.....
After the final system notification rang out, for the first time since acquiring the system, Azmodeus decided that he wanted to roll for an ability.
So he did just that and clicked the option that was labeled as, 'Roll for one of the abilities of the beast.'
A bright blue and gold light flashed as he pressed the button!
BLING!
[Ding! This beast possesses a total of two different innate abilities! Are you sure you want to roll with a 50/50 chance for either ability?]
[Yes/No]
Azmodeus clicked "Yes."
After confirming his choice, a roulette started to spin, and on that roulette, there were two triangle-shaped options, one option said, 'Stealth' and the other option said, 'Super Strength.'
As much as he craved the Super Strength ability, the one that was more useful was…
[Ding! You have landed on the 'Stealth' Ability!]
[Ding! The Stealth Ability will be added to your 'Special Trait' section and will have a level indicator beside it. In addition, there will also be a rank indicator right next to it!]
[Ding! All future Evolution Essence will now be transmitted to a segment of the Infinite Evolution System known as the 'Evolution Essence Bank.']
[Ding! The Evolution Essence Bank is a part of the System used to store all Evolution Essence! It is there so you can allocate your Evolution Essence however you see fit!]
[Ding! You can now use Evolution Essence to level up your abilities, their skill ranks, and levels!]
[Ding! Choose wisely when allocating Evolution Essence because refunds don't come cheap!]
After all of these system notifications stopped echoing in his mind, Azmodeus eagerly opened his system interface, a gleeful smile spreading across his face.
BLING!
__________
{[Infinite Evolution System]}
[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 required for stepping into the next level: 125]
[Evolution Essence Bank: 0]
{[Stats:]}
[Strength: 16]
[Speed: 15]
[Defense: 14]
[Qi: 18]
[Cultivation Talent: 13]
[Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)
{[Assimilated Evolution Traits/Qualities]}
[Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:
[Stealth - Level 0] (J Rank)] → [0/10]
[Brief Reminder: All stat points will be rounded up to the nearest whole number from this moment onwards! Actual stats may vary slightly between whole numbers so don't take them at face value!]
__________
"Th…this is…" Azmodeus could hardly believe what he was seeing before his eyes!
Not only had his strength skyrocketed to the Middle Bone Forging Realm, but he had now also gained a special Trait!
'This system is way too OP… How have I never heard of powerful Mahayana Realm Cultivators having something like this? Surely, since they are the strongest, then naturally it would have to be one of them who has bestowed this system on me.'
Right…?
He wasn't too keen on the origins of the system, and although he had tried asking it a number of times, 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 learn more!'.
It was quite obvious that the Infinite Evolution System was trying to divert his focus away from the topic, but it wasn't that Azmodeus didn't want to get stronger, so he didn't really care…
Nevertheless, with his ability function fully activated, he now had a clear way to increase his overall combat power even further!
However, first, he needed to acquire more Evolution Essence if he wished to get the skill to a usable level, and so that's what he was now set to work on.
Half a minute later, a Viscera Training Large Success Spiritual Beast lay motionless on the ground, with half of its monkey-like head sliced cleanly off the base!
"This sword I picked up from those generous seniors is growing quite to my liking," Azmodeus mused, wiping off the greenish-red blood on his blade.
The sword itself was nothing special — just an average sleek design and couldn't even be considered a Treasured Weapon. But it was sharp enough to be used by anyone in the Viscera Training to the Bone Forging Stages.
And for the current him, that was good enough. After all, he knew that he would be able to acquire better gear when he climbed his way through the ranks of the Yang Sect.
While he was deep in thought, a series of system notifications rang out in the background.
BLING!
[Ding! You have killed a Spiritual Beast at the Peak Stages of the Viscera Training Large Success Realm!]
[Ding! You have gained 10 Evolution Essence!]
[Ding! Would you like to Assimilate or roll for a skill?]
Azmodeus chose Assimilate and felt a wave of power wash over him as a couple more system notifications appeared.
[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 overall combat power has slightly improved!]
Satisfied with all these system notifications, Azmodeus decided to open up his system interface to dump his newly gained Evolution Essence into his Stealth Skill.
After tapping the [0/10] button a total of ten times, there was an abrupt change in the System's Interface!
BLING!
__________
{[Infinite Evolution System]}
[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 stepping into the next level: 125]
[Evolution Essence Bank: 10 → 0]
{[Stats:]}
[Strength: 16]
[Speed: 15]
[Defense: 14]
[Qi: 18]
[Cultivation Talent: 13]
[Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)
{[Assimilated Evolution Traits/Qualities]}
[Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations:
[Stealth - Level 1] (J Rank)] → [10/10] → [Level Up!]
__________
"This is amazing…" Azmodeus muttered, already feeling the newfound power coursing through his veins, ready to be unleashed at his command.
After taking a moment to understand how the Ability worked, Azmodeus mentally called 'Stealth.'
Bzzzt…
Following his command, a soft buzzing sound echoed as a pitch-black energy escaped his body and enveloped his 5'7'' figure!
Within moments, this energy fully covered him, making him appear seamlessly blended into the shadows of the surroundings. His form vanished from sight.
'This will make for quite an addition to my arsenal of Jack Diddly Squat, haha!'
He laughed at his complete lack of techniques and abilities. Even his 'Tiger Barrage' Fists was the lowest-ranked Common Technique, with a comprehension level barely worth mentioning.
After all, he was not only born with the lowest-ranked Spiritual Roots and cultivation talent but he had also been given the crappiest comprehension speed imaginable…
On that note, even after two years of relentlessly cultivating his 'Tiger Barrage Fists' as much as humanly possible, it had only reached the earliest stages of Beginner Proficiency. Yet, most with the same amount of effort would have already made it to the Minor Proficiency stage long ago.
This was all to say that Azmodeus was given absolutely every bad card imaginable!
However, sometimes fate had a way of balancing things out. Karma, as they say, was always fair in what it gave to those within its scope.
And in Azmodeus' case, the balance came in the form of the Infinite Evolution System!
...…