NOVEL FROG chapter 416: The Struggle for Perfection
Rachel and her many incarnations had created countless infinite bodies and experimented with them; they had no shortage of test subjects. However, developing a perfect, absolutely flawless one was no walk in the park. It likely required her undivided effort and attention for countless years. Yet, for her, time was not a limiting factor.
Years passed, though, for her, they were insignificant. Finally, after what felt like just a moment from her perspective, they developed Infinite Body Version Two. This time, they were more confident that it could withstand infinite time acceleration compared to the first version, where they had expected failure.
...
Rachel took the latest version of the infinite body and placed it in the test room. The Gray Realm’s infinite domain covered the room. The creation knew nothing about any of it. If it had, there would have been no way to accelerate time to infinite levels, as the creation would instinctively resist such extremes and refuse to allow them to exist. However, the Gray Realm, under Rachel's indirect control, permitted it. These experiments would have been impossible without her indirect and incomplete mastery over the Gray Realm.
The Infinite Body V2 was quasi-rank 14, with a physical body so powerful that it could withstand a single blow from a rank 14 being. Still, it wasn’t truly rank 14, as elevating it to that level would have caused the experiment to fail. Rank 14 beings are immortal due to their reliance on quasi-rank 15 infinite sources, namely, the creation and the gray realm. If they placed a rank 14 being in the experiment room, they could easily resist the passage of infinite time simply because they draw power from either the creation or the Gray Realm. However, once the energy tributary from these infinite sources is cut off, the rank 14 bodies would be destroyed.
The goal of this experiment was to create a body with an infinite lifespan independent of any external infinite power sources. Only then could it be considered an actual "infinite body."
Initially, Rachel and her incarnations saw no need to elevate the infinite body to quasi-rank 14 the first time around. However, after observing the repeated failure of previous prototypes, they decided to grit their teeth and upgrade it. Now, every Infinite Body V2 is quasi-rank 14. It required significantly more time and effort, but they believed it would be worth it in the end.
They initially believed that a rank 13 body would suffice for the experiment, but its inherent weaknesses frequently compromised the results. Consequently, Rachel decided to abandon its use altogether.
With the quasi-rank 14 body now inside the test room, Rachel activated the infinite time acceleration. In an instant, the body vanished, leaving absolutely nothing behind. The experiment had failed again.
With a sigh of frustration, she muttered, "We did everything right this time! It can’t be helped; let’s review the results."
She sent the experimental data to her other incarnations and began analyzing it herself.
"Hmm, a few tiny mistakes... but I have no idea how to fix them. Our wisdom dao attainment isn’t enough to solve these issues quickly!" she thought, feeling helpless. If they had omniscient wisdom dao, these issues would have been solved instantly. Even with near-omniscient attainment, it wasn't enough.
There were three primary reasons for the failure: hidden injuries within the body, cancer, and an unclean environment in the test room. These issues had occurred many times before, and despite Rachel’s efforts to correct them, they persisted.
The first issue, hidden injuries, seemed simple but was not. The infinite body had to be flawless, without a single imperfection. Even the tiniest, most insignificant flaw could doom the entire experiment. Rachel and her incarnations had managed to achieve this with Version One of the Infinite Body, but after redesigning it into Version Two, they inadvertently reintroduced hidden injuries.
The second issue, cancer, had also been a recurring problem. The infinite body was composed of numerous cells, each capable of becoming an independent entity over time. Eventually, some of these cells would gain consciousness, leading to cancer. These cancerous cells would introduce flaws, which would inevitably cause the body's destruction. Rachel and her incarnations had solved this issue with Version One, hoping it would never return, but to their dismay, it had reemerged.
The third issue, the unclean environment, was the most difficult to address. Despite their best efforts, they had never fully resolved it. Understanding this issue required a deep comprehension of the experiment’s purpose: testing whether the body could survive the passage of time indefinitely. Success in this experiment didn’t mean the body would be indestructible; it only meant that the passage of time alone wouldn't destroy it. Other factors, such as external injuries, could still cause its demise. To conduct the experiment correctly, Rachel needed to eliminate all external influences, no matter how minute. Over infinite years, even the slightest flaw could lead to the body's destruction. Infinity demanded perfection—no errors were acceptable.
Rachel had succeeded in creating perfect Version One bodies, but she had never been able to construct a perfect experimental room. This was why she moved on to Version Two. She believed Version Two bodies could resist the room’s subtle radiation, but as evidenced by the result, even quasi-rank 14 bodies, which could withstand a blow from a rank 14 being, had failed.
"This is bad, very bad!" she sighed as the test results revealed troubling signs.
The reason Rachel couldn’t create a perfectly insulated test room was straightforward: she only had indirect control over the Gray Realm. Without complete control, she couldn’t craft an entirely isolated room within the Gray Realm. She could create a room with extremely minimal radiation, with infinitesimally minor interference, but that wasn't enough. It had to be perfect. Even quasi-rank 14 bodies couldn’t resist infinitesimal impurities over an infinite span of time.
Even a single ant, over infinite years, could kill a rank 13 being. One must never underestimate the accumulation of damage over time. Time was the most fearsome force; everything below rank 14 would eventually be destroyed, even rank 13 beings whose theoretical lifespans were infinite due to their universal laws.
To fully grasp the immortality of rank 10 beings and above and how it differed from Rachel's infinite body, one needed to understand the underlying mechanism. Rank 10 and 11 immortals relied on complete laws, which themselves relied on universal laws. Rank 12 and 13 immortals were sustained by universal laws, which were part of the universe. The universe, in turn, had a direct connection to the creation. This meant all rank 10 to 14 immortals depended on an external source for their immortality—the creation itself. What Rachel aimed to achieve was a body that didn’t rely on any external infinite source for its immortality.
Immortals of ranks 11 to 14 drew their power from these external sources. Their life and death were contingent on them. For instance, the creation, or in Rachel's case, the Gray Realm, could theoretically kill a rank 14 being at any time. Although the Gray Realm was under Rachel’s indirect control, and the creation had no will of its own, it was still theoretically possible. For lower-ranked immortals, the situation was even worse. Rank 12 and 13 beings would perish if their universe were destroyed because their power was derived from universal laws. Rank 11 and 10 immortals faced the risk of death if the universal laws they relied on changed. Though such events were rare, they were still possible.
Only by achieving the perfect infinite body could one survive the endless passage of time without relying on any external source of infinity. Only by acquiring an infinity domain could one step into quasi-rank 15 and become genuinely immortal and indestructible.
As previously mentioned, quasi-rank 15 beings were beyond death. They couldn’t be sealed or destroyed. As long as they willed it, they could leave the infinity domains of both the creation and the Gray Realm and establish their own independent realities.
Rank 14s, while capable of leaving the infinity domains of the creation and Gray Realm, still relied on external infinite sources. They could never create a truly independent reality.
"This complicates things even more!" Rachel thought. Now that even quasi-rank 14 bodies had failed to resist the infinitesimal radiation in the test room, her only remaining options were to gain more control over the Gray Realm or design a flawless isolation spell. While that sounded simple, Rachel and her incarnations had been trying for an untold amount of time and failed repeatedly.
"But before that, we should try simpler solutions, such as making the infinite body even stronger. If we can make its body strong enough to fight head-on with rank 14 beings, it might work. Easier said than done, but it’s still far easier than mastering the Gray Realm or creating a perfect isolation spell," she thought.
The stronger the body becomes, the greater the risk of cancer. But she preferred dealing with those sorts of issues over the near-impossible task of controlling the Gray Realm. She honestly believed that gaining complete control over the Gray Realm was impossible.
Without wasting time, Rachel began working on the new problem. She had constructed countless supercomputers across the realities under her control. These machines, built using universal laws and fueled by gray energy, made complex computations far easier.
All across the creation, in various charges of reality, Rachel's incarnations worked tirelessly to improve Infinite Body Version Two, striving to make it as strong as the physical body of a rank 14 being. The incredibly complex task began to progress rapidly under the collective efforts of many rank 14 beings.