...…
Azmodeus had tried looking past the Introductory Section of the Timeless Immortal's Logs; however, whenever he tried to do that, he always blacked out, leaving Yang Hua and Nao Long quite worried every time he did it.
He inferred that this was likely caused by an information overload, and it was probably this phenomenon that interested the Outer Elder enough to keep this seemingly indecipherable booklet inside his personal storage ring.
However, this particular phenomenon was one thing that was eventually made clear for the Anomaly, as after looking at the jumbled words on the book's pages for long enough, they ultimately ended up organizing themselves without him even doing anything.
It was unknown how this peculiar occurrence worked, but it only benefited him, so he put it to the back of his mind and refocused on comprehending the book.
After a few hours of getting nowhere further with the Time Rune Comprehensions, he opted to work on improving his Professions instead.
A few hours were once again expended as he concocted various Peak-Earth Rank Pills, Formations, Arrays, weapons, and, of course, a few meals, which he had to relinquish to Yang Hua and Nao Long because he was a 'big dumb meanie for ignoring us!'.
Those were their words, and considering their moods when they were cranky, he had no choice but to give up the Spirit Food…
What was that saying again…?
Ahh, yes, it was 'happy wife, happy life'.
He thought the matter over for a second before realizing that he fell for their marriage brainwashing, as he lightly shook his head before diverting his attention to cultivation.
The aforementioned series of events above was usually how he went about his days in the Heaven Exploding Cave Abode.
Of course, that was excluding his outings with Yang Hua and Nao Long in the more populated areas of the Outer Sect.
They would occasionally drag him away from his cultivation after finishing their own cultivation sessions, as they would speak about 'breaks (dates) being good every once in a while.'
He would always reluctantly comply before spending a few days doing everything that he was forced to do by his 'wives'.
All three of them would receive stares from most people on the roads, leading to some rather troublesome situations with young masters, lascivious old men, and even crazy women who claimed Azmodeus as their own.
They acted similar to how the two ladies with him acted, but unfortunately for them, the OG crazies were far stronger and far, far crazier…
Most of these 'outings' typically ended with bloodbaths and massacres of both the male and female demographic, which was good for Evolution Essence acquisition but absolutely terrible for their reputation in every part of the Outer Sect…
In fact, everyone besides the Ice Goddess of the Ice Goddess Sect obtained dangerously high bounties on their heads.
Azmodeus and Nao Long had checked theirs a few months ago, and the rewards were well into the tens of thousands of Low-Rank Spiritual Stones for anybody who brought back their heads!
For reference, a million gold coins were worth a single Lowest-Ranked Spiritual Stone, while Low-Rank Spiritual Stones were equal to the value of around 100 thousand Lowest-Ranked Spiritual Stones.
Which was to say that the bounties on their heads were utterly astronomical and could likely last a royal family of Rank 3 Kingdoms and above for many generations!
For example, if the king of the Fire Nation were to acquire such a sum, then it was highly probable that he could hire enough Soul Transformation Realm Experts to immediately obtain a rank-up for their kingdom into Rank 3!
Nonetheless, this all went toward the point that countless millions of cultivators were after the heads of the 'Crimson Devil God' and the 'Nightmare Dragon Lord'.
Azmodeus didn't really like his name, but Nao Long could never seem to get enough when women screamed out her name with terror-stricken faces.
Now that I think about it… These two are beyond a little bit crazy, aren't they?
He looked toward the innocent-looking dragon girl giggling away while chatting with the Ice Goddess, as he couldn't imagine her to be anything evil.
But then again, he wasn't some saint either, so it was hard for him to be unbiased when it came to the subject of knowing whether someone was 'good' or 'evil'.
Does it really matter all that much if you are evil or not…? I mean, everyone is working toward the same goal of becoming the strongest, and it seems impossible that someone completely pure is able to surpass all those around them and reach for an apex that doesn't exist…
No one in this world realizes that there is no limit to cultivation… Which seems to make them believe that they should decide whether they are 'Evil' or 'Good' and stick with that path until they reach the 'Top'.
Now that he started pondering the matter, everything that everyone did to decide where they stood on the karma scale seemed ridiculous.
Why go through so much mental strain in order to abide by principles that lead to a goal that makes no sense to begin with…
Something appeared to have fundamentally changed within him at that very moment—something that had been looking to break free, unfettered, for a very long time.
After this self-enlightenment, although he wouldn't go on senseless genocides for no reason and for minimal benefits, he honestly couldn't find himself caring if it happened by accident or in a fight.
In the end, life and death were two sides of the same coin, and it was only natural that those who lived without gaining sufficient strength should be content with dying.
It was hypocritical of him to say this after struggling to keep his life inside the Yang Sect all those years ago, but with time, things changed—people changed… Morals changed…
He may have had inhibitions about killing people who were in the way when he was in the Yang Sect; however, after more than two dozen years since that point, his way of thinking had changed.
He had become more aloof and distant than he was back then...
There had always been a lone wolf aura that permeated around him since the moment he realized he was alone in life. But it was only after understanding the essence of exponentially progressive cultivation and the side effects of his Traits that he truly understood what it meant to acquire genuine passiveness.
It was highly likely that if a village was burning down right beside him, he would immediately bat an eye unless there were benefits to be had.
And it was after this understanding of himself that he was able to enter a deep state of cultivation that could provide boons unlike anything he could've hoped to obtain with his previous mentality.
...…