The most amazing ability of the Big Demon Body is that, as long as there are enough resources, it can break through to the next realm without failure. Other martial arts practitioners aren't like that—far from it. They may practice their poses for thousands of years without any leisure and still fail to break through, even if they have enough resources.
With a lot of money, Mike went ahead and bought mountains of resources, putting them all in his storage. He planned on coming out only when he reached the next realm.
...
With his eyes closed, Mike thought, "It's a pity I cannot uncover poses and pills that could be used by others."
If he had access to those poses, he could have given them to Lana, hoping that maybe—just maybe—he could persuade her to free him. Although the chances were slim, uncovering the realms after Martial God might given him a shot.
"Okay, the next realm... Let's name it Martial Mystery," he decided.
"So, the realm after Martial God is Martial Overlord, then Martial Mystery, then Martial Supreme, and finally, Martial Immortal," he continued, finalizing the names of the realms after Martial God.
"The peak of Martial Overlord is as strong as a quasi-rank 8 mage, the peak of Martial Mystery is as strong as a peak rank 9 mage, and the peak of Martial Supreme is quasi-rank 10. As for Martial Immortal, that's only theoretical; it should be as strong as rank 10 immortals," he mused.
"However, to actually break through to Martial Immortal, one must have a complete law. Without it, nothing can stand a chance against true rank 10 battle power."
"From the Body Training Realm up to Martial Supreme, I can break through easily as long as I have enough money and resources. However, it's doubtful whether I can break through Martial Immortal using only resources."
"Others have no chance of breaking through to Martial Immortal without a complete law, but I am special. I have the Big Demon's physique, which is mysterious. It may be possible for me to break through to Martial Immortal using only mortal resources, without needing to uncover or create a complete law," he thought, formulating a plan.
After thinking through every possibility for a few days, he finally started performing the poses. It would take a while to find the most efficient pose, but with his Big Demon Physique—blessed with infinite lifespan, vitality, and talent—time was not an issue.
...
Nine hundred years later.
Mike clenched his fist and felt the immense power coursing through him. It felt as though the heavens and earth would crumble with just one punch.
"Peak of Martial Mystery! Hahaha, I am now as strong as a peak rank 9 mage, just one step below my previous quasi-rank 10 power!" He laughed loudly; it felt good to be strong.
There are a few things that can act as a source of confidence: money, power, looks, talent, etc. However, not all of these are equal. If one were to rank them, power would, without a doubt, be the strongest and most important source of confidence. This is especially true in magical worlds, where one can have immense personal power without relying on a company, country, or organization.
After Lana sealed his power, Mike became much more cautious. As a weakling, even a simple rank 2 or 3 mage could have defeated or killed him. But now, with peak rank 9 power, he is matchless—at least in the southern continent. He no longer had to be so cautious.
"But I don’t have enough resources to break through to the Martial Supreme Realm," he thought with disappointment. One quintillion RM had been consumed over the last few centuries.
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"After I break through to Martial Supreme, I will have quasi-rank 10 battle power, the same as when my Big Demon Body wasn’t sealed. What's more, my power would be independent of my body; even if I change to a human body, I would retain most of my power. Of course, there would be some loss when transitioning from one body to another, but I would at least keep rank 9 power!"
"The early stage of Martial Supreme is considered quasi-rank 10 battle strength, but compared to my Big Demon Body, only the late stage of Martial Supreme can compare. At the peak of Martial Supreme, my martial arts cultivation would grant me even more power than my Big Demon Physique."
He wrote down all the poses and the process of breaking through to Martial Mystery and sent them to Master Black. A few days later, he exited his closed-door cultivation to meet Master Black for another round of funding.
...
Master Black shivered as he felt the terrifying aura emanating from Mike. Even after more than a thousand years, he was still stuck in the early stage of the Perfection Realm. In the same amount of time, Mike had gone from a peak rank 6 mage to a peak rank 9 mage, which seemed simply unbelievable.
Unfortunately for Master Black, no matter how unbelievable it seemed, the facts were right in front of him.
"Po—Powerful! Master Mike, I have to call you Senior from now on!" Master Black stammered, his voice trembling. He couldn't risk angering Mike anymore. Who knew if Lana would save him if Mike decided to kill him? Over the past few hundred years, Master Black had realized just how much Lana favored Mike. She had personally inquired about his situation more than ten times and warned Master Black not to disrupt his progress.
She had even given another order.
"M-Master Mike, here, take this card—1 sextillion RM!" he said, his voice still shaking.
"Thank you!" Mike took it without hesitation and left, heading toward the central market to buy more resources.
"Damn!" Master Black cursed silently. After this, he is no longer the strongest being in the southern continent. His only hope now was that Mike wouldn't attempt to rule; if he tried, Master Black wouldn't be able to resist.
...
Lana carefully read through a thick book, digesting its content. Over the years, after observing Mike's body, she had come to a realization. She could potentially create a perfect physique that was at least 50% as good as Mike's. However, the subject was complicated, so she had been reading other books to fill in her knowledge gaps.
"Mixing a law body trait with the infinite body trait would produce amazing results. If I succeed, I could get rich!" she thought. She usually didn’t care much about anything other than having fun, but even someone as evil as Lana had things that interested her, and the infinite body was one of them.
Lana had named Mike’s body the "Infinite Body" because it had an infinite lifespan, talent, and vitality. It was truly amazing. According to Lana's conclusion, this body could directly cross the boundary between rank 9 and rank 10!
Throughout the universe, the boundary between rank 9 and rank 10 has always been considered an uncrossable gulf. No matter how talented someone was or how many resources they had, one must have a complete law to bridge the strength gap between mortal and immortal.
But the Infinite Body was special. Technically, it was immortal by design, so it was incorrect to think of the leap from rank 9 to rank 10 as moving from mortal to immortal—at least for the Infinite Body. After all, as its name suggested, the Infinite Body had characteristics of a law body and even surpassed law bodies in some areas.
"It can be said that the Infinite Body is an alternative to a law body, one that removes the massive barrier between mortal and immortal. With this body, one can move straight from rank 9 to rank 10 without any abnormality. As long as there are resources, there are no barriers. This has to be Rachel's hidden project," Lana thought.
Something as mysterious and powerful as the Infinite Body couldn't have been randomly given to Mike. Rachel must have given it to him intentionally and sent it to Lana's world to be tested. This likely meant Rachel expected Lana to help Mike's body advance quickly and test its power, weaknesses, and strengths.
Thinking of this, Lana sighed with relief. At times, she had considered imprisoning Mike and experimenting on his body. Fortunately, she hadn’t done it, or she might have offended Rachel.
...
"What is this thing? I’ve never seen anything like it," Lana muttered, peering at something under a microscope.
Over the years, she had managed to secretly steal a few cells from the Infinite Body. Despite her rank 13 universal law power and countless years of experience, she had never encountered cells like these—they simply refused to die. Even more astonishing, each cell seemed to have its own consciousness and will, as if they could act independently from the Infinite Body.
Lana had tried to destroy them, but even her rank 13 universal law had failed. She could remove their will, reshape them, and manipulate them in various ways, but they refused to be destroyed. It was as if they were indestructible.
"With these samples, I could make a body that combines the law body with the Infinite Body, but no matter what I do, it's impossible to replicate infinity. These cells rely on the power of the creation!" Lana thought. Although she didn’t know much about the creation, she could at least detect when something relied on it.