Infinite Evolution: My Idle Evolution System

Necro stood calmly as the murmurs faded, the cold mountain breeze carrying the last echoes of conversation away from the Martial Platform.

San Xianying approached with quiet steps, eyes bright but with a hint of nervous energy. "Junior Brother, Elder Wu has requested we wait. The Sect Master wishes to meet you now."

Necro's gaze shifted slightly, but he gave a small nod. "Lead the way."

They moved across the jade pathways, past cultivation fields and waterfall bridges, the world quiet save for the faint rustle of robes and the distant roar of falling water. Other disciples stepped aside as they passed, some bowing slightly, others simply staring, their eyes flickering with curiosity, interest, and in some cases, cold calculation.

Necro noted them, filing away faces and auras without breaking stride.

They arrived at a wide stone stairway leading to a hall built upon a cliff, the structure merging with the mountain itself, ancient yet immaculately maintained. The doors were carved with scenes of clouds and dragons, the jade inlays shimmering with spiritual light.

At the entrance, two disciples in inner sect robes stood guard, each carrying a longsword with formation lines etched into the blade. They glanced at Necro with carefully neutral expressions before pushing open the doors.

"Enter. The Sect Master awaits."

San Xianying bowed. "I will wait here, Junior Brother."

Necro stepped forward, the doors closing silently behind him.

The hall was vast, pillars of blackwood supporting the ceiling, with banners of azure silk hanging between them, each inscribed with calligraphy carrying a heavy Dao intent. Incense burned quietly in bronze braziers, the scent sharp but calming, and the air was thick with spiritual energy, pressing gently against Necro's skin.

At the far end of the hall, seated on a raised platform before a low blackwood table, was a man in layered azure and white robes. His long hair, streaked with silver, was tied back with a jade crown, and his eyes, calm and deep, seemed to pierce through layers of illusion to the truth beneath.

The Sect Master of the Sacred Azure Sect.

An unfathomably powerful entity, far stronger than anyone Necro ever encountered before.

He approached to a respectful distance and bowed, his movements precise.

"Disciple Necro greets the Sect Master."

A moment of silence passed as the Sect Master studied him, his gaze lingering on the faint pulse of the blue filaments still coiled around Necro's spiritual aura.

"Raise your head."

Necro complied, meeting the Sect Master's calm, measuring eyes.

"I have heard the report from Elder Yun and Elder Wu," the Sect Master began, his voice quiet yet carrying across the hall. "You shattered the Azure Guardian during your trial, comprehended its principles, and integrated them into your cultivation seamlessly. Your demonstration today confirmed your control and understanding."

His eyes narrowed, a subtle glint within them. "Do you understand what this means, Necro?"

Necro held his gaze, unflinching. "It means the Sect has expectations."

A faint smile touched the Sect Master's lips. "Correct."

He raised a hand, and a thin strand of azure energy extended from his fingertips, forming a sigil in the air that hovered before Necro, pulsing gently.

"This is an Azure Spirit Pavilion preliminary access talisman. Normally, Outer Disciples do not receive this until they have advanced to the Inner Sect, but your circumstances are not… normal."

Necro accepted the talisman, feeling its connection to a distant location within the Sect's formation array.

"You will be allowed to enter the first layer of the Azure Spirit Pavilion once every ten days to study and comprehend the Dao inscriptions and manuals within," the Sect Master continued. "Your performance there will determine how quickly your status within the Sect may advance."

Necro's fingers closed around the talisman. "Understood."

The Sect Master leaned back, studying him in silence for a long moment.

"You have a calmness about you, Necro, one that is rare among those who come seeking cultivation in these mountains. Yet I sense that calmness is forged, not given. That is good. The path of cultivation is filled with storms, and only those who can remain still within them will see the summit."

Necro inclined his head. "I will remember your words."

"Go now. Cultivate, observe, learn. The Sect will watch."

Necro bowed once more, then turned and left the hall, the doors closing quietly behind him.

San Xianying looked up as he emerged, relief crossing his youthful features. "You met with the Sect Master?"

Necro held up the Azure Spirit Pavilion talisman.

San Xianying's eyes widened, and he let out a low whistle. "Already? You've really shaken up the Elders, Junior Brother."

Necro stored the talisman away, glancing toward the distant pagodas where the Azure Spirit Pavilion lay hidden within the mountain fog.

"Show me where it is," he said simply.

San Xianying's grin returned, bright and genuine. "Of course!"

They walked through the Sect, the morning light climbing higher, casting the mountain peaks in sharp relief against the drifting clouds. As they moved, Necro sensed the eyes of other disciples following them, some openly, others through the subtle pricks of spiritual sense testing his aura.

At a narrow bridge of jade spanning a waterfall gorge, they encountered a group of Inner Disciples standing near the railings, their azure robes marked with the insignia of their status. The one in front, a tall youth with cold, sharp features and a sword strapped to his back, stepped forward, blocking their path.

"San Xianying," the youth said, his voice casual, but his eyes never left Necro. "And this must be the so-called prodigy who broke the Azure Guardian."

Necro's gaze remained steady, unfazed. "Necro."

The youth's lips curled into a faint smirk. "Liu Tianyi, Core Disciple. I came to see if the rumors were exaggerated."

San Xianying stepped forward, trying to ease the tension. "Senior Brother Liu, we are on our way to—"

"I wasn't asking you," Liu Tianyi interrupted, his spiritual pressure subtly leaking out, testing Necro's aura.

Necro's aura pulsed once, the blue filaments weaving outward calmly, meeting the pressure and dispersing it like water around a stone.

A flicker of interest crossed Liu Tianyi's eyes, the smirk fading. "Not bad."

He stepped aside, gesturing with a casual wave. "Don't disappoint the Sect."

Necro moved past without another word, San Xianying following quickly, tension in his shoulders.

When they were further along the bridge, San Xianying let out a breath. "Senior Brother Liu is one of the top Core Disciples, but a single step away from ascending to the Soul Formation Realm and becoming a Supreme Deity. His father is an Elder, and he is strong enough to defeat most cultivators in the Early Soul Formation Realm despite being in the Half-step Soul Formation Realm."

Necro's expression remained calm. "Noted."

San Xianying glanced at him, hesitated, then smiled wryly. "You really aren't afraid of anything, are you?"

Necro said nothing, his gaze fixed forward as the Azure Spirit Pavilion came into view, its layered pagodas partially hidden by drifting mists and surrounded by floating lanterns that pulsed with spiritual light.

The Pavilion radiated a heavy, ancient aura, pressing gently against Necro's spiritual sense like a quiet tide, testing him, acknowledging him.

They stopped before the stone steps leading up to the Pavilion's main gate, guarded by two statues of qilin beasts, their jade eyes glowing softly.

"This is as far as I can take you," San Xianying said, gesturing toward the gates. "Once inside, you'll be alone. Remember, the inscriptions within will test your mind and your will."

Necro nodded, stepping forward, the Azure Spirit Pavilion talisman in his hand.

As he approached, the gates opened silently, allowing him entry.

Inside, the Pavilion was quiet, the air thick with spiritual pressure that pressed down like a physical weight. Shelves of jade and blackwood lined the walls, filled with scrolls, jade slips, and ancient manuals that pulsed with Dao intent.

Floating formations moved slowly above the ground, inscribed with shifting symbols that changed as Necro's gaze passed over them, each representing a fragment of comprehension, a piece of the Dao waiting to be understood.

Necro walked forward, letting his spiritual sense brush against the manuals, the inscriptions, the living fragments of knowledge within the Pavilion.

They responded, lights rising to meet his sense, testing him, offering glimpses of their contents—techniques of sword, palm, and fist, cultivation methods that resonated with the elements, principles of formations and talismans, fragments of ancient laws that shaped the heavens.

Necro reached out, selecting a jade slip that pulsed with blue and silver light.

As his spiritual sense entered the slip, the world fell away, replaced by a sea of stars, each star a fragment of a Dao principle, swirling together to form constellations of understanding.

Necro moved among them, letting the patterns form, testing them against the principles he had already refined, the blue filaments of his aura weaving through the starlight, adapting, shifting, learning.

Hours passed within the Pavilion as he moved from one slip to another, each manual opening its secrets to him in fragments, demanding comprehension, challenging him to refine and discard what was unnecessary.

When he finally stepped out of the Azure Spirit Pavilion, the sky had turned deep blue, the lanterns around the Sect glowing softly as the night returned.

Necro's eyes glowed faintly as he stepped onto the stone path, the blue filaments of his aura weaving calmly, quietly stronger than they had been before.

In the distance, he could see the Martial Platforms lit by lantern light, disciples still training, each seeking their own path to ascend.

Necro's gaze was calm, determined.

The Sacred Azure Sect was a place of ambition, a forge of Dao and power.

And he would rise within it, step by step, unhurried, unshaken.

And within him, the seventh petal of his Red Lotus had already ignited, blooming deeper with every refinement of Dao comprehension he extracted within the Pavilion. Its glow was like a burning star at the center of his cultivation, stabilizing his soul, body, and spirit in unison.

There wasn't much further to go before the Red Lotus achieved its completed state, the final layer that would serve as the foundation for his next ascension.

After that, a breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment Realm, with the birth of a Green Lotus, was imminent.

And when that day came, even the strongest of Golden Core Realm powerhouses within the Sacred Azure Sect, and beyond, might not be his match.