Rachel had worked tirelessly for countless years and finally succeeded in creating a new version of the "Infinite Physique." This updated version was an improvement, making better use of the unique data collected from transmigrators. She placed less emphasis on conventional data while prioritizing unconventional methods and alternative data sources.
In the world of invention, there are generally two main approaches: prioritizing quantity or focusing on research and refinement. The research-focused method involves spending substantial time on detailed planning, ensuring that the product is safe and has a high likelihood of success before extensive testing. Although this method tends to be more cost-effective and minimizes the risk of failure, it requires considerable time and patience.
On the other hand, the quantity-focused approach emphasizes rapid development. This method involves creating multiple versions of a product, testing them in real-world scenarios, allowing some to fail, and learning valuable lessons from both failures and successes. While this approach is faster, it often comes with higher costs, as resources are spent quickly in the testing and reiteration phases.
These two methods are not mutually exclusive; instead, they exist on a continuum where the balance is often determined by the availability of resources. Fortunately for Rachel, resources are not a constraint. She possesses near-infinite resources, including powerful supercomputers, enabling her to rely heavily on the research-based approach. Generally, she experiments only when she has a solid degree of confidence in the success of the Infinite Physique.
Rachel's choice of methods reflects her circumstances and tools. Her advanced supercomputers are capable of simulating experiments, predicting results, and identifying errors and potential areas of success. In effect, these computers reduce the need for frequent real-world experiments, as they can simulate most scenarios internally. Only when the computers encounter a bottleneck or are unable to model the data effectively does Rachel resort to physical testing. This method has exponentially increased her research speed. Although time is not her primary concern, there is still a lingering vulnerability in her existence; until she reaches the quasi Rank 15, she cannot be considered truly invulnerable.
Recently, however, Rachel decided to alter her approach. Despite her confidence in the accuracy of her supercomputers, she had experienced a series of experimental failures. These setbacks led her to conclude that a change in strategy was necessary. Rachel pivoted to a real-world experimentation approach, acknowledging that she could not simply rely on simulations alone.
This shift toward real-world experimentation has its challenges. With her limited control over the Gray Realm, Rachel can conduct only one experiment at a time. The "Infinite Time Acceleration Room" is small and can accommodate only a single Infinite Physique model at a time. Furthermore, she lacks sophisticated equipment to record and analyze data after each experiment thoroughly. As a result, her process has become somewhat rudimentary: she creates different versions of the Infinite Physique, places them into the time acceleration room, and observes the outcomes. If a version survives, it signals success. If it vanishes, she knows it failed. However, without the necessary equipment, she cannot discern precisely why an experiment failed.
Rachel's decision to adopt a mass-experiment approach does not mean she has abandoned her research-based methodology. After another lengthy period, her supercomputers once again reached a deadlock. When her machines stall in this manner, it signifies they perceive no further room for improvement—an implication of nearing perfection. In her view, the inability to improve further is a characteristic unique to perfection; after all, anything short of perfection can still be refined and enhanced.
With this new methodology, Rachel hopes to uncover insights that her simulations could not provide. By blending large-scale experimentation with her research-based approach, she continues her relentless pursuit of the ultimate version of the Infinite Physique, inching ever closer to achieving her vision of true invincibility.
...
Staring at the latest body she had created, Rachel let out a weary sigh before sending it into the test room. She had failed so many times that the process had become almost routine; the weight of countless failures had dulled any excitement she once held for these experiments. Deep down, she suspected she might never succeed—not even if she continued trying for the rest of eternity.
"Perfection may truly be impossible," she thought. Achieving perfection was possibly nearly as challenging as reaching Rank 15. While one might achieve the Omniscient in wisdom Dao, reaching true omniscience, the complete and actual Omniscient Realm, was next to impossible; without omniscient mastery in wisdom Dao, it would be difficult beyond imagination to reach perfection.
A perfect Infinite Physique would be indestructible, able to withstand the passage of infinite time without a trace of degradation. Anyone who believed this was easy simply did not understand infinity. Given enough time, anything short of Rank 15—or something relying on its power—would eventually deteriorate. Common sense dictated that true and absolute immortality could only be achieved by reaching Rank 14 by depending on the infinite domain of the Creation or the infinite domain of the Gray Realm.
Rachel's goal, however, was to defy this common understanding, which explained the endless string of failures. She was attempting to achieve absolute immortality without relying on an infinite domain, and it was proving to be as difficult as she had anticipated.
After launching the new physique into the room, Rachel adjusted the time acceleration setting to infinity. A moment later, as expected, the Infinite Physique vanished.
"Another failure," she muttered resignedly. She logged the experiment's result and reported it to her main self, who then updated the supercomputers. With the data recorded, the computers finally resumed their calculations, breaking free from their deadlock; the data was very limited and not much help to future computations.
Despite this failure, Rachel did not stop. She created physique after physique, tossing them one by one into the accelerated time chamber. Each one failed just as quickly as the last. She had been repeating this process for an unimaginable span of time. The concept of time had become different for her; what might seem like a second to mortals could be countless years for Rachel.
To Rachel, only two things were constant: the Creation and the Gray Realm. Compared to these constants, everything else was fluid, ephemeral, and illusory. A constant, like the Creation, could generate as much fluidity as it desired, but no amount of fluidity could ever alter a constant. All fluidity flows from constants, yet no flow could ever impact or affect the source.
Recently, however, Rachel had managed to force the gray realm to change: It has again begun to leak some fluid. She had come to call this fluid "Gray Reality," a unique, self-contained realm entirely isolated from the Creation and its charges of reality. This Gray Reality had become Rachel's sanctuary; it was where her main consciousness resided, beyond the Creation's reach.
If she had full control over the Gray Realm, Rachel could instruct it to release an infinite amount of fluid, potentially allowing her to create an infinitely expansive Gray Reality. However, her control was limited, and thus, the current Gray Reality was much smaller than the countless realities governed by the Creation's infinite domain.
Rachel's journey was one of endless testing, learning, and recalibrating. She was striving to overcome these limitations, attempting to break free from the boundaries and achieve the perfect Infinite Physique—an entity unbound by time. Whether she would succeed remained unknown, but as long as she existed, Rachel was determined to keep trying.
The Gray Realm possesses omniscience and omnipotence within the Great Liquid. Likewise, the Creation is omniscient and omnipotent in relation to the fluid that flows from it. However, to achieve true Rank 15 status, one must be absolutely omniscient and omnipotent in all realms without limitation. Neither the Creation nor the Gray Realm meets this standard; Rachel doesn't believe reaching true rank 15 is possible; she would be satisfied if she manages to reach quasi-rank 15.
…
Years passed, and Rachel continued her relentless work, throwing one Infinite Physique after another into the test room. Each time, they vanished, failing to endure the infinite acceleration of time. She had persisted for so long that her efforts spanned an unimaginable duration. Fortunately, her mind was protected. Her mental state remained steadfast; boredom was no concern, nor would the passage of time ever weaken her resolve. For beings of Rank 14 and higher, time did not corrode the mind. Even though she had performed the same task for an unthinkable number of years, her state of mind didn't change in the slightest.
...
Time flowed on.
Rachel received the latest research results from her supercomputers. Accustomed to failure, she reviewed the data quickly, expecting yet another routine outcome. She took the newest Infinite Physique and placed it in the time accelerator room without a second thought, adjusting the time to flow infinitely fast.
Then, something astonishing happened. For the first time, the Infinite Physique did not disappear. Her nonexistent eyes widened as she observed the result.
"It worked! Finally!" Her mind went blank in shock, unable to process the realization as she watched the intact, unharmed physique standing within a room where time was accelerated to infinity.
After so many failures, she had finally achieved a breakthrough.