Chapter 490 - 353: Level Five Rift and Abundant Origin

Ian and Gaga passed through the Rift’s barrier, and the world before them suddenly twisted and stretched.

The moment they landed, countless Mutant Beasts swarmed them, letting out a synchronized, ear-piercing shriek.

"Noisy!" A blinding white light flared in the sky above, turning all Mutant Beasts within a thousand-meter radius to Ashes.

Once silence returned, Ian fully extended his Spiritual Power and was somewhat surprised.

’So this is... a Level Five Rift.’

His body slowly floated upward as a five-colored Star Orbit spun gently in the depths of his pupils.

This Rift was immense, over three thousand kilometers in diameter—larger than all the Rifts he had purified before.

The sky was filled with countless black spatial fissures, resembling a shattered spiderweb.

The ground had long since been corrupted, and a thick carpet of fungus covered everything in sight.

In the distance were twisted mountain ranges, their surfaces covered in bulging pustules that occasionally burst, spewing foul-smelling pus.

Even farther away, he could see twisted, Insect Nest-like structures. Their surfaces were covered in honeycomb-like holes from which a dense, teeming mass of Mutants continuously crawled out.

Their auras ranged from Level One to Level Four, and their numbers were too great to count.

"Gaa..." Gaga’s voice came from his shoulder, carrying a rare solemness.

"Ian, something’s wrong with the Mutants here. They’re far more frenzied than any we’ve seen before."

The little guy had his Shadow Perception fully active and had noticed something was off.

Ian had noticed it too. The Mutants’ eyes were all blood-red, devoid of any reason—only pure, unadulterated slaughter and madness.

’Heh, is it because we’ve purified too many Rifts? Is the Will of the Abyss... getting desperate?’

The corners of his mouth turned up slightly. He deployed his Gravity Field, easily covering a hundred-kilometer radius.

The Mutants crawling on the fungal carpet suddenly froze, as if pinned down by an invisible, giant hand, unable to move a muscle.

The next second...

"ROAR!!!"

A deafening roar echoed from the depths of the Rift. A terrifying aura erupted, counteracting part of Ian’s suppression.

The suppressed Mutants’ bodies began to swell. Their muscles bulged, their bones cracked and popped, and their auras skyrocketed.

Level One became Level Two, Level Two became Level Three, Level Three became Level Four...

In just a few breaths, at least ten thousand Mutants had completed their evolution.

’Just as I thought...’ Ian’s eyes turned cold.

The environment of a Level Five Rift acted as a powerful "catalyst" for the Mutants.

Here, their evolutionary speed and recovery abilities far surpassed those outside.

To clear them out completely, he had to kill them in one blow, giving them no chance to recover.

’A saturation attack it is, then. I can test my limits at the same time.’

He took a deep breath. Deep in his chest, the crimson Light Core began to spin faster, its temperature soaring and causing the surrounding space to warp.

Then, Ian raised both hands, palms facing up.

VMMM! VMMM! VMMM!

One by one, crimson Long Spears materialized above his palms, their numbers increasing rapidly.

This time, he directly formed hundreds of them. Each one was only the length of a pinky finger, with a sleek body that made them look like flying swords.

"Go," Ian uttered softly.

The hundreds of Red-Pointed Spears shot from his hands simultaneously, flying in all directions like a crimson meteor shower raining down from the sky.

The first Long Spear landed with a BOOM, and a thousand-meter-diameter section of the fungal carpet was instantly vaporized.

The Mutants within the blast radius disappeared without even a scream.

The second, third, fourth... The Long Spears fell like raindrops.

Each one that landed triggered a small "Purification storm." Explosions of crimson light bloomed like flowers of death.

Wherever the flowers bloomed, the fungal carpet evaporated, Mutants were vaporized, and the remains of the Insect Nests vanished.

The entire world within the Rift was enveloped in crimson light.

"ROAR!!!"

From the depths of the mountain range came a world-shaking roar as seven terrifying auras erupted at once.

Each one had reached the Legendary Level. The weakest was at the Legend Initial Stage, while the strongest was already at the Late Stage of Legend.

’They’re finally out.’ Ian’s expression remained relaxed, but a cold glint flashed in his eyes. ’The whole point of this big display was to draw them all out, saving me the trouble of hunting them down one by one.’

Seven figures charged out from the depths of the mountains. The one in the lead was over two hundred meters tall.

Its entire body was covered in a Dark Gold Shell, the surface of which was filled with twisted Runes.

It had the head of a lizard, topped with three pairs of compound eyes that glinted with a bloodthirsty red light. Six pairs of bony wings were spread out behind it, each one’s edge as sharp as a blade.

This was the king of the Mutant Beasts, the one at the Late Stage of Legend.

Following it were six slightly smaller Mutant Beasts: one resembled a giant centipede, another a multi-headed hydra, and another a rotting giant...

"Insect... DIE!"

The Mutant Beast king roared, its six pairs of bony wings vibrating and kicking up a violent gust of air.

The fungal carpet beneath it was torn apart, and deep furrows were plowed into the ground.

When it was five hundred meters away from Ian, it suddenly opened its massive maw and spat out a beam of Energy more than ten meters in diameter, aimed straight at him.

Behind it, the other six Mutant Beasts attacked at the same time.

The centipede spewed Poisonous Fog, the hydra spat corrosive acid, the rotting giant swung its fist...

Seven attacks from seven different directions sealed off all of Ian’s escape routes.

"Perfect timing." Ian sneered, making a grasping motion with his right hand as he fully unleashed the Gravity Rule.

With a silent hum, the space within a several-thousand-meter radius was completely "locked down."

All seven attacks—the Poisonous Fog, the acid, the fist—froze in midair the instant they were launched.

The Energy beam at the forefront was only a dozen meters from Ian, yet it couldn’t advance another inch.

"AWOO?!" For the first time, a look of panic appeared in the three pairs of compound eyes on the Mutant Beast king’s head.

It wanted to turn and flee, but the surrounding space had solidified, preventing it from even blinking.

"Before you die, let me show you something special."

A playful look appeared in Ian’s eyes as the rotation speed of his crimson Light Core soared once more.

One million degrees, two million degrees, three million degrees... All of the heat was constrained and condensed into a single point on his fingertip.

Then, he gave it a light flick.

A ball of incandescent white light, pure to the extreme, drifted from Ian’s fingertip.

The ball of light was only the size of an egg. It floated into the air and then silently blossomed.

As the light swept past, all matter was directly subject to Annihilation, completely erased into the Void.

The light swept over the Mutant Beast king’s head. Its Dark Gold Shell melted away layer by layer like wax, and the crimson glow in its three pairs of compound eyes instantly dimmed.

Its massive body began to disappear, starting from the head, without even leaving behind any Ashes.

The same thing happened to the other six Mutant Beasts; from the inside out, all of their tissues evaporated in an instant.

Three breaths later, the light completely dissipated. For a hundred miles in every direction, not a single trace of the Abyssal Aura remained.

Ian retracted his Gravity Field. "Gaga, let’s clean up the rest."

"Got it!"

The little guy shot out from the shadows, transforming into a streak of black light.

It zipped back and forth above the fungal carpet, and with every flash, it reaped the lives of dozens of Mutants.

In Ian’s palm, small crimson spears formed once again and scattered toward the ground.

In this way, the man and the bird combed through the area several times like a fine-toothed comb until not a single living Mutant Beast could be seen. Only then did they stop.

’Not bad. Once a Rule surpasses 60%, it’s not just a boost in power; my endurance has increased dramatically as well.’

Finally, Ian followed his Perception and flew toward the deepest part of the Rift.

There, a throbbing purple heart was beating slowly.

He stopped above it and looked down. Deep within the heart was a thread of dark purple light as thick as a thumb.

It emanated an incredibly dense Abyssal Aura, along with a hint of the scent of the World Origin.

"Your turn."

Ian made a grasping motion with his right hand. The Gravity Field enveloped the thread of light and pulled it directly out from the depths of the fungal carpet.

HISSS!!

The thread of light struggled violently, letting out a silent shriek, but it was useless.

The Gravity Field was like the strongest of cages, locking it down firmly.

At the edge of his vision, a panel silently appeared.

[Corrupted World Origin (Level Five) detected. Corruption level: 99%. Purify?]

"Yes."

As the thought formed, the surface of the panel glowed with a faint golden light that seeped into the thread.

The thread of light began to emit black smoke as its dark purple color quickly faded, transforming into a pure gold.

[Purification complete. Beginning to absorb World Origin...]

This time, the feedback from the panel was extremely intense.

Ian’s eyes lit up with pleasant surprise. ’The feedback this time is equivalent to the growth from absorbing hundreds of Source Crystals.’

The World Origin from a Level Five Rift was at least a hundred times richer than that from a Level Four.

’It’s over.’ He looked up at the sky.

As the World Origin was stripped away, the entire Rift began to collapse. The fissures in the sky expanded at an accelerated rate, and the ground started to cave in.

Three minutes later, the entire East Sea Rift had vanished completely, leaving only a long, narrow crater more than ten kilometers in diameter.

Ian hovered above the crater, his eyes calm as he watched the scene.

’That’s the first Level Five Rift taken care of. Wei Song should be almost done, too.’

He turned and looked to the northwest, where Wei Song was purifying another Level Five Rift.

「Meanwhile, in the northwest of Great Yan, at the Red Sand Rift.」

Wei Song hovered in midair, a pleased look on his face. Below him was a stretch of burning desert.

In the center of the desert, a dark purple fissure cut through the earth. Five corpses of Legendary Mutant Beasts lay scattered around it.

Each one was carbonized by high temperatures, its surface coated in a vitrified glaze.

Wei Song wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. "Level Five Rifts really are tough. Much harder than it is for my main body."

He looked into the depths of the fissure. The last wisp of Abyssal Aura was dissipating, and the fissure was beginning to collapse.

"Done." Wei Song’s body transformed into a streak of red light and shot into the sky.

「Three days later. Jiangzhou City, Wei Song’s private Cultivation Room.」

Ian and Wei Song sat facing each other, with a few scattered Source Crystals on the table between them.

"We heard from Li Yan," Wei Song said, his voice a bit cold.

"What did he say?"

"He said we’re heroes of all Great Yan, with ’outstanding merits,’ but that our ’methods might need reconsideration’."

"Wu Zhenshan filed a complaint with the military. He says he’s guarded the East Sea Rift for sixty years, and even if he has no great merits, he has his long, hard service."

"He’s complaining that we injured him as soon as we arrived and ’privately’ purified the Rift, which is against the rules."

Ian laughed. "Rules? Who made these new rules?"

"Besides, those are Great Yan’s rules. They don’t apply to me."

Wei Song also sneered and shook his head.

"Li Yan says the higher-ups are under a lot of pressure. A lot of the Legends are unhappy that we’re ’taking all the spoils for ourselves’."

"Even though we purified the Rifts, no Source Crystal Veins were generated, so their interests were harmed."

"So..." He paused. "They’re suggesting we ’go for a walk’ and help out some other friendly nations."

"The pay is very generous. Ten Source Crystals for a Level Four Rift, one hundred for a Level Five Rift."

Ian picked up his teacup and took a sip. "Are they trying to get rid of us?"

"They didn’t say it outright, but that’s the gist of it," Wei Song nodded.

"We’ve already cleared out all the Rifts below Level Five. They want to take over the remaining ten Level Five Rifts themselves."

"After all... the Source Crystal Veins are a matter of their own vital interests. Everyone wants to advance further."

Ian put down his teacup and looked out the window.

Outside, the sky was a brilliant blue and the sun was bright, but where the sunlight couldn’t reach, there were always shadows.

"What do you think?"

"Me?" Wei Song was taken aback for a moment. "I think it’s a great idea."

"The Rifts in our country are pretty much cleaned up anyway. If we go abroad, we can earn Source Crystals and absorb World Origin. It’s the best of both worlds."

"Besides..." His eyes sharpened.

"When we’re a bit stronger and we come back, it won’t be up to them anymore."

Ian nodded. "Then it’s settled. You take the small countries in the southeast, and I’ll go northwest."

"We’ll regroup in the Capital City in two months."

Wei Song stood up and stretched. "Alright, I’ll go pack my things."

He walked to the door, then turned back.

"Oh, right. Li Yan also said a few countries are getting impatient."

"Especially East Japan and Goryeo. They don’t have a single Legend, and their Rifts are right next to their capitals."

"They’re offering the highest price: one hundred and fifty Source Crystals for a Level Five Rift."

Ian raised an eyebrow. "In that case, you should go to... Siam first."

"Alright." Wei Song pushed the door open and left.

Ian remained seated, his gaze deep and profound as he looked at the sky outside the window.

’The northwest... A few of those are known as deadbeat nations with terrible international reputations. I hope you don’t do anything stupid!’

’Otherwise, I’m really afraid I won’t be able to control myself.’