­ After a while, Nora would no longer ask about where her Papa was¡­ W-Whenever I would bring up the matter and tell her that you would be home soon, she would put on a facade and wear a fake smile¡­ And¡­ And she would tell me that it would a-all be okay¡­"


    "Th-That ''we'' would all be okay¡­!"


    Drip, Drop! Drip, Drop!! Drip, Drop!!!


    "But everything would not be okay!! I was not okay!! I am still not okay!!!"


    Aphrodite poured out all her pent-up emotions right along with the rain, letting the man she loved more than eternity know how she felt!


    No response.


    Aphrodite dug her hands into the dirt so hard that her nails cracked and broke off. However, even with blood oozing out of her fingers, eyes, and lips, she never once heeded the pain and relented.


    "Just like before," she murmured in an almost inaudible tone. "Just like before¡­ you don''t respond to me¡­"


    After a moment of lying there, Aphrodite suddenly turned her head up and stared right at her husband. "I bet you would hate me more than you already do if you knew that, contrary tost time, I would be the one to leave you this time," she said as she forced a smile, trying her best to stop more tears from falling.


    CRACK¡ª


    "This time¡­ I got one over on you¡­"


    As thest of her body cracked and fluttered into the wind, Aphrodite made sure that her joyous smile and tear-stained face were thest thing she ever showed in front of her husband.


    "I hope you find your happiness¡­ away from me," she said in despair.


    "...This is my final goodbye¡­"


    Aphrodite''s saddeningly fake smile was thest thing to vanish into the wind as her entire existence faded into oblivion.


    ¡ª-------


    A few minutes after Aphrodite''s final departure.


    "Humu¡­?"


    Azmodeus slowly opened his drowsy eyes and leaned up from the grass. He immediately felt that something was not right, but he was unable to pinpoint what exactly that something was.


    "Why don''t I remember how I got here?" He asked himself in confusion. "And why do I feel like I was here with someone, or multiple people, but I can''t remember who they were¡­?"


    There were so many unexinable questions, but no one left to answer them¡­


    After a few seconds of getting nowhere in his brooding, Azmodeus shook his head to clear his mind. He then rose from the ground and refocused on his goals.


    First and foremost, he needed to make his way back to the Omega Dome and take up a long-term mission that would bring him to one of the neighboring nations. As a 3rd Generation Knight Apprentice, he had every right to request this.


    If possible, though, Azmodeus hoped he could receive a mission that kept him away from the Omega Knights. If it were all possible, he would prefer to tell them that he wished to ''prove himself by himself'' and go in as a lone wolf.


    ...

 Chapter 390: A Caravan?

    "I believe that should be usible," Azmodeus said as his feet left the ground and burst forth into the vast verdant ins beyond.


    For some reason, he was right outside the Omega Dome''s periphery, which was definitely quite odd. After all, he had no prior reasons as to why he would be out in the middle of an empty field with a missing area of space that looked almost as if arge tree used to be there.


    "Maybe amnesia?" Azmodeus asked himself with a raised brow. "But as an Immortal¡­ Is that even possible¡­?"


    He didn''t know the answer to that question, but there were many unexinable things in the world. It wouldn''t be all that odd to have a rare one-off urrence of an Immortal Venerable suddenly tracking a case of amnesia.


    After using this train of thought as a form of coping, Azmodeus shed into the Omega Dome''s outer barrier. He then passed through the 3rd Generation section and 2nd Generation section before finally arriving in the area for 1st Generation Knight Apprentices.


    Azmodeus entered through a set of wide, translucent blue doors that looked like clouds. Yet, after he passed through them, they closed as if they were solid objects.


    The doors themselvesy in the center of an empty ck basin, but as soon as one walked through them, an entirely new world would be opened up. One filled with low-hanging old buildings and unusually-shaped establishments. Some in the form of boots, and some that looked like teapots or kettles.


    Strolling in and around these buildings were 3rd Generation Knight Apprentices, all of whom were in the Immortal Venerable Realm. Some even neared the Immortal King Realm, and were likely only half a step away from making a breakthrough.


    As Azmodeus made his way through this uniquendscape, he did his utmost to ignore all the hustle and bustle. Thankfully, his cultivation and technique prowess were sufficient enough to allow him to slip past all the passersby and make his way up arge hill. At the top of the hill was a spacious building in the shape of a sandwich.


    The sandwich building clearly had people living in it as the lights were on, enabling the residents to see better under the year-round dimly lit skies of the 3rd Generation Knight Apprentice Grounds.


    As Azmodeus entered this oddly-shaped building and spoke with the ones who gave out missions, something even more unusual was urring within the Silver Dragon Pce of the Silver Catastrophe.


    "...Huh¡­? Why does my head hurt so much??"


    The Silver Catastrophe rubbed his temples while sitting atop his throne. By his side was his wife, Miss Moon, and she, too, was rubbing her head as if trying to alleviate a migraine.


    "My husband, I have the same sensation," Miss Moon said as she leaned up against him, trying to recall the most recent period of time.


    However, no matter how much she thought about it, nothing came back to her. It was as ifrge, important chunks of her memories had been removed, but rather than find this unusual, her mind convinced her that it waspletely normal.


    The same thing was happening for the Silver Catastrophe, and within mere seconds, they shook their heads to clear their confusion. Then, as if what they just experienced was all a part of their imagination, they went back to signing papers.


    They had no recollection of ever conceiving a daughter known as Sylvia. It was as if she never existed to begin with.


    ¡ª----------


    Meanwhile, a few tens of thousands of miles outside the Omega Dome, Azmodeus skipped his feet across the ground and darted above the vast grassy ins and fields of the River Serpent Empire.


    His new mission was to go to the neighboring Azuresk Empire and join their highest ranks as a Chief Royal Advisor. He would then live out the next indefinite period of time as the Chief Royal Advisor. Only upon breaking through to the Immortal King Realm would he be able toplete the mission and return to the Omega Dome to apply as an official Omega Knight.


    Azmodeus would then be asked if he would like to serve within the Omega Dome Headquarters, head back to the Azuresk Empire, or take up an entirely different mission and continue enforcing thew.


    While still on the fence about what he nned to do in the future, Azmodeus glided across the grassy ins. Then, with a slight ear twitch, he heard somemotion from further ahead on the naturally carved path.


    "A caravan¡­?"


    A few hundred meters in front of him was a caravan of six carts. Three of the carts were leaning off to the side as they were missing a couple of their wooden wheels. Or, rather, their wheels were being taken away by some unsavory characters wearing baggy ck and white clothing. They also had masks over their faces, all with the same scorpion sigil printed on them.


    "First a caravan and now some thieves, great," Azmodeus said sarcastically. "Well, they are in my way. And as such, they deserve to be borrowed from themselves."


    As Azmodeus decisively made the choice to approach the caravan and ''assist'' the poormon folk of the caravan, they too noticed his presence.


    "Look, father! Help has arrived!" A young man yelled while tied up next to his father. Hisplexion immediately improved as he started to shout out to the approaching silhouette.


    "Shut up, you idiot!" The man''s father berated his son as he pped him across the head without using his hands.


    After making sure that the robbers weren''t focused on them, the father breathed a sigh of relief. He then carefully watched with his son as the robbers confronted the mysterious red-haired man.


    ''These are no normal thieves,'' the man thought in a grievous tone. ''All of them can match up to 3rd Generation Knight Apprentices, and they are part of the farrger Sand Scorpion Syndicate.''


    ...

 Chapter 391: A Loyal Patron

    This unknown young man doesn''t even look as if he has any cultivation. If he confronts the Sand Scorpion Syndicate members, then he will surely¡­ die.''


    Both father and son, as well as the other ten or so tied-upmoners, watched the confrontation with bated breath.


    They were aware that the neer likely stood little to no chance against the Sand Scorpion Syndicate thieves, but that didn''t stop hope from bubbling up within them. The way they saw it, if they were going to die either way, then they might as well die with the tiniest smidgen of hope within their hearts.


    Then, like an explosive bullet, a fast-moving object shed past their faces and crashed into the side of a caravan wagon, knocking it over and spilling out all its goods!


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    The merchant, his stupid son, and themoners all swiveled their heads behind them. Completely out of their wildest dreams, they saw the thief captain knocked unconscious while nted into the shattered wagon!


    "How can that be possible!?" The merchant yelled with absolute horror etched across his face. "The Thief Captain is a Grade 9 Immortal Venerable! He''s considered extremely powerful in the outer empires! Even Kings don''t dare to mess with him!"


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Shooting right past his astonished expression were the other Sand Scorpion Thieves, all of whom were frothing from their mouths and fading into the afterlife.


    "I don''t know about being a King," Azmodeus said while slowly walking past the kneeling merchant. "But I am, however, a businessman. And I am looking to conduct business right now."


    "!!!" "!!!"


    His nonchnt words took everyone out of their stupors as they shot their eyes to the back of the tall ck-robed man. They watched as his hair ethereally fluttered in the wind, and they also watched as he¡­ shamelessly looted the thief corpses.


    Even for him, they had some nice goodies. He was not yet stupid enough to pass up on free loot.


    After finishing up the looting process, Azmodeus was going to devour their corpses and take their existences for himself, but before he could do that, a hand suddenlynded on his shoulder.


    "???"


    "I don''t mean to touch you so rudely, good sir," the merchant said frantically. "But if you do anything to their bodies, you won''t be able to im the bounties on their heads."


    "Bounties?" Azmodeus repeated with intrigue.


    The Merchant''s eyes brightened. "Yes, sir! The bounties on the heads of these thieves will go for far more than their worldly possessions will fetch you," he said as he beckoned his son.


    Silence.


    The Merchant slowly turned his head toward his son. "...You bumbling buffoon!" He screamed while staring at his son struggling to escape simple binding ropes. "Have you learned nothing from what I have taught you thus far!? Stop fooling around and get up here right this instant! Don''t interfere with the dealings of your father!"


    "I''m sorry, father! But I can''t get out of these troublesome things!" The merchant''s son screamed as he rolled around on the hard ground in aedic way.


    The Merchant profusely sweated from all pores. "I sincerely apologize for this huge embarrassment, dear sir! That son of mine is an idiot! To bepletely candid with you, I don''t even believe he is mine!"


    Azmodeus watched the merchant and son pair with an amused look in his eyes. "It''s understandable," he said as he retracted his hand and spared the corpses of the thieves, just as the merchant suggested. "Anyway, can you tell me where I should go if I wish to take these corpses in for the reward money?"


    "Y-Yes sir! If that idiot son of mine could do anything right, then he would''ve handed you a mobile map tracker to our store association. But since he cannot even do that, I will take it from him for you," the Merchant said as he used his Immortal power to pull a storage ring off his son''s index finger.


    "W-Wait, father, what about me!?" The merchant''s son shouted. "Are you not going to untie me!?"


    The Merchant''s brows furrowed in fury. "No, you bumbling idiot! Do something useful and untie yourself!" He shouted back in response to his son''s miserable wails.


    After slicking back his ck hair and regaining his sophisticated demeanor, the Merchant turned toward the one who saved them. "Ignore him, good sir, and let us get back to what we were talking about," he said as he rubbed his hands with a kiss-ass disposition.


    "Oh?" Azmodeus raised one of his brows in interest. "And remind me, what exactly were we talking about?" He asked.


    BING!


    The merchant''s storage ring shed as a small metallic object shot out of it andnded in his hands. "This here, good sir, is a map tracker," he announced with a hint of pride. "It is something that our business association helped found and patent, and it is also what will allow you to find our stores to sell the goods obtained by those vile Sand Scorpions."


    Azmodeus krinkled his forehead in slight annoyance. "What exactly does this have to do with iming the bounties on their heads?" He asked.


    The Merchant started to sweat even more than before as he took out a handkerchief and wiped off the perspiration forming on his forehead. "Don''t get me wrong, good sir!" He said out of desperation. "Right beside one of my store association buildings is a Bounty Hunter Office. As the saying goes: ''Two birds with one stone''.


    You can sell all your obtained goods to me, and then you can move over to the Bounty Hunter Office to im the rewards for the bounties you killed!"


    Azmodeus rxed his expression at this exnation as he understood the gist of what the wizened merchant was getting at.


    After a moment of thought, he focused his piercing gaze on the nervous merchant. "Where is your Business Association located?" He asked.


    "The Azuresk Empire, good sir!"


    Azmodeus''s eyes softened. "You, merchant, have earned yourself a loyal patron," he said as he patted him on the shoulders with a toothy grin. "I will do you the honor of escorting you back to your Business Association. While doing so, I will also actively flush out the rest of these Sand Scorpion Thieves and obtain some more goods."


    "!?"


    ....

 Chapter 392: The Azureflask Empire

    "You n to do what, good sir!?" The Merchant asked with a panicky tone.


    Azmodeus passed by the jittery merchant and walked up to the tied-up people. "I told you that I''m going to add to the number of heads that I''ll im when we make it to that store of yours," he said as he shot out a few beams of sharp energy and cut off the ropes binding themonfolk.


    "Thank you very much, great savior!" They all shouted in unison as they bowed to the ground in reverence. "We will engrave this good deed in our hearts and keep it there for the rest of our lives!"


    Azmodeus ignored their pradling and instead focused on the tipped-over carriages and the dead thieves. He first put the carriages back up right, restored the damage done to them, and then pulled the thieves toward him through the air.


    "Although I cannot destroy your bodies, that does not mean I''ll leave your previous cultivation to its own devices," he said coldly. "Your cultivation is now my cultivation."


    BLING!


    A bright sh of crimson light erupted from his figure and shot into the thieves corpses''. The light absorbed all their cultivation essence before escaping the bodies and returning to their user.


    OOOM!


    Under the bewildered eyes of all the freed immortals, Azmodeus''s aura lightly fluctuated and did what looked like a demonic increase in cultivation!


    "!!!"


    The Merchant saw the badge of the red-haired man and confirmed that he was, in fact, a 3rd Generation Knight Apprentice of the famous Omega Dome Organization.


    But how could a 3rd Generation Knight Apprentice practice demonic arts!?


    He had never heard of such a Knight Apprentice of the Omega Knights!


    Azmodeus slowly turned his blood-red gaze toward the frightenedmoners. "What are you bunch staring at?" He asked with an emotionless expression. "Do I got something on my face¡­?"


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    The way he peered into their core existences and basically insinuated that they would die if word about this ever spread out scared the sh*t out of these people!


    Never in their lives had they encountered a man so terrifying!


    They felt as if ten mountains of pressure were crushing down on them as the crimson devil''s aura extended to the heavens!


    Thud! Thud! Thud!


    Everyone hit the ground in a kowtowing position. "We would never even entertain the idea of saying anything, my Lord! You can trust that!!" They fervently shouted.


    Azmodeus briefly nced at them before walking away from them and getting inside the head carriage. "That is good," he said coldly. "Now get in the carriages. We have a long journey ahead of us."


    He then tipped a farmer''s hat over his head and dozed off, not nning to wake up until sensing the presence of many powerful thieves. He would also keep a lookout for the Headquarters that was halfway recorded in the memories of the Sand Scorpion Thieves, all of which were ''resting'' in his storage ring.


    The Merchant, his son, and the othermoners practically leapt off the ground and hurried over to their carriages. They promptly activated the magic devices incorporated into the carriages, which caused the wheels to roll without the need for a horse. And they did so at extremely fast speed, unmatched by any normal horses.


    Azmodeus and his little parade of witnesses set off for the Azuresk Empire.


    On their way, their caravan''s personal guardian ughtered countless thieves and even took out a few Thief Syndicates with Immortal Kings heading them.


    As thousands of corpses and storage rings were stacked up on an additional carriage to the very end of the caravan line, the Azuresk Empire finally came into view. To say the least, it was a mystical sight, far different from the more isted Riverserpent Empire.


    "So this is the great Azuresk Empire, an Empire said to surpass even the Riverserpent Empire in terms of top-level military force," Azmodeus said as he looked at the circr enclosure ahead of him.


    The enclosure itself stretched in a circle for countless miles as a very hard and tall wall lined its borders every step of the way. Atop these walls were sentaris, towers, and other forms of security. Inside some of the towers were powerful presences within and exceeding the Immortal King Realm!


    Azmodeus could even feel a couple Almighty auras in the background, all of whom were at least in the Immortal Emperor Realm. If he were stronger, he might be able to delve even further into the limits of the Azuresk Empire, but unfortunately that was not the case.


    However, above all else, the most eyecatching part about the Azuresk Empire had to be the many differentyers of the territory.


    Starting from the outeryer with the protective walls and inner farnds and then extending to the second, slightly higher elevatedyer. Thisyer was simr to the firstyer as it had the same expansive fielnds, but there were a few differences, such as the higher density of stone buildings and active carriages.


    Then there was the thirdyer, which began at a distance a few tens of thousands of miles away from the beginning of the secondyer. It had a simr topography to the first twoyers and also had a higher poption, but there was also a clear difference in opulence. As in, everyone that walked back and forth in this area dressed like more of a nobleman than amoner.


    They wore nicer things, spoke in a more refined manner, and even had a higher cultivation base average.


    For the first twoyers, themon inhabitants, not the guardsmen, had cultivations ranging from the Human Immortal Realm to the All-Epassing Immortal Realm. On the other hand, those of the thirdyer started out at the Celestial Immortal Realm, with the adults averaging in the Prime Immortal Realm.


    And finally, there was the fourthyer of the ascending cake-like Empire. It stood far higher off the ground than the first threeyers, and it also had a populus that was few in number but high in value.


    ....

 Chapter 393: A mere 3rd Generation Knight Apprentice

    There were tens of thousands of people in the fourthyer, most in the Immortal Venerable Realm, some in the Immortal King Realm, and even fewer in the Immortal Emperor Realm. There were also a certain few shrouded from themon eye, those who did not wish to die but also did wish to ascend their ne and traverse the Immortal Funnel.


    They were typically seen as outliers among their kind and steered away from the Immortal Transcendents actively exploring the Immortal Funnel.


    Luckily for them, most of those who left for the Immortal Funnel never returned, so they never had to worry about being called cowards.


    Those weaker than them could still sneer and make fun of them behind their backs, but what did that matter? They were stronger, and as such, the opinions of weak nobodies mattered not.


    Azmodeus, on the other hand, cared not for any of that nonsense. The only thing on his mind was somehow making his way up to the fourthyer and through therge lineup of extravagant castles to the most massive one in the back.


    "That''s where the loot is most plentiful, no doubt," he said softly to himself as he guided the people huddled up in the caravan.


    Most were too scared to speak after witnessing their savior utilize demonic arts. However, the more daring, or rather, the more stupid ones, like Aflon, the Merchant''s son, were too much of an incessant chatterbox to ever consider learning when it was best to be quiet.


    "So, as I was saying, good sir¡ª" before Aflon could continue speaking, Azmodeus interrupted him, saying:


    "Tell, me, Aflon. Why is it that you don''t want to follow in your father''s footsteps and be a Merchant?" He asked. "As I understand it, your father owns a veryrge business operation that even deals with a few prestigious customers in the fourthyer of the Azuresk Empire. He already made it clear that he ns to pass down the business to you, so why decline?"


    Azmodeus had no real reason put behind asking this question. He was just curious, was all. Plus, they still had a few minutes until they arrived at the checking milestone of the Azuresk Empire''s firstyer, so it made for a good way to pass time.


    Upon hearing the question that their savior asked of him, Aflon went quiet.


    It wasn''t like he couldn''t understand where his father wasing from. But for the betterment of himself and his future, he couldn''t subject himself to something that he just knew he would never be able to perform like his father expected him to perform.


    "To tell the truth, good sir," Aflon said with a slightly hoarse voice. "I have never wanted to be a merchant."


    "Ho?" Azmodeus raised his brows in interest.


    "What are you talking about, Aflon!?" The Merchant shouted with a low voice. "How could you say such things after, just not long ago, you said that you aspired to be a merchant just like your father!?"


    Aflon clenched his fists and turned his head down, unable to face his father. "I just said that to make you happy," he said with a sigh. "We both know that I never had what it took to be a good Merchant. An Adventurer is more suited to my ipetence."


    "Aflon¡­"


    Azmodeus heaved a sigh at the dynamic between the father-son pair. "It looks like you two have some things to figure out," he said as he saw a pair of armored guards approach their caravan. "Though, for now, why don''t one of you figure out how to get me and my pile of dead bodies into the Azuresk Empire?"


    "???" "???"


    Both Aflon and his father looked at each other in confusion, but when they noticed the two shiny dots on the road outside the carriage, they left the previous matter forter and put on their A-game.


    "State your business!" One of the guards shouted as he imposingly stood outside the head carriage.


    The Merchant could immediately see the suspicion in the guard''s eyes, but he was no novice when it came to dealing with security.


    He wore a professional business smile and extended his hand outside of the carriage. In that hand was a small square silver card that had the name of his Business Association on it. "Here, this should clear things up," he said as he saw the guard take the card.


    At first, the guard was indifferent to the schniesty-looking man handing over a business card. However, after taking a look at it, his expression changed with every further thing he read.


    He wiped the perspiration forming on his forehead and once more looked at the smiling businessman. "Feel free to go through, esteemed sir," he said in a respectful tone as he gestured to the gates behind him. "Let them through," hemanded through amunication talisman attached to the right side of his chest.


    Creak¡ª


    As the tworge gates to one of the many entrances to the Empire slowly creaked open, the caravan resumed its advance.


    Azmodeus shed an amused smirk. "It seems like you are quite the bigshot around here," he said in a yful tone. "Never would I have assumed you to be a big dog."


    The Merchant immediately stopped the cool andposed act as he took out a handkerchief and wiped his forehead. "Never would I dream of myself in such a way," he said. "In front of you, good sir, I am nothing more than a worm doing insignificant things."


    Azmodeus patted him on the shoulder to loosen his nerves. "No need to be so uptight, mustache," he said with a friendly smile that had the opposite effect. "Inparison, you truly are far superior. After all, I am just yourmon 3rd Generation Knight Apprentice of the Omega Knights. That isn''t anything when stacked up against someone at the top of arge conglomerate like yours."


    ''Yeah, sure!'' The Merchant thought sarcastically. ''If you were merely an ordinary 3rd Generation Knight Apprentice, then my status would be slightly superior.''


    He wryly chuckled as he cursed the man before him inside his mind.


    ....

 Chapter 394: Mr. Big Dog...

    ''But you aren''t an ordinary 3rd Generation Knight Apprentice!'' The Merchant thought in exasperation. ''An ordinary 3rd Generation Knight Apprentice wouldn''t be capable of killing 4th Grade Immortal Kings with a single sword stroke! Hell, even an actual Omega Knight would find themselves hard-pressed to replicate what you had done!!''


    The Merchant felt like he was losing more and more of his mind with every fake word spewed out of the crimson devil''s mouth.


    He just wanted to go home to his wife and retire¡­


    However, with his new temporary job as a ''guide,'' his wish was highly unlikely to be fulfilled anytime soon¡­


    His son, Aflon, suddenly took him out of his thoughts as he leaned up off his side of the carriage. "What about your destination, good sir? Why were you heading to the Azuresk Empire?" He asked out of the blue.


    Azmodeus looked away from the Merchant and saw the giddish look on the face of his son. "I''ve been hired for something," he said evenly.


    Aflon''s eyes shone. "Rted to the Omega Dome?" He asked.


    Azmodeus nodded his head in confirmation.


    "That is so awesome, good sir!" Aflon eximed. "I''ve always wanted to be an Omega Knight Apprentice myself, but my father thinks the dangers are too high," he said dejectedly.


    The Merchant''s tophat practically flew off his head. "You stupid boy!" He shouted. "The Omega Knight Apprentice Trials are dangerous! I''ve already told you that the sess rate for those who be Knight Apprentices'' is less than 1%!"


    "Do you have any idea just what a number that low represents!?"


    The Merchant was on the verge of erupting in fury.


    Aflon lowered his head and looked away from his father. "I know, but I still want to at least try," he murmured under his breath. "You were too much of a coward to even try all those years ago, but I am different."


    "What was that, you unfilial boy!? Speak up!"


    "Nothing, father!"


    From the sidelines, Azmodeus watched theedic back and forth between father and son. It was almost as if they had practiced their lines for this very moment.


    But the location for dropoff had finally arrived, so he was forced to put a stop to their banter.


    "The Caravan has touched base with our destination," he said to snap them out of their dialogue. "It''s time you make good on your promise and buy all the goods I borrowed."


    The Merchant ignored his son and returned to his usual session of profusely sweating. "Right away, good sir!" He shouted respectfully. "Get off the carriage and act as a proper guide assistant, you damn brat," he whispered as he kicked his son in the touche.


    Aflonnded on the thick stone pavement outside. "Ow! That hurts, father! What did you do that for??" He shouted while rubbing his sore bum.


    "That was what you deserve!" The Merchant shouted back. "Now get to serving the great sir!"


    Alfon was aggrieved, but his father''s word was final. "Fine¡­ I will do it," he mumbled as he made it around the carriage and opened the door, only to see that the good sir had somehow disappeared!


    "Good sir¡ª!"


    Tap.


    "I''m right here," Azmodeus said as he tapped the anxious man on the shoulder. "If something actually happened to me, then I would be a lot more worried about your safety than mine."


    "Y-Yes sir! You are right, sir!" Aflon profusely apologized as he repeatedly bowed.


    "That''s enough of that," Azmodeus said as he patted his shoulder one more time before walking away and ncing at his map tracker. "It seems like your Store Association is pretty close by."


    "Yes, good sir, it is," the Merchant confirmed as he appeared out of nowhere like a ghost.


    ''His ghastlyplexion sure does match how he moves around,'' Azmodeus thought in amusement.


    "Well, let''s get on our way," he said as he followed the constant beeping sounds of the map tracker.


    "Of course, good sir!" Aflon and his dad responded in unison as they scuttled beside the aloof, crimson-haired man.


    As they traveled through the bustling and lively streets of the Azuresk Empire''s extremely vast firstyer, a few figures lurked behind them in the shadows.


    "Galdor, the owner of the Jade Dragon Store Association, has just returned to the Empire," one of the shadows reported to a floating blue talisman.


    "Very well," responded a cold voice from the other end. "Go through with the next part of the ns. And make sure nobody is around when you do it. We don''t want to draw any unnecessary attention to ourselves."


    "Understood," the first cloaked shadow said as he cut off the connection and honed his piercing re on the unknown crimson-haired man leading their targets through the streets.


    "Kill that man first," hemanded.


    "Affirmative," the other shadowy men responded like robots before all of them vanished from their spots.


    Azmodeus briefly shot his icy gaze to where the shadow men just were. ''It seems like a few rabbits believe themselves to be wolves,'' he thought in amusement. ''And they''re even 2nd Grade and 3rd Grade Immortal Kings, which makes their prey definitely someone worthy of notice.''


    His predatory eyes fell upon the slightly corpulent Merchant as he spected the trouble that he got himself into.


    After a few minutes of traveling by foot, Azmodeus yed with the storage ring containing all the dead bodies, and as he twisted it around his finger onest time, they had arrived.


    The Merchant walked in front of him and stood before the giant silver sign above him.


    "This here is my baby!" He said with pride. "The Jade Dragon Store Association!"


    "Wow," Azmodeus lightly pped his hands. "It must''ve taken you quite a while to amass enough wealth to be able to afford such a ce of utmost opulence," he said with a small grin.


    It was a grin that the Merchant didn''t like a single bit¡­


    "What say we go in and process all these goods? I am sure you will give me the fairest of prices," Azmodeus said in a spine-chilling tone. "Isn''t that right, Mr. Big Dog?"


    The Merchant''s proud expression dropped to the floor as the sunset glow fully put his despair on disy.


    "...Y-Yes, of course," he mumbled.


    ....

 Chapter 395: Secret Assassins, You Will Die

    From Aflon''s perspective, it looked like his father''s soul had already left his body.


    ''Ha! It feels good to see that old stubborn bastard get a taste of his own medicine!'' he thought as he tried his best to conceal the joyous grin on his face.


    The three of them soon entered the eight story pagoda and made their way through the oddly vacant reception halls of the first floor.


    The Merchant furrowed his brows. "This isn''t right," he said grimly as he looked for any associates and saw none. "This ce is always filled to the brim with customers and my workers. Something is wrong, good sir."


    "I figured that much out already," Azmodeus said as he heightened his senses.


    Then, from a shadow in the receptionist hall, a de careened through the room and sliced the air at speeds that even an Immortal King would find hard to follow.


    Whooop!


    Azmodeus shot his eyes in that direction and caught the de just before it could take off his head.


    "They have decided toe after me first?" He asked himself calmly. "How odd¡­ But this works just fine as well."


    A cold gleam shed past his sinuous gaze as he twisted the fingers holding the razorsharp de and returned it to its owner.


    Whooop!


    A painful groan echoed.


    "Change tactics!" Someone yelled. "Charge right at him!"


    Multiple shadowy figures lunged forth from the shadows and held one hand over the other, nning to plunge their daggers into the red-haired man''s body.


    "Ho?"


    An amused voice resounded in the reception halls as a creepy smirk crept up Azmodeus''s usually apathetic expression.


    FWIP!


    His figure then vanished from view, leaving the shadowy men''s train of sight.


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    "Spread out and find him!" The head shadowmanded. "I will kill the primary targets!"


    "What is happening here¡­!?"


    "I don''t know, father!"


    The father and son had just realized that people were attacking them as they were moving far too fast for them to react in the same way as Azmodeus.


    "Where is the good sir¡ª!?" Aflon tried to say, but was interrupted by a sharpened de pressed against his throat.


    "!!!"


    "Don''t move, or I cut you down," the owner of the knife said coldly. "Well, I lied¡­"


    This Immortal King was well-known for ying around with his prey, which was why he didn''t immediately kill one of the primary targets.


    He savored the feeling of seeing fear overwhelm every other emotion in the faces of his victims¡ª


    "So you like to have fun?"


    "!!!"


    The head assassin let go of the merchant''s son and swiped out behind him.


    However, after hitting thin air, his danger senses reached all-time highs as he rapidly shifted his gaze around the room, attempting to locate the anomaly¡ª


    Spurt!


    "Wha-!?"


    The Head Assassin felt his vision flip upside down as he saw the room from an entirely different perspective. On his fall to the floor, his eyes widened in horror after he saw the bloody massacre in the Receptionist Hall.


    All the others were dead!


    Everyone was dead!


    Just like that, the assassination failed in spectacr fashion. The one who caused it to fail took small strides to the head assassin''s corpse and picked up a shinymunication talisman.


    Under the astonished eyes of the father-son duo, Azmodeus activated the talisman and spoke to the person on the other end, saying:


    "I don''t know who you are; I don''t know why you came after me and the Merchants. And to be honest, I don''t really care."


    His sp on themunication talisman became ten times tighter than before. As cracks spread throughout it, Azmodeus put his mouth up real close to the talisman. His face froze over.


    "However, if I ever find out who you are, you will understand just how grave a mistake it was to mess with me," he said coldly. "Now, I know your kind. I know that this will only anger you, but that is fine, too. Please, I wee you to send whoever and whatever after me. Only that way will it feel all the better when I dig you out of your hole."


    No response.


    Azmodeus''s scary smirk widened. "You may keep quiet," he said. "After all, I don''t need your permission."


    Silence.


    "Very well," said an emotionless voice on the other end. "You will die."


    Azmodeus''s aura violently fluctuated, causing the building pagoda to shake. "I truly hope that you can live up to that promise."


    The connection then cut off, leaving both parties to meander around inside their thoughts. A kind of understanding had formed between the two of them.


    Only one of them would live, while the other would die.


    It was not rocket science. It was simply what was going to happen.


    Azmodeus rxed his nerves and recalled his aura. He then turned to the jittery Merchant and Aflon. "Let''s go," he said as he began his approach toward the exit. "Before I can sell my goods to you, we have to find the people of your Association."


    "O-Of course, good sir!" The Merchant said as he leapt off the ground and got right beside their savior.


    "Wa-Wait for me, father!"


    Aflon wasn''t too far behind as he steeled his nerves and tagged along with the group.


    Neither he nor his father had any idea what exactly just transpired, but what they did know was that they had huge bounties on their heads. Their best chances of survival at the moment were to stick next to their savior, for only he could guide them through these dark times.


    Exiting the building, Azmodeus side-eyed the Merchant. "Tell me," he said. "Why would an organization filled with Immortal Kings be after your head?"


    Even though he had assimted the assassin''s memories while looting them, they had high-level seals ced around their minds. Those seals prevented him from absorbing anything past surface-level memories. That was unless he wanted to go through mental bacsh.


    Fortunately, he had two people with him that would never dare entertain the idea of lying to him.


    ....

 Chapter 396: An Elaborate Ploy

    Wryly smiling, the Merchant wiped his forehead. "Good sir, I am just a humble merchant, but¡­"


    "But?" Azmodeus''s eyes narrowed.


    "B-But¡­ there was a deal that I decided to have a part in not long before we met your Almighty self," the Merchant said with a shaky tone. "On order of Duke Fern from the Azuresk Empire''s Capital, we, the Jade Dragon Store Association, were asked to transport some ''special'' goods across the border and into the Moonlord Empire."


    Azmodeus''s brows raised. "The Moonlord Empire?"


    "Yes, good sir," the Merchant answered. "It is an Immortal Empire on par with the Azuresk Empire and is within the bounds of the Moongod Province, which lies just adjacent to the Saberspire Empire."


    "I see," said Azmodeus. "And your Store Association was asked to deliver what sort of ''special'' goods?"


    The Merchant''s face lost a little color. "Well, good sir," he stuttered. "Our cargo was of the resource variety. Specifically, we were carrying King Crystals."


    "You mean the kind that assists one in breaking through to the Immortal King Realm?" Azmodeus asked as his interest piqued.


    He could use something like that.


    "Yes, sir," responded the Merchant. "It was the most expensive and luxurious cargo that we, the Jade Dragon Store Association, had ever received. However¡­"


    "However?" Azmodeus parroted.


    The Merchant clenched his fists. "However, those goods were never meant to reach their destination," he muttered. "Those Sand Scorpion Thieves ¡ª they were set up by our employers as guards and were meant to protect us. Instead, they betrayed us as soon as we passed the midway point."


    "Before you got there, two Immortal Kings with overwhelming might took away the King Crystals by force and ordered their subordinates to dispose of us¡­"


    "I see," Azmodeus said as he pondered. "Does this mean that they were targeting you? But why go through so much trouble for a still-growing Store Association? Something isn''t adding up¡­"


    He narrowed his eyes in suspicion.


    The Merchant practically pissed himself in fright. Sweating, he got on his knees right outside his building. "Good sir!" He shouted. "The truth is that our Jade Dragon Association is a subordinate faction of Duke Fern. He has many enemies, and as such, one of them somehow nted spies in our Store Association and set up those Sand Scorpion Thieves."


    "The King Crystals were supposed to reach the Moonlord Empire''s Royal Family on order of our Lord, Duke Fern. However, with the interference of an unknown third party, those King Crystals were stolen."


    The Merchant''s gloomy aura permeated the air, attracting the attention of a few busybody passersby.


    "Though it is not our fault the King Crystals were stolen, it still creates bad blood between Duke Fern and the Moonlord Empire, who had paid for the goods beforehand," he said as his voice became lower and lower. "If we don''t find a way to get the requested King Crystals to the Moongod Empire within the next three days, then the tension between our Lord and the Moongod''s Royal Family will begin to exponentially intensify."


    Azmodeus entered a brooding state.


    "Tell me," he said as he peered into the Merchant''s soul. "Who, in a high position, would be able to benefit from a political scuffle like this one?"


    The Merchant feltpelled to answer. "T-The other Dukes of the Azuresk Empire, or someone controlling them from outside the Empire," he stammered. "Ma-Maybe a directly unrted outside source as well, but that is less likely¡­"


    Azmodeus''s brows raised. "And why do you believe it to be one of the other Dukes?" He asked.


    "W-Well, Duke Fern is the only Duke on the side of the Azuresk''s Royal Family," the Merchant answered nervously. "As such, the other Dukes are the ones to gain the most if Duke Fern falls out with the Moongod Empire."


    "How cliche," Azmodeus said under his breath. "If Duke Fern loses favor with the Moongod Empire, or something even worse, then both he and the Royal Family are likely to suffer. The other Dukes and nobles can then swoop in and take advantage of the situation, enabling them to vie for the throne."


    "Precisely, good sir," the Merchant said with a surprised tone.


    He never would''ve expected the good sir to figure out the hypothesized gist of the situation so quickly.


    "I know there are four dukes in this Empire," Azmodeus said as he looked to four distinct castles in the distance. "That means I have three Dukedoms to personally investigate on the Fourth Layer."


    His grin widened.


    The Merchant had an extremely bad feeling about what was toe, but with his ass also on the line if those King Crystals weren''t delivered on time, he had no choice but to reluctantly follow the lead of the good sir.


    "Could I assist you, good sir!?" Aflon asked with an excited gleam in his gaze. "I don''t mean to brag, but I possess quite therge assortment of skills. Skills that allow me to perform very specific¡ª"


    "Yeah, catch," Azmodeus said as he tossed a bag of storage rings to the enthusiastic young man. "Hold onto the first round of goods that this young master has acquired from the opps."


    "The first round¡­?"


    Both father and son looked at each other with the same ominous feeling.


    Azmodeus''s eyes creased into crescent moons as an evil intent shed past them. "Yes," he said coldly. "Round one is over, and now it''s time for round two."


    As he and the dumbfounded Merchant pair traveled toward the first of the four massive castles in the South, a terrifying system interface appeared above the True Enigma.


    BLING!


    ¡ª------------


    {[Infinite Evolution System]}


    [Host: Azmodeus]


    [Race: 2nd Order Loot God - 43.6% Nourishment]


    [Lifespan: 19 Immortal Years/Infinite]


    [Cultivation: Grade 9 Immortal Venerable (Limit)]


    [Battle Power: Grade 9 Immortal King (Peak)]


    [Grade 4 Immortal Power: 10,500]]


    [Evolution Essence Bank: 6,400 Grade 4 Immortal Evolution Essence]


    {[Assimted Evolution Traits/Qualities]}


    [Cultivation Talent: ck Tier Immortal (Late)]


    [Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)


    [Singrity Coalescence: ck Tier Immortal (Middle)]


    {[Immortal Physiques:]}


    [Immortal''s Resilience: Peak-ck Tier]


    {[Immortal Lines:]}


    [White Tier Lines: 85 sextillion (x70 Sextillion)]


    [Orange Tier Lines: 700 trillion (x1.4 duodecillion)]


    {[Loot Halos:]}


    [Red Tier Loot Halos: 75 sextillion (150 Sextillion%)]


    [Purple Tier Loot Halos: 800 trillion (1.6 duodecillion%)]


    ¡ª---------------

 Chapter 397: Are You Good At Distractions?

    The first Duke on Azmodeus''s checklist was Duke Rowan, who was well-known for his close rtions with the Assassins Guilds and other shady businesses.


    ''He''s the most suspicious target,'' Azmodeus thought. ''But I guess I will just have to check and see for myself.''


    "Hey, Aflon," he said as he approached the huge castle gates in the dead of night.


    "Yes, good sir?" Aflon replied while keeping his voice down.


    Azmodeus''s grin widened. "How good are you at distractions?" He asked.


    "Uhmm¡­ Sir," Aflon took a deep breath. "I thought you''d never ask! I am best at acting, creating distractions, or anything of the sort!"


    He patted his chest with a proud look on his face.


    Off to the side was his father. Who, at this very moment, was embarrassed to even be rted to his idiot of a son.


    ''Maybe he''s adopted,'' he thought in exasperation. ''Actually, now that I think about it, I don''t recall much of his life as a newborn.''


    The Merchant narrowed his eyes in suspicion as the way he looked at his son changed a little.


    Azmodeus, on the other hand, already knew exactly how he would slip past those menacing-looking Immortal King Realm guards keeping vignt watch at and above the gates. An opportunity had presented itself to him, so of course he had to ept it with open arms.


    He faked a sigh. "As much as I''d like to believe you, Aflon, I just don''t know if what you say is an exaggeration or not," he said while shaking his head left and right. "If only there was a way for you to prove your metal."


    "Prove my metal¡­?"


    Aflon stopped unting for a second as he surveyed his surroundings. His eyes quickly brightened up. "How about I show you my skills by getting the attention of those guards, good sir!?"


    "You need to get in there, do you not!?" He asked with shining eyes. "Well, fret not, for this great actor Aflon has more than one or two tricks up his sleeves!"


    Azmodeus inwardly smiled. "What a wonderful idea, great actor Aflon!" He quietly praised. "I don''t know if I can wait any longer for you to show off your skills, so why don''t you stroll right on up there and show both myself and your father what you''re made of??"


    Aflon''s determination reached all-time highs as a raging fire ignited within him. "You''re right, good sir! I will go right away!"


    Without any more hesitation, he leapt out from behind the tree they were hiding at. He then took confident strides toward the gates.


    "What is your business here!?" One of the guards shouted as soon as he saw Aflon.


    Aflon swiped his right arm off to the side and bent his head down in a haughty manner. "Fret not, poor guard!" He shouted. "This great Aflon is here to show you my skills! Here, watch this!"


    He got down on one knee before putting both his arms and legs against the ground. "This right here,dies and gentlemen, is called the dog transformation! Stand in awe and behold all its glory!"


    Aflon stood up on his hands, acting as if he were a talented dog standing up on his hindlegs!


    "..." "..." "..."


    Nearly a dozen Immortal King Realm guards nkly stared at this ridiculous sight. While contemting if they should kill this buffoon or not, Azmodeus moved like a shadow and slipped into the Castle with the Merchant.


    "Your son is quite a prodigy," Azmodeus said to the merchant in his arms. "I never would''ve expected him to be able to lower the guards of multiple beings in the Immortal King Realm."


    The Merchant wryly chuckled. "Y-Yes, that son of mine is my pride and joy," he stuttered. "I knew he could do it right from the very beginning¡­"


    Azmodeus ascended a flight of cobblestoned stairs. "Anyway, back to the matter at hand," he said. "Do you know where the Treasury would be located in such a castle?"


    Question marks went off above the Merchant''s head. "The Treasury?" He asked. Suddenly, a look of realization appeared on his face. "Oh, I understand! You wish to inspect the Treasury and see if the King Crystals are stored there! Isn''t that right, good sir??"


    Still as shameless as ever, Azmodeus nodded his head in confirmation.


    The Merchant''s eyes lit up in reverence. "The good sir''s ingenuity truly knows no bounds!" He quietly eximed.


    Azmodeus repeatedly nodded his head. "Yes, yes, now tell me: do you know where the Treasury is located?" He repeated.


    The Merchant bobbed his head. "I just happened to have bought the schematics of many popr buildings over thest few years, and of what I obtained, there are the infrastructure schematics of every single Duke castle."


    "Very well, then lead this young master to ''inspect'' their wares," Azmodeus instructed. To which the Merchantplied with a joyful expression.


    After a few minutes of sneaking through the highly guarded ancient topography of Duke Rowan''s Castle, tworge golden ques appeared before Azmodeus and the merchant he carried around like a sack of potatoes.


    "This is the Duke''s Main Treasury, good sir!" The Merchant silently announced. "It is where Duke Rowan keeps the most precious of his possessions."


    Azmodeus smiled in satisfaction. "I appreciate the assistance," he said to the Merchant as he approached the shiny doors. "Now, however, is time for inspection."


    His avarice was fully emted through his expression as he pulled out the Great Pandemonium Cleaver.


    "It has been a while since I needed to use you two," he said as he affectionately stroked the razor-sharp edges of his massive de. "After being kept in storage for so long, I think it''s about time you taste blood once more."


    The Great Pandemonium Cleaver vibrated in agreement.


    Azmodeus patted the de to soothe its growing excitement. "For now, though, I will require your help in cutting open these doors."


    "!!!"


    The Merchant was astonished by the sheer size of the de the good sir had taken out. However, when he heard him speak of cutting open the doors, his expression morphed from astonishment to disbelief.


    ....

 Chapter 398: Rescuing Aflon, An Escape

    "G-Good sir, I don''t mean to be rude, but the doors of all the Dukes'' Treasuries are made of something called ''Immortal Titanium,''" the Merchant said with a tone of warning. "To scratch, let alone cut through it, one would require strength bordering on the Immortal Emperor Realm. In the Azuresk Empire, Immortal Emperors are especially rare, so the vast majority of these Treasuries are deemed virtually imprable¡ª"


    SHING!


    A crisp, cutting sound echoed out.


    "!!!"


    The Merchant''s disbelief morphed into utter bewilderment as he stared ck-jawed at the nonsensical sight before him.


    "T-The vault doors," he stuttered. "They were cut through!?"


    Right before his very functional pair of eyes were the two golden doors, and then there was the giant x-mark etched straight out the middle of them!


    "Well," Azmodeus said calmly. "What are you waiting around for? Let''s head in and conduct the inspection."


    The apathetic voice of the good sir took the Merchant out of his thoughts as he struggled to regain his bearings. He then fumbled toward the good sir and jointly entered into a room filled with countless shimmering objects.


    ''I wonder if my son is faring any better in all this,'' he thought as a few of his hair strands fell off his head. ''Hopefully he got out of there as soon as he could¡­''


    Achoo!


    A heavy sneeze echoed out in the damp underground dungeons of Duke Rowan''s Castle. A young, slightly handsome man rubbed his nose as he shuddered a little from the low temperature.


    "It''s so cold in here," Aflon said as he leaned his body against a cold stone bench. In his solitary cell, this was the only thing he had.


    Even his clothes and possessions had been requisitioned by the Duke''s guards after they imed he had disturbed the peace. Now, it was just him and his underwear in a very dark and very cold cell.


    "At least I showed the good sir that I have worth," he mumbled as he saw his own breath. "...Will I die here¡­?"


    "Hopefully not¡­ After all, I still haven''t repaid the good sir for helping me tell my father what I wanted¡­"


    As Aflon''s vision flickered in and out of reality, the one who organized this grand heist had just finished up the ''inspection'' of the Duke''s goods.


    "After inspection, I can confirm that Duke Rowan was not the one to hire the Sand Scorpion Thieves to steal the King Crystals," Azmodeus said as he scanned the huge empty room with his hawk-like gaze.


    He had to make sure that no valuable was left unpocketed. All could be converted into Loot God Essence or used to purchase other worldy goods, so every piece was precious in his eyes.


    The Merchant fumbled behind him while anxiously staring at all the missing treasures. "G-Good sir," he said. "Should we not put everything back now that you have confirmed that none of it connects Duke Rowan¡­?"


    Azmodeus raised his brows as if he had just heard the most heinous hate speech in the history of mankind. "Put it back???" He questioned passionately. "Are you out of your damn mind!? What if I didn''t inspect hard enough?? Then the treasures will be left here all alone, with no one to inspect them! Isn''t that borderline criminal??"


    The Merchant''s eyes brightened up in realization as his view of the good sir only became better and better. "Of course, good sir!" He shouted silently. "If you don''t bring it back for further inspecting ¡ª in-depth inspecting ¡ª then you won''t be able to sleep at night!"


    "I get it now," he snorted confidently. "After you have fully finished your inspections, you will sneak back in here and return all the treasures. But until then, you need to hold onto them and continue inspecting."


    Azmodeus repeatedly nodded his head. "You are an astute one," he said as he patted the overjoyed merchant on the shoulder. "Now its time we leave this ce."


    "Yes, sir!"


    As Azmodeus and the Merchant left the Treasury without a single penny left in it, the guards finally noticed something was up. The whole ce was put on alert, and the two heisters were forced to take a different path than the one they took to get in.


    This led to them discreetly and quietly entering the underground area of the Castle. An eerie glow covered the whole ce, and it was ominously quiet, but for this Duke in particr, it was only natural to have an underground dungeon like this one.


    After all, every single captive caught by the Duke''s men would only survive the night, then they would either be set free or¡­ killed the very moment the sun rose to the east.


    "We are almost there, good sir," the Merchant said anxiously. "If we pass this corner and then head down this corridor, we will¡ª"


    "Father¡­?"


    A hoarse and frail voice faintly sounded out from beside the rapidly moving pair of heisters.


    "Hmm?" Azmodeus shot his gaze toward the voice''s source. Quickly, his eyes widened. "Oh, it''s you, Aflon. What are you doing down here??"


    "My son!"


    The Merchant left Azmodeus''s side as he jumped at the extremely hard iron bars that barred him away from reaching his boy.


    "I thought you were dead¡­!" He shouted in a low tone while trying his best to prevent the waterworks from arriving.


    "...Father," Aflon said as he mustered up thest of his strength to walk over to the iron bars. "I just wanted to show you that I was reliable as well¡­"


    "My son! My stupid son," the Merchant shouted while banging against the bars. "In my eyes, you have always been reliable! It''s just that after your mother¡ª"


    "Hey, I don''t mean to interrupt this touching reunion," Azmodeus interrupted as he appeared right next to the heartwarming pair. "But, we have been found."


    He pointed toward a few bright torchlights in the distance.


    "They''re down here!" Someone shouted. "Chase them down and stab them on your pikes! We shall bring them back to the Lord alive and ready to be tortured."


    "!!!" "!!!"


    Both Aflon and his father wore the same ashen expression.


    "Well," said Azmodeus. "Let''s do a little cardio and get a move on."


    He motioned to the already sliced open cell bars.


    "How did yo¡ª"


    "It''s too bothersome to exin," said Azmodeus. "Just jump through and follow."


    FWIP!


    He had already vanished and fled through the corridors, eliciting the immediate urgency of the father-son duo as they chased after him while also simultaneously being chased by furious guards.


    ¡ª----------------

 Chapter 399: Raiding All The Treasuries!

    A few miles away from Duke Rowan''s Castle, after one of the greatest heists in the history of the Azuresk Empire.


    "We made it out, good sir!" Aflon eximed in excitement. "I can''t believe we actually did it!"


    "Yep," Azmodeus nodded his head. "Now it''s time to head on over to the next Duke''s castle and do a thorough inspection of their goods as well."


    "???" "???"


    "We''re going to the other Dukes as well??" The Merchant asked with his mouth agape.


    Azmodeus stuck up a thumb, which then turned into him sticking out his index finger. "Yes, that is correct," he said. "How else are we expected to know which one of the Dukes hired the Sand Scorpion Thieves and is nning to overthrow the Emperor??"


    He made it seem as if the merchant was the one speaking nonsense, while he was the only one with a good head on his shoulders. This momentarily stunned the experienced merchant, just enough to allow the wiggly snake-like man to persuade him into continuing to serve as his in-live map. To which he had no choice but to agree.


    As the Merchant, his son, and Astaroth toured the vast and beautiful territory of the Azuresk Empire, an uproar happened in each one of the Duke''s castles. One by one, they were infiltrated in the dead of night and had their most precious Treasuries wiped clean of everything within them. Having no idea who did this dastardly thing, they opted to me each other.


    Then came time for thest and final Duke''s castle to be inspected. The home of Duke Ashford, otherwise known as the Duke of the Eastern Border. The one who quelled all rebellions whenever he was requested from the front lines, the one who served his Empire like a fiercely loyalpdog. Out of all the Dukes, he was the least likely to be the one trying to be a usurper. But just to be sure, Azmodeus forced himself to inspect their Treasury and look for any suspicious goods.


    Of course, he didn''t actually care about inspecting or whatever. Yet, when he came across a grouping of especially shiny spherical objects in the depths of the Treasury, his ears perked up, and he went full-on detective mode. After cleaning up the rest of the Treasury, he lifted up the shiny spheres with his telekinesis and brought them to the vault door. Outside the door were Aflon and his father, both of whom had been standing guard.


    "Are you finished already, good sir??" Aflon asked as soon as he saw the tall, crimson-haired man. "That was way faster than thest time!"


    The Merchant spoke up as well. "I bet there still wasn''t any luck on finding the King Crystals¡­ There is just no way Duke Ashford could be the usurper." He sighed in frustration, shaking his head side to side.


    Azmodeus''s apathetic expression morphed into a smirk. "Actually," he said. "I have the King Crystals right here."


    Floating out of the Treasury were a bundle of more than a few dozen shimmering spheres, all around the size of a melon. The energy emitted from the spheres also aligned perfectly with what the Merchant and his son had felt thest time they came into contact with the extremely valuable King Crystals. Without a doubt, these were the King Crystals, and they were previously in the possession of Duke Ashford.


    The least likely suspect turned out to be the prime culprit! Who would''ve believed this development if it weren''t happening right before their very eyes!?


    "T-This¡­ How can this be!?" The Merchant stuttered and tripped over his own feet. He fell to his butt, wearing an expression that said the pain was nowhere near as important as the most recent revtion.


    How could the most loyal Duke possibly be the Usurper!?


    How could Duke Ashford have set them up to die and create a feud between multiple Dukes and two super Empires!?


    "This doesn''t make any sense!" The Merchant shouted in disbelief. "I personally met Duke Ashford, and he treated us with only the very best hospitality¡­! For him to be the usurper is¡­ is¡­"


    He was at a loss for words.


    Azmodeus sighed.


    He walked up to the disbelieving middle-aged man andid a hand on his shoulder. "They say that the deadliest of snakes pretends to be harmless," he lectured. "Even the mightiest and most powerful animals, such as pr bears, act as cute and cuddly as the friendliest of puppy dogs."


    Azmodeus slithered around to the other side of the Merchant. "However, when least you expect it," he turned his soft hands into razor-sharp fangs. "They strike!"


    "Ahhh!!"


    For a moment, the Merchant felt as if thergest and most terrifying serpent in existence had sped him within its jaws. Yet before he spiraled down a pit of fear, Azmodeus patted him one more time on the shoulder before walking away.


    "Go-Good sir," the Merchant gasped for breath. "I understand now¡­ As a merchant, I should''ve already understood it. But I was foolish¡­ I was foolish to believe that the human heart and demeanor were anything less than fickle or a facade¡­"


    He steadied his breathing before getting up off the floor with the help of his son. As he realized another existential part of humanity, the way he looked at Azmodeus''s broad back changed. His suspiciousness had all but transformed into an evesting reference.


    In both his mind and the mind of his son, the Good Sir had to be a respectable senior that kept his identity hidden from the masses. As a supreme senior, his might was certainly insurmountable, and his knowledge unquestionable!


    "Wait for us, good sir!"


    Aflon and his father chased after the man who looked like nothing short of an otherworldly god that descended to the Immortal Realm to grace everyone with his presence. They wished to spend more time in his presence. Even if it were for merely a moment, they wanted to better understand what separated people like them from people like him.


    ....

 Chapter 400: Selling The Borrowed Loot

    After all four of the Duke''s were robbed, they were informed of this new at almost the exact same time. Furious was an understatement for how they felt when they learned that even with Immortal Emperor Realm protective measures and Immortal Emperor Realm guards, nothing prevented the thieves from stealing everything from them.


    Two of the Dukes had even been informed of the deaths of dozens of Immortal Kings and a handful of Immortal Emperors. That night, the skies erupted with four immensely powerful auras, all of which disyed might well into the Immortal Emperor Realm!


    Duke Ashford was especially livid. After all, he had lost nearly a hundred King Crystals. Combined, they were worth more than the Treasuries of every other Duke. Yet, they had been stolen, and their rightful buyers would soon need to be informed of this plight.


    So as to not attract the ire of both his own Empire and the exterior forces he was colluding with, Duke Ashford worked to immediately rectify his mistake. He sent out his own force of fifty well-trained Immortal Kings, a special force of five Immortal Emperors, and a secret army that was sent as backup by his backers. They numbered nearly ten times his own force and were armed with the very best equipment that the Saberspire Province had to offer.


    As hundreds of Immortal Kings and dozens of Immortal Emperors set out in the dead of night on a bounty hunt, Azmodeus and the father-son duo returned to the First Layer. Specifically, they returned to the Jade Dragon Store Association. Contrary tost time, the ce was lively and teeming withmerce, just as the Merchant said it would be.


    "I guess you really are a businessman through and through," Azmodeus praised.


    The Merchant''s cheeks flushed red. "Oh, this¡­? This is nothing much¡­!"


    Azmodeus''s face contorted in disgust. "Stop being all weird about it," he said. "It''s creeping me out."


    Thud!


    The Merchant slumped to the floor with a downcast look on his face. "H-He said I was weird¡­ He said I was weird," the merchant mumbled repeatedly.


    Aflon rushed through the doors of his father''s store, only to see him slumped to the floor with aplexion devoid of color. He hurriedly approached him and asked what was wrong. To which the Merchant responded with grunts and groans.


    After a few seconds of trying to get through to him, it eventually worked as he rose off the ground like a zombie and caught up to the Good Sir.


    "Say, when can I start selling some goods to you?" Azmodeus asked as he motioned to the hundreds of storage rings stored within the bag Aflon was holding. "I assume your previous offer still stands?"


    The Merchant''s eyes brightened up from their previously dead state as he rushed to the clerk''s counter, pushed the clerk out of the way, and put on a dazzling professional smile.


    "Hey! What was that for¡ª!?" A feminine voice eximed with grievances. However, she was swiftly interrupted by the Merchant, saying:


    "Shut up, girl, and I will give you a raise."


    "!!!"


    His ''friendly'' smile sent tingles down the clerk''s spine as she shrank in fear and went mute. While repeatedly bobbing her head, she slowly retreated from the counter and told the guests in line to follow her to a different table. There were many frustrated expressions emerging among the group, but after seeing the scary look on the middle-aged man''s face, they followed in tow with the clerk.


    The Merchant refocused on the Good Sir. "What sort of business are you looking to conduct? And how much do you have?"


    "Well," Azmodeus smiled. His storage rings suddenly shot out of Aflon''s bag and illusorily showed everything he had. "This is all of what I''m willing to sell."


    The Merchant went ck-jawed upon seeing just how much was contained within a few pockets ofpressed space. His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as he shakily said, "G-Good sir, are you sure you wish to sell all of this¡­? Even the stuff that you inspected from you know where¡­?"


    Azmodeus nodded his head in confirmation. "Yep, I n to obtain the funds for now and then pay the you know who for their lost goods at a future point in time."


    "We are in the midst of a very dangerous situation, you know? and as such, I need all the funds I can get if I wish to ovee the odds and save the world from impending doom!"


    He swore on boy scouts honor that everything he said was the absolute truth! No lies were spoken!


    The Merchant wiped the perspiration off his forehead. On one hand, this was a deal that could give him immense benefits, but it was also a risky one. Just one wrong move and both he and his Jade Dragon Store Association would burn.


    He already had assassins, a Duke, and who knew what else after his head. Did he really need yet another thing to worry about!?


    The answer was, of course, no!


    But¡­


    ''I''m a businessman, through and through, just as the good Lord said!''


    Azmodeus had thoroughly brainwashed the Merchant with his subtle dialogue. As such, he waspletely wrapped around his finger, enough so that his reason was skewed enough to answer:


    "You have yourself a deal, Good Sir!" He extended his hand out for a handshake, all while maintaining a greedy gleam in his gaze. "I''ll take everything you can spare!"


    Azmodeus smirked. "Very good," he said as he reciprocated the merchant''s handshake.


    A mutual interest for profit had been established, and now it was time to reap the benefits!


    Over the course of the next few days, Azmodeus and the father-son duo kept their heads low. During which, the Merchant took all of the good sir''s acquired goods and used his extremelyrge workforce to sell the goods in the most discreet way possible. As this was happening in the shadows, Azmodeus strolled on over to the Bounty Hunter''s Association and imed the bounties on the heads of all the Thieves he killed.


    They looked at him as if he were the freakiest of freaks, but he had proof of the kills, so they gave him what he rightfully deserved. Still, this was an urrence worthy of notice, so they promptly reported to any relevant superiors.


    ....

 Chapter 401: You Are Quite Fast...

    As people moved around after hearing of this mysterious crimson-haired with affiliation to the head of the Jade Dragon Association, the man in question had just received more than 90% of the earnings from what he sold. Now, with no more reason to stick around, he bid farewell to Aflon and his father.


    He reassured them multiple times that Duke Ashford was highly unlikely to bother them anymore. After all, he had a much more pressing thievery matter to attend to. As he was hot on the trail of the thief, nothing else mattered to him.


    He had to get back those King Crystals, no matter the cost!


    Ultimately, the Duke''s forces caught up to the culprit of the mass robbing of multiple Dukes. Of course, they only found him because he allowed himself to be found.


    While out in the middle of a vast grassy clearing, a lone crimson-haired man stood like a sword''s scabbard. As the wind whistled and violently blew the shrouding grass and trees, he stood there and locked eyes with a mighty force of hundreds of Immortal Kings and dozens of Immortal Emperors!


    Each one was mightier than thest, and they were all ring at a singr man as if the worst scourge to ever grace the face of the. From the furthest end of the imposing force, a broad-shouldered man with wild flowing hair materialized from thin air. His aura was so immense that even the particles in the atmosphere shriveled up and imploded into oblivion. Every step he took, the ground cracked and the earth trembled. All the other absurdly powerful personas made way for this man.


    As this man appeared to the front of the group, the Immortal Emperors part of the front guard cordially moved out of the way and announced his noble name:


    "We wee the presence of the fourth general of the Azuresk Empire''s Royal Military ¡ª Immortal General Razkar!"


    OUNG!!!


    The very essence of the world resonated in fear and awe at the announcement of this daunting name as his aura exploded outward in ferocity. Of those in his group, only a handful of the Immortal Emperors managed to maintain theirposure. As Immortal General Razkar honed in on the highest-wanted level thief, his aura condensed and diverted its grandeur toward just him instead of everyone.


    CRACK!!!


    The ground beneath Azmodeus''s feet cracked into a spiderweb shape. It spread out for hundreds of meters; however, even as the earth felt such immense pressure, Azmodeus stood with a nk expression. His arms were behind his back, and his posture was immacte, leaving the opposing forces in a state of astonishment.


    It was unbelievable to see someone actually withstand Immortal General Razkar''s aura like it didn''t even exist! For them, that was more unlikely than winning the lottery and ascending to the heavens in a single go!


    Even the other three Immortal Generals of the Azuresk Royal Army would find themselves hard-pressed to stand unfazed in front of Razkar. After all, he was someone who had single-handedly in dozens of Immortal Emperors of an opposing Empire!


    To go against him was the same as going against the full might of the Azuresk Empire!


    An amused look formed on Immortal General Razkar''s usually stoic face. "I now see why the Dukes have gone so far to capture you," he said evenly. "I also understand how it was possible for you to rob all four Dukes without getting caught. You are likely one of very few people who possess the capabilities to do such a thing." His thunderous footsteps resounded as he slowly approached the crimson-haired man. Continuing, he said, "There was, however, one thing that you failed to ount for in this grand heist of yours."


    OOOM!


    His aura grew more with each passing second as it pressed down on Azmodeus like the insurmountable force of the world itself!


    Electricity crackled underneath Razkar''s soles as his figure blurred. "What you failed to ount for," he said as his face suddenly appeared in front of Azmodeus. "Is that there would be someone stronger than you in the Azuresk Empire."


    WHAM!


    The razor-sharp edge of a jagged katana hit the side of Azmodeus''s face. However, while intense winds and auras obscured Razkar''s view, he realized that the sound produced from what should''ve been an insta-kill didn''t sound right.


    Danger.


    Then, from amid a puff of smoke, a massive obsidian cleaver cut through the air and reached Razkar''s neck in an instant. Unable to dodge in time, he pumped the muscles in his right arm and shot up his de. As blood drizzled down his cheek and onto his de, he realized that a close call nearly snuffed out his life force.


    "You are quite fast," Azmodeus said coldly. "But unfortunately for you, you are nowhere near fast enough."


    "!!!"


    Razkar saw his target vanish right in front of him. His eyes darted around the area as he attempted to locate him, but it was to no avail. Then, as if his target were just ying with him, six piercing screams echoed out from among his forces. Razkar shifted his focus in their direction and saw six mangled heads fly up into the sky, leaving behind them a trail of blood.


    Although enraged by this development, as the leader of this party, he had to keep his calm. After controlling his breathing, he bent low to the floor,pletely ignoring the pleas for helping from hispanions.


    As his long, jagged sword bent down beside him, the very air itself seemed to crackle and freeze over while zaps of electricity sparkled from his mouth.


    {|Lightning Shift|}


    [|1st Form: Holy Matrimonial Divide|]


    BZZZzzzzttt!!!


    The air caved in under the voltage emitted from Razkar and his sword as he blurred and shot forth like a zigzagging devil of destruction! He would let his de taste blood¡ª


    "How pointless," a raspy voice uttered coldly as time seemed to freeze for Razkar and the other''s. Everyone was sending out their own attacks at him; however, in the face of absolute strength, their numbers meant nothing.


    ....

 Chapter 402: But Not Fast Enough!

    As Azmodeus shed and reappeared in multiple parts of the speed stream, he passed by the person who appeared the least frozen. Specifically, it was the Immortal General Razkar, who was still in the process of activating his technique.


    Razkar''s eyes got ahead of his body as they slowly turned to the left and saw a crimson-haired man surrounded by dark red electricity. His hair stood slightly on end, and his face was utterly devoid of emotion. From Razkar''s perspective, it almost seemed like he was being looked down upon.


    This infuriated him!


    He was no longer amused! He was absolutely livid!


    {|Lightning Shift|}


    [|2nd Form: Speed Lord|]


    His second form sped him up by a substantial amount, but it still wasn''t enough to wipe off that disdainful look on the smug face of his target!


    {|Lightning Shift|}


    [|3rd Form: Blitz Cannon|]


    Not enough!! Not fast enough!!!


    {|Lightning Shift|}


    [|4th Form: Super elerator|]


    Still not enough!!! He would kill that arrogant bastard!!!


    {|Lightning Shift|}


    [|5th Form: Omega Power nt|]


    Razkar could feel it! His speed was close to breaking free of the shackles that the bastard put on it!!


    {|Lightning Shift|}


    [|6th Form: Hyper-powered Core Implosion Impacter|]


    {|Lightning Shift|}


    [|7th Form: Thunder Godling Explosion|]


    So close! His de was touching Azmodeus''s neck!! Just one more! He just needed to use his Ultimate Form, then he would be able to!!!


    {|Lightning Shift|}


    [|Ultimate Form: Blue-eyed Lightning Dragon God|]


    Just as Razkar''s body hypebusted into something far more powerful, a cold voice echoed out from beside him. "Sorry, but I am bored of waiting."


    "!!!"


    In an instant, time was slowed down even further as Azmodeus increased his speed by a couple notches. Even Razkar was unable to move a single inch, whereas the others looked as if they were frozen in time. As they lived theirst moments unaware of how they died, Azmodeus''s crimson electricity, gained from Domain Crystals and King Crystals, shed and crackled. His body blurred faster than light could quantify as he zigzagged around the entire battlefield before returning to his original position.


    Time then resumed. Chaos quickly followed.


    SPURT! SPURT!


    All at once, hundreds of heads flew off the shoulders of their owners. As they shot up into the air, more crackling sword strikes rained down and split them into thousandths; then those thousandths were further split into thousandths. After the heads were reduced to atoms, the bodies of the deceased pursuers followed in suit as they exploded into fireworks of blood mist.


    "..."


    Azmodeus nkly watched as the lives of hundreds of Immortal Kings and dozens of Immortal Emperors were snuffed out by him. Thest to go was the Immortal General Razkar, and yet, even he was unable to escape the fate of exploding into a puff of blood mist.


    As their deaths reached the final encore, Azmodeus refocused his attention on the iing system notifications.


    BLING!


    [Ding! You killed a Grade 6 Immortal King. You have been rewarded 2,000,000 Immortal Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You killed a Grade 7 Immortal King. You have been rewarded 6,000,000 Immortal Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You killed a Grade 1 Immortal King. You have been rewarded 200,000 Immortal Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have¡­]


    [Ding! You have automatically converted the loot of everything you killed!]


    [Ding! Your Loot God Nourishment Rate has improved by 2.1%!]


    [Ding! You killed a Grade 1 Immortal Emperor. You have been rewarded 80,000,000 Immortal Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You killed a Grade 2 Immortal Emperor. You have been rewarded 120,000,000 Immortal Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You killed a Grade 3 Immortal Emperor. You have been rewarded 250,000,000 Immortal Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have¡­]


    [Ding! Your cultivation has improved by leaps and bounds after you finished devouring the existences of those you killed!]


    [Ding! Your cultivation has reached the ''Grade 4 Immortal King'' Realm!]


    [Ding! You have killed the Grade 6 Immortal Emperor, Immortal General Razkar. The reward is 1,500,000,000 Immortal Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! Your cultivation has reached the ''Grade 5 Immortal King (Limit)'' Realm!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has tremendously improved!]


    [Ding! You have obtained arge number of ck Tier Loot Halos and Orange Tier Immortal Lines!]


    [Ding! Your total Loot Halo percentage booster has improved by x120 what it once was!]


    [Ding! Your total Immortal Line percentage booster has improved by x115 what it once was!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has improved by leaps and bounds!]


    OOOM!


    After feeling a wave of extreme power wash over him, Azmodeus looked toward the north. He figured it was about time he stopped running and instead faced his problems head-on. A certain Duke Ashford was still on his naughty list, and there were just some things that no amount of coal could possibly hope to fix.


    His eyes narrowed as his aura intensified. He blurred from his spot and ascended to the skies, heading straight for the distant Duke''s castle like a zing ball of fury. For interfering with his task as taking over the duties of the Royal Advisor, Duke Ashford would soon regret ever having yed God. That much, Azmodeus guaranteed.


    A few dayster, in the depths of the Azuresk Empire, within the noble bedroom of the one and only Duke Ashford.


    "Pl-Please! Please spare my life," the duke pleaded through tears. His tubby body was a few feet off the ground as he was being choked out by a crimson-haired man wearing a demon mask.


    An amused re shed past the crimson-haired man''s dark red eyes as he lifted the Duke even higher off the ground. "You say some funny things for someone who dared toe after my life," he said coldly. "Not once did I have any animosity for you, and if all went well, then we would both be working together in the Royal Capital. And yet there you went and messed it all up¡­"


    Kuk! Kukk!


    Duke Ashford choked on his own spit and tears. He tried his utmost to escape the grasp around his neck, but even with his Grade 5 Immortal Emperor Realm cultivation, he couldn''t budge the firm hand a single inch. Desperate, he sniffled, "P-Pleazze¡­ Anythhing!! I''ll dooo anytthring!!!"


    ....

 Chapter 403 The Duke Thief

    403 The Duke Thief N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Azmodeus stopped strangling the fat bastard for a brief moment. Taking this as a good sign, the Duke cleared his throat and began to speak. "You made a good choice¡ª" but before he couldmence a whole drawn-out young master dialogue session, Azmodeus interrupted him with the sharp end of his de, saying:


    "I wish I cared whether or not you could do anything for me¡­ but I just don''t."


    "N-No, pleazz¡ª"


    SHING!


    SPURT!


    As Azmodeus let go of the baffling idiot, a sword was momentarily unsheathed, and a sh of light careened around the Duke. His head was cut clean off as his wide eyes were still as wide as ever. More than any other emotion, disbelief was the one most prominent on his face. Even in the afterlife, he couldn''t understand why his name and status held no sway in the face of the demon-masked man.


    [Ding! You have killed a Grade 5 Immortal Emperor. The reward is 700,000,000 Immortal Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have¡­]


    [Ding! Your cultivation has advanced to the ''Grade 6 Immortal King Realm (Early)!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has moderately improved!]


    [Ding! You have¡­]


    After a few dozen system notifications rang out, Azmodeus assimted the rest of the Duke''s corpse. He then erased all evidence of his existence in the room. As all the guards in and around the room had been taken care of, nobody was left alive to weave the tale of the demon-masked man who ughtered his way into the home of a Duke and killed the Duke himself.


    Tomorrow, word would spread all around. But, by then, Azmodeus would already be in disguise and ying as the Royal Advisor of the Azuresk Empire.


    The very next morning¡­


    "The Duke is dead!" Someone shouted.


    "The Duke is dead!? Duke Ashford!?"


    "How could this be!? The Duke couldn''t possibly have died! He had an entire elite force made up of the very best the Empire has to offer!"


    "He himself is an Immortal Emperor, and yet he had 4 Immortal Emperors serving under him! To kill the Duke, all 4 of them would have to first die! I don''t believe it!!"


    "Well, you best believe it, because it has happened! The Duke diedtest night, and his assant has not been identified or located! Furthermore, the Duke and all his guards have no corpses! Only the shattering of their life crystals was certain proof of their untimely demise sometimest night¡­"


    "I-I can''t believe this¡­"


    Everyone on the popted streets of the Royal Capital of the Azuresk Empire seemed to be talking about the same thing. And it made perfect sense; after all, the elite forces of the Duke as well as the high-level forces of every other Duke in the kingdom had joined together in an attempt to catch and kill the infamous ''Duke Thief.'' Yet, as soon as they confronted him, they fell to his de, leaving not a single survivor. Then, right after, the Duke whomanded them mysteriously died in his sleep.


    As there was no one left to provide any evidence on this im, it was all just pure conjecture. But given the circumstances, it was definitely the most usible option. Still, without any concrete evidence, everything that could be thrown onto the Duke Thief was discarded into the wind. However, with his current crime record, it wasn''t like he really needed anything more to be deserving of the death sentence that was already guaranteed.


    Then again, it wasn''t like he would be caught using normal methods. The fruitless efforts of Immortal General Razkar were proof enough of that unlikely eventuality. Yet, as with all things, there was always a way if one had enough power, money, or influence. Luckily for thete Duke Ashford, he was deeply intagled into the business of very powerful people. His partners andpatriots were so powerful that the Eternal Jade Heavens practically revolved around them.


    Now, who were they, one might ask¡­?


    "Say, senior brother," said a refined man wearing a golden robe embroidered with dragons. "Have you heard about the most recent death of Duke Ashford? You know, the one who handles most of our business in the Azuresk Empire?"


    This man walked behind a slightly taller man wearing a simr outfit. However, contrary to the wild ck hair of the first man, this man had his hair tied into a bun using a Phoenix pin. He lightly scoffed in annoyance, trying his best to make it seem like he cared about their Sect''s business and not his own business. "I truly hate whoevermitted such a heinous act on one of our own, Fang Ju," the man said with a tone oozing disdain.


    Fang Ju nodded his head. "I totally agree, senior brother Ling Chao," he said. "Still, I wonder who will be put in as Duke Ashford''s recement. With the Emperor already the puppet of another, the viable choices are rendered abysmal¡­"


    Outwardly, Ling Chao sighed along with his junior brother. However, on the inside, he waspletely enraged. ''I swear on the Evil Gods that when I find out who killed one of my major moles, I''ll skin them alive and fillet them on a spike!'' His thoughts nearly leaked through his facial expression, yet with thousands of years of pretending to be something he was not, he grew ustomed to covering his true feelings and intent with a facade.


    As he and his junior brother journeyed throughout the picturesque Fairnd scenery, he fervently agreed with everything that his junior brother said. It was best to do just that if he wished to keep his head down until it was time¡­


    ''With the Nine Evil Yin Immortal Realm preparing to make their move, I just need to be patient,'' Ling Chao thought sinisterly. ''As long as no more mishaps ur and I keep things steady, then the ammassment of Evil Energy will have reached a tipping point. It is only after aplishing such a thing that the Evil Sovereign will be able to pass over with his main body and the entirety of his Evil Legions.''


    ....


    Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know.


    Astral_Pandemonium

 Chapter 404 Ling Chaos Irritation

    404 Ling Chao''s Irritation


    Ling Chao inwardly cackled as his mind swirled toward the doom of all living beings in the Eternal Jade Heavens Immortal Realm. After tens of thousands of years of extensive and meticulous nning, it was finally time to take things to the next step. And after the deaths of everything in the Eternal Jade Heavens Immortal Realm, their own Nine Evil Yin Immortal Realm would be able to take the leap and be a Rank 2 Immortal Realm, which would then allow them to travel deeper into the Immortal Funnel. Hanging out at the very edges of the Immortal Funnel''s periphery was no longer eptable!


    If exploring by themselves was not possible with just their strengths, then they had to force the evolution of their Immortal Realm and have it travel further into the Immortal Funnel without exterior interference. Yet, to do that, the Evil Sovereign had to assimte the cores of ten different Rank 1 Immortal Realms. To do that, he had to kill the Immortal Realm Masters of each Immortal Realm and forcefully snatch up their Immortal Realm Cores. He already had nine of them, and to obtain thest one, the Eternal Jade Heavens Immortal Realm had to face divine judgement.


    Unfortunately for the Realm Master and every single living organism of the Immortal Realm, this meant that they were bound to die. Of course, that was assuming nothing interfered with the Evil Sovereign''s ns and thwarted his goals. For example, the True Enigma, who originated from a High-Mortal Realm that would usually stay under the radar. It was from such an insignificant ce and in an even more insignificant part of that ce that a true interference was born¡ªone who could forever alter the ns of the absurdly powerful Evil Sovereign.


    "Anyway, senior brother Ling Chao," said Fang Ju, his eyes drifting away from a few fairy-like beauties. "What are you going to do about the Immortal Ice Queen Ming? She says that she refuses to meet with you after you two first met each other for the arranged marriage meeting the other day."


    "If what I hear is correct, then she ns to get out of the marriage by requesting the assistance of her father, the Ice Emperor Hao Fu."


    Ling Chao''s brows furrowed in annoyance. One troubling matter was annoying enough, and now the subject of that stupid b*tch was brought to the table. He was getting sick and tired of his junior brother bringing up all of his sore spots. Still, so as to y the part of the eldest disciple of the elusive Realm Master and senior brother of the illustrious genius Fang Ju, he had to remainposed. Therefore, he took in a breath of warm spring air before saying, "I think she wille around eventually. After all, the Ice Immortal Sect is a dying Transcendent Rank Sect, and an allegiance with our Eternal Jade Sect is their only hope for making a possible recovery."


    Fang Ju nodded in agreement. "As astute as always, senior brother," he said as he pulled out a long paper list. "I created this as an attempt to better settle civil affairs, and as far as I''m aware, the Ice Immortal Sect only has our direct Realm Master lineage to choose from if they want to make a recovery from their embarrassing folley. I mean, honestly, what did they think would happen if they sent out 90% of their Immortal Transcendants to go and explore the Immortal Funnel?"


    "To not only believe that they would survive, but to believe that they woulde back with good news had to be the biggest mistake made by Ice Emperor Hao Fu." N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Ling Chao calmly nodded, whereas on the inside, he was cursing out both the busty ice b*tch and her idiotic father!


    They should just do what he says and get everything done with! It would be way better for everyone that way! But nooo-!!! That Ice idiot duo just had to go and be yet another nuisance for Ling Chao and his Nine Evil Yin Immortal Realm!!


    ''Damn it all!'' He roared out inside his head. ''Why can''t all the bumbling buffoons of this Immortal Realm just do as I say!?''


    As Long Chao and his junior brother made their way through the picturesquends of the Eternal Jade Immortal Sect, he was plotting all sorts of ways to maximize his benefits before the arrival of the Evil Sovereign. If things yed out the way he wanted them to, then everything concerning the destruction of the Eternal Jade Heavens should go off without a hitch. However, very rarely did things y out the way one wanted them to. To counter this, Ling Chao pondered some contingency ns, one of which just so happened to involve the Emperor of the Azuresk and Moongod Empires.


    ''After I get them under my control, I can weed out the one who foiled my previous mole. Moreover, I will have two more Peak Immortal Emperors on my side, as well as the Immortal Transcendants that are backing them!''


    ¡ª------------


    While the Evil Immortal Realm spy was plotting all kinds of nefarious things, Azmodeus rode by horseback. Specifically, he rested in the back of a carriage drawn by horses. His intentions were to stay under the radar as he introduced himself as the new Royal Advisor sent by the Omega Dome. Flying would attract far too much unwanted attention, and that was the opposite of what he desired; thus, changing his mode of transport as well as his appearance was the most ideal choice to make.


    No longer was he the Duke Thief. He was now Azmodeus, the Omega Knight that had taken up work as one of the Royal Advisors of the Azuresk Empire. A matter of concern was the Merchant and Son duo that knew of his true name, but if they were to disclose such information and betray him, their losses would be just as severe, if not worse than his would be. Therefore, no usible strings were attaching him with the persona that he took up when re-acquiring the King Crystals. Of which, he still had a few dozen.


    He only needed one of them to alter his Immortal Domain and transform the dragon-type aspect of his existence into something more lethal. Thus, the leftover King Crystals were discarded into his Storage Space, just waiting to rot and lose value.


    ...

 Chapter 405 The Stables, Black Qilin Horses

    405 The Stables, ck Qilin Horses


    ''I can''t have that, now can I?'' The bumps on the road caused the carriage to jolt a little, revealing an icy face beneath an old farmer''s hat. Azmodeus''s eyes shone with a dangerous gleam that was on the verge of freezing over the whole world. The time when he was most serious was not a topic generally deemed as serious. Instead, it was when loot was involved. ''If someone thinks they can prevent me from selling dangerous goods, then they would be dead wrong.'' His fists clenched as he looked out at the rapidly shing Castle scenery. ''It is only in the most perilous of situations and under the most dire of circumstances that loot sells the best. My wealth right now is far from enough to satisfy my requirements for resources.''


    Even though Azmodeus would be considered extremely affluent if he were a Grade 9 Immortal Emperor, he still passionately believed that his current wealth was not enough. And in a way, he was correct; after all, at the rate he burned through cultivation resources, his money would likely be reduced to nothing within a few days. Every now and then, he would carve out a chunk of his wealth and give it to a shop owner. To which he would then receive a few cartloads of goods. Many stores had already beenpletely ransacked using this method. Slowly but surely, the funds he borrowed from the generous Dukes of the Azuresk Empire were going down to zero.


    Still, with his new profession in sight, opportunities for more wealth sprouted up in Azmodeus''s head.


    Before he knew it, the grandeur of the Azuresk Royal Castle was already in sight. However, contrary to expectations, he was not sent to the more influential part of the Royal Castle. "Hmm¡­?" Question marks were raised. "What is this about, driver," he asked. This driver was personally requested by him and was someone affiliated with the Omega Dome. Yet, his answer was baffling. "Young Omega Knight, there was something not originally mentioned in the briefings for your mission. By ''Royal Advisor,'' the Omega Dome meant assistant in semi-service to the Emperor. And by ''assistant,'' the Omega Dome was really trying to say a ''Stable Boy Assistant'' in a branched-off part of the Royal Castle."


    Azmodeus briefly widened his eyes in shock. However, after thinking about it for a moment, he realized that this made a lot more sense than being a Royal Advisor or Head Royal Advisor. After all, as far as the Omega Dome was aware, he was still a 3rd Generation Knight Apprentice nearing the peak of the Immortal Venerable Realm. A normal Royal Advisor was likely in the Immortal Emperor Realm.


    What the Omega Dome did made a lot of sense. Still, it was a scummy thing to stretch the details of the mission by such arge margin. In Azmodeus''s mind, they had already earned themselves a spot as people he would never even consider helping in their time of need. To lead him astray by such arge margin might as well have been criminal. But seeing as he was already here, he might as well see what evolves from this ''Stableboy'' profession. Maybe immense fortune would be in his near future.


    Suddenly, the carriage came to a stop. Right outside its intricately carved exterior was a medium-sized shed that appeared to be of above-average quality and structural integrity. It was separated into two floors. The first held the high-bred horses of the Emperor, while the second was where the high-quality hay bales that fed the horses were held. Azmodeus elegantly exited the carriage before scanning his new home.


    "Good luck, kid."


    As the distinct sounds of heavy clip-clopping became fainter, curiosity got the better of Azmodeus as he entered through therge open barn doors of the stable. Upon stepping foot in a ce that smelled of farm animals, he first noticed the uniqueness of the horses. "Their race," he said keenly. "I believe it is the mythical ''ck Qilin Horse.''" His legs moved around thergest and noblest of the steed lot, his eyes shining with interest. "From what I have read from the ancient records recorded in the scrolls I borrowed from the Dukes, this specific breed can even scale all the way up to the Grade 9 Immortal Emperor Realm. In other words¡­" His gleam of interest morphed into one of greed. "I bet they would sell for a pretty penny if I could sessfully get them out of here."


    The ck Qilin Horse he was circling neighed in weariness. It was obviously very much objecting to the notion of being sold off to the highest bidder!


    Pat, Pat.


    A few firm patsnded on the horse''s rump as Azmodeus shed a small cheeky grin. "Rx, I was just kidding," he said. "For now, I will take care of you all. To top it off, I will make sure that you grow bigger and stronger than ever!" After this exmation, he did a quick head count. His eyes brightened up once he was done. "Since there are nine of you, I will take it upon myself to name you all after a group of very famous reindeer. Doesn''t that just sound so nice?"


    "!!!" "!!!"


    The ck Qilin Horses had a really bad feeling about this new caretaker. He was bad news!


    After bestowing upon the horses their glorious names and effectively terrorizing them into acting like reindeer, Azmodeus gave them some respite. As dusk was setting, the time for sleep had arrived. To his surprise, his sleeping quarters were inside the barn, and they consisted of a simple cotton bed with holes in it and a small bedside table. Simply put, the sight was a sad one for someone as strong as himself.


    "For the one who bested an Immortal General of this Empire to be thrown into a ce like this," Azmodeus sighed. "I guess fate has a funny way of doing things." Despite his grievances, he stilly down in the bed, snuggled into the thick covers, and faded into thend of dreams.


    .....


    Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Astral_Pandemonium


    Creator''s Thought

 Chapter 406 Dreams of Unfamiliar Women...

    406 Dreams of Unfamiliar Women...


    As ofte, Azmodeus quite enjoyed sleeping, and considering that he could still cultivate while catching some Z''s, he made sure to do so whenever humanly possible. However, the reason behind his sudden liking for sleep was rted to the content of his dreams. In these dreams, he would see the silhouette of a woman so beautiful that no words could hope to describe her beauty. This was where the really weird part was, as this beautiful woman did not have just one face. Instead, her beauty was the culmination of the beauty of countless different women. Yet, for the life of him, Azmodeus couldn''t make out the appearances of a single one of the women. It was almost like something inside the deepest depths of his existence was preventing him from discerning these women.


    Things only got weirder from here, as he instinctively considered all these women to be the same woman. He also had no doubt in his mind that this woman was the most beautiful woman in the universe. Moreover, for some reason, his heart stung with pain every time he thought of this woman he saw in his dreams. It was a pain so indescribably painful that all the pain he felt thus far paled inparison. He had already lost his sense of hearing in one ear and his sense of taste was beginning to dull, but when faced with this dream woman, the fear of losing more of what made him him was overwhelmed by the fear of losing this woman.


    ''Losing a woman¡­'' Azmodeus grimaced in his sleep. ''Why do I feel as if I am forgetting something extremely important?? And why can''t I remember what I was doing or where I was before arriving in the Immortal Realm!? Why¡­ What is happening to me¡­? It hurts¡­ It hurts so much¡­''


    Unknowingly, the intrepid protagonist of this twisted story of tragedy disguised as aid-back power grind had forgotten. He had forgotten everything about Yang Hua, Nao Long, and the other girls he met along the way. And the worst part of all was that he didn''t even remember that he lost them. As soon as Azmodeus wakes up from these dreams, he forgets all that happened within them. Yet, despite this indescribable pain he feels, his mind keeps on subconsciously pulling him into thend of dreams. It makes him stand in still motion, watching as scenes of unfamiliar nk-faced women interact with a man who had no form. Incessantly, these scenes shed by his eyes, with each one inscribing even deeper amounts of pain into his core existence.


    Something was calling to him. Something was telling him to remember! It was telling him to remember what he had forgotten! To remember what was more dear to him than anything else in existence!


    Yet¡­


    Azmodeus couldn''t remember.


    His will was strong enough, but some things were just impossible to change, no matter how strong your will was. In this life, he pursued the Infinite peak of power. However, his true purpose for living was to make it back to ''her''. Just like all the previous incarnations of the young mortal man who got identally summoned to the Goddess''s caged abode, this version of him only yearned for a single thing. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    15:00


    His will was strong enough, but some things were just impossible to change, no matter how strong your will was. In this life, he pursued the Infinite peak of power. However, his true purpose for living was to make it back to ''her''. Just like all the previous incarnations of the young mortal man who got identally summoned to the Goddess''s caged abode, this version of him only yearned for a single thing.


    To see her face. If not just one more time¡­


    But fate was cruel, and destiny even crueler.


    "Uhmff!" Azmodeus leaned up from his bed in a cold sweat, his eyes glossy. He wiped off the perspiration on his forehead beforeying his arm over his head, blocking his face from view. After taking a moment to soothe something he couldn''t discover the source of, he leaned back up and rose from his bed. The soft morning rays made his impable skin glow, which further worked to prep him for the day toe.


    It was around 6 am, and it was at 6:30 am that he was tasked with beginning his day of stableboy duties. In the meantime, he decided to descend from the second floor, where his makeshift room was located, and head out into town. The stable was located at an easily essible corner of the Azuresk Royal Capital, so leaving for the bustling town was made a cinch.


    "In times when my mind is dazed, it is best to upy myself," he said evenly. "And as the morning is new, I still have time. Maybe I can sell some more goods in the meantime."


    As Azmodeus thought about how he could make use of his free time, his lonesome silhouette could be seen exiting through a gap in the Castle''s gates. He then went on to aimlessly saunter and meander in his own thoughts. However, in this perplexing state of mind, he heard someone call out from the side.


    "We''re selling choctes! Rare choctes from thend unknown! Who wants to purchase some exotic sweets!?"


    ''Choctes¡­?''


    Azmodeus''s eyes followed the source of the voice, which was where he saw a corpulent man standing by a street stall. He wore opulent clothing and expensive jewelry, indicating that business was treating him well. In his hands, however, was what truly interested the crimson-haired onlooker.


    Step, Step, Step.


    Azmodeus approached the stall and pointed to the wrapped choctes in the salesman''s hands. "You have chocte," he asked. And it came from thends unknown? What are thends unknown?"


    The merchant''s brows raised in glee at a new potential customer. However, after hearing this customer talk about something that wasn''t rted to selling goods, his face soured as he quietly clicked his tongue. "Listen, kid," he lectured. "I see that you are quite young, and your clothing isckluster; thus, you are likely a lower-born citizen of the Azuresk Empire. As such, I will tell you right now that you won''t be able to afford either the chocte or information pertaining to the Lands Unknown."


    Azmodeus''s brows furrowed. "Is that so," he said with a dangerous gleam in his gaze. His fearsome presence quickly overwhelmed the merchant as he changed his tune right away. Sweating profusely, he said, "I-I didn''t know I was in the presence of a noble young master ying the sheep to eat the tiger! You must surelye from a very prestigious household¡ª"


    "No."


    ....

 Chapter 407 A Map of the Lands Unknown

    407 A Map of the Lands Unknown


    "No," Azmodeus denied tly. "I neithere from a prestigious household, nor am I a noble young master. I am simply the one who takes care of the ck Qilin Horses in the Royal Castle''s stables."


    He assumed this brief introduction would make the Merchant act normal, but contrary to his expectations, the Merchant''s face lost even more color than before. He immediately hit the ground and bowed at the deepest of angles, causing his shiny golden jewelry to jingle and smack against the thick stone pavement. "Please forgive this lowly one for his earlier rudeness," he shouted passionately, sweat beads pouring down his face. "If I had known that I was talking to a mighty Immortal Venerable, then this lowly one would haveplied with any of the young Lord''s demands! You want chocte!?"


    BING!


    Wrapped balls and square-shaped pieces of chocte fell out of the Merchant''s storage ring. "Here, have it!" he said as he shoved a small hill''s worth of the highest quality chocte into Azmodeus''s hands. "A map of the Lands Unknown!? Say no more," he thered as more items fell out of his storage ring. "In that pile is a map, a brief introduction of the Factions in the Lands Unknown, and anything else that is made avable to the public! Now, it is all yours!" N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Question marks went off in Azmodeus''s head, as he never would''ve expected his status as a stableboy to be so renowned to themonfolk. Like seriously, he didn''t even have someone receive and show him the ropes. There was only a small slip note on the side of the stable that instructed him on how he should go about caring for the ck Qilin Horses. Other than that, he might as well have been treated as thin air, expected to go in blind and figure everything out.


    ''Apparently, even a stableboy of the Royal Castle is widely known,'' Azmodeus thought. ''It''s even to the point that amon Merchant in the All-Epassing Immortal Realm knows the average cultivation of the Stableboys, which also means that the Omega Dome chose within the right league bracket.''


    ''Well, if things are like this, then I will take advantage of what I can.''


    His thoughts stirred behind the scenes, whereas on the outside, he wore a forgiving and understanding expression. "Don''t worry about it," he said empathetically. "These things; are you sure you wish to hand them over for free?"


    ''For free!?'' The Merchant''s eyes nearly bulged out of his head. He had assumed that the young stableboy would pay something for his goods, but to have all his hopes dashed away with a single question! It was with a strained professional smile that he motioned to the dropped items. "Of course you can have them for free¡­" His hand was shaky and his voice hoarse, but Azmodeus could care less. His hands moved like a blur as he snatched up all of the chocte and the information on the Lands Unknown. He then turned around and walked off, returning to the ck Qilin Horse stables. "Bye, friend," he said coldly, his friendly facade breaking without remorse. "It was nice doing business with you," he added, furthering the pain stinging the Merchant''s heart.


    "O-Of course, young Lord," he replied shakily. "Pleasee back again and ask for this old sir. I-I wille running from miles away¡­!" ''Please, for the God of all that is holy, never return! Never ever, not in this lifetime, and not in the next lifetime!''


    The Merchant cried out within his soul as he clenched his heart in pain, feeling the wealth leak from all his pores. As the poor bastard wallowed in the sorrows of it all, Azmodeus re-entered the Azuresk Royal Castle through the small entrance. He then approached the two-story stalls, immediately noticing the sudden activity of the ck Qilin Horses. "I see you guys are especially lively today," he said as he walked up to thergest and proudest one. "Isn''t that right, Rudolph?" He smiled coldly, his face darkening to absurd degrees.


    "!!!"


    Thergest and strongest of the ck Qilin Horses forcefully had its nose painted red by the devil-in-human-skin. The devil then instructed it to y the part of the whimsical and sometimes silly red-nosed reindeer, which was why it¡­


    Thud!


    "Neigh! Neigh!"


    Rudolph flopped to the ground and wiggled while neighing in a goofy way. To the other ck Qilin Horses, this was a huge embarrassment to their kind. But in the face of that monster, even they understood why their brother did what he did. That didn''t make their cracked pride hurt any less, but it was the only way they could cope with this new reality, and their new stupidly overpowered caretaker. Far different from thest caretaker, who was weak and eventually killed by them, this one was strong. He was so strong that they shuddered at the mere thought of getting on his bad side¡­


    They were still growing, and even Rudolph only had the approximate strength of something in the Grade 9 Immortal King Realm. When faced with the crimson devil, their resistance was deemed futile, and their subservience was mandatory.


    "Anyway," Astaroth said as he rxed on top of Rudolph, with his legs propped up on Prancer and Dancer. "The more I read about this Lands Unknown, the more intrigued I be."


    "Thend that even Immortal Transcendents find nearly impossible to survive in? Thend that serves as the exit gate for those wishing to leave the Eternal Jade Heavens Immortal Realm??" His devilish smirk widened. "To me, this sounds like the perfect paradise."


    "But unfortunately¡­" His face suddenly morphed from an excited one to something more downcast. "To enter this ce, one must be, at the very minimum, of the Immortal Emperor Realm. And Battle Power does not affect this minimum requirement, which means that I still have to stay here and amass more strength," he sighed. "Well, I have some loose ends to tie up here, so I guess I can force myself to wait."


    Ultimately, he decided to be patient and bide his time. For now, however, he had some unruly reindeer to manage.


    ......


    Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know.


    Astral_Pandemonium


    Creator''s Thought

 Chapter 408 I. A.M. H.E.R.E

    408 I. A.M. H.E.R.E


    "!!!" "!!!"


    Upon seeing their caretaker''s cold, sadistic smile, the ck Qilin Horses felt every single one of their hairs stand on end.


    "Neigh! Neigh!!"


    While amid the taxing process of ''taking care'' of the ck Qilin Horses, a sudden visitor appeared in the area right outside the Royal Castle''s front doors. Moreover, it was someone with very close rtions to the recently deceased Immortal General Razkar. Coincidentally, this person also just so happened to be an Immortal General of the Azuresk Empire, and was known as none other than Drenekor, the Undying de!


    A man said to stand atop a mountain of a billion immortal corpses! A man so powerful and imposing that even recently ascended Grade 9 Immortal Emperors were struck dumb in fear! This very man had returned from the battlefield, bringing with him news of his victories against the Nytherion Empire!


    "Open up for the Immortal General!" A guard shouted from above the front gate castle walls, his voice reaching all corners of the Royal Castle. A few secondster, the gates were opened up, and a few royal escorts emerged from within the castle wall. They warmly greeted and weed Immortal General Drenekor into the castle, then motioned for the vignt wall guards to close the castle walls.


    From a corner of the massive castle territory, Azmodeus saw this go down. He sat on top of his royal steed, Rudolph, curious as to why someone like the illustrious and battle-driven Immortal General Drenekor had returned to the capital, and more importantly, to the Royal Castle. What exactly was he up to? To leave the border without throwing the entire Empire into an uproar ¡ª just what was going through his head?


    As his thoughts stirred, the Immortal General entered through the inner gates of the castle, quickly making his way toward the throne room. Upon opening the doors to that very throne room, he was weed with the sight of the muscr Emperor sitting on his throne, looking down at him with clear interest.


    The Emperor had arge scar across his left cheek, a chiseled face that fully showed off all the years he spent on the battlefield, fighting for his Empire and the Eternal Jade Sect. His stance was terrifying, and his overall demeanor was imposing, and for once, he looked like someone who truly worked his way from the ground up in order to obtain the bedazzled crown atop his head and the throne he sat on.


    "I greet your Majesty, the sixteenth Emperor of the Azuresk Empire, Emperor Omon!" Drenekor shouted passionately as he fell to the ground with his fist, causing a resounding thud to echo out.


    Emperor Omon visibly sighed. "I already told you to drop the formalities when it''s just the two of us," he said, waving his hand to get Drenekor off the floor.


    Following thismand, Drenekor got up off the ground and awkwardly scratched his neck. "As much as you tell me that, above all else, I am an Immortal General of this Empire, and as such, I must set an example," he said, his tone suddenly turning weary. "And I''m sure you''re aware that any number of people could be watching in on this conversation right now, my Lord." His eyes cautiously scanned thevish throne room, not willing to let down his guard at any given moment. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    OOOM!


    Suddenly, Emperor Omon''s aura erupted in immense ferocity as his face contorted in rage. "Someone would actually dare to do such a thing in my presence!? Are they courting death!? Who would actually have the unbreakable steel balls to act like that when I. AM. HERE!!!"


    RUMBLE!!!


    The Emperor''s battle-hardened temper got the better of him as his extremely powerful regal aura nearly overwhelmed everything within thousands of miles. But before it could, Immortal General Drenekor yelled, "You must calm yourself, old friend. I was just speaking in what-ifs. In reality, the likelihood of someone spying in on this conversation is extremely low, but one can never be too careful."


    Emperor Omon''s aura rxed a lot after listening to what his old friend said. Eventually, it returned to the tranquil way it was before, which then turned into him leaning his chin against his fist. His gaze hardened as his tone turned serious. "So, have youe to inform me of our efforts into getting past the Lands Unknown? The members of the Eternal Jade Sect are bing rather impatient when ites to sending out more of their Immortal Transcendents."


    A positive response came the Emperor''s way as Immortal General Drenekor said, "It is as you predicted. After thorough battling against the Nytherion Empire, I acquisitioned multiple scriptures that spoke of secret passageways in the Lands Unknown, all of which could safely transport one through the dangerous territory and into the Immortal Funnel." He lowered his head and curtly bowed as soon as he announced this, waiting for the Emperor to give his council.


    After a few seconds had passed, Emperor Omon opened up his mouth, saying, "This is good news. You did good, Drenekor, and I will be reporting this to the only two active disciples of the Eternal Jade Sect."


    "Ahh, yes, I always seem to forget that the Eternal Jade Sect only ever has two active disciples in the same generation. Whereas the rest of the Sect members are from past generations, typically in the Immortal Transcendent Realm, as that is the minimum requirement to ascend your status as an active disciple."


    Drenekor gave his input on the matter. To which the Emperor added on by saying, "Yes, that has always been the case, and there''s even a weird phenomenon that is produced by the secret arts they practice, which makes it so their cultivation progresses at virtually the same rate. As such, every generation of duo disciples be disciples at the same time, and also leave their status as disciples at the same time."


    "Indeed¡­ It is unusual, but in the end, they always produce absolute monsters. Just look at Fang Ju and Ling Chao, both at the very peak of the Grade 9 Immortal God Realm, only a step away from achieving the Immortal Transcendent Realm¡­"


    ...

 Chapter 409 Excalibur: Unlock Art Form 1

    409 Excalibur: Unlock Art Form 1


    Both Emperor Omon and Immortal General Drekenor sighed in unison. It was tough to live with oneself when monsters like that existed while still being so young. Yet, even despite that, the monsters they were referring to were part of their faction, so there was no need to hold negative feelings about them.


    After their mulling was done and over with, Drekenor gave his liege all the scriptures he was in possession of. He then bid farewell to his old friend and left the Royal Castle, promptly returning to the battlefront in the war against the Nytherion Empire. On his way out, however, the blood-red gaze of a reindeer trainer followed every movement he made. Many things swirled around inside his head as he sensed immense benefits.


    He had just recently broken through to the Grade 7 Immortal King Realm and burned through arge chunk of his cultivation resources. Thus, he required something that could give him that final boost and send him rocketing straight to the peak of the Immortal King Realm, and then into the Immortal Emperor Realm. Only then could he leave his post as a ''Reindeer Trainer'' and enter the Lands Unknown, which would be where the true fun starts.


    "Big waves are spreading throughout the Azuresk Empire, and it surely won''t be long before its waves reach the other Empires and cause bacsh." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    A cold gleam shed past Azmodeus''s eyes as his crimson hair turned wild and fluttered around him, which scared the ck Qilin Horses even more than they already were. They had only known this man for a short amount of time, but they knew that when he got like that, sh*t was about to go down.


    And they were right about that¡­ as a few days after this incident with the Immortal General, the Nytherion Empire dered full-on war and pulled out all the stops. They had to retrieve the scriptures that were stolen from them, no matter the cost!


    A few Immortal God Ancestors were even called out as they zipped toward the Azuresk Empire and caused catastrophic destruction, even going so far as to erase countless mountain ranges and cities off the face of the map. This enraged the Ancestors of the Azuresk Empire, which led to them leaving their thousand-year-long seclusions to battle the opposing Immortal Gods head-on.


    In the skies above, constant shes of light appeared extremely high up, showing their shadows through the clouds that shrouded the day. Directly below one of these shing storms was a crimson-eyed man and his Nine Reindeer, all of whom had broken through to the Immortal Emperor Realm. He himself also possessed a cultivation in the Grade 9 Immortal King Realm, even though it looked like the Grade 9 Immortal Venerable Realm on the outside.


    As for what he was doing here¡­


    "When these ancient foggies fight, they tend to discard any useless weapons and treasures," Azmodeus said with an acute gleam in his gaze. "As long as I stay hidden for long enough, and then use covert abilities, I''m effectively able to move around the battlefield and borrow anything that catches my eye." As he talked, hemanded his reindeers off the ground. In the not-too-far-off distance were others who had simr thoughts. Moreover, their cultivations were in the Immortal King and Immortal Emperor Realm. A profound coldness infused itself into Azmodeus''s aura as he watched these thieves steal what he nned to borrow. Not willing to let this slide, he activated both his Immortal Domain and his King aspect, which caused his power to surge. Then, with a bright sh of crimson-ck light, he blurred forward and vanished into the speed stream. When he reappeared, the shiniest thieves were right in front of him, all of whom were going over their gains with greedy expressions.


    "Can you believe all that we obtained? I count not only one but a total of eight Peak-Emperor Rank Treasures!" he shouted. "We''re going to be filthy rich, my friends," he patted a couple of the other thieves on the back, all of them thinking about everything they were going to buy. One of the others spoke up as well, his facial features resembling more along the lines of a horse than a human. "With all of this wealth, who knows, we might even be able to gain a ticket into the secret passageway that leads one safely out of the Lands Unknown and into the Desert of the Unknown!"


    The others nodded in unison. But upon recalling the average price of a ticket, their faces immediately darkened. Even with eight Peak-Emperor Rank treasures, they would just barely be able to purchase a single basic ticket. Moreover, with the battling Immortal God Ancestors having already left the area, there was no longer a way for them to steal some more items. As this harrowing thought appeared in their minds, they knew exactly what they had to do. A dangerous glint shed past all their eyes as they simultaneously reached for their weapons. However, before they could devolve into all-out pandemonium, Azmodeus''s devilish visage materialized from the speed stream. Right behind him were Rudolph, Prancer, and the other Reindeer, all of whom had sped along with their caretaker. Azmodeus struck first; Excalibur appeared in his hands,pletely covered in a dark red crackling lightning energy. Right beside it formed a mirror copy of the sword, then another, and another, and another¡­


    |Excalibur: Unlock Art Form 1|


    |Mirror Mirage Decimation Array|


    Instantly and in rapid session, dozens of crackling Excaliburs formed from thin air and turned in multiple different directions. There were a few Grade 7 and Grade 8 Immortal Emperors among the lot, so this was necessary. Following up with their initial burst of aura, they spun in a circle and transformed into drill-like blurs. Out of the corner of their eyes while moving as if they were in slow motion, the spinning Excaliburs shot toward them. Unable to do a single thing about what was going to happen, they resigned themselves to their fate and opened their eyes wide in horror. Then, when time resumed, the crackling swords sted through their bodies, causing them to explode into dozens of meat chunks.


    Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know.


    Astral_Pandemonium


    Creator''s Thought

 Chapter 410 Killing Immortal Emperors

    410 Killing Immortal Emperors


    An Immortal had many life-saving measures, including but not limited to their Nascent Soul, Essence Soul, Immortal Soul, Immortal Domain, King Soul, Emperor Soul, Quasi-God Soul, and Transcendent Spark. For these Immortal Emperors and Immortal Kings, however, they had everything but the Quasi-God Soul, Transcendent Spark, and the Emperor Soul if speaking about the Immortal Kings. Yet, even with all these natural life-saving measures plus the exterior ones they kept on their person, none of it made a difference in the face of unquestionable power.


    CRACK¡ª


    One by one, their life-saving measures shattered, and then, with an untold amount of regret and hate, they faded away into the afterlife. Meanwhile, all of their possessions and stolen goods were snatched up by the one who killed them. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Ahh! Y-You killed them!" someone screamed hysterically. "Yo-You monster!!"


    Azmodeus''s brows furrowed as his eyes drifted toward the source of this incessant screaming. He saw a total of three Grade 1 Immortal Emperors, all of whom were quivering in fear, with yellow spots spreading out between their legs. Instead of just outright killing them, he decided to test out his mighty force of Reindeer. "Go, Rudolph and Prancer; show these heinous thieves what happens when you steal other people''s stuff," hemanded, his expression freezing over. "Kill them, but don''t harm the goods. After all, we have some more borrowing to do."


    Stomp, Stomp. Stomp, Stomp.


    Rudolph and Prancer stepped forward and galloped over to the three thieves. Their imposing figures loomed over the three of them with a terrifying look about them. Trembling in fear, the thieves slowly turned their shaky eyes up. When they locked eyes with the two monstrous reindeer, all color left their faces as they turned whiter than a sheet of paper. "Help!" They skidded off the ground, attempting to flee in terror. However, without a hint of mercy, Rudolph stomped on the first thief''s back, crushing both his spine and all internal organs. Prancer followed Rudolph''s example and stomped on the second thief, instantly rendering him disabled. The only one left standing was the third thief, but upon seeing and hearing what happened to the other two thieves, his mind nked out, and he went brain dead.


    Stomp! Squelch!


    Rudolph promptly finished the job and squashed the third thief''s head under his iron-hard hooves. After his death, Rudolph and Prancer moved onto the first two and quenched out their life mes as well. As a follow-up to this grand y, Santa us himself stepped forth, ready to take back all that was stolen from his crimson present sack. While this was happening, a plethora of system notifications rang out in the background.


    BLING!


    [Ding! You have killed a Grade 1 Immortal Emperor and obtained 20,000,000 Immortal Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have killed a Grade 1 Immortal Emperor and obtained 22,000,000 Immortal Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have killed a Grade 7 Immortal Emperor and obtained 900,000,000 Immortal Evolution Essence!]


    [Ding! You have¡­]


    [Ding! You have obtained a massive number of Loot Halos and Immortal Lines!]


    [Your Loot percentage acquisition boost rate and total power rate has improved by more than twenty times what they once were!]


    [Ding! You have automatically assimted the cultivation bases of the beings you killed!]


    [Ding! Your cultivation has broken through into the Peak of the Half-Step Immortal Emperor Realm!]


    [As soon as you condense your Emperor Domain, you canmence your breakthrough into the Immortal Emperor Realm!]


    [Ding! Your Battle Power has drastically improved!]


    As soon as he saw these system notifications, Azmodeus realized that it was now time to begin making his journey to the Lands Unknown. With his current power and the map of secret entrances by his side, he should be able to effortlessly sneak in and leave the Eternal Jade Heavens once and for all. Still, there was one thing that he was especially worried about. Specifically, it was the fact that to reach the Lands Unknown, one had to pass through the territory of those who lorded over the Eternal Jade Heavens Immortal Realm ¡ª the Eternal Jade Sect.


    It was a sect with a history as old as time, and with their unique disciple situation, they were well-known even in the other Immortal Realms. Yet, they were still the ones who ruled the Eternal Jade Heavens Immortal Realm, and as such, they were also the ones who decided who enters and who leaves the realm. For most, however, the option of entering the Eternal Jade Heavens Immortal Realm was not even a part of the equation. After all, to enter into the realm, one had to venture in the opposite direction of the Immortal Funnel, because the realm was toward the very edges. To do this, one would need to possess power far surpassing the Immortal God and Immortal Transcendent Realms.


    Even so, there have been reported cases of those who arrived in the Eternal Jade Heavens Immortal Realm. For example, the grand ancestors of the Eternal Jade Sect were said to have originated from outside the realm. Moreover, there were those like Ling Chao, the Nine Evil Yin Immortal Realm spy, who had somehow made it into the Immortal Realm undetected. Still, these were considered very rare exceptions, and none were widely known or epted by the public. Themon consensus was that one could only leave if they were capable enough, while those who wished to enter the realm simply never entered it.


    As Azmodeus traversed the wide expanse of grassy ins with his nine Reindeer on his way to the Eternal Jade Sect, he noticed many patches of fire. Above him were the causes of these massive fire patches scarring the world, with their mighty godly visages shing around in the clouds. Their bodies moved from one spot to another, looking as if they were teleporting. When, in actuality, they were just moving so fast that it looked as if they were teleporting. Although this might, at first, seem like a rare event, Azmodeus had already seen dozens of these high-level fights break out among the opposing Immortal Gods. From what he could tell, more and more of them were flooding over from the Azuresk Empire''s allies and the allies of the opposing Empires.


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    Astral_Pandemonium


    Creator''s Thought

 Chapter 411 Entering The Eternal Jade City

    411 Entering The Eternal Jade City


    "There will surely be an Immortal God or two sent after me when they figure out I ran off with the loot of all four Dukes, the life of an Immortal General, and the Nine ck Qilin Horses," Azmodeus said, his eyes falling on the pitch-ck reindeer riding beside him and Rudolph. "Though they may not seem like it, every single one of my reindeer has the potential to be an Immortal God. And as such, they are an invaluable asset to the Azuresk Empire if they n on recovering after their fallout with the surrounding nations."


    Clip, clop. Clip, clip.


    The diamond horseshoes of the reindeer cked against the slightly singed grass of a low-hanging mountain as Azmodeus traveled directly under the fighting of four Immortal Gods in the skies above. They were rtively safe on the ground floor, but it was better to be cautious than indifferent, so he skedaddled out of there far faster than he came in.


    While making his way out of the ckenednds, he made sure to pick up any loot that had fallen from the heavens, nning to borrow it all until further notice. By the end of his hauling, he had filled up his entire storage rings full of loot, and even the right arm of a Grade 6 Immortal God, which would surely make for good pill material or selling equity. Either way, it would be put to good use, same with the three eyeballs and two legs that he found earlier.


    Any part of an Immortal God ancestor was already worth a lot of money, and if they were cut off when the owner was most active, then the quality of the part would be worth far more. Yet, when it came to Azmodeus, he nned to use the parts in concocting high-rank pills.


    Although he didn''t mention it much, he had been keeping his various professions at maximum capacity since the very beginning. In fact, his Alchemy and Formation Rune Array Master Professions were already considered to be at the very peak of the Immortal God Rank, verging on a level rarely seen in all of the Eternal Jade Heavens Immortal Realm.


    As Azmodeus relished in the feeling of acquiring more valuable loot, the Azuresk Empire''s border had already been crossed. The intense Immortal God fighting had all but died, meaning less loot, but also the opportunity for far greater amounts of loot. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Right in front of him was a massive dipped bowl of topography, and at the far northern side of this bowl, in the middle heightyer, was a city sorge that even from hundreds of thousands of miles away, it looked unbelievable. Yet this was just the area where the high-levelmonfolk resided. Instead, it was the giant floating purple pce in the sky that truly attracted Azmodeus. It was around half the size of the city, but just the fact that such arge thing could stay slowly bobbing up and down in the air was a miraculous thing all in and of itself.


    Together, these two areas made up the prime territory of the Eternal Jade Sect! Whereas the pce was the Eternal Pce, and was where the high-level members of the organization, as well as the two sect members, resided. However, if one looked past the numerous flying boats and immortals zipping through the paradise-likend, then they would see what looked like a thin line of brownish orange.


    If one zoomed out into a bird''s-eye view, then they would see that this thin line of orange actually extended far beyond the scopes of the Eternal Jade Sect. In fact, the orange stretched outward for so long that it appeared as if the entire world were 99% sand and 1% green.


    "The beginning of the Lands Unknown," Azmodeus muttered in awe, his eyes shining. "If I can make it past this hurdle called the Eternal Jade Sect, then I will be able to enter the Lands Unknown and see just what the Immortal Funnel has to offer."


    As he was getting a little bit ahead of himself, he had to calm himself down and focus on the present. "For now," said Azmodeus, "I need to make my way down this slope and travel another few hundred thousand miles, then figure out what I need to do in order to avoid the most suspicion when I traverse the secret passageways."


    Although it might look like the Eternal Jade Sect was close, he was still another twenty or so minutes out, so he continued his trot¡­


    Twenty minutester.


    "Halt!" an armored man shouted, his pose that of a strict watchman. "State your name and where you hail from! You are also to tell us what you n to do in the Eternal Jade City ¡ª the jewel of the Eternal Jade Heavens Immortal Realm!"


    Treating this as if it happened to him all the time, Azmodeus turned his tone cordial and concise. "My name is Amon, and I hail from the Waterbane Kingdom to the East," he said. "My only business here is to find a new ce to settle down and put my skills to use, rather than leave them to rot in the barrennd that used to be my hometown."


    A hint of mncholy shed past his reddened eyes as sorrow crept up his expression, to which the stern guard responded in kind. "I heard what happened to the Waterbane Kingdom. Our very own Immortal God, Hemsworth, fought to the death with a powerful Immortal God from an unknown region. What was originally just a war between two Empires turned into something where even outside powers may be at y¡ª" suddenly realizing that he was disclosing things that shouldn''t be disclosed, the Immortal King Realm Guard shook his head.


    "Ai, I''ve said too much ¡ª too much, indeed." He waved his hand in front of him and moved out of the way. "Feel free to head on in and apply for temporary residency. This devastating war has taken a lot from many, and as such, the Hegemony of this world has decided to permit refuge as long as good behavior is shown."


    Azmodeus wasn''t one to deny an easy pass, so he cordially nodded his head before passing by the guard. "Thank you very much."


    "No problem; just try not to get into too much trouble."


    "Will do."


    Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know.


    Astral_Pandemonium


    Creator''s Thought

 Chapter 412 Eternal Jade Academy

    412 Eternal Jade Academy


    "No problem; just try not to get into too much trouble."


    "Will do."


    With that, they parted ways. Azmodeus walked through the unusually shaped triangle gates of the massive city. Looking around the ce when he got inside, he saw a sight that could only be described as something straight out of a retro book.


    The night loomed high, while the moon hung low, with the city a sea of lights. People moved around to and fro, all of whom were of varying races, genders, and body types. The city was abuzz about a great many things, all blending with one another in order to make something simr to white noise, yet also on the level of an otherworldly ambience.


    However, beyond the surface level of appearances, many things happened behind the scenes, obscured from the bubbly and lively atmosphere shown to the general popce. If one looked close enough, they would see hooded figures seamlessly sneaking through therge crowds, some handing over unknown substances, while others whispered from one ear to the next. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The lives of the people in this fantastical city were one thing, but it was the sheer grandiosity of the architecture andyout of this ce that truly stood out to Azmodeus. Each part of the city was split up intoyers, with eachyer ascending on top of one another until eventually reaching the highest manors and castles at the top of this staircase. Yet, rather than something that looked abundantly like your typical staircase, this city had buildings that seamlesslyy over one another and worked with each other to make the whole ce seem like something that actually came out of a fairytale.


    "Hey! Come on now, don''t lowball me with that price!"


    "I don''t know what you mean!"


    "Let''s not jest right now! We both know that 8 Grade 5 Immortal Crystals for this Immortal King Realm Spiritual Herb is absurd!"


    "Sorry, but the price is set in stone! Nothing I can do about it!"


    As Azmodeus strolled through the mystical city, he heard many deals go down on the side streets. Moreover, he listened torge numbers get thrown around like they were nothing. Furrowing his brows in interest, he instinctively knew that this city and the Eternal Jade Sect Pce above would be the perfect ce for him to profit the most before venturing forth into the Lands Unknown.


    However, for now, he was on the verge of a breakthrough into the Immortal Emperor Realm, and all he needed was onest special ingredient to supplement his breakthrough. Yet, even with the prosperity of the regr areas of the Eternal City, they just simply wouldn''t have something that could help him, who had indirectly looted dozens of Immortal Gods.


    But¡­ there was somewhere in the Eternal Jade Sect that should have what he needed.


    "The Eternal Jade Academy ¡ª that is where aspiring Eternal Jade Sect Members go to hone their skills and show off what they have," said Azmodeus. "And all in an attempt to be one of the lucky two who will be admitted as Eternal Jade Sect members of the next generation."


    "That is where I need to go to obtain what I want."


    With that, he set off for the giant golden pce and side towers, all located at the topmost area of the Eternal City, approximately hundreds of miles away from his current location.


    ---


    Meanwhile, in the Eternal Jade Academy, within the intricately decorated ssrooms where the most elite students studied.


    The ssroom of 1-A was abuzz with noise as the high-brow students chitter-chattered with one another. All of them wore perfectly fitted uniforms, but they were lined with gold and covered in protection formations that would keep the students safe even if pinned up against an Immortal King.


    One of such students sat toward the front of the ss, with nearly a dozen other people talking with her. Her name was Annabelle, and she was unanimously seen as the belle of ss 1-A. Moreover, she was one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful, women in the entire school, likely on par with the Immortal Realm Master''s daughter and the Academy Head''s daughter. And that was not just in looks, but also academics and physical prowess as well.


    "Have you heard about the red-haired man who not only robbed the four Dukes of the Azuresk Kingdom, but also killed one of their Immortal Generals?" asked a girl with long blonde hair and pretty eyshes.


    "Hmm?" Annabelle turned her attention to her friend, Emma. Curious, she asked, "This man is strong, huh?" To which Emma replied passionately, "Of course he is strong! But with just his feats alone, any random Immortal God would be able to beat him. So that begs the question: why did I bring him up?" She put her hand up to her face, wearing a cheeky expression.


    "Well¡­ what makes him so special?"


    "Of course it''s because¡­ he''s rumored to be the most handsome man to ever grace the face of the Immortal Realm!"


    "..." Annabelle lightly sighed. "You really are a funny one to buy into such nonsense and take it so seriously."


    Emma giggled. "I think you would change your tune if you saw the immortal portraits that depicted this man gantly fighting the Immortal General. And even then, the ones who drew the portraits said they were unable to fully encapste his beauty into the painting."


    Annabelle moved her silky dark purple hair behind her ear before watching everyone return to their seats with the faint footsteps of their professor echoing from outside the ssroom. There was another quieter set of footsteps, but no one paid it any mind. Unluckily for Annabelle, Emma sat right next to her and was patiently waiting for her input on the matter. Sighing, Annabelle said, "If what you say is the truth, then this¡­"


    "Azmodeus!" Emma called out.


    "¡ªThis Azmodeus is definitely someone extraordinary. And as long as talking about him makes you happy, then all is good."


    "Yep, yep¡ª"


    WHAM!


    Creation is hard, cheer me up! VOTE for me!


    Astral_Pandemonium


    Creator''s Thought

 Chapter 413 New Transfer Student

    413 New Transfer Student


    Suddenly, the sliding doors to the ssroom were opened with a resounding bang. Entering the ssroom, the voluptuous female professor walked up to the chalkboard and wrote a few words with a piece of chalk. She then turned around. "Everyone, quieten up," she announced in a loud voice. "Rather than start off with the lessons, I have something to tell you all."


    "We have a new transfer student¡ªa young man who got in through just his effort and hard work."


    "???" "???" "???"


    Everyone''s eyes widened in surprise as they simultaneously shot their attention to the open door. They first saw a shoe, then the lower body that belonged to this shoe, and finally, they saw the entire appearance of this new transfer student. The girls'' glossy eyes began to shine with immense interest, while the expressions of the guys curled up in envy.


    "Be nice to him, and do your best to show him a weing environment."


    Nobody was really listening to what the teacher was saying as they all focused on the handsome visage of the young man who just walked up to the front of the room. His hair was long and a dark crimson color, cascading over his back like a waterfall of blood. Moreover, his eyes were also red, but they did not blend in with his hair color. Rather, they worked together to entuate his appearance. Other than that, every facial feature of his could be considered objectively handsome. However, this was not his true appearance¡ªnot even close.


    Anabelle wasn''t originally putting too much focus on the new transfer student, but when she nced in his direction, her special eyesight activated. Her big, round eyes immediately widened in sheer shock as she saw straight through his handsome appearance. Yet, instead of seeing something inferior, she witnessed a sight that could only be described as breathtaking. In her eyes, he didn''t even appear human anymore; he looked like a god who had descended to the human realm. Furthermore, his concealed aura¡­


    ''So powerful,'' Anabelle thought. ''His strength is even greater than the Elders of my family¡­ Can this actually be happening¡­?''


    Even though Azmodeus was in the Half-Step Immortal Emperor Realm, his actual strength was in an entirely different league. If put into perspective, even a Grade 1 Immortal God would find themselves in dire straits if they went against him as he was. ''To have an appearance like that and possess such strength,'' Anabelle thought in disbelief. ''Just who is this young man?''


    With her special pair of immortal eyes, she could see the truth of any person and anything. This ability of hers was kept hidden from her parents and anyone else close to her. There was only one person who knew of her secret, and he was the Eldest Senior Brother of the Eternal Jade Sect¡ªher master¡ªLing Chao. With this innate and mysterious ability of hers, she could throw the entire Eternal Jade Immortal Realm into disarray, so she told no one. But that didn''t mean she didn''t still use the ability, whether consciously or unconsciously, just like now.


    Suddenly feeling something peer into his secrets without his permission, Azmodeus shot his gaze toward a violet-haired girl who was looking at him like he was a freak of nature. He was going to kill her out of habit right then and there, but for some reason, something inside him told him not to. This feeling was strange and originated not from himself, but he still decided to follow it. Not because he had a weak will, but because that feeling felt soothing¡ªalmost like a goddess of light was embracing him in her warmth.


    After staying his hand, Azmodeus looked away from the pretty girl who had clearly learned something that she wasn''t supposed to. Still, he couldn''t let her go bbering off to anyone, so he countered her sight ability with an abyssal technique he had picked up a while back. Upon seeing not an otherworldly handsome visage but a terrifying pair of piercing ant-like eyes in a realm shrouded inplete darkness, Anabelle deactivated the sight ability out of fright before shrinking into the back of her seat. She understood the message loud and clear.


    "What is wrong with you, Anabelle?" asked Emma in a quiet whisper. "You look awfully pale."


    Realizing that she was acting weird, Anabelle corrected her posture and cleared her expression. "I am doing fine; it''s just that this new transfer student is¡ª"


    "He''s so handsome, isn''t he!?" Emma interrupted, already speaking like a devout fangirl. "If not for his young age, I might''ve actually suspected him to be the Azuresk Thief! But there''s just no way he could be that powerful while being so young, so even if his hair color and appearance vaguely match the Thief''s description, it just isn''t true¡­"


    "Yes," Anabelle agreed. "His age¡­ it just doesn''t match¡­"


    Upon recalling all the strength contained within the body of a man no older than 23, her stomach curled. Even she, who was 24, only had a cultivation base in the Grade 2 Immortal Venerable. Furthermore, among her generation, she was considered a supreme genius, one who was even on par with the Headmaster and Immortal Realm''s daughters. Yet, in front of this young man of untold mystery, she might as well have been considered hot garbage. This put her down a little, but when she heard the man in question speak up, all that self-loathing vanished without a trace.


    "I hail from a smallnd very, very far away," Azmodeus said to start off his introduction. "None of you will know of the ce, so I will not bother disclosing the name. However, even with my insignificant background, I hope to get along with everyone here, and maybe even ignite friendships that willst for many years toe," he finished with a bow before walking up to the seat the teacher was pointing at. Only then did everyone break the silence and react to what had just happened.


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    Creator''s Thought N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 414 Cornering Annabelle

    414 Cornering Annabelle


    "Friendships!? I would love to be your friend, handsome! What say we ''kindle'' this friendship in the dorm roomster today~?"


    "Tsk! You skank! Can''t you see that this poser bastard is just a pretty face!?"


    "So!? What the hell does that matter!? If I remember correctly, you tried courting me just because of my looks, so what''s the difference!?"


    "Hauhh!???"


    While most of the students were cheering or whispering amongst themselves, a couple of them were butting heads. Eventually, mere head butts turned into something more, escting very quickly. And just as it seemed like a fight was going to break out, the teacher pped her hands and said, "That''s enough from you all. Settle down and prepare yourselves for today''s lesson. You all know that it is Magic History time, so flip over to page 420."


    Upon hearing what subject they would be studying today, everyone lost all their previous hype and slumped into their seats. They mourned the next couple of hours, but after that, some of them thought about approaching the transfer student. After all, he was especially handsome, and even a little charismatic. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Sitting to the far end right of the room, Azmodeus sat with a bored look on his face as he stared out the window closest to him. Outside the window were countless floating ships and powerful Immortals flying to and fro.


    The city itself looked like a technological paradise, or perhaps a magic empire. Buildings with seamless reflections stretched outward as far as the eye could see, with some even reaching up above the clouds. Birds and unknown winged creatures flew overhead, soaring through the endlessly massive city like it was a forest of metal. Situated at the very top of the Eternal Jade City, the Eternal Jade Academy overlooked everything, making it the perfect tourist location¡ªif not for the fact that one had to be a student of this prestigious institution to ess the picturesque views it had to offer.


    Before he knew it, the sses had already ended, and during the entire four-hour period, a stunning violet-haired girl kept stealing asional nces at him. Azmodeus, of course, noticed this, but he honestly didn''t care. He didn''t mean to sound like a narcissist, but women had been gawking and staring at him his entire life, just like those girls from¡­ from¡­¡ª


    ''Who was I just thinking about?'' he asked himself in confusion. ''I have never kept any girls close to me¡­ Is there something wrong with me today¡­?''


    Azmodeus was beginning to think that having devices about the resources that would allow him to quickly break through into the Immortal Emperor Realm was having negative karmic repercussions. But then again, maybe he was just going insane. ''Thinking that you have been around other women when you are clearly a raging loner is another kind of crazy,'' he sighed before getting up off his seat. ss had just let up, which meant it was time to move onto practical lessons.


    Following closely behind him was the least secretive stalker alive. She appeared and vanished behind dozens of support beams that held the academy together, all while staying within a few meters of the suave, handsome, red-haired man.


    ''For the princess of the Mountainrider Empire, she sure does act unusual,'' Azmodeus thought as he swiped away her system interface. ''Anabelle, huh? And she appears to have a special set of innately gifted eyes that make it so she can see the truth of anything in the Immortal Realm. Moreover, she is the secret disciple of the Elder disciple among the two disciples of the Eternal Jade Sect Pce. And this master¡­ Oh?''


    Azmodeus''s brows raised in interest. After reading through everything he could discern about this ''Ling Chao,'' he knew exactly what sort of storm was about to arrive in the Eternal Jade Heavens Immortal Realm. ''This changes everything,'' he thought with a cunning smirk. ''I was originally just going to gain a high status in the Academy and then get my resources and passport through conventional methods. After which, I would leave for the Dunes of the Lands Unknown.''


    ''However, with this girl, and more specifically, the status of her master, I will be able to gain so much more if I dy my journey into the Lands Unknown just a little bit longer. After all, the walls between two Immortal Realms are closing in, and the Evil Sovereign as well as his Evil Legion are on the verge of descending.''


    Azmodeus could hardly wait for countless powerful loot bags to transfer over and create chaos, giving him just the opportunity he needed to disregard all inhibitions and loot anything that got in his way. A new n formted inside his mind as he continued walking through the spacious corridors of the Academy, receiving the stares of anyone who crossed paths with him. More importantly, though, there was an innocent sheep that needed to be caught in his ws. Only that way could he truly leave the Eternal Jade Heavens Immortal Realm with all of the benefits.


    After making a sharp turn around a rounded corner, Azmodeus vanished from Annabelle''s sight, prompting her to quicken her pace and catch up to him. However, the moment she crossed the corner, tworge hands reached out and cupped her mouth.


    Without knowing what was going on, she was brought to a part of the academy where no one usually went. Upon feeling the hands let go of her, she conjured a magic sword using Immortal Energy and pointed it at the assant''s throat, only to find that no one was there. That was when she felt a light tap on her shoulder.


    "We need to talk," said Azmodeus, his face still unknown to Annabelle. "Who are you!?" she asked, her voice frosty. "Do you know what could happen to you if I were to report you for this!? No matter who you¡ª" she suddenly became quiet when she turned around and saw who the owner of the raspy voice was.


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    Astral_Pandemonium

 Chapter 415: Its You!

    "It''s you!" Annabelle eximed, surprise written all over her face.


    Azmodeus lightly chuckled. "Yep, it''s me, ol'' stalker of mine," he said. "Now, what say we find some ce to sit down, eat, and talk about a few things of interest."


    "Things of interest¡­?"


    "Yes. Now, if you know of a good joint to find some grub, then bring us there."


    "There''s the school cafeteria, but hey! You still never told me why you grabbed me like that¡ª"


    "Everything can be exined when we get to that cafeteria; I am absolutely famished right now, so eating takes priority," Azmodeus said as he gently grabbed Annabelle by the wrist and led her around campus.


    "Hey! Stop that!"


    As the odd pair traveled around the campus toward the cafeteria, they attracted the stares of many students. Moreover, they whispered and fabricated rumors among themselves, especially when they saw an unfamiliar, handsome man walking around with one of the campus belles, who just so happened to be ''imed'' by another. Specifically, it was the son of the Saberspire Empire''s Emperor, who had supposedly had his eyes on her since they were kids.


    SLAM!


    "You''re telling me that slut is strolling around campus with another guy?!" shouted a young, expensive-looking man as he cracked a table in half. "Tell me exactly who would be audacious enough to do such a thing while I''m here!"


    A different young man frantically approached the young nobleman and smacked his face against the ground. "Of course, Young Master Issac!" He then went on to describe in great detail everything he knew about the man known as Amon. It could basically be summed up in one word¡­


    "Poor!" Issac eximed with an evil grin. "This poor bastard from the middle of nowhere thought himself to be big sh*t, so he arrived in the capital just a few days ago. He then amassed some paltry wealth by selling goods that he likely stole. Moreover, it was through some miraculous methods that he managed to get into the academy without an ounce of credibility or background! Am I getting this right?!"


    "O-Of course!" the groveling young man fervently agreed. "You''re always right, Young Master! There''s not a time when your unparalleled mind doesn''te through in the end¡ª"


    "Okay, okay, that''s enough," Issac waved his hand dismissively. Still, his mood had definitely improvedpared to before. After all, anyone who managed to get into Eternal Jade Academy was usually someone from a powerful background. If this mysterious red-haired man had a stronger background than him, he would have had no choice but to back off. However, now that he had learned Amon was just a dirty pauper, things changed. "I will torture this man who doesn''t know his ce!" he dered boisterously. "Bring him to me right away! I have graciously decided to personally teach this idiot the ways of the world!"


    Hurriedly rising to his feet, the young man said, "I will do just that, Young Master! My gang and I will rough him up a bit in front of Young Lady Annabelle, then we will deliver him to you!"


    Issac''s malicious grin widened. "Very good," he nodded. "Go ahead, then! Give me that little sh*t!"


    BAM!


    The young man didn''t need to be told twice. He was already halfway out the door by the time Issac finished waving his hand in a domineering manner. Left alone inside his opulent dorm room, Issac''s mind stirred with evil thoughts as he tossed around ideas, all revolving around just how he would punish the one who dared to hang around his woman.


    Meanwhile, in the public cafeteria, surrounded by hundreds of conversing students, Azmodeus sat on a bench with a circr table in front of him. Yet, instead of his lunchpanion being on the opposite side of the table, she was right next to him. Moreover, she was munching down on a steak sandwich like no one was even there.


    Difited, Azmodeus asked, "Isn''t that like your fourth sandwich?" to which Annabelle responded, "So what!" with her mouth still full, not caring about any sort of table manners. Azmodeus looked down at his modest chicken sd, then over to her stuffing down arge sandwich in a single bite. "Are you sure that you''re a princess of the Mountainrider Empire?"


    "Mhm! Mhm!" Annabelle didn''t even bother chewing before speaking as her brows furrowed and a pout appeared on her stuffed cheeks. To Azmodeus, it seemed like she was saying, "What''s that supposed to mean?!" though it was hard to tell with just munches and crunches. Exasperated, he gave up on the matter and let her do whatever she wanted. She''s a growing woman anyway; she can do as she wishes, he thought as he watched her scarf down another sandwich. Yes, definitely a growing woman, alright¡­


    While taking asional nces at her eating, he saw her ample chest sway all around, with even her uniform struggling to contain it. Maybe that''s where all the food is going¡ª before even finishing that thought, he saw the stuffed chipmunk send him a dangerous re, which might as well have been a death threat. A bead of sweat formed on Azmodeus''s forehead as he looked away awkwardly.


    When Annabelle finally finished eating and seemed to have resolved whatever was irking her, Azmodeus brought up the main matter of importance. "What say we be acquaintances, Miss Annabelle?"


    "Hmm?" Annabelle looked up at him but identally saw his true appearance, which caused her to blush a little. She forced herself to look away and regain her bearings, then swiveled her face back to his. "What does that even mean? Why don''t you just ask if we could be friends¡ª"


    "You wish to be friends?"


    "That is not what I meant¡ª"


    "Fine, if you insist so, then I will be your friend," Azmodeus said with a warm smile, momentarily blinding her and leaving her speechless. Yet, as if to take advantage of the moment, he said, "Say, as friends, don''t you think we should work on things together? Like, say, the uing Academy Duo Tournament?"

 Chapter 416: Women are Funny...

    "The what?" Annabelle''s eyes widened. "Why would I do something that could affect my entire future with someone like you, who has too many secrets to count? I''d be better off doing it with someone I can trust! Even if you''re handsome, that doesn''t mea¡ª"


    "You think I''m handsome?" Azmodeus asked seriously. This hardened look took Annabelle off guard as her eyshes erratically flickered.


    "Well, I''m not saying you''re not handsome, but I still won''t do it with you!" she said adamantly. "Plus, we only just met!"


    Azmodeus''s expression turned thoughtful. "Yeah, that does make sense," he said. "But you will still do it with me, no?"


    "I just said I wouldn''t!"


    "But you will still do it, no? After all, I am handsome."


    "Y-You¡­"


    Annabelle was leftpletely bbergasted at the gall of this man who showed up in her life quite literally out of nowhere. Sighing, she said, "I guess I''ll do it with you¡­ But this is the only time I''m going to do something like this! No other times, you hear?" Suddenly remembering something, she asked, "And why do you even want to participate in the Duo Academy Tournament with me so badly? Aren''t there far easier people to coerce?"


    Azmodeus chuckled, confusing Annabelle even more. "Well, isn''t the answer to that quite simple?" he said. "Just as you are after me for my looks, I want you to be my partner because you are very pretty."


    "Hey! I never said that¡ª but, wait, you think I''m pretty?" Annabelle switched her tune mid-sentence as a dash of crimson crept up her cheeks. However, she was quickly taken out of her stupor when a hatefulugh echoed. Continue your journey on m|v-l''e-NovelBin


    "Hey, you don''t have to be so rude about it!" she grumbled, turning her head toward his, but identally got a little too close, so she ended up averting her gaze, this time even more embarrassed than before.


    "Women really are funny," said Azmodeus, his tone amused. "Talking to you reminds me a bit of what it was like when I interacted with Yan¡­" A migraine suddenly spiked out of the blue, causing him to clutch his head in pain. Noticing this, Annabelle grew concerned. "Are you okay? I didn''t mean to¡ª"


    "No, no, it''s okay," Azmodeus waved his hand reassuringly. "As ofte, I have been getting these terrible headaches, and they ur at random, or when I think about¡­" his mind nked. "When I think about what, exactly?"


    "???" Annabelle became even more confused seeing him so perplexed. Ultimately, she just shook her head and said, "Well, regardless of whatever is going on with you, we are teammates now, and maybe friends?"


    "Definitely friends," Azmodeus rified, hisplexion already looking far better than it did a second ago.


    "Yeah, sure," Annabelle rolled her eyes, concealing a small blush. "Anyway, I think we should get to know each other''s strengths and weaknesses better if we are going into this thing with the intent to win¡ª"


    "There is no need," Azmodeus interrupted. "I will win the whole thing, and do so quite easily."


    A little ticked off, Annabelle pulled up a holographic screen that had all of the Tournament Contestants listed on it. "You do know that students from every ss and grade will be participating, don''t you?" she asked. "There are even a few Immortal King students participating, and I know you''re stronger than they are, but I assume there''s a reason you''re hiding your strength. How can you be so confident even knowing that?"


    "Oh," Azmodeus said nonchntly. "Well, I know all that, of course. But even though that''s the case, I will still be able to beat them with an Immortal Venerable Realm cultivation base, so don''t worry about it."


    An unsightly vein bulged on Annabelle''s wless face as her eyes darkened. "You really are something else," she mumbled.


    To which Azmodeus nodded and said, "I know."


    Silence.


    Even under the loud ambiance of the cafeteria atmosphere, the silence covering a certain table was practically deafening. At least, that was the case until an unruly group of hooligans strutted over to their table like they owned the ce. Surprised by their appearance, Annabelle shouted, "What are you bunch doing here!? I already told your young master to leave me alone, lest he wish to have this matter brought to the student council!"


    The leader of the group of mischief-makers smirked. "We are well aware of that, sweet tits," he said with a disgusting, lustful glint in his gaze. Annabelle''s face twisted in disgust, but before she could spit back at these a*sholes, the leading man continued where he left off, shooting his vicious gaze toward the apathetic man. "You over there! Our young master has ordered us to rough you up before taking you back to him, which is where you will learn your ce in this world!"


    "Learn my ce in this world?" Azmodeus parroted while under the venomous gaze of eight thugs and the panicked look of a worried beauty. She clearly thinks this situation to be her fault, he thought indifferently. And in a way, it is.


    But this bunch of idiots will also help to make my power in the Tournament appear a lot more believable and raise less suspicion. All in all, they are helping one way or another.


    A cold gleam shed past his crimson eyes as he looked at the bunch of nogooders in front of him, like looking at something less than garbage. At least garbage had a purpose, but these idiots did not. Well, that is unfair to them, he thought, correcting himself. After all, they have a purpose as garbage that needs to be publicly lit on fire.


    "Who is that?"


    "I think one of the three Belles and the new transfer student are confronting Issac''s group of thugs!"


    "You''re saying that a fight is about to break out?"


    "It appears so!"


    People in the cafeteria had already been attracted by themotion, causing them to quietly chatter among themselves. It was basically set in stone that a fight was going to happen, yet it was how it would begin that truly interested everyone.

 Chapter 417: That Hateful Man..., Duo Tournament

    ''Heh!'' the Thug Leader inwardly smirked. ''Everything is going ording to n, and with the stage set, I can carry out the Young Master''s orders and show all the students what will happen to them if they fancy the Young Master''s woman!''


    "Die, you stupid bastard¡ª!" he shouted out as he lunged at the calm man. Annabelle went to shield Azmodeus from the iing attack, but he was far quicker to react. He blurred from his spot, appeared in front of the foolish hooligan, and grabbed onto his hand. He then¡­ pulled back.


    CRACK¡ª


    An unnerving crack resounded through the cafeteria as the fingers of a Grade 2 Immortal King were bent back where they definitely shouldn''t have been.


    "Ahhhhh!!! M-My hand!!!" An anguished cry echoed, attracting the attention of every single student in the cafeteria, even those who were originally not interested. They all watched with ck jaws as a Grade 2 Immortal King fell to the ground and rolled around while clutching his hand.


    "Azmodeus, this¡­" Annabelle said with a hard-to-read expression. ''He just did that with the cultivation base of a Grade 9 Immortal Venerable¡­ Unbelievable¡­''


    "Don''t worry," said Azmodeus, his posture rxed. "It was self-defense."


    "..." "..." "..."


    Not a single person present believed that nonsense, but when they recalled how the hooligan student struck out first, it might actually hold up in case. Still, believing that this was all out of self-defense when he was obviously very strong was¡ª


    "Oh," Azmodeus remembered something. "Ow. Ow. It hurts. It hurts so much," he fell to the floor and groaned while holding his right kneecap, all without having a single change in expression.


    Silence.


    Everyone was left in disbelief at the shamelessness of this transfer student.


    Then, from one of the cafeteria''s entrances, a middle-aged male professor stormed in. "What is happening here?!" he yelled as he approached the scene and saw two students rolling around on the ground, with a gang of thugs watching in shock off to the side.


    "Well, Professor," someone spoke up, then briefly exined the situation. To which the professor''s annoyed expression eased up. "So that''s how it is."


    He waved his hand to disperse the crowd. "Go back to your studies, or whatever it was you were doing before this," he said. "I will bring these two to the Disciplinary Office myself. Go on now, don''t dally any further."


    "Yes, Professor, sir!" all of the gawking students said as they left the scene, though still making sure to keep a curious eye on what was happening behind them. The only ones who stayed were the two ''injured'' students and Annabelle, whereas the rest of Isaac''s gang had already vacated the area. They had too many bad marks on their track records to get caught again, so they had to keep their heads down.


    ''Damn! Those cowardly bastards!'' the young thug leader cursed as he held his broken fingers with a hateful grimace on his face. However, as if to make matters worse, the professor said sternly, "Come on, you two, you''reing with me." Which then led to him using his Immortal Energy to levitate them off the ground and have them float behind him.


    "???"


    Azmodeus was a little taken aback by this action, but he quickly adjusted and simply let it happen. Yet, before he got fully taken away, he looked toward the shocked Annabelle. "Make sure to remember that we have to sign up for the Duo Competition when I get back," he said evenly, concealing a bit of yfulness as he watched the other students'' expressions morph into surprise.


    Upon snapping out of her reverie, Annabelle looked around, only to see groups of students swarming her from all sides.


    ''That damn hateful man¡­''


    "So you''re actually going to participate in the Duo Tournament!?"


    "But I heard that you didn''t wish to participate this time around, so what changed your mind!?"


    "Maybe it was that man! He seems to have a special rtionship with Annabelle!"


    "The transfer student?! But how could that be!? Didn''t he just get here?! To already acquire the attention of one of the Three Belles¡­"


    Everyone quickly came to understand that Annabelle''s changed mind had a lot to do with the transfer student. Furthermore, from what they could tell, she also held a certain level of fondness for the young red-haired man to be talking to him so much, when she usually just feigned a smile and briefly spoke with anyone who approached her. Yet this change in her surely spelled terrible news for anyone in the way of Isaac''s destined puff of rage.


    Out of fear for what he would do to them when he found out what was going on with Annabelle and the new transfer student, they backed away and left her be. Still, they whispered and conversed among themselves, as they were already very invested in what was undoubtedly going to go down in their academy.


    Annabelle sighed. ''I''m d they finally left me alone,'' she thought. ''But what they said about Isaac''s certain burst of anger is very much going toe to pass. And although he can do nothing to me due to my status, Amon, on the other hand¡­''


    She knew that he had great amounts of power, but even then, it was still uncertain if he would lose if Isaac called upon his family''s backing. If she remembered correctly, the Saberspire Empire still had over a dozen Immortal Gods, even after their war with the Azuresk Empire had concluded in a stalemate. In other words, there were potentially more than ten ancient masters who could give Azmodeus a very good run for his money.


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    For some reason, this worried Annabelle greatly, far more than she thought it would. However, there was nothing she could do to alleviate this worry, so she put it aside for now and instead thought about how she could go about preparing herself for the Duo Tournament. Unlike in a solo tournament, she had to at least not get herself disqualified for her partner to im victory.

 Chapter 418: The Daughter of the Headmaster and the Realm Lord

    Yet, Annabelle wasn''t all that worried about her staying in the matches until at least the semifinals. After all, she was an Immortal King herself, and not even a weak one, as she was of Grade 5, putting her ahead of even a lot of Second Generation Students!


    ''I can do this!'' Annabelle thought with an unexpected surge of determination as she clenched her dainty fists and finished up eating before moving over to the outdoor Training Grounds.


    As she worked on polishing her rusty strength and skills, Azmodeus found himself plopped onto a chair, which was situated right next to the chair that the young thug leader was forced to sit on. Noticing the vengeful re boring holes into the side of his head, Azmodeus looked away from the professor who had temporarily left the room after going through a very intense session of scolding them.


    "So, whatcha in here for?" he asked like an Italian mobster, to which the young thug stuck up his middle finger and said, "Fck you, ashole!" then proceeded to flip the second middle finger.


    Azmodeus chuckled a little before looking down at the fingers that had already been healed by the Immortal Energy constantly coursing through his body. If he weren''t so clouded by pain earlier, he likely could have healed up instantly, but since most of the students here were not used to stressful situations, his mind nked. This was verymon among the young and inexperienced immortals, so the thug leader couldn''t be entirely med.


    "Well," said Azmodeus. "Now that it''s just me and you here, I''m going to tell you exactly what''s going to happen when we leave this room." His expression morphed from yful to terrifying within an instant, causing the thug''s hair to stand on end. "When you are excused, you will head straight back to the young master Issosaur who sent you here. Then, in the same goofy voice, you will tell him that he can eat sht and die. Moreover, he also has a tripleyered pickle chin, erectile dysfunction, and a case of uncontroble ''I pick up no btches'' aura."


    "After telling him all that, make sure he knows that I said it."


    "And why would I do that??" the young thug eximed, to which Azmodeus said coldly, "You are rebellious, and that is fine for someone your age, but don''t try to overstep your boundaries." He patted him on the shoulder, making sure to smile warmly. Unable to take the fright, the young thug shrank his head into his neck and nodded, withrge beads of sweat raining down his face.


    "Good, very good," said Azmodeus as he rxed his expression and returned his hand back to his side. "Though if you don''t manage to convey this messag¡ª"


    "I won''t!" the thug leader blurted out as he practically jumped out of his seat.


    Azmodeus''s face returned toplete neutrality. "Very well; I''ll believe you," he said before waiting for the professor to return.


    After getting off with a couple of ps on the wrist, Azmodeus and the young thug leader left the room and quickly parted ways, each setting out to achieve their objectives. For him, however, he nned to first meet up with the foreign purple-haired princess and then better contemte just how he''s going to maximize his benefits in the uing tournament. Furthermore, he needed to get his trusty teammate to permit him a gathering with the daughter of the Headmaster, or even better would be the Realm Lord''s daughter.


    ''If either of them can help me increase the benefits that I was already going to aim to obtain with Annabelle''s connection to her master, then everything will proceed all the smoother,'' Azmodeus thought as he inwardly smirked. ''The Evil Sovereign and his forces will soon descend on thesends, and I wish to see exactly what sort of person caused it all to happen.''


    He spected on the loot he would soon obtain as he traveled through the corridors of the Academy. Eventually, he caught sight of a purple blur shing around an open green field, so he approached it and tapped softly. "Ah! What the¡ª" Annabelle tripped over and fell while in the middle of practicing her footwork, leaving her with her plump rump poised up in the air. Her extremely mature purpleced panties were put on full disy for Azmodeus. "Well, well, well, I didn''t expect you to be that type of girl," he said with a fox-like grin. "Who would''ve thought a princess to be into those kinds of things¡ª"


    Rushing to her feet, Annabelle pulled down her skirt and puffed out her cheeks with an aggrieved look. "I am not that kind of girl!" she shouted defensively. "I-I just happened to like the color of these, so I bought them! It wasn''t like I was expecting to get a boyfriend or anything!" But utterly failed when it came to telling the truth.


    "Sure, sure," Azmodeusughed lightheartedly before walking away from the flustered girl, instead making his way toward arge gray building on the western side of the Academy, which was where students could register for events.


    "Hey! Don''t just leave after that! I was being serious!"


    "I know."


    "I don''t think you do, you jerk!"


    "Haha."


    "Don''tugh about it!!"


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    Annabelle was right behind Azmodeus as they both strolled through the Academy Grounds, attracting the attention of countless nosy students. When one of the School Belles walked with an unknown man, it was bound to stir up rumors. Ultimately, these rumors found their way back to young master Issac, which infuriated him even further. Moreover, they made their way to two beautiful women battling each other in a fierce sword battle in one of the Academy''s side arenas.


    "Say, have you heard about Anna hanging out with the handsome, red-haired transfer student?" A girl with long blonde hair sliced forward, leaving sparks of ice in her wake. To which a pretty girl with medium-length ck hair in a ponytail parried with her silver sword and deflected the de enough out of the way to create an opening. "Yeah, I''ve heard a little something here and there, but no matter how handsome the guy is, I just never would''ve expected Anna to fall, you know?"

 Chapter 419: Amon, that is my Name

    SHING! SHING!


    The blonde-haired girl saw a sword sh for her stomach, prompting her to backflip out of the way and whip her silky hair around in elegant fashion. After which, she changed stances to something more versatile and lunged forward. "I, on the other hand, believed that Anna was just waiting for the right guy," she said as she red the ice element on the edges of her de. "Maybe this guy is the guy she''s been unknowingly searching for¡­ Or maybe not¡­"


    SHING! SHING!


    As the girl''s des collided and sent sparks flying, the topic lingered on their minds. No longer able to focus on the fight, they decided to conclude the battle and leave the arena, instead making their way over to where theyst heard Annabelle was going. A yful glint emerged in both their gazes as they wished to tease their friend about this unknown mystery man.


    After a few minutes of strolling, they arrived at the Registry Building for any who wished to sign up for an Academy Event. It was arge two-story pagoda-style building that had a width of thousands of meters, along with a height of dozens of meters.


    The doors to this ce were always left open, as students would constantly enter and exit the building, just like now. However, rather than a typical day, just about everyone was staring at the gorgeous pair of voluptuous girls that had just passed through the Registry Building''s doors. Both of them were shorter, being around 5''6, but when it was these two, no matter what height they were, they would be noticeable from miles away.


    As they entered the Registry Building, they immediately noticed a unique pair standing in front of a counter, with the shorter individual asionally turning to the other with a grievous expression. Realizing right away who they were, Zara, the Headmaster''s daughter, and Nova, the Immortal Lord''s daughter, approached them. On their faces were mischievous smirks as they made sure to conceal their presences.


    However, before they could sneak up and surprise the dynamic pair, a cold re shot around and honed in on them. A little frightened, they backed up and identally tripped, causing them to stumble onto the ground. Bang! A few objects were knocked over as they rubbed their heads and winced in feigned pain, only to realize that two pairs of eyes were staring right at them.


    "Oh¡­" Zara averted her gaze, her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. The same thing happened to Nova as they both found it impossible to return the usatory res they were receiving. A hush hung in the air for a few moments, so they assumed they were in the clear, but when they turned around, they were suddenly sped on the shoulders by a purple-haired beauty with her entire face shrouded in shadows. Looking at her ''friendly'' expression made them seriously regret evering to mess with their friend.


    "Listen¡ª" Zara tried to say, but was interrupted by Anna''s crisp voice, saying:


    "There is no need to exin yourselves; I know exactly what you two are doing here."


    "You do?" Zara and Nova raised their brows in confusion, to which Anna grinned what looked to be an evil manner to them. However, contrary to what they thought, she said, "I know that you two are here to sign up for the Duo Tournament! Isn''t that right!?" She helped them up off the ground and hugged them. "I am kinda vexed that you guys didn''t tell me beforehand, considering that we originally all agreed against it, but it''spletely fine! I know you were just trying not to hurt my feelings!"


    "???" "???"


    Zara and Nova had no idea what she was rambling on about, but as long as she wasn''t mad, then everything was good? Either way, though, they now had to sign up for the Duo Tournament if they wished to fully escape embarrassment. Sighing, they escaped the passionate hug, then Zara said, "This Duo Tournament¡­ when is it?"


    Anna tilted her head in confusion. "You two came to sign up, but you don''t even know that much? Well, that is just like you two now that I think about it," she nodded in understanding. "Anyway, sign-up ends today, and the Tournament is set to begin tomorrow morning."


    "Tomorrow morning?" Zara and Nova eximed in unison. ''We were supposed to have that tea party at Princess Lexi''s house tomorrow, but now¡­''


    They sighed and resigned themselves to their fates. Anna, on the other hand, looked at them with a perplexed gleam in her eyes. "Well, anyway, I meant to do thister, but this man here is a¡­" Her mind nked for a moment, as she didn''t exactly know what he was to her. She wound up just keeping quiet, but when she saw the cheeky smirks on her friends'' faces, she puffed out her cheeks and said, "He''s a very good friend! Yes!" All while holding onto his arm. Though, when she realized her ample breasts were pressing up against him, she backed away as her face flushed red.


    Seeing this, Zara and Nova took back what they thought earlier. This prank was well worth it. However, what they were now interested in was the crimson-haired man who had kept silent this entire time. Looking him up and down, they thought, ''He''s handsome ¡ª that much is undeniable. But his aura is pretty basic, and he doesn''t seem very strong¡­ Is this what Anna is into?''


    The more they analyzed his existence, the more puzzled they became. Yet, when they recalled that look he gave them earlier, their confusion only grew instead of lessened. Looking at him once more, they saw his piercing gaze focused right on them, seemingly understanding everything about them with a single nce.


    "You¡­" They struggled to find their words, mostly because they didn''t know what exactly they should say. Ultimately, they sighed and said, "It''s very nice to make your acquaintance, Mr¡­"


    "Amon," answered Azmodeus. "That is my name."

 Chapter 420: Annas Jealousy, Zara and Nova

    Zara and Nova warmly smiled. "Amon is a very nice name, no matter how slightly scary it sounds," Zara said as she extended a hand. Nova did the same, which led to Azmodeus reciprocating the greeting and returning the handshake.


    Off to the side, Anna was grumbling for reasons unknown. However, when they stopped touching each other''s hands, her mood became better. She walked in between them and widened the distance. "That''s enough of that; we haven''t finished signing up just yet, so why don''t we get back to that?" she said smilingly as she dragged away the confused Azmodeus.


    Zara and Nova giggled knowingly. "By the way, Amon, my name is Zara," said Zara with a lovely smile. Nova also chimed in, saying, "My name is Nova, and I think you are interesting. Maybe you want to grab a drink some tim¡ª" Before she could finish that question, a dangerous feline re prated her soul, causing her to break out in a cold sweat. "Jeez, I was just kidding," she mumbled defensively with her lips puckered in helplessness. To which Zara chortled before looking at Anna''s subtle interactions with the usually silent crimson-haired man.


    "You think she actually likes him?" she asked softly. A look of keen interest formed on her face as she nced over and saw the same look on her friend''s face. Nova answered, saying, "I don''t know anything for sure, but out of all the men that girl''s been around, this is definitely the one she interacts most genuinely with. You know as well as I do that she tends to hide her true feelings behind a mask. Only with us does that mask crack a little, but even then¡­" She went silent.


    They both sighed while shaking their heads, then they trailed behind the pair that had already started talking to the Receptionist. In their hearts, they hoped that their friend had found a true one ¡ª someone who could help that mask crack all the way. And in a way, their hopes woulde true, but Azmodeus was not doing what he was doing for other people. First and foremost, there were benefits, then it was what those benefits would do for him.


    In the end, all that really mattered were loot and benefits. Simply put, progression was both the journey and the goal. It had been this way since the very beginning, and it was very likely that it would remain this way until the end of time.


    After a few minutes, Azmodeus and the girls finished signing up for the Duo Tournament. It would begin bright and early the next morning, so they didn''t have much time to prepare. Still, it wasn''t like they needed to prepare much to begin with. Anna sharpened her skills, but that was more because she wanted to function at full capacity, especially when she had to look and perform her best in front of a certain someone. Not that she would openly admit that, of course¡­


    As they left the Registry Building, Nova turned to the side and saw Azmodeus walking with that same indifference about him. "So, what were you doing before you got here, Amon?" she asked, curious. To which she received a dangerous re from the possessive purple-haired beauty. Ignoring it cheekily, she continued with saying what she was originally going to ask. "You don''t seem to be from around these parts, and ording to the rumors, you got in without any prominent connections, using just your own hard work and efforts." She would be lying if she said this aloof man''s existence didn''t intrigue her.


    Anna pouted and grumbled, but it wouldn''t make very much sense if she interrupted such a basic question being asked. Moreover, she was also extremely curious about where Azmodeus came from and how he ended up deciding to join the Academy.


    Azmodeus''s brows furrowed at this question. He couldn''t exactly disclose why he came here. After all, that would mess up a great many parts of his n. Then again, lying to the girls was also not a very good choice. Getting oneself wrapped up in too many lies would only make everything unravel, eventually leading to disaster.


    Ultimately, he figured out what he should say. "I havee from a very small and unknownnd to the far south, and upon understanding that thisnd was only resurrecting my growth, I left. And after a long, drawn-out journey, with many eventful circumstances, I found myself here, in the Eternal Jade Academy, on the borders of the Lands Unknown."


    "As for why I came here ¡ª well, my goal has always been to improve myself in any way possible. And this Academy, along with the Eternal Jade Sect, was the best way I could go about aplishing that."


    "Oh?" Zara grinned. "You''re quite the mystery man, aren''t ya? And you seem to be interested in the Eternal Jade Sect. Am I to assume that you wish to find a way into the Eternal Jade Pce above?" she asked as she pointed upward, clearly speaking about the massive floating ce levitating a few dozen miles off the ground.


    Although surprised by the blonde beauty''s astuteness, Azmodeus''s face remained neutral as he followed along the finger of the Headmaster''s daughter. "You would be correct in that assumption. One of my short-term goals is to make it into the Eternal Jade Pce." Experience tales at m v|l e''-NovelBin


    Zara''s grin curved into an alluring smile. "For a mystical ce like the Eternal Jade Pce to merely be a short-term goal¡­ Just what sort of monumental ns do you have in mind~?" She inched ever closer to the mysterious man, which quickly led to Anna snorting as she got between them and red at the friend that was certainly up to no good. To which Zara giggled mischievously, with Nova right behind her in that endeavor. "Boo, you''re no fun at all," Zara murmured. Another re came her way, but she ignored it all the same.


    Nova took the lead in the conversation as they descended a flight of stairs.

 Chapter 421: A Womanizer...?

    "If you''re wanting to obtain an audience with the two Eternal Sect Disciples or the Ancestors, then you will definitely need to make a name for yourself," Nova said thoughtfully. "I now see why it is that you want to participate in the Duo Tournament with Anna. As you are now, as a First Generation student, the only real option you have to gain instant fame is the Tournament. Even so¡­" She looked between both Azmodeus and the cat-like woman hovering extremely close to him. "If you expect us to go easy on you, then don''t count on it. Now that we have signed up for this thing, we are going to give it everything we''ve got."


    Azmodeus smiled faintly, slightly enamoring all of the girls. "I wouldn''t have it any other way," he stated with his hands posed behind his back. The girls couldn''t seem to take their eyes off him under the auburn glow of the setting sun. Before they knew it, they were already at the bottom of the stairs, which meant it was time to part ways.


    Turning to look at them, Azmodeus said, "It has been nice getting to know you guys, but I must be going now. With a bunch of strong, beautiful women fighting against me, I must prepare myself well."


    A faint smile nearly took the girls'' breath away as they watched him walk away from them, seemingly heading in whichever direction the wind wished to take him. However, after a few seconds of staying dumbstruck, Nova cut through the silence, saying, "He''s sexy¡­"


    "I know, right? It''s like a cold, distant kind of sexy. Like the kind where you just know he''s never going to look your way, but when he does, it just changes your whole worldview!" Zara delved into the intricacies of what she was feeling, which Nova firmly agreed with. "Maybe I should ask my father to arrange our marriage," she said seriously.


    "Yeah, same. We might even be able to be sister wives."


    "Hey!" Anna shouted panickily, clearly pissed. "I''m right here, you know! And I am aware that you are doing this just to get under my skin!"


    "Oh, whatever could you mean, dear Anna~?" said Zara and Nova, amused. They put their dainty hands over their lips andughed away at their friend''s grievances.


    "Humph! You guys suck!"


    "Ahaha!"


    They returned to their chambers while joking around with each other, getting ready to sleep and get up early the next day for the Duo Tournament.


    ¡ª----------------


    The morning of the next day.


    Azmodeus woke up bright and early and made his way to his homeroom ss. Coincidentally, on his way over, two beautiful women spotted him and hopped next to him. "It seems that you are ready to take our dear Anna''s first time," Zara teased yfully. Joining in on the fun, Nova added, "Yes, our innocent Anna has never participated in a Tournament before; she tends to steer away from most conflicts. But for you, it seems that she''s willing to set aside her principles~"


    Feeling two pairs of soft, squishy cushions press up against his arms and listening to their nonsense made Azmodeus sigh. "A number of people are staring our way right now; are you sure that doing something like this in broad daylight is good for your reputation?" To which he received two harmonious giggles. "What reputation, you silly goose~?" Nova whispered next to his ear while pressing even closer to him. "Everyone at the Academy already knows that we are free-spirited birds!"


    "That is an unusual way toe out as weirdos," said Azmodeus, his brows furrowing in incredulity. "I have known a lot of people over the years, but this is my first time meeting two with high statuses yet possessing such odd tendencies."


    "Yeah, you may be right about that," Zara giggled. "But you said you have known a lot of people¡ªdoes that include women as well?" she asked in an oddly serious tone, with Nova supporting her in egging him into answering.


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    Azmodeus flipped his eyes between the two clingy women for a moment, then shook his head in defeat. "I have indeed met several¡­ women throughout the years¡­" He felt a slight tinge of pain sting his mind, preventing him from recalling something important. Overlooking this subtle urrence, Nova and Zara booed while sticking down their thumbs. "Anna will be so sad when she finds out about you being a womanizer¡­!"


    "I never said that¡ª"


    Then, from an opposing staircase of the main Academy building, Anna appeared, with her eyes narrowing dangerously upon seeing how close Zara and Nova were to Azmodeus. "What do you two think you are doing?" she asked with a ''friendly'' smile. Frightened, Zara and Nova backed off, wearing sheepish grins on their pretty faces. "W-Well, would you look at the time, Zara," said Nova. "It seems like it''s time for us to go on our merry ways!"


    "Yes, yes! It has already gotten sote! Silly us!"


    They then slipped away like slippery snakes, steering as far away from the slightly ballooned cheeks touching upon Anna''s cute expression. She harrumphed before returning her attention to Azmodeus. "Stop hanging around with them, you jerk. I am your partner, not them."


    Question marks went off in Azmodeus''s mind, but he stillplied with a slight head nod. Anna wasn''t satisfied with that, but as today was going to be a rather hectic day, she let it slide. She wrapped her breasts around his arms with even greater passion than the two mischievous School Belles. "I-I know that mine aren''t asrge as theirs, but ju-just deal with it, meanie!"


    "???" Azmodeus genuinely had no idea what she was talking about, so like the confused man he was, he nodded. Changing the subject, he said, "We have around an hour until the Duo Tournament begins, so let us inform the Homeroom Teacher before heading on over there."


    "Mhmm¡­" Anna didn''t really know what he was saying because she was too caught up in soaking in his delicious scent, but he was probably saying something important. "Definitely do that."


    "Okay, I will¡­" Azmodeus was getting more confused by the second, but he put everything to the back of his mind and entered through the ssroom''s doors.

 Chapter 422: Issacs Hatred, Contacting His Senior Brother

    "Is that the transfer student¡­ and Annabelle¡­?"


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    All of the students in the ssroom looked to the door, only to see one of their School Belles linking arms with the transfer student. Furthermore, the way she wastched to him seemed oddly intimate. One of the students, in particr, had a dangerous re in his eyes as he identally snapped the pencil he was holding onto. ''That slutty bitch is still hanging around that damn transfer student!? Why is everyone so useless!? Those stupid subordinates of mine can''t even do something as simple as cripple someone in the Immortal Venerable Realm!''


    This young man was known as young Lord Issac Saberspire, also making him the son of the Saberspire Emperor. Just like his father, he too was someone who threw tantrums when he didn''t get what he wanted. Proving just how true that was, he shouted, "What do you think you are doing with that mangy loser, Anna!? Do you not remember all that we talked about??"


    Anna looked toward the source of this boisterous voice, only to find the livid appearance of the young man whom she had terrible memories of. "What we were talking about¡­" She bit her lips, her eyes swimming about in frustration. Noticing this, Azmodeus softly sighed before patting her on the head, also transmitting his voice to her mind. ''What does he have on you¡­?''


    Surprised by the voice, Anna looked to the right, only to find Azmodeus warmly smiling at her. ''Don''t worry; I won''t tell anyone what you tell me. So¡­ What does that slow-witted gentleman have on you?''


    Anna giggled a little, which alleviated the mncholic atmosphere. Yet, this secret disy of affection only seemed to further anger Issac. mming his desk, he yelled, "You bitch! What do you think you are¡ª"


    "Shut up."


    "!!!"


    Issac felt an immensely powerful pressure push him to the ground; his knees buckled, with them crashing against the floor within half an instant. The other students were left wide-eyed at this unexpected urrence, yet their shock only worsened when they saw the terrifyingly icy face the transfer student was making.


    "You are not strong enough to say what you please, so next time you decide to insult Miss Anna here, I will¡­" Azmodeus briefly paused before he continued with a stretched out voice. "Cut off that tongue of yours."


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    Even those not feeling the effects of his pinpoint aura dominance felt shivers crawl up and down their spines. They could only see him as someone with an Immortal Venerable cultivation base, yet his actual power seemed so much greater than that. It became quite clear that he had been hiding his strength, as even young master Issac, someone in the Grade 4 Immortal King Realm, could not even so much as lift a single finger in his presence.


    "Y-You¡­" Issac choked on his anger as he seethed under the pressure forcing him to kneel. "Ju-Just¡­ wait¡­ until I get into contact with my senior brother¡­! You''re participating in the Duo Competition with that slut, good! I will have you brutalized!"


    Azmodeus''s face froze over as he calmly raised his hand, prepared to slice off his tongue. Yet, before he could do something that could warrant expulsion, Anna tugged on his hand, with an inexplicable emotion zing her big round eyes. "Don''t do it," she murmured with a slight strain. "I-I don''t want you to get into trouble over me¡­"


    Azmodeus stared at the pitiable girl for a second, then coldly sighed before putting away his hand. He had already heard the story from the victim herself, and apparently, Issac''s father held a metaphorical gun to Emperor Mountainrider''s throat, who was Anna''s father. She didn''t articte precisely what Emperor Saberspire had on Emperor Mountainrider, but as soon as Issac found out about it, he used it to egg the poor girl into what would definitely one day be a cruel marriage.


    ''I should probably just kill the scum and save us all some eventual trouble, but Anna was right to stop me,'' Azmodeus thought keenly. ''It is not yet time to stir up too much trouble, and I am not strong enough to handle everything that may or may note from physically abusing the young master prick¡­ But if he pushes his luck¡­''


    A cold glint in his eyes erupted with a crackly icy crimson energy that left every student in the room struggling to breathe. "Don''t force my hand; stay in yourne," he said to Issac before sauntering over to the teacher''s desk and cing a slip note on it. "If you insult Anna once more, regardless of the rules, I will cut you down. Do not tempt fate."


    With that, Azmodeus left the room while carefully dragging Anna by the hand. It was only after they fully left the area that the pressure crushing the students in the ssroom let up, prompting young master Issac to erupt in fury, once again sending another wave of panic through the students.


    "I swear I''ll kill that peasant bastard!! No matter what I need to do, I''ll ughter him!! He''s dead, dead, dead, fucking bloody DEAD!!!!"


    Meanwhile, outside the ssroom, in one of the connecting hallways that led outside, an extraordinarily handsome crimson-haired man pulled along a pretty woman. Her heart was left aplete mess as butterflies fluttered around in her stomach. She wasn''t sure if anyone had ever stood up for her like Azmodeus had done today; it was nice. Like really, really¡­ really nice. A warm,fortable feeling coursed through her body, making her feel so cozy inside.


    However, when Anna remembered just what sort of power Issac and his father held, a bit of color left her scarlet red face. She anxiously pulled against Azmodeus, prompting him to stop in his tracks and turn around to face her. "Y-You really didn''t need to do something like that¡­ Are you not aware of what someone like him does when they are angry¡­? I don''t want you to get hurt because of someone like¡­ me¡­"

 Chapter 423: Beginning of the Duo Tournament

    Seeing that the girl was still struggling through some past trauma, Azmodeus incredulously shook his head before patting her head. "There is no need for all that; after all, we are partners, are we not?"


    A smile so gentle that it could whisk away all her worries¡ªthat was how Anna would describe what she was staring at in that moment. Her temperature rose exponentially as her heartbeat raced. She softly touched her face, only to realize that it was burning up, causing her to avert her gaze in embarrassment. "...You really are an incorrigible jerk¡­"


    "What was that?" asked Azmodeus, his voice filled with confusion.


    "N-Nothing! Let''s just go to that Duo Tournament already! Gah! What are you still standing here for?? We''re going to bete!" Anna stormed away with a pout further entuating her already cute features. Even though Azmodeus was still very much perplexed by a number of things, this had been one of his prime goals in joining the Eternal Jade Academy, so he let the grumbling young miss lead the way.


    Before long, Azmodeus and Anna found themselves outside a vast stadium. Thousands of people were gathered around its Roman architecture, with almost all of them holding back a blood-pumping fire that was just raring to go. Curious, Azmodeus scanned their internals and quickly found that all of them were brimming with an extreme amount of¡­ excitement.


    "Anna?"


    "Yes?"


    "Is the Duo Tournament always this packed and filled with people who seem like they just found an oasis after being severely parched for years?" asked Azmodeus, his cunning eyes honing in on the gorgeous woman snuggling close to his right side. Answering his question, Anna cutely bobbed her head, causing her purple hair to be a little messy. "Yes, the Duo Tournament and really anypetition hosted by the Academy and Eternal Jade Sect is like this. Why? Did you think it would be something small or something~?" she teased, her eyes zed flirtatiously.


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    Azmodeus was used to ascending to higher realms and being seen as the ignorant country bumpkin, but getting it pointed out so obviously like this was just¡­ Haiz. He lightly palmed his face before dragging the cheeky girl the rest of the way to the wide, metal-barred entrance of the Arena. Entering through after confirming their identities, they sashayed over to the area for participants. Or, at least, that was what it looked like for all the single Pringles chewing on their handkerchiefs while watching the hearts poke them in the head.


    "Screw that guy!"


    "I wish it were me¡­"


    "How unscrupulous! To act like that in broad daylight! Just who are these two!?"


    "I don''t know who the man is, but the purple-haired woman is definitely one of the Three Belles of the Eternal Jade Academy! I would recognize those swaying hips and supple curves anywhere!"


    "I wish it were me¡­"


    "..." "..." "..."


    "Dude, you really need to get a grip. You are just making yourself look so pathetic right now¡­!"


    "I wish it were me¡­"


    Silence.


    The others in this group of conversing spectators wondered if other people saw them as someone like this pathetic guy just because they were together. Afraid that this was the reality of the situation, they scattered, leaving the loner boner to draw circles on the ground with a sorrowful look on his face. He just wanted someone to affectionately hug him as well! He wanted a cute girl to look at him as if he were the center of her world!! Why was life so unfair!?


    As many guests and spectators approached the ticket booth and purchased their tickets, the ones who would be serving as the entertainment for the day made their way toward the spacious Participant Hall. Including Azmodeus and Anna, there were hundreds of students from the Eternal Jade Academy gathered in the hall. They were all of varying grades and from different sses, but their objectives aligned with each other. They wished to win thepetition and attain either fame or fortune, with their confident expressions indicating at least that much.


    Of course, there were some among the hundreds of students that showed little to no emotions, with their arms posed behind their backs or their hands coldly sped onto their weapons. Gauging their cultivation bases, Azmodeus was able to figure out that not a single one of them was below the Immortal King Realm, with several of them having already touched upon the peak of the Immortal King Realm. He even saw two with cultivation simr to his, both in the Half-step Immortal Emperor Realm. One was a rough-looking man, while the other was a pale, cold beauty. Surprisingly, the man spotted him and Anna right away, with his lips curving up into a cruel smirk.


    Azmodeus was a bit puzzled by this immediate hostility he was feeling, but upon sensing the familiar aura lingering on this young man, he was able to discern he had some sort of rtion to Issac. ''It seems like that stubborn fool is really begging for death to catch him¡­ Good, that saves me some trouble from finding an excuse to help my little benefactor over here.'' He fondly looked down at the beautiful woman. Anna adorably tilted her head in his direction, but quickly cleared her mind and hugged him even more affectionately before motioning to him to listen.


    Azmodeus was a bit confused at first, but then he heard a loud voice over the speakers that lined the roof of the expansive Participant Hall.


    "Participant Duo #34 and #57 are to take the stage!"


    Then, from in front of the dimly lit hall, bright rays of light shone through as a huge metal gate ascended, apanied by the nking of chains and gears. The first participants of the day strutted away from the crowd of students, heading straight for the uproarious stadium outside. They didn''t appear even the slightest bit nervous, only expectant of the glory that was toe after they eventually won the wholepetition.

 Chapter 424: Shove It, Power of Love!

    "So, what Duo number are we?" Azmodeus whispered to Anna, to which she curtly replied, "Our number is 69."


    "Number 69, huh?" Azmodeus found the number to be a bit risqu¨¦, but it was, after all, just a number. Not knowing what was coursing through his mind, Anna tilted her head. Then, from the side, she suddenly saw familiar presences hop on over. "Zara and Nova? What are you two doing here??"


    "Hihi~" Nova jumped over before sneaking up behind Anna and getting a handful of the full breasts that had trouble being contained within her clothes. Anna shrieked. Noticing that Azmodeus was staring right at them, she blushed furiously, then ck streaks clouded her face.


    BONK!


    "Ow! Ow!" Nova retreated while rubbing her bruised head. "I was just kidding around; there''s no need to get so violent! Or maybe it''s because your little lover boy was looking at your squishy breasts being fondled¡ª"


    BONK!


    Another fist swiftly found its mark, leaving Nova whimpering while drawing circles on the ground. ''There''s no need to be so harsh¡­! My brain feels like it was rattled¡­!!''


    After briefly ncing at the aggrieved beauty on the floor, Zara giggled and found her way next to Azmodeus, which then led to her interlinking arms with him. Much to Anna''s dismay, she pressed her breasts up against his chest. Finding amusement from her friend''s cute grumblings, she said, "I see that you two are really going through with this, huh? But, as you can see, in the Eternal Jade Academy, your status doesn''t matter, just like how Nova over there is essentially treated like thin air, despite being the daughter of the Lord of our Realm."


    "Hey! That''s rude!"


    Ignoring Nova''s displeased shout, Zara said, "What I''m trying to say is that, no matter what faction any of these people originate from, you can¡­ batter them real good! No one will give a damn as long as your fist isrge enough! Muhahaha!!" She erupted in a peal of viinousughter, attracting the attention of several of the participants. Yet, when they saw who the cause of this disturbance was, they quickly shot their heads away.


    Although Zara and Nova were indeed exceptionally beautiful, two of the prettiest in the entire Academy, they were just too ''entric'' for most students. They recognized their beauty, but beyond that, they would prefer not to get involved with those crazies. As the saying went: ''Don''t stick your d*ck in crazy''. This stood true no matter where one was. However, those like Azmodeus, still weren''t familiar with this principle, as evident with all the illicit rtionships he has had in the past.


    Though, every single one of those women was, in the end, the incarnation of the same woman, so it wasn''t like he was a repeat offender. He was simply someone who didn''t know what was going on the majority of the time¡­ Dense was an understatement for describing his questionable personality qualities¡­


    "Hmm¡­" Azmodeus massaged his chin, wondering how exactly he wound up in an Academy Arc, much less in the presence of two clinically insane women and one definitely contemting murder. ''Ahh yes, I need to win this Tournament, slide through thedder of status, obtain one of those ''Emperor Fruit'' from the floating Eternal Pce in the sky to elicit a breakthrough into the Immortal Emperor Realm. Then I need to get dear Anna here to permit me a position that will get me closer to her master, Ling Chao, otherwise known as the Eternal Jade Heaven Immortal Realm''s traitor.''


    Everything was lining up just as Azmodeus wanted it to, and all he needed to kickstart the whole thing into motion was a simple win against a bunch of pubescent kids. Although they were technically older than him in Immortal Years, ultimately, they were still just kids.


    Looking at his contemtive expression, Anna''s eyes shed with curiosity. She tugged on his sleeves, causing him to jolt back a bit. However, when he realized it was just her, he asked, "What is it, Anna?" Completely ignoring the suggestive and crude finger-hole motions of Zara, who was still clinging to his right side. Also remaining purposefully oblivious to that idiot, Anna replied, "I¡­ was just wondering why it is that you really want to win this Competition¡­ You don''t seem like the type to care about fame or glory, so I don''t understand¡­"


    Lightly shaking his head, Azmodeus said, "You are partially right about that, but to be stronger, I need to win this Competition. There is no other way about it."


    Having had their curiosity satiated, Zara and Nova now stared at the same thing Anna was enamored by. That earnest and resolute glint in his eyes¡ªit emboldened them, making them feel like they should try harder. It was the same feeling that all the women close to him used to feel, and also likely why they stuck to him like bees to honey.


    "You really are an interesting one, Azmodeus~" Nova seductively whispered into his ear while rubbing her hands where they definitely weren''t supposed to be. Noticing this, Anna''s cheeks ballooned, and then with one swift motion, she stuck her arms and body back to her sides.


    Not realizing what had just happened, Nova''s eyes swam as she found herself standing next to equally confused Zara, with them both being vehemently pushed away by the adorably pouting Anna. ''Has she gotten stronger??'' They seemed to think to themselves as surprise shed past their crystal-clear eyes.


    As more and more Duos were called out to the stage, with the defeated ones returning glum, Zara and Nova exchanged words of shock. If Anna was so strong now, then how were they expected toe out on top in the Tournament?? They didn''t really need the fame or rewards that came from winning, but they wanted to show that they weren''t just goofballs! They could do serious things as well!


    "Listen, sister," said Zara. "I think we need to trip up Anna by mentioning Azmodeus if we doe across them! It is very likely that she hasn''t actually be any stronger; she''s just taking advantage of the power of love to shove it in our faces!"

 Chapter 425: Over in an Instant

    "You are right!" Nova silently agreed. "We cannot allow this to stand! That traitor friend of ours actually went and fell in love before we did¡ªthis is utterly uneptable!"


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    "I concur! This can''t happen! Let''s shove their love right back down their throats!"


    "Muhahaha!!!"


    Hearing the two troublemaking Academy Belles back at it again caused all the other gathered participants to scatter. They just came here to fight, not get involved in crazy! And what could possibly be crazier than Zara and Nova!? They had heard rumors that stated thest poord that caught their sadistic eyes wound up losing his!


    "You have some peculiar friends," Azmodeus said to Anna. ''Though, these friends in particr have connections. Connections that I could use to my advantage.''


    Nodding with a flushed face, Anna said, "I have known them for many years, and though they may be a bit odd at times, I swear they are good people¡­!" she hurriedly exined, seemingly trying to convince herself of it as well. A scarlet color once again touched upon her pretty features as she turned her head down, only to realize that Azmodeus''s intense gaze was boring into her. "W-What is it¡­?" she meekly murmured, hearing another pair of duos get called to the stadium. The crowd of uninjured participants was slowly being reduced, with some returning proudly, whereas others looked as if buckets of cold water had been tossed over them.


    Answering Anna''s question, Azmodeus said, "It just feels like you are bing an entirely different person than how you were when we first met, though I can''t say I like or dislike one version of you more than the other."


    Anna''s face became even redder than before as she struggled to find the words to say in response to something so naturally bold. In the end, all she could do was softly murmur, "That was all your fault, you dummy¡­"


    Azmodeus raised his right brow a bit. He didn''t know why he felt like he was missing pieces of vital context. Yet, in spite of that, it was finally time for them to take the stage.


    "Duo #69 will be fighting Duo #52! Wee our participants!"


    As Azmodeus walked forward with Anna, he saw that she was a bit nervous. "I heard that this was your first rodeo with a Duo Tournament, and I guess that stands especially true, huh?" To which Anna''s cheeks puffed out a little more. "It isn''t like this is my first time going to big events, but it''s¡­"


    "It''s nerve-wracking, isn''t it?" Azmodeus softly chuckled, with her soft cotton fistsing down not even a secondter. "You big jerk!" she eximed, yet still kept close to his side. "And I know you are ridiculously strong because of my special sight, but at least let me get a few punches in. I may not be anywhere as stupidly powerful as you are, but I can still fight like a bull!"


    "Like a bull, huh?"


    "Yep, yep, like the strongest of bulls!" Anna said while using her fingers to make the horn motions above her head, which forced a small "Pui!" to escape Azmodeus''s lips. "Hey, don''tugh at me, you rude man!"


    "I''m sorry¡­ But if you knew how funny you just appeared¡­ Haiz¡­"


    Before the silly duo knew any better, they were already situated in the center of the Roman Arena, standing face to face with a contemptuous pair. Even despite understanding full well who Anna was, they weren''t the least bit afraid. In fact, her status as the daughter of a powerful Emperor only emboldened them to act more presumptuously.


    The opposing young man scoffed. "Do you and this transfer student honestly believe that you hold any chance of beating us, Anna? You must not know who we are because you believe yourselves to be superior, but I guarantee you this¡ª"


    "Fight, begin!!"


    HOOORAAAAHHH!!!


    The crowd cheered after the start of the bout, but before anyone had the chance to truly get their game spirits going, Azmodeus and Anna shed forward. And then, when they reappeared behind the conceited young man and woman, the fight was already over.


    "B-Battle concluded! Winner: Duo #69!"


    HOOORAAAAHHH!!!


    Although the crowd didn''t really know what they just saw ur, they knew that something amazing just happened. And for that, they cheered!


    Meanwhile, back on the wide Arena floor, Azmodeus and Anna were making their way back to the participant section, which was also where they saw Zara and Nova, both of whom were dumbly sticking their thumbs up. Further behind them, however, was the scornful expression of the one Isaac deemed his ''Senior Brother.'' His name was Assfol, and for years, he has secretly held feelings of affection for Anna, even more so than Isaac. Controversially, if Assfol knew of Isaac''s intentions with Anna, he surely would have killed him long before Azmodeusid hands on him. But seeing as that was not the case, he would need to beid out on the ground, same as with Isaac.


    ''Those adulterous bastards!!! And that slutty cunt!! How dare she act like this when she has long since known of my designs for her!!!''


    Assfol was infuriated over several different things right now, with his mind churning multiple excruciating deaths that could be nned out if he yed his cards right. Even though the Academy states that you cannot outright kill another in a battle, that didn''t mean one couldn''t injure another enough to cripple that person and give him a bted death.


    With that in mind, Assfol patiently bided his time, waiting for the various matchups to conclude one by one. As dozens of students entered and left the arena, his malicious grin only seemed to grow exponentially. He briefly looked toward his teammate, who was a famous scum young prince from a kingdom with good rtions to his Empire. A mutual look of understanding formed between the two of them as they viciously turned their res on the apathetic man standing between three beautiful women.


    They ground their teeth in jealousy, but that was all washed away upon recalling what they had in store for the cocky young man¡­

 Chapter 426: Assfol, the Stalker

    Azmodeus let out a satisfied sigh as he and Anna settled back into the participant section, their victory over their first opponents almost too effortless to be worth celebrating. But the fiery enthusiasm of the crowd, along with Anna''s flushed cheeks and starry-eyed expression, made it feel worthwhile all the same.


    "Did you see that?" Anna beamed, nearly bouncing beside him, her earlier nervousness forgotten. "I told you I could be a bull!"


    Azmodeus chuckled, his gaze softening as he nodded. "Indeed you were. I''d say more of a ferocious lion than a bull, though."


    Anna''s cheeks turned a shade deeper as she let out a huff, turning her head away to hide the evident blush. "L-Lion, huh? Don''t go giving me strange nicknames¡­"


    Zara and Nova sidled up next to them, both grinning with mischief. Nova leaned in, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "I have to admit, that was a lot quicker than we expected. Azmodeus, I thought you were going to let Anna show off for a bit!"


    "Hey, I did get a few hits in!" Anna protested, ncing between them. "It wasn''t like I was just standing around!"


    "Hmm, I don''t know, Anna," Zara teased, elbowing her yfully. "If we didn''t know any better, it looked like you were just along for the ride while your knight here did all the work."


    Azmodeus raised an eyebrow, finding it amusing how quickly the mood had shifted from serious battle mode to yful banter. However, his gaze briefly flickered back to the crowded arena, where the next set of contestants were stepping forward. For a moment, he caught a glimpse of a familiar, scornful face staring right at him with barely concealed loathing.


    Assfol.


    Azmodeus''s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. He recognized the type¡ªthe envious, resentful rivals who couldn''t stand seeing others seed or be happy. And with Anna by his side, Azmodeus knew he''d drawn the ire of not just Assfol but likely several other resentful admirers of the Three Belles.


    "Azmodeus¡­" Anna''s voice softened, and she tugged on his sleeve. "Are you okay? You suddenly looked like you were somewhere else."


    He nced down at her, his expression easing into a reassuring smile. "It''s nothing. Just¡­ noticing a few old faces in the crowd."


    Anna followed his gaze, her brow furrowing when she spotted Assfol''s intense stare. "Oh¡­ him." She sounded almost disappointed, her gaze darkening as she muttered, "He''s always been so¡­ persistent."


    Nova snorted, crossing her arms as she noticed the exchange. "Persistent is putting it lightly. He''s practically rabid."


    "Let him bark all he wants," Zara added with a dismissive wave. "We''ll just keep beating him until he learns where he stands. Isn''t that right, Anna?"


    A mischievous grin slipped onto Anna''s face. "Oh, I''m looking forward to it."


    Azmodeus couldn''t help but chuckle at the sight of Anna''s rare glimpse of yful viciousness. The Academy life was rubbing off on her, he realized. In a way, it was refreshing to see this side of her¡ªa side that wasn''t weighed down by duty or expectations, but one that allowed her to live in the moment and indulge in harmless rivalries.


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    A booming voice from the speakers echoed across the hall once more, calling the next set of participants to the arena. Azmodeus, Anna, Zara, and Nova watched as the participants filed out, facing off under the roaring cheers of the audience. Despite the palpable tension in the air, Azmodeus could feel the excitement building within him. The Duo Tournament was not merely a stepping stone but an exhrating challenge, one that would keep him sharp, alert, and closer to his goals.


    But his momentary ease shattered as Assfol and his partner stepped up to the staging area, preparing to take on their own opponents. Assfol''s gaze flicked briefly toward Azmodeus, a wicked glint in his eye as he smirked.


    "Looks like your little fanboy is up," Zara noted with a raised brow. "I hope his opponent knows what they''re dealing with. He''s not just a fan¡ªhe''s borderline obsessed."


    Anna bit her lip, her gaze turning colder. "He''s¡­ an asshole," she said hesitantly. "But he''s strong. Strong enough to¡­ cause problems if he wants to."


    Azmodeus ced a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Don''t worry. If he tries anything, I''ll handle it."


    As the match began, Assfol wasted no time. His technique was ruthless, efficient, andced with an almost animalistic savagery. He tore through his opponents with a single-minded intensity, his attacks blurring with frightening speed. The crowd''s cheers turned into gasps as Assfol''s brutal methods left his opponents barely standing, battered and broken.


    "That¡­ was excessive," Anna muttered, her brow knitted in concern as she watched the defeated contestants stagger out of the arena. "I know this is a battle, but to go that far¡­"


    Zara and Nova shared a tense look. "That''s Assfol for you," Nova said grimly. "He''s the kind who thrives on intimidation. He''ll do anything to make his opponent think twice before crossing him."


    Azmodeus didn''t flinch. Instead, he let a small smile y on his lips, as if Assfol''s disy had barely registered. "If he thinks intimidation tactics will work on us, he''s going to be disappointed."


    They spent the next rounds in a blend of tension and excitement, watching as each new set of contestants took to the arena. Azmodeus observed the other duos closely, analyzing their techniques, their strengths, and their weaknesses. He was no stranger to thepetitive spirit, but the Academy''s tournament was something unique¡ªa true spectacle of skill, talent, and ambition. Though he wasn''t particrly interested in anything here, knowing one''s potential enemies was essential for progressing past them.


    Finally, after what felt like hours, their number was called once more. As Duo #69, Azmodeus and Anna rose, stepping forward to the thunderous apuse of the crowd. But this time, the atmosphere was different. There was a charged energy in the air, a palpable expectation as they prepared to face their next opponents.


    Anna''s eyes sparkled with anticipation, her earlier nerves reced with a newfound confidence. She nced up at Azmodeus, who gave her an encouraging nod.


    "Let''s give them a show," he said, his voice low and yful.


    They stepped into the arena, facing off against a formidable pair¡ªa tall, muscr warrior wielding a massive hammer and a lithe, agile woman with twin daggers that glinted under the bright lights. Both looked formidable, their expressions steely as they assessed their opponents.


    Azmodeus sized them up, his mind already calcting the best approach. Anna, standing by his side, clenched her fists, her gaze unwavering.


    The signal rang out, and in a blur of movement, the battle began.

 Chapter 427: Ming Chao, Stand-in Headmaster, Younger Sister of Ling Chao

    As the thunderous apuse filled the stadium, Azmodeus and Anna stepped onto the arena floor, their eyes scanning the formidable pair before them. The tall warrior with the massive hammer flexed his muscles, while his partner, a lithe woman with twin daggers, eyed them with the cunning focus of a predator. The atmosphere was electric, and the crowd leaned forward, eager for the sh that was about to unfold.


    High above the arena, in the prestigious VIP stands, a refined beauty watched the scene with an icy detachment. Her gaze, sharp and calcting, swept over the participants below, lingering briefly on Azmodeus and Anna before moving to the rest of the arena. This was Lady Ming Chao, younger sister of the eldest sect disciple of the Eternal Jade Sect, and also the overseer of the tournament and stand-in head of the Eternal Jade Academy. Draped in elegant robes that reflected the colors of the academy, she sat with an air of cool authority, her expression unreadable.


    "Such a splendid disy of power, wouldn''t you agree, Lady Ming?" murmured one of the distinguished figures seated nearby. He was Lord Yen, a high-ranking elder of the Eternal Jade Sect and notorious for his frequent, lingering nces at Ling Chao. His gaze, discreetly admiring, traced the elegant lines that connected the hem of her dress to the supple thighs thaty beneath as he continued, "Your academy cultivates talent like no other."


    Ming Chao merely inclined her head slightly, her tone t as she responded, "Power alone is not a measure of one''s worth. Only those who can maintain theirposure in battle truly belong here."


    Another elder, Elder Shun, chuckled lightly, a forced sound that sought her approval. "Quite right, Lady Ming. And yet, there are those few who manage to bnce power with precision. Such individuals are rare jewels indeed."


    Lady Ling''s expression did not change, but her gaze flicked back to the arena as the signal to start was given. Her attention returned to Azmodeus and Anna as they prepared to face their opponents. Her voice, colder than the winter wind, cut through the murmurs of the other elders. "Let us see if they can demonstrate something more than brute strength." ''One, the daughter of an Emperor and disciple of my elder brother. And the other a transfer student that got in through purely his own efforts¡­ I hope this will be interesting.''


    The battle began with an eruption of movement. The hulking warrior, wielding his hammer like an extension of his own body, charged forward with a ground-shaking roar. His partner darted in beside him, her twin daggers gleaming with lethal intent. They were both within the top 25 on the Academy''s student ranking and possessed might that astounded many of the spectating students.


    Azmodeus and Anna shared a brief nce,municating silently, and then split apart, each engaging one of the opponents. The former could easily take care of them both, but this was, after all, a Duo Tournament. It would only serve to embarrass and demean Anna if he were to do all the work, and that would do nothing but steer him further away from his goals.


    OOOM!


    Anna met the hammer-wielding warrior head-on. His hammer descended with a force that could shatter boulders, but Anna sidestepped at thest possible moment, her agile movements leaving him swinging at empty air. With a quick pivot, she closed in, her fists glowing with energy as she delivered a precise strike to his side. The warrior grunted, momentarily thrown off bnce, but he recovered quickly, his face twisting with concealed anger.


    Although he wasn''t one of the strongest students in the Academy, he would still prove his worth right here and now! Maybe even acquire the affection of the girl he liked! Not even the daughter of an Emperor would stand in his way!!


    Meanwhile, Azmodeus danced around the dagger-wielding woman, his movements a blend of elegance and ease. Her strikes were fast, each one aimed to slice through him with deadly precision, yet he seemed to slip just out of reach each time. Frustration flickered in her eyes, and she lunged forward, hoping to catch him off guard. But Azmodeus merely sidestepped her, his expression calm as he countered with a swift palm strike to her shoulder that sent her stumbling back.


    In the VIP stands, Lord Yen let out an impressed hum. "It seems the young man has remarkable control," hemented, his voice carrying an edge of admiration. His gaze shifted back to Lady Ming, his wordsden with subtle ttery. "Only under your esteemed guidance could such talent flourish."


    Lady Ming''s expression remained as cold and unyielding as stone. "Control is only valuable when it is sustained. One mistake, and it all copses. Furthermore, this student''s prowess is all his own. I had no part in it."


    Beside her, another elder, a portly man named Lord Han, leaned forward, his eyes gleaming with a mixture of intrigue and something less honorable. "Still, Lady Ming, their coordination is impressive and just your presence alone is worth enough guidance tost them a lifetime! Perhaps they may yet prove worthy of the academy''s legacy."


    Lady Ming allowed a slight nod, her gaze never leaving the fight. Her expression betrayed no pride, no satisfaction. Only that calcting, detached interest as she continued to observe. Read new chapters at m_v-l''e|-NovelBin


    In the arena, Anna''s confidence grew as she deftly dodged another blow from the hammer-wielding warrior. She darted around him, aiming a quick kick to his knee that forced him to stagger. Just as she was about to follow up with a finishing blow, she sensed a shift in his aura. With a burst of energy, he spun around, his hammer sweeping through the air in a deadly arc. Anna''s eyes widened, but her reflexes kicked in. She ducked under the hammer, rolling to the side just in time to avoid the powerful swing.


    ''Although he''s in the Grade 4 Immortal King Realm, one level below me, he''s still formidable¡­ A difference in physique''s maybe?'' Anna''s thoughts lingered as she moved proactively, trying to find any openings.


    "Close one," Azmodeus murmured, ncing in her direction. The brief distraction allowed the dagger-wielding woman to get close, her daggers slicing toward him. But Azmodeus reacted instantly, catching her wrist with a firm grip. With a twist, he disarmed her, her dagger ttering to the ground as she struggled against his hold.


    "What a show off!" Anna called out, shing him a displeased frown as she resumed her own fight.


    ...¡­..

 Chapter 428: Approaching the Crescendo

    From the stands, Elder Shun chuckled lightly, addressing Lord Yen in a hushed tone meant for Lady Ming to overhear. "Such spirit, such ferocity. They fight as though they have something to prove."


    "Perhaps they do," Lord Yen replied, his eyes flickering toward Ming Chao once more, subtly hoping for even the slightest acknowledgment from her. "A testament, perhaps, to Lady Ming''s guidance."


    But Lady Ming''s expression did not waver. Her gaze remained steady on the fight below, her voice cutting through the other elders'' fawning remarks. "Victory is not about spirit. It is about precision, efficiency, and the ability to adapt. Anything less is unworthy of my academy."


    ''Though there is something unusual about that Azmodeus kid¡­ Something isn''t right about him¡­ I can''t seem to pinpoint what that something is, though¡­''


    Back on the arena floor, the battle had reached a critical point. The warrior with the hammer, his frustration mounting, charged at Anna with a reckless abandon. His muscles strained as he swung, his attacks losing their initial precision as he relied more on brute force. Anna''s movements became a graceful blur, her confidence growing as she anticipated his every move.


    "Is that all you''ve got?" she taunted, a yful glint in her eyes.


    With a roar, he lunged again, but this time, Anna dodged to the side and struck him with a well-aimed punch to his midsection. The force of her blow sent him stumbling back, clutching his stomach in pain.


    Meanwhile, Azmodeus had disarmed his opponentpletely. The dagger-wielding woman, now defenseless, red at him, frustration etched into her features. Azmodeus tilted his head, his gaze steady and calm as he said, "Yield. There''s no need to draw this out."


    The woman hesitated, but something in Azmodeus''s gaze made her reconsider. She dropped to one knee, signaling her surrender. The crowd erupted into cheers, and the overseer''s voice rang out, cold and unyielding.


    "Battle concluded! Winner: Duo #69!"


    In the VIP stands, Lord Han chuckled, leaning closer to Lady Ming with a smile. "An impressive disy, wouldn''t you say, Lady Ming? This one may truly have potential."


    Lady Ming''s gaze did not waver as she watched Azmodeus and Anna return to the participant section. Her tone was cool, dismissive. "Potential is fleeting if not tempered by discipline and purpose."


    Lord Yen, undeterred, ventured a bolderpliment. "Perhaps, Lady Ming, under your tutge, he could refine that potential into something¡­ worthy."


    Her gaze flicked toward him, but her eyes remained unreadable, as if assessing him for his underlying intentions. "Potential means nothing if it''s wasted on arrogance."


    The implication hung in the air, silencing any further attempts at ttery. Lord Yen and the other elders exchanged subtle, slightly chastened nces, realizing that Lady Ming''s respect would not be won so easily.


    As Azmodeus and Anna rejoined Zara and Nova, they were met with an onught of cheers and yful teasing. "You two made that look easy!" Zaraughed, giving Anna a yful punch to the arm. "Are you sure you''re not hiding some secret powers, Anna?"


    Annaughed, rolling her eyes. "Just a little bit of practice, that''s all. Maybe you should try it sometime!"


    Azmodeus smirked, his gaze shifting back toward the VIP stands. He could feel the cold, calcting gaze of Lady Ming on him even from this distance, and a slight keenness ran through him. She was watching, assessing, and although her face revealed nothing, he sensed that his performance had piqued her interest.


    Zara noticed his gaze and elbowed him yfully. "Already looking for the next fight, Az? You''re more intense than I thought."


    He chuckled, shrugging lightly. "Just¡­ keeping an eye on things."


    Meanwhile, in the VIP stands, Lady Ming finally leaned back in her seat, her cold expression softening into something resembling mild satisfaction. But it was gone in a sh, reced by her usual icy calm as she dismissed the elders'' idle remarks and refocused on the tournament.


    Below, in the arena, the next pair of duos prepared to take the stage, yet an unmistakable feeling lingered in the air: a sense that the real game had just begun.


    As the next set ofpetitors took their positions in the arena, Azmodeus and Anna found a quiet spot to observe, their excitement tempered but still vibrant beneath the surface. The murmurs of the crowd had yet to die down; whispers of their victory spread quickly, and a few nces flicked their way, some filled with admiration, others with thinly veiled jealousy. Anna caught one of these envious stares from a group of seasoned fighters and smirked, leaning slightly toward Azmodeus.


    "Seems we''ve made some friends already," she murmured with a mischievous grin.


    Azmodeus chuckled, unbothered. "They''re wee to their opinions. The strong don''t waste time proving themselves to everyone else."


    She raised an eyebrow. "That''s¡­ unexpectedly wise of you."


    "Surprised?" he replied, a hint of teasing in his tone.


    "Maybe a little," she admitted, though there was genuine respect in her gaze. "I didn''t expect the guy who told someone to ''yield'' mid-battle to be so¡­ philosophical."


    Meanwhile, in the VIP stands, Lady Ming continued watching the arena, though her thoughts drifted to Azmodeus''sst move. There had been a calcted calm in his actions, a methodical precision she found both curious and strangely unsettling. It was not simply skill but restraint¡ªa kind of self-control that made her wonder where he had learned it. Few young warriors possessed such poise in the heat of battle.


    Lord Han, sensing her intrigue, leaned in. "It seems Azmodeus has piqued your interest, Lady Ming. Rarely do you watch so intently."


    She turned her gaze on him, her face revealing nothing. "Interest is fleeting," she replied evenly. "Potential, as I said, is wasted on arrogance. But perhaps¡­ he has a chance to prove himself."


    Below, the battle between the next duos had intensified, their strikes echoing through the arena. Yet, Azmodeus and Anna''s victory cast a shadow over the new fight; the crowd''s attention shifted repeatedly back to them, as though expecting another show. Anna noticed and, feigning nonchnce, leaned back, allowing the smallest, yful smirk to break herposure.


    Zara, sitting beside them, rolled her eyes. "Great, now we''re the standard everyone else has to measure up to. No pressure or anything."


    Novaughed quietly, nudging Zara. "Come on, admit it~ You''re enjoying the attention too~!"


    Azmodeus, who had fallen silent, kept his gaze steady on the arena floor, his mind returning to Lady Ming. He could still feel her calcting eyes on him, as if measuring his worth, weighing his potential. He found himself uncharacteristically drawn to the challenge, a curiosity unfurling in him¡ªa desire to prove something to this woman who would surely be left in his dust before long. Though her strength was well into the Immortal God Realm, likely at the very peak of said realm, there was no doubt in his mind that he would surpass her. The only question was¡ªwhen?


    Anna, noticing his shift in focus, nudged him gently. "Hey, don''t get too lost in thought. We''ve got ourst round¡ªthe finals, going up against Assfoling soon."


    Azmodeus nodded, his expression set with quiet determination. "I know. And when ites, I intend to leave no doubts. Thispetition shall be won, and it will be done in the best possible way possible. Whates after, however, will be the truly interesting part¡­"

 Chapter 429: A Fan Club?

    As the crowd continued to buzz with excitement, the anticipation for the uing round built like a wave about to break. Azmodeus and Anna lingered near the edges of the arena, their attention split between the ongoing match and the approaching finals. The tension in the air was palpable, eachpetitor radiating a quiet intensity that settled heavily over the area.


    Anna watched Azmodeus out of the corner of her eye. Since thest round, there''d been a subtle shift in him¡ªa kind of sharpened focus she hadn''t seen before. Even now, his gaze was intense, as if he could already see the unfolding of their final match. It just didn''t make any sense to her¡­ Even though she knew full well how powerful he was, why did it always seem like he was thinking as if in a different world?


    "Azmodeus," she said, breaking the silence, "you''re not¡­ nervous about the finals, are you?"


    Azmodeus nced at her, his expression unreadable. "Nervous? No," he replied, a faint smirk ying at his lips. "I just want to ensure I''ve considered every angle. Assfol isn''t the type to let go of grudges easily. He''s certain toe at us with everything he has, and not just in the battle, but also in the aftermath." ''I have a lot riding on the momentum created from this tournament; there can be no mishaps,'' he thought coldly.


    Anna scoffed, crossing her arms. "Let him try. We''ve made it this far, haven''t we? Besides," she added, her tone turning teasing, "I''m pretty sure I can take him on if he tries anything underhanded."


    Azmodeus chuckled, though his gaze remained steady. "I don''t doubt it. But it''s not his strength that concerns me¡ªit''s his desperation. Desperate people can be unpredictable."


    Zara and Nova rejoined them, carrying a faint aura of excitement mixed with curiosity. Zara leaned against one of the stone pirs surrounding the arena, her eyes alight with amusement.


    "Well, well, seems our quiet Az here has suddenly found himself in the spotlight," Zara teased, nudging him. "You''d better not let Assfol get the better of you, or your newfound fan club might be disappointed."


    Azmodeus shook his head, bemused. "Fan club? Hardly."


    Nova grinned. "Oh, don''t act so modest. You know you''ve turned some heads¡ªespecially after Lady Ming''s little stare down during thatst match. She doesn''t pay attention to just anyone, you know."


    Anna raised a brow, her gaze flicking between Azmodeus and the VIP stands. "Wait, she was watching you?" There was a slightly touchy edge to her voice, but Azmodeus only shrugged.


    "I suppose. I hadn''t really noticed."


    "Uh-huh, sure," Zara said, crossing her arms with a knowing smile. "Keep ying mysterious. Maybe it''ll work on Lady Ming, too."


    Anna huffed, crossing her arms as well. "I don''t get what''s so special about her. Just because she''s the head of the Academy and all¡­"


    Nova chuckled. "Jealous, Anna?"


    She shot her a look, then shifted to Azmodeus, her cheeks tinged a faint red. "Please. I just¡­ don''t like how everyone''s so obsessed with her. That''s all."


    Their banter was cut short as a sudden hush fell over the crowd. All eyes turned to the center of the arena, where Assfol and his partner stepped forward. His face twisted into a smug grin as he looked their way, his confidence radiating a menacing intensity. Assfol''s partner, a tall, shadowed figure known as Kaelin, remained silent, his gaze fixed on Azmodeus with an eerie stillness.


    Azmodeus felt the weight of their stares but remained unfazed. His focus was on strategy, on predicting the future, on staying two steps ahead. Assfol might have a grudge, but grudges rarely won battles. However, grudges often lingered, even after the oue was deemed indisputable.


    "Well, well, Azmodeus and Anna," Assfol sneered, his voice carrying across the arena. "I have to say, I''m almost impressed you made it this far."


    Azmodeus raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "It''s mutual, though I wouldn''t count your victory before the match has even started."


    Assfol''s smirk grew wider. "Oh, I wouldn''t dream of it. But don''t worry¡ªI''ll be sure to make this quick. Wouldn''t want to embarrass you in front of all these people, after all."


    Anna stepped forward, her voice sharp. "Big words for someone who barely scraped by in thest round."


    The crowd reacted with murmurs and softughter, and Assfol''s expression faltered for a fraction of a second. But he quickly recovered, his smirk twisting into something darker.


    "Keep talking, princess. Let''s see if your fists back up that mouth of yours."


    Before Anna could reply, the overseer''s voice rang out across the arena, signaling for silence. The final match was about to begin, and the atmosphere grew electric. Azmodeus felt the surge of energy in the crowd, their anticipation like a charged pulse that ran through him. He took a deep breath, his senses sharpening, his gaze locking onto Assfol and Kaelin.


    The overseer''s voice echoed once more. "Final match¡ªbegin!"


    In an instant, Assfol and Kaelinunched forward. Assfol''s movements were fast and calcted, his fists aiming directly for Azmodeus, while Kaelin darted to the side, his form blending into the shadows, almost disappearing as he circled around Anna.


    Azmodeus dodged Assfol''s initial strike with ease, stepping back just enough to let the blow sail past him. He countered swiftly, his fist aiming for Assfol''s side, but his opponent blocked it with a forceful deflection, his eyes gleaming with feral intensity.


    "Not bad," Assfol taunted. "But let''s see how long you can keep up." While remaining conveniently unaware that his opponent was simply putting on a show that didn''t make him stand out too much.


    Meanwhile, Anna squared off against Kaelin, who moved with an unsettling silence. His attacks were quick and fluid, his shadowy form weaving in and out of her line of sight. She blocked a quick jab, retaliating with a kick that barely missed as he slipped away, his expression unreadable.


    "Not so bold now, are you?" Kaelin murmured, his voice low and chilling.


    Anna narrowed her eyes. "You''ll find I''m full of surprises."


    Azmodeus could sense the rising tension, each sh of fists, each near-miss feeding the intensity of the fight. Assfol''s movements grew more aggressive, his attacks bordering on reckless as he sought tond a decisive blow. Azmodeus, however, remained calm, deflecting each strike with practiced precision, his mind analyzing Assfol''s patterns, waiting for the perfect moment to strike while maintaining his moderately above average physical prowess. But to test the waters a bit further and solidify the destined result¡­


    ...

 Chapter 430: Winning the Duo Tournament

    "Is this really all you''ve got?" Azmodeus asked, his voice a low taunt that cut through Assfol''s focus.


    Assfol''s eyes red with anger, and he lunged forward, his fist charged with Immortal energy above the Grade 5 Immortal King Realm. But Azmodeus was ready. He sidestepped smoothly, catching Assfol off-bnce, and delivered a swift, calcted blow to his ribs. Assfol staggered, his face contorted in pain, but he quickly regained his footing, his gaze zing with fury.


    "You''ll regret that," he snarled, his voice a hiss of barely-contained rage.


    Kaelin, meanwhile, had managed to corner Anna, his movements faster and more erratic as he aimed a flurry of blows at her. Anna blocked and dodged with determination, her eyes narrowed as she focused on finding an opening. Kaelin''s attacks were relentless, his intent clear¡ªto overwhelm her with sheer speed.


    But Anna wasn''t about to be outmatched. She feigned a stumble, letting him close in, and then, with a sudden burst of powerful Grade 5 Immortal King energy, delivered a powerful upward kick that connected squarely with Kaelin''s jaw. He staggered back, surprise flickering across his face.


    "Not so tough now, are you?" she shot back, her voiceced with defiance.


    Azmodeus caught sight of the exchange and allowed himself a small, approving smile. Anna was holding her own, proving once again that she was more than capable. But he didn''t let his focus waver, his attention snapping back to Assfol, who was circling him with a renewed ferocity.


    Assfol lunged again, his movements faster and more desperate. Azmodeus dodged, sidestepping with ease, but he noticed the subtle change in Assfol''s stance¡ªa shift in weight, a tightening of his grip. He was hiding something, a technique he hadn''t used yet. Something surely forbidden.


    Azmodeus braced himself, his senses sharpening as he prepared for the unexpected. Assfol grinned, his eyes shing with a dangerous glint.


    "Time to end this," he growled, raising his hand as a dark energy began to gather around his fist. The crowd gasped, murmurs of shock rippling through the arena as the energy intensified, casting an ominous glow.


    Azmodeus''s eyes narrowed. "So, that''s your ace."


    Assfol lunged forward, his fist charged with demonic energy perfectly concealed as the darkness element. It aimed directly for Azmodeus''s chest. The attack was powerful, too powerful to block head-on without disying power beyond the Immortal King Realm, and Azmodeus knew it. He shifted his stance, his mind racing as he calcted his next move.


    He had to y this off in the best way possible, and it also became abundantly obvious that Ming Chao and the others were unable to discern anything wrong with Assfol''s Demonic Energy, which surely originated from the Nine Yin Immortal Realm. This meant that revealing its nature could not be used to his advantage¡­


    ''Ahh¡­ Maybe I can do that¡­'' His thoughts maliciously spiraled as he formted a solid n.


    Just as Assfol''s fist was about to make contact, Azmodeus pivoted, redirecting the force of the blow with a precise twist of his body. The dark energy grazed past him, missing by mere inches, and in that split second, Azmodeus struck, his fist connecting with Assfol''s shoulder, sending him stumbling back.


    The crowd erupted into cheers, and Assfol''s face twisted with frustration. He steadied himself, his gaze filled with a venomous rage as he red at Azmodeus.


    "This isn''t over," he spat, his voice a low growl.


    Azmodeus remained calm, his gaze unwavering. "It is if you can''t control your emotions, Assfol. You''re only making it easier for me."


    Assfol''s face contorted in fury, but Azmodeus could see the hint of doubt creeping in. Every move, every attack Assfol made had been growing sloppier, his desperation intensifying as his frustration took over. And in battle, frustration was an enemy of focus. This would be his downfall.


    Anna, catching a break in her own skirmish with Kaelin, smirked as she noticed Assfol''s unravelingposure. "Looks like your partner''s losing his edge," she called over to Kaelin. "Are you sure you''re backing the right guy?"


    Kaelin''s expression remained unreadable, though his jaw clenched slightly. His next attack was slower, more hesitant, as if he, too, was realizing that their coordination was slipping. He tried to rush Anna, daggers raised, but her agility proved superior. She sidestepped, then delivered a quick elbow strike to his side that forced him back.


    Azmodeus saw his chance and pressed forward, his movements controlled and precise. Assfol barely managed to dodge his first strike, but Azmodeus followed up with another, then another, each move calcted to keep his opponent off-bnce. The crowd waspletely silent now, every eye fixed on the unfolding match. The tension was thick, anticipation crackling through the air as Azmodeus closed in on his final blows.


    "Why don''t you yield, Assfol?" Azmodeus suggested, his tone calm but firm. "Spare yourself the embarrassment."


    "Never!" Assfol spat, his voice raw with anger. With a wild shout, he charged again, his fists swinging in a frenzied attempt tond a hit. But Azmodeus evaded each one, his movements smooth and deliberate. And then, with a sudden, fluid motion, he slipped past Assfol''s defenses, his fist connecting with Assfol''s chest with a powerful strike that reverberated through the arena.


    Assfol staggered back, gasping, and finally fell to one knee, clutching his chest. The impact had left him breathless, his face flushed with humiliation as he struggled to rise. Azmodeus stood over him, his expression calm but unyielding, his stance a testament to his control and restraint.


    "Yield," Azmodeus said again, this time with a finality that left no room for argument.


    Assfol''s gaze flickered, the defiance in his eyes wavering as the realization sank in. Even with the Evil Immortal Technique gifted to him by the Eldest Senior Brother of the Eternal Jade Sect, he was left helpless before someone with a simr cultivation level¡­


    ''...I have failed¡­ But I can still pull some strings to make this bastard''s life a living hell after he moves higher up thedder¡­ Thedder will surely crumble with him on it!!''


    Slowly, reluctantly, he lowered his head, signaling his surrender. The overseer''s voice boomed across the arena, confirming the result.


    "Winner: Duo #69!"


    ...

 Chapter 431: A Special kind of Potential...

    "Winner: Duo #69!"


    The crowd erupted into cheers, their excitement reaching a fever pitch as Azmodeus and Anna stood victorious. Anna let out a breath, her shoulders rxing as she shot Azmodeus a grin.


    "Looks like we did it," she said, her voice filled with pride.


    Azmodeus nodded, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Couldn''t have done it without you."


    As they made their way back to the participant section, they were greeted by Zara and Nova, who pulled them into a triumphant embrace, theirughter ringing out amidst the crowd''s apuse. For a moment, it felt like nothing else mattered¡ªjust the thrill of victory and the camaraderie they shared.


    In the VIP stands, Lady Ming watched the scene unfold, her expression as unreadable as ever. But there was a faint gleam of intrigue in her eyes as she observed Azmodeus, her mind already racing with possibilities. Beside her, the elders exchanged nces, murmuring in quiet admiration.


    "Quite a performance," Elder Shunmented, his voice tinged with approval. "Perhaps there''s more to that young man than we initially thought."


    Lady Ming''s gaze remained fixed on Azmodeus, her thoughts hidden behind a mask of cool detachment. "Yes," she murmured, almost to herself. "Perhaps there is."


    As Azmodeus and Anna basked in the afterglow of their victory, he couldn''t shake the feeling that this was only the beginning. The tournament had been a test, a stage on which he''d proven his strength, his control, his potential. But he knew that eyes more discerning than the crowd''s were watching him, evaluating him, waiting to see if he''d live up to the expectations they were beginning to ce on him.


    And deep down, he weed the challenge. For in his heart, he knew that this was merely a step on the path to something far greater. The academy, the rivals, Lady Ming''s attention, even the Eternal Jade Heaven Immortal Realm itself¡ªall of it was just the beginning.


    Because he was Azmodeus, and his true journey had only just begun.


    ¡ª--------------


    The adrenaline from the match still hummed in Azmodeus''s veins as the roars of the crowd began to subside, fading into the distant hum of conversations and murmurs. He could feel the weight of dozens of eyes following his every move¡ªsome admiring, some envious, and someden with quiet, simmering disdain. This was what he had expected. Triumph always drew attention, but it also made one a target.


    Anna, however, basked in the moment. "I told you we''d win," she said, practically bouncing on her feet as they walked back to their preparation area. "Assfol didn''t stand a chance. Did you see the look on his face when he realized you were holding back the whole time?"


    Azmodeus allowed himself a faint smirk. "It was... satisfying," he admitted. "But don''t let your guard down. This victory paints a target on both of us. There will be consequences."


    "Consequences?" Anna echoed, arching an eyebrow. "Let theme. After what we''ve been through, I''d say we''re more than capable of handling a little fallout."


    Zara was waiting for them, lounging against one of the stone walls with her usual air of casual amusement. Nova stood beside her, her arms crossed, a spark of pride in her eyes as she regarded Azmodeus and Anna.


    "Well, you didn''t screw it up," Zara said, her tone teasing butced with genuine warmth. "I was almost worried there for a second."


    "Almost?" Azmodeus quipped, raising an eyebrow.


    "Okay, fine, not at all," Zara admitted with a grin. "You''re predictable, Az. Alwaysing out on top, even when you''re only giving half your effort. It''s both infuriating and kind of inspiring."


    Nova nudged her. "Inspiring, huh? Don''t let him get a bigger head than he already has."


    Azmodeus shook his head, bemused. "I don''t need your ttery," he said, though there was a flicker of amusement in his eyes. "Save it for someone who needs the ego boost."


    Their banter was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a messenger¡ªa young acolyte d in the tournament''s ceremonial robes. He bowed deeply before speaking.


    "Azmodeus. Anna. The Elders request your presence in the Hall of Reflection."


    Anna frowned, exchanging a nce with Azmodeus. "The Hall of Reflection? What for?"


    The acolyte kept his head bowed, his tone polite but firm. "The Elders wish to speak with you regarding your performance and your... potential."


    Azmodeus''s expression didn''t change, but a flicker of intrigue passed through his eyes. He inclined his head slightly. "Very well. Lead the way."


    ---


    The Hall of Reflection was a vast, opulent chamber carved from smooth jade and adorned with intricate golden engravings. The light from countless floatingnterns bathed the room in a warm, ethereal glow, casting long, shifting shadows across the polished floor. At the far end of the hall sat the Elders, a council of venerable figures whose authority extended far beyond the tournament grounds.


    Lady Ming was among them, seated in the center with an air of quietmand. Her piercing gaze found Azmodeus the moment he stepped into the room, and he felt the weight of her scrutiny like a tangible force. The other Elders murmured amongst themselves, their voices low but carrying an unmistakable undertone of interest¡ªand perhaps caution.


    Azmodeus and Anna approached the dais, their footsteps echoing in the otherwise silent hall. They stopped a respectful distance away and bowed, their movements precise and deliberate.


    "Azmodeus. Anna," Lady Ming began, her voice calm but firm. "Your performance in the tournament has been... noteworthy."


    "Thank you, Lady Ming," Azmodeus replied, his tone measured. "It has been an honor topete."


    Her sharp eyes narrowed slightly, as if probing his words for hidden meaning. "You have demonstrated exceptional skill, both inbat and in strategy. But what interests me most is not your strength, impressive though it may be. It is your potential."


    Anna shifted slightly beside him, clearly curious but wary. "Potential for what, exactly?"


    One of the other Elders, a man with a long silver beard and a stern expression, leaned forward. "For greatness," he said simply. "The kind that shapes the course of nations. The kind that redefines power."


    ...

 Chapter 432: Months pass in the Eternal Jade Academy, Rise in Status

    Azmodeus remained silent, his expression carefully neutral. He had expected this, or something like it. The tournament had been more than apetition¡ªit had been a stage, a proving ground. And he had proven himself, not just to the crowd but to those who truly mattered.


    Lady Ming''s gaze remained fixed on him. "You are no ordinarypetitor, Azmodeus. We know this. And while you may have your reasons for concealing the full extent of your abilities, I would advise you to tread carefully. There are those who would see your rise as a threat."


    Azmodeus met her gaze evenly. "A threat is only dangerous if it is misunderstood. My intentions are not to disrupt, but to ascend."


    A faint smile yed at the corner of her lips, though it didn''t reach her eyes. "Spoken like someone who understands the game. But remember, Azmodeus: even the most skilled yers can be outmaneuvered if they are not vignt."


    He inclined his head slightly. "I will keep that in mind."


    Anna, who had been uncharacteristically quiet, finally spoke up. "So, what does this mean? Are we being... recruited or something?"


    The Elders exchanged nces, their expressions inscrutable. Finally, Lady Ming spoke again.


    "It means you have caught our attention. And with that attentiones opportunity¡ªbut also responsibility. We will be watching you closely, both within and beyond the confines of this tournament."


    Azmodeus nodded. "Understood."


    ---


    As they left the Hall of Reflection, Anna let out a low whistle. "Well, that was... intense. What do you think they''re nning?"


    Azmodeus''s expression was thoughtful. "They see us as assets. Valuable pieces on their board. But their interest is a double-edged sword. It opens doors, but it also puts us under scrutiny."


    Anna frowned. "And you''re okay with that?"


    He nced at her, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. "I didn''te this far to shy away from attention. Let them watch. It will only make the events toe all the more satisfying."


    She shook her head, though there was a hint of a smile on her lips. "You''re impossible, you know that?"


    "Perhaps. But you''re still here, aren''t you?"


    She rolled her eyes but didn''t argue. There was no point. Azmodeus''s confidence was unshakable, and while it could be infuriating, it was also one of the reasons she trusted him so implicitly. Discover more stories at m,v l''e-NovelBin


    ---


    The aftermath of their victory was a whirlwind of celebration and tension. While many of the otherpetitors congratted them¡ªsome genuinely, others through gritted teeth¡ªthere were also whispers of resentment and jealousy. Assfol, in particr, seemed unable to let go of his defeat. Azmodeus caught sight of him several times, his expression dark and brooding, his eyes filled with barely contained anger.


    It didn''t concern him. Assfol was a minor obstacle, one that had already been ovee. The real challengesy ahead, in the unseen machinations of the Elders, the ambitions of those higher up in the Eternal Jade Immortal Realm Hierarchy, and the ever-looming shadow of the Nine Evil Yin Immortal Realm.


    But as he stood at the edge of the arena, gazing out at the setting sun, he felt a strange sense of calm. This was what he had been working toward¡ªnot just the tournament, but the opportunities, the power, and the potential for maximized benefits. It was all within his grasp now, waiting for him to im it.


    And he would. Because he was Azmodeus, and failure was not an option.


    As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting the world in shades of gold and crimson, he turned to Anna, Zara, and Nova, his voice quiet but filled with incredulous mystique.


    "This is just the beginning."


    "Mhmm!"


    The days passed by like a swift spring dream following the events of the Duo Tournament. Thanks to said tournament, Azmodeus''s reputation had skyrocketed, not just in the hearts of the students, but also among the more notable figures of the Eternal Jade Faction. One of the most important of those figures was Ming Chao, who was also the younger sister of the secret infamous traitor of the Eternal Jade Heavens Immortal Realm.


    With Anna''s Master-disciple rtionship with the younger Eternal Jade Sect brother, the Vice Headmaster''s ambiguous status, and the two mischievous girls, everything was beginning toe together. He wasn''t particrly proud about scheming against so many unsuspecting women, but to obtain all the benefits before he leaves for the perilous Lands Unknown, this was necessary.


    ''It truly is nothing personal,'' thought Azmodeus as he happily chatted away with those who referred to him as their ''friend''. In this life, he knew what it meant to truly have friends, as all he has ever pursued were benefits. And that aspect of him was likely never to change, no matter how many years and higher realms change their seasons.


    With that sort of mindset, Azmodeus blended into the group of three devastatingly gorgeous school Belles, and allowed for months to pass by. During that time, he managed to meet Anna''s master twice, Zara''s father, the Headmaster three times, and attain a degree of status that made him an eyesore in the eyes of many. His progress with Nova, on the other hand, was virtually unmoving. In fact, her father''s identity was still aplete mystery to him¡­


    Azmodeus had no idea what the Immortal Lord even looked like, let alone what cultivation realm he was at. And after asking around for a while following his breakthrough into the Immortal Emperor Realm, he learned that no one else seemed to know what he looked like either. None even knew of his name. He was merely seen as the high and mighty illustrious master of the Eternal Jade Heavens Immortal Realm, with even his own daughter unable to pinpoint his name or exact appearance. Though that didn''t mean Nova had a low opinion of her father, as it was actually quite the opposite.


    Yet the whole situation remained especially odd¡­ And it itched at the back of Azmodeus''s mind for the longest while¡­


    However, with the uing Immortal Realm Power Gathering starting in a few days, he had more important things to worry about. As this would be a meeting that gathered together all the topmost experts in the world, from all corners of the Immortal Realm, it would surely make for the perfect opportunity that the Nine Evil Yin Immortal could use to make his entrance.


    And considering that Azmodeus had be an Honorary Elder of the Eternal Jade Sect, he was also one of the experts to receive an invitation to this rather auspicious gathering of the Immortal Realm pinnacle masters¡­ Who knows? He might even encounter the elusive Immortal Lord at the Gathering¡­ Only time will tell¡­


    ...

 Chapter 433: The Immortal Realm Power Gathering

    The days leading up to the Immortal Realm Power Gathering were filled with preparation and unease. While the Eternal Jade Sect buzzed with anticipation, Azmodeus remained cloistered in his quarters, sharpening his mind for whaty ahead. His ascension to Honorary Elder had garnered him a mix of admiration and scorn, but it wasn''t the opinions of the sect members that concerned him¡ªit was the storm brewing beneath the surface of the realms.


    Azmodeus had spent months weaving himself into the web of Eternal Jade politics, but the Gathering was an entirely different beast. It would bring together the most powerful and cunning figures from every major faction, their schemes and ambitions forming an invisible battlefield as dangerous as any physical duel. It was an opportunity to rise¡ªor to fall, irrevocably.


    As Azmodeus sat cross-legged in meditation, his senses extended, brushing against the flow of energy around him. The aura of the Eternal Jade Sect was as serene as ever, but beneath it, he could feel the faint ripples of something darker. His breakthrough to the Immortal Emperor Realm had heightened his awareness, and he could now detect the subtle distortions that signaled interference from forbidden energies. The Nine Evil Yin Immortal Realm was moving in the shadows, and Azmodeus knew it was only a matter of time before they struck.


    "Azmodeus!" Anna''s voice broke through his focus, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps. She burst into his room, her expression a mix of excitement and concern. "You''re not going to believe this!"


    He opened his eyes, a faint smile ying on his lips. "Try me."


    She tossed a scroll onto the table in front of him. "The Gathering''s itinerary. It just came through the Elder Council."


    Azmodeus picked up the scroll, his eyes scanning the intricate calligraphy. As he read, his expression darkened. The Gathering wasn''t just a meeting of power¡ªit was a stage for conflict. The schedule included not only discussions on inter-realm rtions but also a series of duels and trials to showcase the strength of each faction.


    "They''re testing us," he said, his voice low. "This isn''t just about diplomacy. They want to see who''s strong enough to lead¡ªand who''s weak enough to crush."


    Anna nodded, her brows furrowed. "The Eternal Jade Sect is hosting, so the spotlight will be on us. Lady Ming''s putting together a team to represent the sect, and guess who''s at the top of her list?"


    Azmodeus set the scroll down, his gaze sharp. "Let me guess¡ªme."


    "Bingo." She crossed her arms, her lips twitching into a smirk. "You''ve got a reputation now, Mr. Honorary Elder. People are expecting big things from you."


    He leaned back, his mind already spinning with possibilities. The Gathering was a trap, a chance for the factions to size each other up while the Nine Evil Yin Immortal Realm plotted in the background. But it was also an opportunity¡ªone he intended to exploit to its fullest.


    "Good," he said finally. "Let them watch. Let them see what wille from sending me out of seclusion."


    Anna arched an eyebrow. "Confident, aren''t we?"


    He met her gaze, his eyes gleaming. "Always."


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    ---


    The Day of the Gathering


    The Immortal Realm Power Gathering was held in the Celestial Jade Pavilion, a grand structure that floated above the Eternal Jade Sect like a shining beacon. It sat directly adjacent to the Eternal Jade Pce, yet barely paled in grandeur. Its walls shimmered with divine energy, and its spires pierced the heavens, a testament to the sect''s might. As Azmodeus stepped onto the pavilion, he felt the weight of countless eyes upon him¡ªsome curious, some hostile, and others calcting.


    Anna, Zara, and Nova nked him, their presence a silent testament to their unity. The crowd parted as they approached, whispers following in their wake.


    "Is that him? The Honorary Elder who defeated Assfol?"


    "They say he''s already at the Immortal Emperor Realm¡­"


    "Impossible. No one ascends that quickly without help! Just put his age into the picture! There''s just no way!"


    Azmodeus ignored the murmurs, his focus on the figures gathered ahead. The Elders of the Eternal Jade Sect sat at the center of the pavilion, their expressions calm but watchful. Lady Ming was among them, her gaze sharp as it swept over the crowd. Beside her sat representatives from the other major factions¡ªfigures of immense power and influence, each surrounded by their own entourage of experts.


    One figure in particr caught Azmodeus''s attention: a man draped in dark robes, his face obscured by a shadowy hood. The faint aura of forbidden energy clung to him, a telltale sign of the Nine Evil Yin Immortal Realm. Azmodeus''s eyes narrowed. The enemy was here, hiding in in sight, and none seemed to be able to know the better.


    "Azmodeus," Lady Ming''s voice rang out, cutting through the murmurs. "Step forward."


    He obeyed, his steps measured as he approached the dais. The eyes of the council bore into him, their expressions inscrutable.


    "You have proven yourself worthy of the Eternal Jade Sect''s trust," Lady Ming said, her tone formal. "Today, you will represent us in the trials. Do you ept this responsibility?"


    Azmodeus bowed slightly, his voice calm. "I do."


    The crowd stirred, a ripple of anticipation running through them. Lady Ming nodded, her gaze steady. "Then let the trials begin."


    ---


    The Trials


    The first trial was a test of skill, a series of one-on-one duels designed to showcase thebat prowess of each faction''s representatives. Azmodeus''s first opponent was a hulking man from the Crimson Thunder Sect, which was a sect that stood near the Apex of the Eternal Jade Heavens Immortal Realm, with numerous Immortal Gods and several Immortal Transcendents at their neck and call.


    The hulking man''a aura crackled with raw power.


    The duel began with a sh of energy, the pavilion shaking under the force of their attacks. Azmodeus moved with precision, his strikes calcted and unrelenting. His opponent, though powerful,cked finesse, and within minutes, Azmodeus had him pinned, his de at the man''s throat.


    "Yield," Azmodeusmanded, his voice calm but firm.


    The man hesitated, then nodded, lowering his weapon. The crowd erupted into cheers, and Azmodeus stepped back, his expression unreadable.


    ...

 Chapter 434: The Nine Evil Yin Immortal Realm Attack!

    The second trial was a test of strategy, a battle of wits yed out on a massive jade board. Azmodeus faced a representative from the Silver Moon Alliance, a sharp-eyed woman whose every move was calcted to trap him. But Azmodeus''s mind was a weapon as sharp as any de, and he outmaneuvered her with ease, his victory decisive.


    By the time the third trial began¡ªa test of endurance involving abyrinth filled with traps and illusions¡ªAzmodeus was the center of attention. His every move was watched, analyzed, and whispered about. But he remained focused, his thoughts on the greater game at y.


    ---


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    The Hidden Threat


    As the trials continued, Azmodeus couldn''t shake the feeling of being watched. It wasn''t the crowd¡ªhe was used to their scrutiny. No, this was something deeper, darker. His senses tingled as he scanned the pavilion, his gazending on the hooded figure he had noticed earlier.


    The man hadn''t participated in any of the trials, instead remaining in the shadows, his presence a quiet enigma. Azmodeus''s eyes narrowed as he sensed a faint pulse of demonic energy emanating from him.


    "Anna," he murmured, his voice low. "Keep an eye on the man in the dark robes. He''s not who he seems."


    Anna followed his gaze, her expression hardening. "You think he''s one of them?"


    "I''m sure of it," Azmodeus replied. "And he''s not alone. They''re nning something."


    As the final trial approached¡ªa grand melee involving all the remainingpetitors¡ªAzmodeus prepared himself for what was toe. The Nine Evil Yin Immortal Realm wouldn''t waste an opportunity like this. And if they made their move, he would be ready.


    The gong sounded, signaling the start of the melee. Azmodeus stepped onto the field, his eyes scanning the crowd as he waited for the inevitable. The otherpetitors circled him warily, their expressions a mix of fear and determination.


    And then, just as the first blow was struck, the pavilion trembled. A wave of dark energy erupted from the hooded figure, shattering the barrier that surrounded the arena. Gasps and shouts filled the air as the man threw back his hood, revealing a twisted, demonic visage.


    "The Nine Evil Yin Immortal Realm sends its regards!" he roared, his voice echoing across the pavilion.


    Chaos erupted as more figures emerged from the crowd, their auras radiating forbidden power. Azmodeus''s eyes hardened as he drew his de, stepping forward to face the oing storm.


    "This," he said, his voice steady, "is where the real trial begins."


    "The Nine Evil Yin Immortal Realm!? What are they doing in the Eternal Jade Heavens Immortal Realm!? How were they able to get in!?!?"


    "This¡­" Ming Chao''s pretty face contorted in barely concealed anger as her dress fluttered due to the immense energy waves emanating from her figure. The full extent of someone with strength that exceeded the Immortal God Realm was put on full disy, frightening many of the spectators and students, yet doing nothing to stop the Nine Evil Yin cultivators from taking action.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The melee transformed into an all-out war as the Nine Evil Yin cultivators shed with the gathered factions. Azmodeus fought with ruthless efficiency, his de cutting through the enemy ranks as he pushed toward the hooded leader. Around him, Anna, Zara, and Nova fought as well, theirbined strength holding the line against the chaos.


    But Azmodeus''s focus never wavered. He had seen the pieces on the board, and now it was time to make his move. As he closed in on the leader, his mind raced, formting a n.


    The Nine Evil Yin Immortal Realm had underestimated him. And by the time this was over, they would realize their mistake.


    Because Azmodeus didn''t just y the game.


    He rewrote it.


    ¡ª---------


    The Celestial Jade Pavilion trembled beneath the onught of shing forces, the serenity of the Eternal Jade Sect shattered by chaos. Azmodeus moved with purpose, his de a blur of motion as he cut through the swarm of Nine Evil Yin cultivators that surged toward him. The dark energy they emanated was suffocating, but Azmodeus''s absurdly powerful Immortal Emperor Realm aura red in defiance, creating a barrier of calm in the storm of corruption.


    Around him, the battlefield was a cacophony of roars, explosions, and the cries of the wounded. Ming Chao and the Half-Step Immortal Transcendent figures had engaged the leader of the invaders, their sh sending shockwaves that rattled the very fabric of the pavilion. Yet despite the overwhelming disy of power, Azmodeus knew this was no ordinary skirmish¡ªit was a meticulously nned invasion¡ªone that had likely been in the works for eons


    Anna, Zara, and Nova fought nearby, their coordination impable as they held the line against the enemy''s relentless assault. Anna''s fiery sword danced like a phoenix, cutting through waves of lesser cultivators, while Zara''s frostden arrows struck true, freezing entire groups in ce. Nova, her movements fluid and precise, dispatched her foes with a grace that bordered on artistry.


    Even though they could not fight anything beyond the Immortal King Realm, they still did well to bolster the wills of the lower-ranking guests, subsequently urging everyone to join in the fray and defend the Pavilion. They believed that, even if they couldn''t defeat the so-called cultivators from the Nine Evil Yin faction, they could still hold out until Ming Chao''s older brother or the other Immortal Transcendents could arrive. Thinking this far made Azmodeus wonder why nobody higher up had made a move yet; were they caught up in something?


    He instinctively looked toward the Eternal Jade Pce, where he felt unnaturally destructive auras spread out. Yet, before he could glean further into the truth, a voice called out from beside him, bringing his attention elsewhere.


    "Azmodeus!" Anna called, her voice cutting through the chaos. "They''re targeting the Jade Heart Array! If they destroy it, the entire pavilion will copse!"


    Azmodeus''s gaze snapped toward the heart of the pavilion, where a group of Nine Evil Yin cultivators surrounded the array. The intricate formation of glowing jade runes flickered, struggling to maintain its stability under their assault.


    ...

 Chapter 435: One Fatal Mistake

    If the Jade Pavilion fell, then one of the key points that maintained the heavenly array surrounding the Eternal Jade territory would be destroyed, creating ws. And if the entire Eternal Heavenly Array copsed, thenrger gaps would be created in the Eternal Jade Heaven Immortal Realm itself, allowing far stronger presences to slither in. This could not be permitted at this juncture!


    "I''ll handle it," Azmodeus said, his tone calm butmanding. "Hold this position."


    Anna nodded, her eyes fierce. "Don''t take too long."


    Azmodeus surged forward, his body blurring as he activated his movement technique. The air rippled around him as he crossed the battlefield in an instant,nding amidst the group of attackers. They turned to face him, their expressions a mixture of surprise and malice.


    "An Immortal Emperor Realm cultivator?" one sneered, his voice dripping with disdain. "You should have stayed out of this."


    Azmodeus didn''t respond. He raised his de, its edge glowing with a radiant golden light, and unleashed a single sh. The cultivators barely had time to react before a crescent of energy tore through them, scattering their bodies like leaves in a storm.


    The remaining cultivators hesitated, their confidence shaken. Azmodeus stepped forward, his aura pressing down on them like a mountain.


    "Leave now," he said, his voice cold. "Or stay and die."


    One of the stronger cultivators, a burly man wreathed in ck mes, stepped forward, his expression twisted in a sneer. "You think we''re afraid of you? Let''s see how you handle this, you weak Eternal Jade cultivator!"


    The man''s aura surged as heunched a massive wave of dark fire toward Azmodeus. The mes roared, consuming everything in their path, but Azmodeus didn''t flinch. He raised his hand, a shimmering barrier of golden light forming before him. The mes crashed against it, dissipating harmlessly.


    "Pathetic," Azmodeus said, his voice dripping with disdain.


    He moved faster than the eye could follow, his de piercing the burly man''s chest in a single, fluid motion. The man gasped, his eyes wide with shock as Azmodeus withdrew his weapon and let him fall.


    The remaining cultivators scattered, their morale broken. Azmodeus turned his attention to the Jade Heart Array, channeling his energy to stabilize the flickering runes. The formation pulsed with renewed strength, its light spreading outward to reinforce the pavilion''s defenses.


    "Azmodeus!" Zara''s voice rang out, filled with urgency. "Behind you!"


    He spun just in time to block an attack from a masked cultivator who radiated the power of the Grade 9 Immortal God Realm. Their des shed, sending a shockwave that rippled through the air.


    "You''re impressive," the masked man said, his voice low and gravelly. "But you''re not invincible."


    Azmodeus didn''t reply. He pushed back against the man''s de, forcing him to retreat, and then followed up with a flurry of precise strikes. The masked cultivator met each one with equal skill, their duel creating a storm of energy that drew the attention of the surroundingbatants, including the Vice Headmaster.


    The man''s movements were erratic, his attacks infused with the chaotic energy of the Nine Evil Yin. Azmodeus recognized the technique from Academy scriptures pertaining to foreign entities¡ªit was designed to overwhelm opponents with unpredictable patterns. But he was no ordinary opponent. His mind worked like a machine, analyzing the man''s movements and predicting his next strikes with uncanny uracy.


    "You rely too much on chaos," Azmodeus said, his voice calm. "But chaos is meaningless in the face of precision."


    He feinted left, drawing the man''s guard, and then struck right, his de slicing through the man''s shoulder. The cultivator roared in pain, his aura ring as he unleashed a desperate attack. Azmodeus sidestepped it effortlessly, delivering a final blow that sent the man crashing to the ground.


    The masked cultivator coughed, blood staining his lips as he red up at Azmodeus. "You¡­ won''t win. The Nine Evil Yin Sovereign¡­ cannot be stopped."


    Azmodeus''s expression was unreadable as he raised his de. "We''ll see."


    With a swift motion, he ended the man''s life, his body disintegrating into ash.


    Meanwhile, higher above the Pavilion.


    Ming Chao and the other Half-Step Immortal Transcendent figures were locked in a brutal battle against the leader of the Nine Evil Yin cultivators dispatched to this location. The pavilion shook with each exchange, the air thick with the sh of divine and forbidden energies. Despite theirbined strength, the enemy leader held his ground, his power far surpassing that of his subordinates.


    Azmodeus watched from a distance, his mind racing. He couldn''t intervene yet¡ªnot while the battlefield was still littered with threats. His focus turned to another surge of dark energy as three more Grade 9 Immortal God Realm cultivators descended upon him, their auras radiating malevolence.


    "Three against one," one of them sneered, a woman with serpentine eyes and a whip that crackled with ck lightning. "Let''s see how long youst."


    Azmodeus''s lips curved into a faint smile. "Longer than you, I imagine."


    The three attacked simultaneously, theirbined power shaking the ground beneath them. Azmodeus met their assault head-on, his de dancing as he deflected strikes from all directions. The woman''s whipshed out, its lightning snaking toward him, but he caught it on the edge of his de, severing it with a single strike.


    The second cultivator, a gaunt man wielding twin daggers, darted in from the side, aiming for Azmodeus''s blind spot. But Azmodeus anticipated the move, pivoting to intercept the attack and sending the man flying with a well-ced kick. Discover more stories at mvl


    The third, a hulking brute armed with a massive hammer, roared as he brought his weapon down in a devastating arc. Azmodeus sidestepped the blow, the hammer smashing into the ground with enough force to create a crater. Before the brute could recover, Azmodeus delivered a series of rapid strikes, cutting through the man''s defenses and forcing him to retreat.


    "You''re out of your league," Azmodeus said, his voice like ice. "Surrender while you still can."


    The three cultivators exchanged nces, their confidence wavering. But before they could respond, a new wave of Nine Evil Yin reinforcements arrived from cracks in the sky, their numbers threatening to overwhelm the defenders.


    Azmodeus''s aura red, his power surging as he prepared to face the next wave. Around him, the Eternal Jade Sect''s defenders rallied, their determination unwavering despite the odds.


    The battle was far from over, but Azmodeus knew one thing for certain.


    He wouldn''t stop until the Nine Evil Yin Immortal Realm was defeated and all loot was his.


    And they would learn, as many before them had, that underestimating him and his greed for greater benefits was a fatal mistake¡­


    ...¡­..

 Chapter 436: Loot Arriving On a Platter

    Azmodeus couldn''t immediately reach the Evil Nine Yin cultivator who was most obviously the leader of this attack on the assembly, but he was cutting through enough Immortal Gods that it surely wouldn''t be long now. Moreover, it seemed that Ming Chao and the other Half-step Immortal Transcendent Realm powerhouses were holding their own, at least well enough to not make it appear like they had the losing hand.


    The other students and figures gathered and scattering also surprisingly kept the Evil Nine Yin forces at bay, which was weird¡­ Suspiciously weird¡­


    ''Something about this feels off,'' thought Azmodeus as he cleaved through a dozen more Immortal Gods. His strides were long and lofty, with none able to withstand more than a single strike of his. Yet there was still something off about this whole situation. ''Why does this feel too easy¡­?''


    Just as this thought formed in his mind, a booming explosion reverberated from the Eternal Jade Pce, which was now tipping to the¡­ left¡­ Was the Eternal Jade Pce¡­ falling??


    At the same time as horror washed over the faces of the Immortals fighting the Evil Nine Yin cultivators when they looked toward the source of the explosion, a golden robed figure flew out from arge gaping hole in the Pce. It was none other than Fang Ju, the younger sect brother of the Eternal Jade Sect¡ªsomeone was currently barreling through clouds, his entire body charred and battered. Blood leaked from all his orifices, with his life or death clearly on the line.


    "...Brother¡­?"


    While attracted by this unexpected event uring high up in the sky, Ming Chao saw a purple-robed figure standing just outside where the explosion originated from in the Eternal Jade Pce. His expression was devoid of emotion, with his equally dead eyes uncaringly watching his junior brother sail through the clouds and crash through several mountaintops.


    With Ming Chao''s high intellect, she was able to piece together what was going on here. But¡­ it didn''t make any sense! Why would her brother!? Why would he betray the Eternal Jade Heaven Immortal Realm and defect to the Evil Nine Yin''s side!? It just wasn''t¡­ possible!!


    "Is he being controlled!?" was the first thing to surface in Ming Chao''s mine, firmly denying the possibility that he was truly a traitor. "Yes, that must be it! I have to save my brother; he''s clearly not in his right mind!" She spoke in denial of the right, seemingly losing every ounce of her previous cool-minded and collective self.


    In the face of what people believed to be absolutely absurd, one always found any reason not to ept the truth. This was human nature, and stood true whether one was a weak mortal, not even of the Qi Condensation Realm, or whether they were an Immortal verging on Transcendence.


    However, even if Ming Chao was thinking of ways to get up to her brother and save him from himself, she still kept most of her focus on her battle with the powerful Evil Nine Yin Leader. She knew this mysterious man was not the mastermind behind this mass invasion, but he was certainly high up on the food chain, right¡­?


    Wrong!


    OOOM!!


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    From countless massive spatial cracks in the sky, millions upon millions of ck-robed Evil Nine Yin cultivators swarmed in, with more than a thousand of them in the Half-step Immortal Transcendent Realm! There were even a few dozen among them that had condensed their Transcendent Spark and truly stepped onto the path of Immortal Transcendence!


    "T-This is¡­" Not only Ming Chao, but the rest of the pinnacle Immortals on the fields below were left short of breath at this horrifyingly resplendent sight.


    Yet, that was far from the limit of their astonishment, as many simr waves of Evil Nine Yin cultivators appeared right after the first one.


    Hundreds of Immortal Transcendent Realm Cultivators soon gathered above, with their staut figures and suffocating aura blotting out the skies. Their exact stage within the Immortal Transcendent Realm varied, but it stood true that they were all extraordinarily powerful. However, it were the sinister looks twisting their faces that truly settled in the terror for the Eternal Jade Immortals.


    None knew how tobat this cmity that had arrived in the Eternal Jade Heaven Immortal Realm¡­


    Their Immortal Lord was nowhere to be seen, the Academy Headmaster was missing, and the Immortal Transcendent Realm Realm Ancestors, who should''ve immediately reacted to this threat, were also unresponsive. To those in Eternal Jade City, Eternal Jade Academy, and the surrounding territories, fear and the harrowing view of the Eternal Jade Pce plummeting to the earth were the only things to be reflected in their shaky pupils.


    The smirk on the expression of who was originally presumed to be the ''Evil Nine Yin Leader'' widened as he deflected thebined attacks of Ming Chao and the other powerhouses. While retreating to the skies above in their moment of shock, he left a grim message. "Ha! You bunch really are country bumkins from an inferior Immortal Realm! You are so surprised by the few forces we sent here,pletely oblivious to the main forces that we sent to deal with the true powerhouses of your Realm! All of your Immortal Transcendent Realm Ancestors will soon be dead, and then our Nine Evil Yin Immortal Sovereign will return with the head of your Realm''s Immortal Lord on a tter!!"


    "You bunch of ignorant fools!! Jajajaja!!"


    "!!!" "!!!" "!!!"


    As everyone gradually sank into despair, Azmodeus, who was inconspicuously fighting in a corner, couldn''t stop his grin from widening. He had held back so much until now, making it seem like he was struggling against mere Immortal Emperor''s and Immortal Gods, but now¡­


    "Heh," Cassius let a crazed sort ofugh slip, with his eyes freezing over in a sheet of ice. "Time to grind these idiotic loot bags that grouped themselves up all nice and tidy for me," he uttered while eyeing the Evil Nine Yin powerhouses imposingly standing above the heavens.


    They would all be his loot!


    ¡ª-----------

 Chapter 437: The Grand Pandemonium Cleaver Reappears!

    The battlefield stood in a tense silence, the oppressive aura of the Nine Evil Yin''s overwhelming reinforcements crushing the spirits of even the Eternal Jade Heaven Immortal Realm''s most powerful defenders. Their numbers, their might, and the absence of their realm''s most powerful protectors painted a grim picture. Yet amidst the chaos, one figure remained utterly unshaken.


    Azmodeus.


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    He stood amidst the broken remains of countless Immortal God and Emperor cultivators, his de lowered but still gleaming with the blood of his enemies. His calm demeanor was unshaken, his expression betraying neither fear nor urgency. Instead, a faint smile yed across his lips, as if he alone saw the battlefield from a vantage point none couldprehend.


    Anna, standing at a distance, narrowed her eyes as she watched him. Others might have seen a peer struggling valiantly against impossible odds. She, however, knew better. Azmodeus wasn''t fighting for survival. No, he was simply biding his time, waiting for the perfect moment to unleash his true power.


    "Here we go¡­" she murmured, a flicker of excitement crossing her face.


    As the Nine Evil Yin reinforcements descended, their leader¡ªstill smirking from the chaos his forces had wrought¡ªsneered at Azmodeus. "Eternal Jade scum," he called, his voice carrying over the battlefield. "You fight valiantly, but you cannot escape your fate. Submit and die quietly, or we''ll tear your precious realm apart piece by piece!"


    Azmodeus did not respond immediately. Instead, he raised his gaze, his eyes locking onto the horde above him. His faint smile widened as he slowly released the hilt of his current weapon, letting it tter to the ground.


    "You speak of fate," Azmodeus said, his voice calm yet carrying an unmistakable edge of derision. "But your fate was sealed the moment you stepped into my domain."


    The battlefield seemed to freeze as he extended his hand to the heavens. The air grew dense, crackling with power as ancient symbols began to form in the space above him. The symbols twisted and burned with golden light, illuminating the battlefield and forcing even the Immortal Transcendent cultivators in the skies to pause.


    "What is he¡­?" Ming Chao whispered, her eyes wide as she felt the air shift around her.


    From the heavens, a deep rumble echoed¡ªa sound that seemed to resonate with the very fabric of existence. The sky split open, revealing a rift from which a massive weapon began to descend. Its sheer size dwarfed anything on the battlefield, as it wasrger than a mountain. Its presence shook the ground and forced even the most stalwart of the Nine Evil Yin forces to falter.


    The Grand Pandemonium Cleaver had arrived!


    The cleaver was a weapon of legend, its immense form radiating an aura of destruction and creation. Inscribed along its de were ancient runes, pulsating with a radiant energy that seemed alive. As it descended, the ground beneath Azmodeus cracked and cratered, unable to withstand the weight of its presence.


    Azmodeus reached up, his hand closing around the hilt. To the astonishment of all who watched, he lifted it effortlessly, the weapon that seemed capable of cleaving realms responding to his touch as though it were an extension of his very being.


    "What¡­ what is that¡­?" Ming Chao''s voice trembled. Even she, with her profound knowledge and experience, could notprehend the weapon''s origin or its terrifying might.


    The Nine Evil Yin forces, sensing the danger, surged forward. Tens of thousands of Immortal Kings, Emperors, and Gods descended like a tidal wave, theirbined might shaking the battlefield. Leading the charge were a dozen Immortal Transcendents, their auras zing as they aimed to crush Azmodeus before he could act.


    Azmodeus tilted his head slightly, his expression unreadable. Then, with a single motion, he swung the Grand Pandemonium Cleaver.


    The de''s arc was simple, almostzy, yet the result was anything but. A radiant crescent of energy erupted from the weapon, its size dwarfing even thergest mountains in the distance. It tore through the advancing horde with terrifying ease, annihting thousands in an instant. Immortal Kings disintegrated before they could even scream. Immortal Emperors were blown apart, their barriers and techniques meaningless before the weapon''s might. Even the Immortal Transcendents leading the charge were sent reeling, several of them coughing blood as they struggled to stabilize themselves.


    The battlefield fell silent once more, the only sound the faint hum of the cleaver as it settled back into stillness.


    Azmodeus nced at the remaining forces, his smile widening. "Your numbers mean nothing. Come, if you wish to join yourrades."


    "This youngster!!"


    "Who does he think he is!?"


    "ughter this Eternal Jade Worm!!!!"


    The surviving Transcendents roared, their auras ring as theyunched a coordinated assault. Beams of divine energy and chaotic techniques filled the air, each one powerful enough to destroy entire cities. They converged on Azmodeus with the force of a copsing star.


    Azmodeus remained unmoving, the cleaver resting casually on his shoulder. As the attacks closed in, he raised his free hand, and a barrier of golden light erupted around him. The attacks struck with deafening force, creating an explosion that rocked the battlefield and sent shockwaves across the realm.


    When the dust cleared, Azmodeus stood unscathed, his barrier shimmering faintly before fading away.


    "My turn," he said.


    He moved.


    "What¡ª!?"


    To the Nine Evil Yin forces, Azmodeus became a blur, his movements too fast to track. Each swing of the Grand Pandemonium Cleaver reshaped the battlefield, leaving massive craters in its wake. Immortal Transcendent cultivators fell one after another, their defenses meaningless before the weapon''s overwhelming power.


    Above, Ming Chao and the other powerhouses could only watch in stunned silence. To them, Azmodeus had always been a capable ally, but this¡­ this was beyond anything they could have imagined.


    "He''s been hiding this¡­ all this time," one of the elders murmured, his voice tinged with both awe and fear.


    Anna smirked, crossing her arms. "You''re surprised? This is nothing. Just wait until he gets serious."


    As thest of the Immortal Transcendents fell, Azmodeus turned his attention to the remaining forces¡ªa sea of ck-robed cultivators trembling in fear. He raised the cleaver once more, its de glowing brighter than ever.


    ...

 Chapter 438: The Veil of Betrayal

    "This is your end," Azmodeus said simply.


    With one final swing, he unleashed a wave of energy that swept across the battlefield, annihting the remaining forces in an instant. The ground quaked, the air burned, and when the light finally faded, nothing remained of the Nine Evil Yin army but ash.


    High above, a single figure observed the carnage with narrowed eyes. The faintughter of the Nine Evil Yin Sovereign''s secret spy, Ling Chao, echoed across the battlefield, filled with equal parts amusement and menace.


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    "Impressive, Azmodeus," the voice said, its tone cold. "But this is far from over. Enjoy your victory while you can."


    Azmodeus lowered the cleaver, his expression unchanging. "Why don''t you fight me now?" he asked softly, a faint grin crossing his lips. "I could use another punching bag."


    "...Brother¡­ Why are you¡­?"


    Ming Chao suddenly entered the scene, her shock over witnessing Azmodeus''s immense power quickly being reced with utter dread. She could sense it, as if on instinct¡ªher brother was not being controlled. But why!? Why was he doing this!??


    ¡ª------------


    The battlefieldy in ruins. Smoke rose in thin tendrils from the scorched earth, the once-vast armies of the Nine Evil Yin reduced to ash and echoes of their screams. The sky, darkened by the cataclysmic sh, seemed to mourn the devastation below, its ominous clouds swirling like a tempest on the verge of unleashing more chaos.


    Azmodeus stood at the heart of it all, the Grand Pandemonium Cleaver resting on the ground beside him. Its edge gleamed faintly, as though it thirsted for more destruction. His calm demeanor contrasted sharply with the devastation around him, his faint grin almost mocking the solemn silence that had fallen over the battlefield.


    High above, Ling Chao''sughter faded, leaving only an eerie stillness. His presence, though intangible, weighed heavily on those below. Ming Chao, hovering in the air, struggled to suppress the storm of emotions raging within her. Her brother¡ªthe one she had looked up to for centuries¡ªwas truly aligned with the Nine Evil Yin. The signs were unmistakable now, and no amount of rationalization could deny the truth.


    "Brother!" Ming Chao''s voice rang out, cutting through the silence. Her tone was a mix of desperation and determination, as though clinging to thest thread of hope. "Why!? Why are you doing this? Why have you betrayed us?"


    The figure in purple robes¡ªMing Chao''s brother, Ling Chao¡ªturned to face her. His expression remained cold, his deadened eyes devoid of any warmth or remorse. "Betrayed?" he echoed, his voice calm yetced with derision. "Do you truly believe I owe loyalty to the Eternal Jade Heaven? To a realm that stagnates in its arrogance and delusions of supremacy?"


    Ming Chao''s heart sank at his words, her fingers tightening around her sword hilt. "You can''t mean that," she said, her voice trembling. "We built this realm together! We swore to protect it, to nurture it into the strongest Immortal Realm! What could possibly make you abandon everything we fought for?"


    Ling Chao chuckled, a hollow sound that sent shivers down her spine. "You still don''t understand, do you? The Eternal Jade Heaven is a relic¡ªa crumbling empire propped up by fools who cling to outdated ideals. The Nine Evil Yin offered me power, freedom, and the chance to stand above the petty squabbles of these so-called Immortal Realms. We are going to ascend further into the Immortal Funnel together! Why would I refuse?"


    "You''re lying!" Ming Chao snapped, her voice rising with anger. "This isn''t you, Brother! The Ling Chao I know would never sell his soul to monsters like them! You''re being manipted¡ªI know it!"


    Ling Chao''s eyes narrowed, his expression darkening. "Do not presume to know me, Ming Chao. The path I walk is one of my own choosing. You, with your blind devotion to the Eternal Jade, will never understand."


    Before Ming Chao could respond, Azmodeus stepped forward, his imposing presence drawing all eyes to him. His faint grin had widened into a chilling smirk, his icy gaze fixed on Ling Chao.


    "Are you done?" Azmodeus asked casually, his tone carrying a dangerous edge. "Because frankly, this whole family drama is starting to bore me."


    Ming Chao shot him a re, her frustration bubbling over. "Azmodeus, this is none of your¡ª"


    "Wrong," Azmodeus interrupted, his voice cutting through hers like a de. "This has everything to do with me. Your brother there just dered himself my enemy, and I don''t take kindly to enemies."


    Ling Chao raised an eyebrow, a flicker of interest crossing his otherwise stoic face. "And what do you intend to do about it, Azmodeus? You may have bested the pawns of the Nine Evil Yin, but do you truly believe you can stand against me? What you know of my power is just what I have been willing to show. What I have gained after joining the Nine Evil Yin Realm is something you cannot possibly fathom. And for killing our Lord Sovereign''s Eldest Son, your only fate is destined death. This cannot be altered."


    Azmodeus chuckled, a low, menacing sound that sent a ripple of unease through the remaining cultivators. "Oh, I don''t just believe it," he said, his grip tightening on the Grand Pandemonium Cleaver. "I know it."


    The air grew tense as the two powerhouses locked eyes. Ling Chao''s aura surged, far surpassing the initial levels of the Immortal Transcendence Realm. His Transcendent Spark burst out in immense power, and a dark, oppressive energy emanated from his form. It was the power of a Transcendent who had fully embraced the Nine Evil Yin''s twisted doctrines, and it bore down on the battlefield like an unrelenting storm.


    Azmodeus, however, remained unfazed. If anything, he seemed invigorated by the challenge, his own aura ring to life in response. Golden light intertwined with streaks of crimson, creating a vortex of energy that shed with Ling Chao''s darkness. The ground trembled under the weight of their power, cracks spidering out in all directions.


    Ming Chao hovered between them, her expression torn. She could see the inevitability of the sh, yet her heart ached at the thought of her brother and ally battling to the death.


    ...¡­..

 Chapter 439: The Passing of Time, What Will Come

    "Please, stop this!" Ming Chao pleaded, her voice almost drowned out by the rising winds. "Brother, Azmodeus, there''s still time to resolve this without bloodshed!"


    Neither man paid her any heed.


    With a sudden burst of speed, Ling Chao closed the distance between himself and Azmodeus, his de¡ªa dark, serrated longsword¡ªarcing toward his opponent''s neck. Azmodeus reacted instantly, raising the Grand Pandemonium Cleaver to block the strike. The sh of their weapons sent a shockwave rippling across the battlefield, uprooting trees and shattering boulders.


    "You''re strong," Ling Chao admitted, his tone grudgingly respectful. "Stronger than I expected. But strength alone won''t save you."


    Azmodeus smirked, his movements fluid as he parried another strike. "Funny," he said, his voiceced with mockery. "I was about to say the same thing to you."


    Their battle intensified, each exchange of blows shaking the heavens and earth. Ling Chao''s strikes were precise and unrelenting, his mastery of the Nine Evil Yin''s dark techniques evident in every movement. Azmodeus, however, fought with an almost reckless abandon, his attacks brimming with raw power and ferocity. The Grand Pandemonium Cleaver cut through Ling Chao''s dark energy like a hot knife through butter, forcing the traitorous cultivator to retreat time and again.


    Ming Chao watched in helpless silence, her heart torn between loyalty to her brother and trust in Azmodeus. She could see the truth now¡ªLing Chao was not being controlled. His actions, his words, his very presence reeked of conviction. But even so, she couldn''t bring herself to ept it.


    "Brother¡­" she whispered, tears streaming down her face. "Why?"


    As the battle raged on, a sudden surge of energy drew everyone''s attention. An ancient voice echoed outward, his tone filled with amusement.


    "Enough games," he said, his presence growing more oppressive. "Azmodeus, Long Chao, Ming Chao¡ªyou''ve entertained me well, but the Nine Evil Yin''s ns do not hinge on your petty squabbles. Soon, this entire realm will fall, your Immortal Lord will be dead, the Core of your Realm will be ours, and there''s nothing you can do to stop any of it."


    Azmodeus nced upward, his grin widening. "Big words for someone who won''t even show their face. Why don''t youe down here and back them up?"


    The ancient voiceughed, his voice fading into the distance. "In due time, Azmodeus. But for now, enjoy your little victory. It won''tst." Your journey continues with §Þ??


    As his presence disappeared, the battlefield fell silent once more. Azmodeus lowered the Grand Pandemonium Cleaver, his expression unreadable. Ling Chao, battered but far from defeated, sheathed his weapon and turned to leave.


    "This isn''t over," Ling Chao said, his voice cold. "The Nine Evil Yin''s will is absolute. You cannot stop what''sing. We will finish off thest of the powerhouses in this Realm, including your Immortal Lord, saving you forst. Feel honored."


    Azmodeus didn''t respond, his gaze fixed on Ling Chao until thetter disappeared into the shadows.


    Ming Chao copsed to her knees, her sword slipping from her grasp. The weight of everything that had transpired bore down on her, threatening to crush her spirit.


    Azmodeus approached her, his tone uncharacteristically soft. "Get up," he said. "We don''t have time to wallow in despair. If you want answers, you''ll have to fight for them."


    Ming Chao looked up at him, her eyes filled with uncertainty. "But¡­ my brother¡­"


    Azmodeus extended a hand, his gaze unwavering. "Your brother made his choice. Now it''s time for you to make yours."


    As Ming Chao hesitated, a single thought echoed in her mind: Was this truly the end of the Eternal Jade Heaven¡ªor could they still fight back against the Evil thaty beyond their walls?


    The answer, she realized,y in the path she chose next.


    Time quickly passed after the initial invasion of the Nine Evil Yin. The Nine Evil Yin Sovereign himself didn''t appear to be in top much of a rush to avenge his fallen son, as he seemed to be having trouble with subduing the Immortal Realm Lord. Then again, with what little power he could use while Astral Projecting, it was no wonder someone of simr status was giving him so much trouble.


    Though, it was merely a matter of time before he seeded¡­


    Nora was worried for the longest while, but thanks to the presence of Zara, Ana, and Azmodeus, she managed to calm her worry for her father, the Immortal Lord. Of everyone, she knew her father best, and there was no way he hadn''t already predicted this. In her mind, he was simply biding his time to actually begin striking back.


    Azmodeus, however, was not one to sit idly back. He took temporary leave from the Eternal Jade Academy, venturing all across the most prominent territories in the Immortal Realm. He hunted any and all Nine Evil Yin cultivators, amassed loot, and became more powerful. He also encountered many local forces that held grudges with him, some even going so far as to fabricate crimes hemitted to justify them acting against him.


    If they wanted to kill him for a crime, then at least let it be because of a crime hemitted¡­ Among which, there were plenty¡­


    On a side note, Ming Chao resolved herself and gathered together coalition forces, all of whom rallied behind her because of her illustrious status. She along with many students, other residents of the Immortal Realm, and the solo ughterer Azmodeus scoured thends for any Nine Evil Yin Cultivators. And for a while, it seemed like they were winning.


    However, that was merely on the surface¡­


    The Nine Evil Yin Sovereign''s power was rapidly growing in sync with the gap between Realms widening. It surely wouldn''t be long before he could fit his entire existence through, and by then, the Immortal Lord and other Eternal Jade Immortal Realm Powerhouses would no longer be able to hold him back from killing them and taking the Core of the Immortal Realm.


    If the Nine Evil Yin Sovereign got his hands on the Core and advanced the rank of his own Nine Evil Yin Immortal Realm to Rank 2, then it was all over¡­ They would be done for¡­

 Chapter 440: Nine Evil Yin Sovereign Trapped

    Meanwhile, in a dimly lit space in an impossible to locate area of the Eternal Jade Heavens Immortal Realm.


    The Immortal Lord, a wisely man with long white hair and beard, sweated profusely while shaking like a leaf. He sat in a lotus position, with his eyes closed and in full concentration mode. Around him in this dark space were eight other figures, all of whom were even worse expressions as they circted their Immortal Energy, making use of a seemingly unlimited number of Immortal World Lines.


    "Do you actually believe that you bunch can hold me off forever?" mocked a sinister-looking figure trapped in an illusory Golden birdcage. "Your efforts will all be for naught in the end. Why bother? Just give up now and let your sacrifice and the sacrifice of your Immortal Realm pave the way for the destined rise of my Nine Evil Yin Immortal Realm!"


    The Immortal Lord''sbored breaths filled the dark space as the tension between the nine defenders and the Nine Evil Yin Sovereign''s astral projection mounted. The birdcage shimmered faintly, its intricate golden bars etched with thebined seals of the Eternal Jade Heavens'' most ancient powerhouses. Yet, despite its brilliance, the cage trembled, cracks spreading ever so slightly with each pulse of the Sovereign''s overwhelming energy.


    The Sovereign smirked, his sinister form lounging against the edges of his confinement as though he had all the time in the world. His voice slithered through the air like an unwee whisper. "Oh, how amusing you are, clinging to the remnants of a once-mighty realm. Tell me, Immortal Lord¡ªhow much longer can you pretend this cage will hold?"


    The Immortal Lord opened his eyes, their depths zing with an unyielding light despite his exhaustion. His voice was steady,manding, a stark contrast to his physical condition. "It will hold as long as it needs to. You will not set one foot in this realm as long as I draw breath."


    The Sovereign''sughter boomed, rattling the very fabric of the birdcage. "Such arrogance. Do you not feel it, Immortal Lord? The cracks in your realm''s foundation? The dwindling resolve of your people? Even now, your precious Eternal Jade Heavens teeters on the edge of copse, and your ''champion,'' Azmodeus, ys the fool in a futile bid to dy the inevitable. A pity. I thought you were wiser."


    One of the eight figures surrounding the Immortal Lord faltered, his energy wavering for a fraction of a second. The Sovereign''s eyes gleamed with malice, and he leaned forward, his presence pressing against the cage like a tide of darkness. "Ah, there it is¡ªthe first sign of weakness. How long before the rest of you follow? How long before this prison bes my throne?"


    The Immortal Lord mmed his palms together, the force of his action sending a wave of stabilizing energy through the birdcage. The cracks stopped spreading, though the strain on his face deepened. He nced at the faltering figure beside him, his voice firm yet kind. "Hold the line, Master Shu. We cannot falter now."


    Master Shu clenched his jaw, nodding as he redoubled his efforts. "Forgive me, Lord. I will not fail again."


    The Sovereign leaned back, a bemused expression on his face. "Brave words, but words won''t save you. Soon, I will break free, and when I do, not even your strongest warriors will be able to stop me. The Nine Evil Yin will consume this realm, and its Core will be mine."


    The Immortal Lord said nothing, his focus returning to the delicate bnce of energies holding the birdcage together. He knew the Sovereign''s words were meant to sow doubt, to weaken their resolve. But he also knew the grim reality they faced¡ªthis battle was a race against time, and time was not on their side.


    ---


    Far away, in the dense wilderness of the Eternal Jade Heavens, Azmodeus stood atop a pile of corpses, his breathing in short, ragged bursts. The once-pristine forest around him was a wastnd of splintered trees and scorched earth, a testament to the ferocity of the battle that had just taken ce. The Grand Pandemonium Cleaver, still dripping with the dark ichor of his enemies, rested heavily in his grasp.


    He nced over his shoulder, his eyes scanning the horizon for any signs of reinforcements. None came. The Nine Evil Yin forces in this region were vast, their numbers seemingly endless. Yet Azmodeus had carved a path through them, leaving destruction in his wake.


    "Is that all you''ve got?" he muttered, his voice dripping with disdain. "Pathetic."


    A faint rustling caught his attention, and he turned just in time to see a figure emerge from the shadows. Ming Chao, her armor dented and her face streaked with blood and dirt, approached him. Her expression was one of grim determination, though her eyes betrayed the weight of the recent revtions about her brother.


    "You''re pushing yourself too hard," she said, her tone both usatory and concerned. "If you keep fighting like this, you''ll burn yourself out before the real battle begins."


    Azmodeus snorted, shouldering the cleaver as he walked past her. "And what would you have me do? Sit around and wait for your brother to kill us all? No thanks. I''d rather go down swinging."


    Ming Chao grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop. "This isn''t just about you, Azmodeus. We need a strategy. If we keep fighting blindly, we''ll only weaken ourselves before the Nine Evil Yin Sovereign makes his move. We can''t afford that."


    Azmodeus shrugged her off, his gaze hard. "A strategy won''t mean jack if we''re dead before we can use it. Every cultist I kill now is one less we''ll have to deal withter."


    Ming Chao opened her mouth to argue, but the words caught in her throat. She knew he wasn''t entirely wrong, yet the recklessness of his approach terrified her. She looked into his eyes, searching for something¡ªanything¡ªthat might hint at a deeper n. But all she saw was a burning resolve, unyielding and all-consuming. Stay updated through §Þ??


    "Fine," she said quietly, stepping back. "But if you die before we reach the end of this, I''ll kill you myself."


    Azmodeus smirked, the faintest glimmer of amusement flickering across his face. "Deal."


    ...

 Chapter 441: An Unexplainable Variation (THE END)

    Back at the Eternal Jade Academy, Nora paced the grand hall, her anxiety evident in every step. Zara and Ana watched her from a distance, their own expressions mirroring her unease. The once-bustling academy was eerily quiet, its halls filled with the whispers of students and elders who feared the worst.


    "We should be out there," Nora said suddenly, her voice sharp. "We should be fighting alongside Azmodeus, Ming Chao, and the others. What good are we doing here?"


    Zara stepped forward, her tone calm but firm. "We''re doing exactly what we need to, Nora. Gathering allies, fortifying our defenses, and preparing for the battles ahead. Rushing out there without a n will only get us killed."


    Nora whirled around, her eyes zing. "And what if it''s not enough? What if¡ª"


    "It has to be enough," Ana interjected, her voice steady. "Because if it''s not, then everything we''ve fought for, everything we''ve sacrificed, will be for nothing. Do you want that?"


    Nora clenched her fists, her anger giving way to a quiet despair. "Of course not," she said softly. "I just¡­ I feel so useless, sitting here while they''re out there risking their lives."


    Zara ced a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "We all feel that way. But we have to trust in each other. Azmodeus and Ming Chao are strong. They''ll hold the line until we''re ready to join them."


    Nora nodded reluctantly, though the unease in her chest remained. She couldn''t shake the feeling that time was slipping through their fingers, and with it, their chances of survival.


    ---


    In the shadowed depths of the Nine Evil Yin Realm, the Sovereign''s true form stirred, his massive figure wreathed in dark mes. His projection might have been confined, but his physical body was far from idle. Cultivators knelt before him, their chants filling the cavernous space with a palpable sense of dread.


    "My children," the Sovereign rumbled, his voice reverberating through the chamber. "The time is nearly upon us. The Eternal Jade Heavens will fall, its Core will be mine, and with it, the path to ultimate ascension will be clear. Prepare yourselves. The final assault is at hand."


    The cultists rose as one, their eyes glowing with fanatic zeal. "For the Sovereign!" they cried, their voices echoing like thunder. "For the Nine Evil Yin!"


    The Sovereign''sughter filled the chamber, a dark symphony of triumph. The endgame had begun, and the Eternal Jade Heavens stood on the brink of annihtion.


    ¡ª--------------


    |The Final Hour|


    The battlefield for the final confrontationy beyond anything Azmodeus had faced before. The core of the Eternal Jade Heavens was a nexus of swirling energy, luminous with thebined might of the realm''s essence. Yet it was here, in this sacred ce, that the Nine Evil Yin Sovereign had manifested his full power.


    Azmodeus stood at the forefront of the gathered coalition, his presence radiating calm authority. Ming Chao, Nora, and the others nked him, their determination unwavering despite the Sovereign''s oppressive aura. The survivors of countless battles hade together, united for this final stand.


    "You have fought valiantly," the Sovereign''s Astral Projection mocked, his dark form towering above them. His voice resonated with malicious glee. "But your resistance ends here. Witness the true might of the Nine Evil Yin!"


    The Sovereign''s body expanded, dark mes consuming the sky as he unleashed his full power. The ground beneath the coalition cracked and split, torrents of dark energy surging toward them like a tidal wave.


    Azmodeus raised the Grand Pandemonium Cleaver, its de shining with an ethereal light that seemed to pierce the darkness itself. "You''ve had your fun," he said, his voice calm yet brimming with confidence. "But ytime''s over."


    With a single motion, he swung the cleaver, releasing a crescent of golden-crimson energy that shed with the Sovereign''s assault. The impact shook the realm, light and darkness locked in a fierce struggle. The coalition surged forward, theirbined might pressing the attack against the Sovereign.


    |The Sovereign''s Fall|


    The battle raged for hours, every sh of energy threatening to tear the realm apart. Ming Chao''s de danced through the battlefield, her strikes precise as she coordinated with Azmodeus. Nora, Zara, and Ana fought alongside the other coalition leaders, theirbined techniques keeping the Sovereign''s minions at bay.


    But it was Azmodeus who bore the brunt of the Sovereign''s wrath. With every swing of the Grand Pandemonium Cleaver, he pushed the Sovereign further back, his power growing with each strike.


    "You think you can defeat me?" the Sovereign roared, his voice shaking the heavens. "I am eternal! I am All-Powerful!! I AM GOD I AM¡ª"


    Azmodeus cut him off with a devastating blow, the cleaver slicing through the Sovereign''s defenses. The golden light from the cleaver erupted, engulfing the Sovereign in a blinding explosion of energy.


    When the light faded, the Sovereign''s form was crumbling, his dark essence dissipating into the air. He cast a final, hateful re at Azmodeus. "You may have won this day," he said, his voice fading. "But the darkness... will always return. I WILL RETURN!!"


    With that, the Sovereign was no more.


    The battlefield fell silent, the oppressive weight of his presence lifted atst.


    |Farewells|


    The Eternal Jade Heavens celebrated their victory, though it was tempered by the losses they had endured. Ming Chao stood among the coalition leaders, her heart heavy as she looked toward Azmodeus.


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    "You''re really leaving, aren''t you?" she asked, her voice soft.


    Azmodeus nodded, his gaze fixed on the horizon. "My business here is done. There''s nothing left for me in this realm."


    Ming Chao hesitated, then stepped forward and ced a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you¡­ For everything."


    Azmodeus offered her a rare, genuine smile. "Take care of this ce, Ming Chao. It''ll need someone like you."


    As he turned to leave, the surviving powerhouses of the Eternal Jade Heavens gathered to bid him farewell. Even Nora, Zara, and Ana¡ªwho had fought by his side countless times¡ªcould not convince him to stay.


    Yet one face was notably absent.


    "The Immortal Lord," Nora murmured, her voice tinged with worry. "He should be here."


    Azmodeus paused, his expression unreadable. He had his suspicions about the Immortal Lord''s disappearance, but he said nothing. Some questions were better left unanswered.


    _____________


    An Unknown amount of Time Later.


    |The Lands Beyond|


    Azmodeus trudged through a deste, otherworldlyndscape, the Grand Pandemonium Cleaver strapped to his back. The Lands Beyond stretched endlessly before him, a realm of infinite dangers and¡­ casualty.


    He paused atop a ridge, ncing back one final time. The Eternal Jade Heavens were barely visible now, a distant light in the void. He felt no regret, only a quiet satisfaction that he had fulfilled his role.


    If he had stayed, the Nine Evil Yin Sovereign''s True Body surely would''ve found a way to forcefully break in and destroy the entire Eternal Jade Heavens Immortal Realms. However, leaving this soon would lure his attention toward him, also making sure the potential Loot Bag stayed close.


    With a determined stride, Azmodeus turned and pressed forward, disappearing into the unknown.


    _____________


    |Postscript|


    In the Eternal Jade Heavens, Nora stood alone in the Immortal Lord''s chambers, her father''s voice echoing in her mind:


    ''I must go, my child. This realm''s future rests with you now. I will return when the time is right.''


    She clenched her fists, her resolve hardening. The Eternal Jade Heavens had survived countless trials, and they would endure whatever came next.


    Far away, in the void between realms, a faint golden light shimmered briefly before vanishing. The Immortal Lord, his true purpose hidden even from his closest allies, had embarked on a journey of his own.


    The story was far from over.


    After all¡­ his intrepid disciple was on yet another perilous adventure, and like all the times before, he would be there guiding him every step of the way.


    ''Azmodeus, I do wonder where your thirst for loot will bring you this time¡­ Maybe to the truth surrounding your Wife? Maybe to your children¡­? Only time will tell¡­ Just like it had done many, many times before¡­''


    ''I have seen your past, experienced your present and future. This is not the first time; it is not the millionth time, but I feel as if it is thest time¡­''


    ''Something feels different this time around. From the moment I first took you as a disciple this time around, I noticed something¡­ off¡­ Then there was that Clone soul that escaped of yours¡­ That had also never happened in the previous runs¡­''


    ''Your ending this time around will be¡­ different. As for what that difference entails¡­ Well, I can''t be too certain. However¡­''


    Suddenly, the old man''s withered eyes zoomed out of the limitless Immortal Funnel and extending to Higher Realms beyond human understanding, each one more fantastical than the one that came before. And eventually, his godly sight found itself on a very familiar blue and green¡ªthe same exact one that Azmodeus originated from.


    Or, at least, his Soul resided in this world prior to it being wiped clean eons ago, tracing back even longer than his life as Aphrodite''s Husband.


    On this¡ªEarth¡ªLocated within a reflective illusory Tower in a discreet sector of the Milky Way Gxy, a hideous 17-18 year old fatso was abruptly jolted back by a mysterious force. What caused this jolt remained a mystery even to the infinitely powerful One True Master, but from this one young man''s misfortune brought about a new resident in his shell.


    One who had also never been part of the infinite Trials¡­


    ''Cassius¡­ I wonder which part you have to y in this cosmic tapestry of chaos¡­''


    The One True Master faintly smiled before fully vanishing into the arid Immortal Deserts of the Lands Beyond.


    THE END¡­. For now.


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