...…
CRACK!
A loud snapping sound echoed as the neck of the once-mighty Cockatoo was twisted violently in two different ways!
The beast wasn't even given the chance to resist such an overwhelming might before it collapsed to the ground with a resounding thud.
As the light faded from its baseball-sized eyes, a series of system notifications chimed inside Azmodeus's mind.
BLING!
[Ding! You have killed a spiritual beast in the Middle Stages of the Viscera Training Small Success 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 assimilate the stats of the beast, or roll for one of its Innate Abilities?]
Without hesitation, Azmodeus immediately selected the 'Assimilate 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 overall combat power and cultivation realm have significantly improved!]
After reading these pop-ups, Azmodeus sliced off the Cockatoo's talons before opening his system interface.
BLING!
__________
{[Infinite Evolution System]}
[Host: Azmodeus]
[Race: Human]
[Lifespan: 12/69]
[Cultivation: Absolute Peak Stages of the Viscera Training Small Success Minor Realm (Body Refinement Major Realm.)]
[Overall Combat Power: Absolute Peak Stages of the Viscera Training Small Success Realm.]
[Level: 6]
[Evolution Essence needed for the next level: 4.4]
{[Stats:]}
[Strength: 3.7]
[Speed: 3.7]
[Defense: 3.4]
[Qi: 3.9]
[Cultivation Talent: 3.1]
[Spiritual Roots: Crystallized Embryo] (Rank: ???)
{[Assimilated Evolution Traits/Qualities]}
[Inherited Traits and Active Species Alterations: None]
__________
After reviewing his system interface, Azmodeus finished up his butchering and felt a surge of strength course through his body, boosting his physical strength to an incredible 1100 kg!
He could hardly believe it himself. If he were to be pitted against his fourteen-year-old self, then he would absolutely wipe the floor with him!
Though he was overjoyed by this newfound strength, in the end, he knew that his goal lay far beyond what he currently possessed. Determined, he resumed his search for stronger opponents.
It was clear: the stronger the beasts he fought, the more power he would gain, and that was all the motivation he needed to actively hunt down everything that was worth half of his weight in strength!
_____
A few hours quickly passed by, and it was now around noon in the Yang Sect. At this time, members were returning from various lectures and studies, eager to gain more insights into their cultivation.
The Yang Sect was home to thousands of members, every single one of them possessing a strength of the Flesh Refining Realm. Moreover, the strongest among them had already reached the fourteenth minor stage of the Body Refinement Realm!
Today, a group of Yang Sect Disciples, all in the Viscera Training Large Success Stage, were making their way toward the outskirts of the Sect. Their goal was to find out exactly where that trash who had skipped out on his sect duties had gone.
"I don't understand why it's us who have to go out to bring back that waste," a man with his long hair pulled back, grumbled, his tone slightly vexed.
"Can't we just have a useless trash like him be executed or something? I mean, after all, he is still stuck 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 who would always keep his hand on his sword shot a cold glance over his shoulder and said, "You know the rules. Just shut up and let's get this over with. We still get sect contributions for doing these menial tasks."
The first man who had spoken shrugged before responding, "Ai, Senior Brother. Whatever you say…"
With that, he, along with the stern sect disciple and two others, ventured into the deeper parts of the Yang Forest, which lay beyond the Yang Sect.
The Yang Forest.
A wide forest that stretched for dozens of miles and isolated the Yang Sect from the rest of the world by encircling it.
This forest acted as a great cover and added an air of mystique for the Yang Sect since the sect itself stood atop a mountain, taking up a small area of the Great Fire Nation.
The Yang Forest was a vital source of supplies for all those in the Yang Sect, and home to most of the Entry-Level disciples and the one Trial Disciple who lived out in it.
—-------
In a remote part of the Yang Forest, thousands of meters away from the main Sect Grounds of the Yang Sect, a boy of about twelve, with slightly above-average features, was walking back from a bountiful hunt.
His satchel was filled with dozens of different sets of spiritual beast ears, all of which had been skilfully cut at the base, ensuring quite an abundant array of superior-quality spiritual beast parts.
'This will earn me a good number of copper coins and sect contributions when I bring them back to the sect…'
Azmodeus was determined to gather enough resources so that he could purchase some refinement powder to improve his cultivation even faster.
To do so, he needed to keep on hunting more spiritual beasts and collect their ears. This was so that 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 hunt for various Spiritual Beasts, and so far, he had already killed a total of twenty-two beasts that stood at the Strength Refining Stage. Moreover, he had slayed thirteen beasts in the Flesh Refining Stage, six from the Viscera Training Small Success Stage, and three beasts from the Viscera Training Large Success Stage.
And it was through all these efforts that he was able to boost his level to 8 and increase all of his stats over the 5.0 mark!
Furthermore, his punching strength had now already surpassed 5000 kg!
All in all, his gains over these last few hours had been utterly insane. If anyone ever caught wind of this ludicrous cultivation advancement, he didn't doubt that they'd hunt him down and extract all of his secrets, even if it meant cutting open his brain.
However, Azmoedus had already planned on keeping his strength a secret, at least 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 preserve his life.
After all, he owed the Infinite Evolution System more than he could ever repay, and if he wished to stay alive long enough to pay his debt, then he had to keep it under the radar.
But unfortunately for him, things wouldn't always go the way one hopes to…
...…