Chapter 340: Breaking Free!
...…
10 years later.
Having successfully advanced Immortal's Resilience to the Yellow Rank, it was finally time for Azmodeus to open up his system interface and glance over the fruits of his efforts.
BLING!
—------------
{[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]
{[Assimilated Evolution Traits/Qualities]}
[Cultivation Talent: White Tier Immortal (Initial)]
[Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)
[Singularity 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]
—-------
"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 become so accustomed to making self-abuse his daily routine that he completely overlooked the fact that his strength was now significant enough to begin the escape plan. 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 the last 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 the last 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 succeeded. 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 — 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—a 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 — 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 — 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 particularly 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 particular theft.
The Infinite Evolution System and the Path of Infinity were designed to help a traverser of Infinity imagine, visualize, and experience what could occur 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—!
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 blade of grass into a delicate filament.
Bathing in this resplendent moonlight, he felt like the ten years he spent in that prison cell were suddenly all worth it.
...….