Infinite Evolution: My Idle Evolution System

"Since the Sacred Azure Sect has seemingly allowed us to do as we please, why don't we do just that!?" Chan Xiu egged on Bai Gong through spiritual voice transmission.

Bai Gong did not immediately reply. His gaze remained on Necro, who stood near the stone monument, one hand lightly resting on its surface, eyes half-lidded in calm contemplation. The air around him was tranquil, unperturbed by the growing tension.

But Bai Gong's dragon qi coiled, restless beneath his skin, arcs of golden light flickering between the scales on his forearms.

"Patience," Bai Gong finally responded, his mental voice carrying a low growl. "When he is focused on comprehension, that will be the moment to strike."

Chan Xiu smirked, pushing a lock of white hair behind his ear, golden pupils narrowing with predatory delight.

"Understood, Young Master."

Mo Yi, who stood at the far end of the chamber, glanced at the two, his eyes hollow yet somehow sharp, like the edge of a blade long since stained with blood. The deacon's robes fluttered softly in the ambient qi, the air around him bending faintly as if refusing to touch his skin.

His gaze swept over Necro, then the others, before resting on Bai Gong.

"Just don't fail," Mo Yi whispered, so softly that only Chan Xiu caught it through the spiritual channel.

Bai Gong's lips curled faintly, revealing a glimpse of draconic fangs beneath his calm exterior. "I do not fail."

Around them, the other token holders had begun to place their hands on the stone monuments, each monument pulsing softly as spirit light crawled across their surfaces. Lines of blue and gold script glowed, forming swirling patterns that twisted between words, images, and raw qi principles.

The test of comprehension had begun.

Necro's eyes remained calm as he watched the glow beneath his palm pulse in rhythm with his heartbeat.

[Comprehension: Initiated.]

[Comprehension Efficiency: 19,000%]

[Martial Dao Evolutionary Path Alignment: Compatible.]

He let the system windows flicker in the corner of his vision, barely paying them mind. His true senses swept deeper, past the surface words, past the structured meridian diagrams, straight into the intention that lay behind each stroke of the carving.

What did the Sacred Azure Sect wish to teach through this introductory technique?

Control.

Flow.

Stability within chaos.

Necro's mind danced across each principle, drawing lines of connection between what he saw and what he knew, comparing it to the dozens of auras stored within himself, mapping similarities, identifying contradictions, and then swallowing them whole.

Within, a single, thin strand of light began to glow in his dantian.

Necro exhaled softly, the air shimmering around his lips as the technique embedded itself within him, fusing seamlessly with his pathways, threading itself into the latticework of his soul.

At that moment, across the room, Bai Gong's eyes sharpened.

"Now."

The world snapped.

Golden dragon qi erupted from Bai Gong, spiraling around him in a storm of heat and light. His figure blurred, crossing the distance between himself and Necro in a single breath, his hand outstretched, claws formed from condensed draconic essence.

Chan Xiu moved as well, his aura flaring pale silver, his feet leaving trails of light as he angled toward Necro's flank.

The other token holders jolted, some stumbling back in shock, others hurriedly gathering qi for defense, but none moved to interfere.

Only Mo Yi, robes fluttering as if in a breeze that did not exist, simply opened his eyes, their gray depths unreadable.

Necro's eyes lifted.

The palm on the monument did not move.

His other hand rose, two fingers extended, glowing with a soft multicolored light.

CLANG—!

Bai Gong's claws, wrapped in roaring dragon qi, clashed against Necro's two fingers. The air exploded outward, a ring of force flattening the area, sending weaker cultivators skidding across the pagoda floor.

Bai Gong's eyes widened.

His claws did not cut into flesh. They stopped, arrested in place, unable to move forward an inch.

Necro's gaze was calm, almost bored.

"Too slow," he said.

Bai Gong snarled, pulling back, but the moment he did, Necro's hand flickered.

A single, precise strike.

It tapped Bai Gong's chest lightly, like a raindrop falling on stone.

BOOM—!

Bai Gong flew backward, crashing into the far wall of the pagoda, cracks spider-webbing out from the impact. He fell to his knees, coughing up a mouthful of blood, his dragon qi spasming wildly.

Before he could recover, Chan Xiu was upon Necro, a silver blade appearing in his hand, slicing down in a graceful arc that blurred the air.

Necro tilted his head slightly.

The blade missed.

Chan Xiu's eyes widened, but he spun, redirecting the blade in a backhanded slash aimed at Necro's throat.

Necro's foot shifted half an inch.

The blade missed again, slicing only air.

Chan Xiu's mind roared, frustration turning to fear, but before he could adjust a third time, Necro's hand flicked out.

SLAP—!

Chan Xiu's body spun midair, crashing face-first into the floor, his weapon skittering away, blood spilling from his mouth.

A hush fell over the pagoda.

Two Peak Golden Core Realm Experts… overwhelmed just like that.

Necro exhaled softly, turning his gaze back to the monument, his hand lowering once more to rest upon its surface.

The light resumed its steady glow.

Outside, the storm over the Forgotten Sky Basin rumbled, lightning streaking across the shattered clouds.

Bai Gong struggled to his feet, wiping blood from his lips, eyes blazing with humiliation and fury. His dragon qi roared, threatening to erupt once more, but Mo Yi's hand landed on his shoulder, stopping him cold.

"Enough," Mo Yi said quietly.

Bai Gong's head snapped toward him, eyes wide.

Mo Yi's gaze was impassive. "Do you want to die?"

Bai Gong's jaw clenched, but the dragon qi around him slowly subsided, retracting back into his core, leaving only the echo of thunder in its wake.

Chan Xiu, groaning, forced himself up, spitting blood, his eyes never leaving Necro.

Necro ignored them.

In the silence that followed, Mo Yi's voice spoke softly, barely louder than the whisper of falling rain.

"He has already moved beyond us."

The words were not a concession of defeat, but a simple statement of fact.

Necro's eyes opened fully as the monument's light flared, the patterns across its surface collapsing inward before bursting into motes of blue light that swirled around him before sinking into his skin.

Necro's cultivation base pulsed, a subtle surge that rippled through the pagoda, causing even the stable formation beneath them to hum softly.

A thin wisp of azure qi rose from Necro's body, merging with the multicolored hues already present, forming a new layer within his aura.

He turned.

His gaze swept across the remaining cultivators, lingering briefly on Bai Gong and Chan Xiu, before shifting to Mo Yi, who stood silently, observing.

'If only my cultivation wasn't limited to the Peak Golden Core Realm in this place,' Mo Yi sighed, realizing that their mission was bound to fail, even with the Sacred Artifact Bai Gong had in hand.

Necro, on the other hand, looked up.

At the top of the Azure Eclipse Pagoda, a thin line of light had appeared, descending like a thread of moonlight, touching the center of the chamber.

Necro stepped forward.

With each step, his aura condensed, drawing inward, becoming sharper, quieter, like the edge of a blade that had been freshly honed.

The others watched, some with awe, some with hatred, some with resignation.

When Necro reached the line of light, he paused, looking back one final time.

Bai Gong's eyes met his, the dragon qi within him trembling under the weight of that gaze.

Necro's lips moved, the words carrying across the silent pagoda.

"Do not follow."

Then he stepped into the light.

The world shifted, the chamber dissolving into streams of color as he was carried upward, higher and higher, past layers of shifting formations and veils of spiritual energy that parted before him like water.

As he rose, Necro closed his eyes, letting his senses expand.

Above him, he felt it—a presence, vast and unfathomable, coiled around the upper levels of the pagoda like a serpent of pure intent.

It was waiting.

Necro's lips curved faintly.

'So you're the true guardian of this place.'

The light carried him to the next level, depositing him onto a circular platform bathed in soft blue light. Around him, the air was still, charged with latent power.

At the center of the platform, a figure sat cross-legged, wrapped in flowing azure robes, their face obscured by a hood, hands resting on their knees.

The figure exhaled, and the air shivered.

Necro stepped forward.

The figure raised its head, revealing a face carved from smooth jade, eyes glowing softly with pale blue light.

Its mouth opened, and the voice that emerged was calm, ancient, and boundlessly patient.

"Welcome, traveler. To pass the Sect's Secret Trial, you must defeat me."

Necro's eyes glinted with cold determination.

His aura pulsed.

"Then let us begin."

The jade-faced guardian stood, its robes billowing in a wind that did not exist, blue runes sliding across its arms and legs like living tattoos. A sphere of pale light formed between its palms, spiraling with layered inscriptions that hummed with the authority of ancient formations.

Necro's eyes narrowed as he observed each rune, each twist of energy, imprinting them into the depths of his being.

The guardian's feet lifted an inch from the ground.

Then it vanished.

Necro's body moved on instinct, his head tilting aside as a spear of azure light sliced past his ear, the heat of it singing a few strands of hair. His hand shot out, fingers closing around the shaft of the light-spear as it passed, twisting.

The guardian reappeared behind him, palm raised.

Necro turned, dragging the captured spear with him, meeting the guardian's palm with the blunt end of its own attack.

BOOM—!

The floor beneath them cracked, lines of light spider-webbing outward, the entire platform shuddering under the impact.

The guardian's head tilted, its glowing eyes studying Necro.

"You learn… as you fight."

Necro's lips twitched faintly, aura layering with new blue filaments.

"Yes."

And then he moved, stepping forward to claim the fight—and the next step on his path.