Attribute Farming System-Chapter 54: Pandora’s History, ENERGY Superiority

As much as the middle-aged man wanted to scream curses at Knox, he couldn't even find it in himself to infuse emotions into his voice. He simply sighed before resuming where he left off.

"For thousands of years—prior to the Beast Revolt—animals were treated like, well… animals," the middle-aged man explained. "And the animals took that personally. So, after they gained enough power to win the war and become the dominant race, certain members of the Beast-kin developed peculiar… habits."

"The one who owns this dungeon and the palace above is known as the 'Cobra Empress,'" he continued. "And similar to her friend—Emperor Yin Tiger—the Cobra Empress loves to slowly torture her prisoners. What better way to do that than to throw them into a dungeon to rot and waste away their lifespan? Furthermore, after the Foundation Establishment Realm, one no longer needs to eat or sleep, so those tossed into the Cobra Empress's dungeons have no way to end their suffering sooner."

"Hum…" Knox brooded. "And how did you get here exactly? If you've lived this long already, then your cultivation is probably pretty high. How does someone like you get captured and trapped in a dungeon?"

The middle-aged man's dilapidated face turned complicated. "Haiz… Young man, that's a long story."

"Don't worry, my guy," Knox said, checking an imaginary watch. "I was able to move around some things on my agenda. I now have some free time to waste."

"...Very well," the middle-aged man conceded, his expression reflecting just how lost he was when it came to dealing with this person. "I'll start from the beginning, then. Only that way will the whole picture be painted for you."

"Mhmkay."

— Sometime Later —

To summarize what the middle-aged man had told Knox, he had grown up in a Human Clan as an ostracized bastard child. For hundreds of years, he worked tirelessly in order to reach the Half-step Soul Formation Realm. And because he kept to himself—away from the eyes of others—none of the Beast Masters residing over his clan even realized how powerful he had become until it was too late.

In Pandora, an Intelligent Beast was considered a King or Queen over a clan as soon as they achieved the Half-step Soul Formation Realm and acquired the recognition of a Beast Emperor. To be a Beast King or Beast Queen was the same as being near the very pinnacle of the world.

For a human to achieve the same thing in this day and age was… unbelievable.

However, with a quick System scan, Knox learned that the middle-aged man had an extraordinary Cultivation Talent. With Low-Heaven Grade Talent, he had been able to shatter all common norms and break through the wall that prevented one from reaching the Soul Formation Realm. His talent, along with his ability to remain unnoticed, had made him an anomaly in this era.

Eventually, though, the Beast Masters caught onto his existence. Being in the Soul Formation Realm and totally invisible was impossible—no matter how hard one worked to conceal themselves.

On his 900th birthday, the middle-aged man—known only as Rayzer—found himself cornered by four Beast Emperors.

Yet, even with four extremely old and powerful cultivators ganging up on him, Rayzer held his ground for days. A few were even seriously injured by him.

However, in the end, a single human was unable to resist the authority of the Beast Race all by himself. With the arrival of a couple more Beast Emperors, he could no longer strike back. After weeks of being put on the defensive, he ultimately faltered.

Following Rayzer's defeat, the Beast Emperors deliberated on what to do with him. Around half of them wanted to kill him right then and there, lest he somehow find a way to rise again in the future. But with the interjection of the Cobra Empress, his fate had been decided.

He would be a prisoner in her dungeon—his sentence an eternal one.

"Damn," Knox remarked. "So the Beastie Emperors then went after your clan and destroyed it?"

Rayzer heaved a heavy, complex sigh. This was his answer.

"I sympathize with you," Knox said, staring up at the dripping cobblestone roof of his cell. "Well… Hmm… How about this? How about I escape this joint and take you with me? You can then work toward getting revenge for yourself and your clan."

Rayzer's heart sank.

"Sorry, young man, but what you want to do is simply impossible," he said. "I appreciate the gesture, but the chains that bind us are made of an Innate Energy-sealing material. Furthermore, the material weighs so much that even I can only barely move them if I use every ounce of strength I have. Unless you have the keys, opening or breaking out of them will be impossible—"

CRACK—!

"Ahh, feels good to have those things off me," Knox said while rubbing his wrists and stretching. "They weighed quite a bit, you know?"

"You…" Rayzer despondently mumbled, finding the sight occurring on the other side of his cell's peephole an unrealistic one. "How could you possibly possess enough physical prowess to break the cuffs and chains like that!?"

Hearing Rayzer shout sounded so strange to Knox, but he understood the confusion. Without prior knowledge of the Attribute Farming System's existence, anyone would be perplexed.

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To briefly explain why Rayzer couldn't escape his shackles but the younger prisoner could, one first had to understand that as one further progressed their cultivation, ENERGY became ever more dominant.

Attributes like Strength, Agility, and anything else physical-related were set aside, making way for Energy. In cultivation, Energy—or more specifically, Innate Energy—was the most important of all Attributes in terms of power.

It went without saying that the higher one's Energy Attribute, the larger their Innate Sea and the more Innate Energy they could unleash in their attacks. The cultivation system used by everyone intrinsically included this aspect as the prime driver of power progression.

And because of it, the more one's cultivation increased, the more their Energy Attribute left their other Attributes in the dust.