A couple of months later...

Felix could be seen massaging his temples with a weary expression.

"Another failure." He sighed while gazing at the ceiling, feeling signs of helplessness wash over him.

In those couple months, he had already attempted the trial more than eight times!

Unfortunately, every attempt failed for various reasons.

In the second attempt, Earth wasn't discovered by the Alexender Kingdom since the entire kingdom had fallen years ago in a civil war.

This left Earth hidden for over fifty years before finally getting discovered by the new ruling power in the kingdom.

By that time, Felix was already an old man in his seventies, enjoying his retirement and remaining years with Asna, his son, and his grandchildren.

While such a peaceful normal life was quite the dream for many, Felix knew he wanted much more. When he died and the universe was reset, he couldn't be any more certain about it.

Fortunately, the serene and loving second life had helped stabilize Doctor Venom's cold persona, making him reach out to his wife and son before queries could be raised.

After spending quality time with them, he returned to the mission, hoping his new plan would succeed.

Sadly, he kept running into one wall after another in the upcoming attempts, making his hopes dwindle and his sanity crumble little by little.

"Was my first attempt the best I can do? I refuse to accept such a sh*tty luck." Felix frowned coldly.

Over time, he began to understand that modifications no matter how small they were, their influence on timelines could turn out to be massive.

While he had gotten lucky in the first attempt, allowing him to almost replicate the same history of the universe while ensuring he obtained a cultivation system, it didn't mean that it was going to happen every single time.

After all, those universes were simulated realities, which meant, that as much as the timeline tried its best to follow the original timeline, there were always butterfly flaps going all over the place.

In the later attempts, Felix ended up either dead through misfortune, accidents, in games, or worse, not even born!

That's while using almost the same modifications as the first attempt.

If it wasn't for Earth being concealed and isolated, Felix would have gotten a much worse draw.

Although Felix had checked on the others and found out that the majority were suffering a worse fortune than him, he still refused to accept that his success relied on luck.

"If bad luck is the one holding me back, I just have to remove it from the equation or at least minimize it."

Felix got into brainstorming again and found out that the only way to achieve this was to perfect his original strategy.

"The three celestials are the key to my success." Felix narrowed his eyes, "Do I change my instructions? I made the universe's heart show the instructions to have me integrate with the seven celestial hearts only after I faced a wall in my cultivation system. Do I need to make it happen sooner?"

To be honest, Felix wanted to avoid this path at all costs, knowing that it was bound to fail. He was certain it would fail since there was no way the solution to the trials would be this simple.

But most importantly, the worst-case scenario of such a scheme might be too much to handle for anyone.

Felix wasn't sure, but he had a feeling that it wouldn't end well for him if he landed in the hands of the three omnipotent beings, who desire nothing but freedom, and he was the solution to such a puzzle.

"I have no idea how to integrate with the seven celestial hearts and no one else knows." Felix groaned bitterly, "If there is a way, no one else but the three celestials would find it."

The only cause Felix wanted to interact with the three celestials after he reached his limit in his cultivation system was to toughen his new version before getting thrown to the wolves.

But now, he realized that he might need to throw him as soon as possible before he dropped dead somewhere random.

"To truly start and iron out the details, I have to begin at the end...However," Felix took a deep breath and asked calmly, "Empress, I believe it ain't fair for me to go through such pain and agony just to have my results shared with the others."

At the start, Felix wasn't too bothered by this condition since he knew it was going to assist him too. But, after seeing the other candidates' latest results, he realized that none of them was going to play it boldly.

Of course, Emilia wasn't included as she was doing her thing.

It wasn't like they were stupid or incapable; they also realized that receiving help from the three rulers would greatly accelerate their progress even if they failed...However, they also knew that the price might be too steep for their comfort.

Thus, they were playing it slow and waiting, waiting for Felix or another candidate to commit and eat off their results.

Felix had no intentions of playing this chicken game or letting himself get cheated.

'It's part of the conditions...If I change it for you, it will be changed for the others too. In other words, you won't be getting their results.' Empress Emily responded calmly, understanding what he implied.

"I don't care about the others or their results." Felix replied, "This trial was supposed to be a test for each individual, not for a half-assed teamwork. I would rather carry it on solo and keep my progress private."

"You weren't thinking like this when you copied Sir Hemier's strategy." Empress Emily responded, "There is still merit to our approach, you just have to give it a chance."

"Indeed, I benefited from Sir Hemier's strategy, but I have also given back much more." Felix wasn't moved, "Now, my strategy is being used by everyone and I don't care how they twist it or be creative with it. All I want is the freedom to go all out without the bother of knowing my efforts will be pocketed cheaply."

Felix shook his head before Empress Emily could reply.

"If you have a problem with that, I would rather drop it right now...There is no point in prolonging such misery."

"Approved."

In less than a nanosecond, Empress Emily gave him the green light.

Felix wasn't surprised by this as he knew that Empress Emily had already run the calculations in her mind and understood that giving him what he wanted was much better.

After all, he was simply requesting his Data to not be shared with the other candidates, not keep it completely private.

In other words, she would still know about his progress with the rest of the rulers.

Since all she cared about was the success of the mission, she was going to do anything to make it happen.

"Much appreciated." Felix nodded respectfully.

Even without a contract, he understood that Empress Emily wouldn't go behind his back and share his data after giving him the approval.

Besides being beneath an Empress to go back on her word, the metal race took vocal pacts and agreements in high regard.

If it wasn't for the rest of the races being mostly untrusty and scammy, they would never bother to use written contracts in their dealings.

After Empress Emily left, Felix got busy with the preparations for the next attempt.

He knew that this trial might either show him the true path forward or completely shatter him...