"This world isn't simple at all, is it?" Grey snorted as he stepped over the remains of the burly leader.
"I already knew something was unnatural the moment I crossed over."
Kneeling down, he searched the burly leader's corpse and slipped the spiritual ring off his finger.
"A flat world, twice the size of Earth. On the map, it's littered with power cities, and in the very center lies the Silver Blue Sea. The great cities surround that ocean like a fortress."
"But that isn't what amazes me. Despite all their advancements in technology, this world has never once thought of leaving the planet, never considered reaching for the stars to escape the disaster of the corruption fields." Grey smiled faintly. "There is no mention of space here. To them, the only things beyond are the sun and moon, treated merely as sources of light."
"It's almost as if someone is deliberately trying to hide information from the masses." Grey's eyes flashed with cold light.
He felt it was ironic. The main source of energy in this world was called Cosmic Energy, and yet no one truly knew the meaning of the word "Cosmic" or "Cosmos."
Grey emptied out the burly leader's spiritual ring. Inside was a pile of useless common items, and amidst them sat a pill container.
Just by looking at the container, Grey could already sense the evil aura seeping from it.
He picked it up and opened it. Inside were dense black pills engraved with intricate patterns.
The moment his eyes fell on them, his ability was triggered.
[By seeing the 'Abyssal Transformation Pill,' you have gained insight into the pill recipe and comprehension in alchemy.]
"What a strange name." Grey muttered under his breath as he stored the container in his ring.
"How interesting." His gaze fell on the burly leader's demonic corpse. "Isn't he basically a corrupted being in this form?"
Creating corrupted fields and transforming into corrupted beings. A world that was flat.
None of it made sense.
Too much was hidden from the eyes of the public.
"It is said that at the end of the world lie towering ice walls that stretch endlessly into the sky. Beyond them is nothing but empty space, where anyone who dares step out would perish. And the sky itself is said to be boundless. Even a Rank 3 evolver, capable of moving several thousand times the speed of sound, cannot break through it."
The world possessed more than a thousand power cities and ten floating cities suspended high above the skies. At the very center of the floating city lived the Federation Master, the man who ruled Blue Star with absolute authority. With all the cities under his command, his words were treated as law.
And according to him, nothing lies beyond the ice wall or the endless sky.
"I wonder what actually lies beyond those walls." Grey mumbled, his eyes flashing with doubt. "I truly wonder."
He let out a faint sigh. "Forget it. There's no point in thinking about it now. With my current strength, I can't possibly touch the secrets of this world. I'll uncover them slowly, step by step."
The discoveries of today had forced Grey to pay closer attention to the world around him. Until now, he had brushed aside thoughts about this unnatural world, unwilling to let them weigh too heavily on his mind.
But after witnessing someone create a corruption field—the very enemy of mankind—his eyes were opened.
There was a conspiracy hidden in the shadows, vast and terrifying.
And sooner or later, he would be dragged into it.
"I need to prepare. I won't let my path to reach the top end with just this world. How can this world be the limit when a powerful and absolute presence like the Heavenly Dao exists?"
Grey was certain, there was a bigger world out there and one day he would destroy all the illusions and fly into the stars.
His ability only added fuel to his belief, a talent so powerful it could defy the heaven and he had been doing so continuously, there were mysterious and bigger power beyond the endless skies of this world and one day he would reach that level.
"Nexus Overlock." Grey calmly called out as sword energy crackled from the two swords hovering above him.
Immediately, Nexus energy surged and transformed into Nexus Overlock circuits, spreading throughout his entire body and stabilizing it for higher impacts of strength. The Nexus energy surged even more, traveling to his organs and muscles. Finally, it condensed into small sparks that rushed into his neural pathways like a tsunami.
Buzz!
Grey's eyes changed as intricate lines of purple, circuit-like patterns spread from his irises into the whites of his eyes. His purple pupils radiated with Nexus energy.
Without saying a word, he leapt straight into the Corruption Field.
Immediately, his surroundings changed. The first thing he noticed was that the space inside the Corruption Field was twice the size of its exterior. The sky had transformed into a black dome shrouded in red miasma, and at the dead center of the Corruption Field floated a black star with a constant silver glow. It was a star made entirely out of energy.
The Corruption Field was deathly silent, with no wind. It was almost as if he had stepped into a black hole.
He could sense an evil presence lingering in the air.
"So, this is a Corruption Field," Grey mumbled as he observed the black star.
It felt slightly different from the one he had seen in school. That one had been completely red, while this one was pitch black.
Out of curiosity, he activated True Origin Insight.
Immediately, the world turned white, and the energy flow of the black star became visible to him.
Coincidentally, the moment he activated True Origin Insight and focused on the black star, his system awakened.
[Your comprehension defies the heavens! You've observed 'Necro Star' containing 'Pure Abyssal Energy' and gained minor insight into the natural workings of the law governing the abyss: the 'Law of Entropy'.]
However, Grey didn't even glance at the message. He was too stunned by the flow and patterns of the Pure Abyssal Energy.