Transmigrated with my corruption system-Chapter 60: Evolution [I]

Unaware of all the events unfolding back inside the Greyson Residence, Ulric took a step forward into the clearing at the edge of the city, drawing in a deep breath.

As his gaze fell to the sight before him. Or rather, the nothingness of it.

Before him lay wastelands, stretching endlessly into the horizon. But it was to be expected. Ever since the great mana awakening that descended thousands of years ago, a great change had come with it.

A wave of mana flooded the planet, changing the structure of plants and beasts, evolving them continuously into monstrous beings. Leaving humans to fend for themselves.

It was only after they slew the first beasts, discovered the system, and leveled up that they found a way to escape extinction.

But even with that, it was still not enough. Humans formed bases and cities while the great beasts roamed the wild. It was only in the last few hundred years, with emerging powerhouses, that humans were finally taking back control from the beasts.

All of it was just too overwhelming, Ulric mused, sinking into the thousands of years of history of the realm from the old host’s memories.

Which couldn’t help but fuel his desire for adventure, with all these memories filling him with the urge to explore the world. But for now, he was still too weak as it was. Besides, he had more important things to take care of.

Giving the great wall one last look, he stepped deeper until he was far enough. Sweeping the surroundings, he didn’t see any signs of beasts.

But then again, even if there were any, he bet they would be too weak to pose any threat to him, the real danger being the beasts that lurked deep within the wastelands.

Discarding all those thoughts, he found a suitable spot as he plopped to the ground, assuming a lotus position as a feral grin spread across his face.

Time to level up! Good thing he knew just the thing to start with. Pulling up his system interface, he narrowed down on the intermediate corrupted mortal physique.

The last upgrade had given him power enough to rival a peak F-rank being. He wondered the extent this upgrade would yield.

Unable to suppress his curiosity anymore, he breathed out, "Corrupt," while channeling ten thousand corruption points into it.

***

Far off in the distance, the outline of a cloaked figure came into sight.

Having followed behind the young lord, he had been monitoring all his gestures. And as he watched the young lord fall into a lotus position, he couldn’t help but let out a short nod of approval.

"Good. Good. Good," he muttered. "Entering a state of meditation to clear one’s thoughts before pressing for a breakthrough..." He nodded; this would allow his breakthrough to be smooth.

Just as he was about to say more, the next words stuck in his throat as he eyed the sight that unfolded next.

Of everything that had already happened, he had, to a point, anticipated it. But this... this...

"What in the Arcadian hell is this!" he yelled, eyes shrinking dangerously.

Where the young lord sat, the air around him ruptured violently. Then all at once, everything within a hundred-meter range was blanketed by an unending darkness that shot straight into the youth in violent streams.

"T-this..." Graegor muttered. In all his years following behind Lord Greyson, he had never seen something like this. Even if he was breaking through, the energy the realm lent was supposed to be golden. Not this.

What was happening? Had something gone wrong? Was he supposed to interfere?

Just as cold sweat broke out across his face, another entirely different thing was happening to Ulric.

As the streams of dark energy rushed into his body, Ulric couldn’t help but clench his fists tightly, his jaws clamped shut as he suppressed a heart-rending howl while unimaginable pain flared across his body. Just like every other goddamned time his physique advanced.

He would have cursed out loud, but he endured as he felt his body grow stronger in real time. Raw strength was being imbued into his body.

When it crossed the threshold his body could naturally take, his body was torn apart before slowly being reforged, darkness taking its place.

Before he could say it, he commanded the darkness. But as time slowly passed, he felt himself almost blend with it, almost as if he was becoming one with it.

The crimson veins flaring across the surface of his body slowly morphed to take on a dark hue as they rippled with even more power.

He could feel dark, slimy liquid slowly being discharged from his body, oozing out in waves. It was like every bit of impurity was being purged out to make him... whole.

The cycle continued repeatedly until time slowly slipped from his grasp, his body growing sore with pain as he lost himself in the sensation of growing stronger.

He didn’t need to open his eyes to feel a cocoon had formed around him. Only this one was far more massive than the previous ones.

Towering a hundred meters, it only shrank as the darkness was pumped into his body. The power raged at him, clawing at his rationale, almost similar to when he activated his physique.

But he bit his tongue as hard as he could, letting the pain anchor him to reality, when what seemingly appeared to be an eternity later, all the darkness that had formed a cocoon around him had been fully absorbed into his body.

Finally revealing his body under the gleaming orb that hung over the sky. The sight, pure terror.

The dark robe that once clung to his body had been torn into shreds before being reduced to nothingness, leaving his body fully bare.

Good thing its self-repair property accounted for this, as it was slowly mending itself.

Down on his knees, Ulric slowly let out a warm breath before forcing himself to his feet.

The sheer gesture alone caused the wind to scream as microfractures raced rapidly across the ground below.

Just a light tap spoke volumes of his newfound strength. Before, the surrounding area was already a wasteland, but everything within the range of a hundred meters was now reduced to a sight of pure carnage, with a massive crater at the center of it all.

But that was the least of it. Feeling the enormous reserve of energy humming within his body made him cackle madly into the air.

He felt stronger. A hell lot stronger. Almost ten times over, which was terrifying given the power he already wielded before.

To put it into perspective, if he were to fight his old self from a few hours before, he was confident he could easily kill him multiple times over with a single flick of his fingers.

The muscles already rippling across his frame had grown leaner, almost as if carved by a godly artisan. His body was evolving toward the pinnacle of human perfection.

And just before his dark robe could cover his body once more, if one were to look closer, faint runes and sigils raced across his body in an entrancing manner.

His senses, of course, hadn’t been left behind as well. Before, he could pick up everything at least a hundred meters away. But now it stretched to a crazy five hundred meters.

Allowing him to hear the heartbeat of a figure within that range. Shifting his attention, his gaze pierced through a figure hiding under the cover of a huge rock.

But he dismissed it almost instantly, recognizing the Greyson crest on his robe. A faint smile stretched across his face.

He must have been here to protect him through his father’s orders. But he doubted he needed that anymore. At least not from him.

At the side, Graegor was not as laid-back as the recently emerged figure. A film of cold sweat covered his face, his heart thudding violently.

The faint glimpse the young lord had cast at him sent waves of terror down his spine, giving him the illusion his soul had been laid bare before the young lord.

But that wasn’t the strangest of it all. Clenching his fist, he gulped audibly as a single thought circled at the back of his mind.

Why did he shudder under the young lord’s gaze? He was a peak E-rank being while the young lord had only recently evolved. At least he thought so. This... all of this was just impossible. Something wasn’t right.

Unaware of Graegor’s mental breakdown, Ulric chuckled faintly.

Besides the crazy strength his physique granted him, he could feel something else within him.

The notification that blinked before him only confirming that thought, as his chuckle grew more unrestrained.

[Ding! Your advanced mortal corrupted physique has birthed the second innate skill!]