Chapter 576: A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

Chapter 576: A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step



"Strange..."

Sitting in the sword prison, Mike frowned.

By all logic, Ares had already used Fate's Reversal, a skill that could only be activated once per ability. Illusory Reality, the technique that had tormented the Fifth Demon God, should have been expended. It shouldn't have been able to affect him again.

So why had he fallen for it?

Surrounded by the oppressive sword energy, Mike continued to ponder the question.

As before, he wasn't in a rush to leave the sword prison. This wasn't just a trap-it was a test left behind by Ares. Mike needed to submit an answer.

To score a passing grade of 60% was challenging but achievable for Mike. However, a barely passing Supreme Being wasn't good enough.

And Mike's ambitions far exceeded mediocrity.

In situations where his life wasn't in immediate danger, Mike, the quintessential overachiever, always aimed for a perfect score.

The sword prison began to shift in Mike's mind, abstracting and twisting until it resembled the pile of sticks he had played with earlier alongside the mysterious child.

Who was that child? Mike still didn't know.

In fact, he wasn't even sure if the child had truly existed.

The only thing he was certain of was this: solving the stick puzzle in his mind would allow him to break free from Ares' sword prison.

If he dismantled the stick pile, he could escape.

But this method was akin to scraping by with a 60%-barely passing. It was far from the perfect score Mike sought.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

To aim for perfection didn't mean Mike couldn't start with a passing grade.

Moreover, as he worked through the sword prison, his understanding of it deepened. Perhaps, in the process, he would uncover the answers to his lingering questions.

Mike didn't move physically, but in his mind, the stick pile began to unravel.

Each stick he removed felt like carrying a mountain across a desert-grueling and exhausting.

The Eye of Truth had recorded every move the child had made during their game. Mike could simply copy those steps.

But the child's speed had been far greater than Mike's.

In other words, if the child were here, they could dismantle the sword prison far faster than Mike could.

Reflecting on this, Mike realized he needed to understand the meaning behind each of the child's moves before he could proceed.

Otherwise, his attempts to break the prison would be invalid.

Halfway through dismantling the stick pile, something unexpected happened.

The pile in Mike's mind began to shift.

The sword prison wasn't static. It was alive.

The shifting sticks meant that Mike's previous methods were no longer applicable.

But Mike wasn't one to be rigid. He immediately adapted, trying new approaches to continue dismantling the prison.

Sometimes he succeeded. Sometimes he failed.

The sword prison seemed to have infinite variations.

Sitting cross-legged in the prison, Mike spent nearly half a day immersed in thought.

Suddenly, his expression changed, and he burst out laughing.

"Ah, I've got it!"

In his mind, no matter how the sword prison shifted, he could now see a path to dismantling

it.

If he followed the steps in his mind, it would take time, but he would eventually escape the sword prison.

In other words, Mike was free.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

But he didn't move.

Stretching his limbs, Mike looked at the sword prison again. In his mind, it once more transformed into a stick pile.

This time, the pile was larger, and the difficulty of solving it had increased significantly.

If he succeeded, he would gain another method to dismantle the sword prison, pushing his score even higher.

And so, Mike remained seated in the sword prison, fully immersed in his task. Sometimes he frowned, sometimes he laughed, and sometimes he dozed off like an old fisherman.

He looked like a madman.

First Abyss.

Cedric had returned at some point, as usual carrying his case and following Ares.

Ares occasionally boasted about himself, and Cedric would chime in with a compliment.

When they had nothing else to do, they played chess.

This time, they decided to challenge themselves with a more complex game, seeking clever moves.

Six-piece chess.

Ares was contemplating where to place seven white pieces when his expression froze, as if

Maybe ignorance really is bliss.

But soon, he rallied himself and prepared to try again.

For Mike, increased difficulty only meant spending more time.

And now that he understood the origin of the sword energy, he also realized why Illusory

Reality had appeared.

These 100,000 strikes represented Ares' absolute limit.

If Mike could break through this sword prison, he would finally be free.

As he worked, Mike occasionally paused to wonder:

What was Shadow Nine doing now? Had Apollo figured things out? What about Maxen-was

he still practicing swordsmanship?

Shadow Nine was still climbing mountains.

Maxen was still practicing swordsmanship. Apollo was still deep in thought.

Tower of Truth, 99th Floor.

Apollo sat cross-legged, staring out the window.

He suddenly realized how boring this all was.

What if... he got closer?

The moment the thought crossed his mind, the Tower of Truth trembled slightly.

A butterfly landed on Apollo's fingertip.

Apollo glanced out the window.

"Go."

The butterfly didn't move. It simply stared at Apollo, waiting for more specific instructions.

[Go where?]

Apollo thought for a moment before speaking again. "Go take a look."

The butterfly lifted its head, glancing at the scene outside, then at the mortal realm.

It didn't speak but asked Apollo a question: [Does it make a difference?]

From any angle, Earth was just the mortal realm.

In Apollo's view, the distance of observation didn't change the result.

The sky was still the sky. The clouds were still the clouds.

Objective reality didn't bend to subjective will.

Whether he observed the mortal realm from the 99th floor of the Tower of Truth or up close,

it remained the same.

Apollo thought for a moment, then withdrew his hand. The butterfly vanished.

The butterfly was right.

No matter how he looked at the mortal realm, it was still boring.

Unlike Morpheus or Ares, Apollo wasn't fighting for humanity.

He was only fighting to survive.

It was his awakening of an SSS-level talent that had made him the Supreme Demon God's

mortal enemy.

Apollo didn't want to fight the Supreme Demon God. The Supreme Demon God wanted to kill

him.

Apollo understood one thing clearly: Nathan had a chance to ascend. Apollo didn't.

Even if he reached the Heavenly Realm, the Supreme Demon God would find a way to hunt

him down.

Besides, Apollo had no desire to go to the Heavenly Realm.

His existence had protected the mortal realm and Earth.

But for Apollo himself, he had little personal motivation to do so.

All he wanted was a quiet place to think things through.

Now, it seemed he was close to an answer.

Staring out the window, a rare emotion flickered in Apollo's eyes: confusion.

It was a strange feeling.

After thinking for a day and a night, he still couldn't figure it out.

So Apollo decided:

He would go to the mortal realm for a walk.