Chapter 570: Zhu's Metamorphosis

Unfortunately, the swan proved to be a disappointment. Sensing the enormity of Zhang Lie's strength, the swan waddled off cradling its injured wing, without the strength or courage to keep fighting.

"Die!" Zhang Lie activated his dragonwolf and blood ant soulshards, then sent a frightening blow of sword energy down toward the swan.

The injured swan was bisected cleanly. Zhang Lie poked around the swan's corpse until he found its heart, which had already blackened. Countless black roots trailed around the connected arteries and veins.

Despite the fact that the swan's body had been bisected, its heart continued to beat, filled with a tremendous amount of energy. The swan might not have fully become a disaster-grade lifeform, but its heart was already turning into a disaster-grade core—it wouldn't be able to contain so much energy otherwise.

Had the swan continued to fight, it would likely have turned into a true disaster-grade lifeform.

In that case, would it be possible that other peak-grade lifeforms might evolve with their lives on the line when pushed to the limit? Perhaps Zhang Lie might be able to farm disaster-grade lifeforms in such a fashion...

He retrieved the swan's blackened heart and stored it away before leaving the chamber in search of Zhu.

Zhu sighed in relief when she saw Zhang Lie leave the ruined chamber. "You scared me to no end! I saw a whole bunch of lifeforms rush into the chamber, and I was so worried!"

Zhang Lie rolled his eyes at her. "They were nothing more than small fry, no matter their quantity. Let's go find somewhere quiet."

"Won't this do?"

The lifeforms had rushed into the castle following the swan's cries. Either they had died, or they had morphed into Zhang Lie's most loyal guards. Indeed, this was the safest location around.

Zhang Lie found a comfortable spot, warned Zhu to stay away, and began absorbing the swan's core. He cut his palm with his sword, then dripped blood onto the core. The moment it touched the core, the blood was quickly absorbed into its interior. It sucked up more and more of Zhang Lie's blood until it turned blood-red.

Then, Zhang Lie closed his eyes and began pouring concentrated, black genetic energy from his body into the core.

After he swallowed the core, Zhang Lie's skin turned red. Steam hissed from his body, and black pricks of energy dotted his skin. His capillaries turned black, but only for a split second. Soon, he seemed perfectly normal.

After all, the swan wasn't yet fully a disaster-grade lifeform, and it only ended up providing five disaster gene fragments. Zhang Lie absorbed all that potency within a few moments.

However, the encounter with the swan had been particularly important to Zhang Lie.

The disaster gene fragments were vital for his advancement, of course, but more important was the strategy he had stumbled on that would allow him to quickly amass such fragments. No longer did he have to search the entire world for pre-formed disaster-grade lifeforms—he could just make them himself!

Zhang Lie found Zhu sitting in front of a firepit, cooking part of the giant mistmeld clam he had slain.

While she was with him, they never lacked for food. Zhu had a rich diet of peak-grade lifeforms. Initially, she was too weak to consume much of the rich fare, but her body and appetite had grown considerably since then.

The thin, skinny girl who was barely able to avoid being blown away by a gust of wind had grown strong and healthy.

"Are you done so quickly this time around?" Zhu asked curiously. "I didn't notice anything unusual, either. Have you finished the absorption?"

"It wasn't a full disaster-grade lifeform, so the absorption was more or less trivial."

"Well, I'm almost done cooking, so you're just in time!" Zhu waved a hand at him, beckoning him closer.

Half the clam was roasting above the fire, steam hissing as it left the clam meat. Zhang Lie sniffed as he approached the fire. "You added some alcohol?"

Zhu nodded. "Just a little bit."

Seeing that the clam was just about ready, Zhang Lie reached for it with a hand. It wasn't particularly hot to him; with his current strength, he was impervious to regular flame. He cut apart the clam meat into small pieces, and a fragrant odor wafted into the air.

Zhu picked up a pair of chopsticks and had a bite, sighing in enjoyment.

Zhang Lie ate some of the meat as well. Zhu's cooking was quite good. She had added a few spices—he tasted the notes of garlic, chili, and pepper, as well as the alcohol she had mentioned.

Seafood was best when hot and piping, with a freshness unique to its kind. The garlic, chili, and pepper blended seamlessly with the taste and mouthfeel of the clam meat, leading to a veritable explosion of flavor when ingested.

Zhu dug in with gusto.

"Zhu?" Zhang Lie noticed the problem rather quickly. Zhu's strength had improved, but she still shouldn't have been able to consume so much peak-grade meat. If she ate too much, she would turn red like a boiled prawn, a reflection of the fact that her body wasn't well equipped to handle so much rampant energy.

As she continued to eat, however, her eyes took on the sheen of a rainbow, an enticing fragrance emanated from her body, and her sea-blue hair seemed to be wreathed in colored mist.

Zhu was evolving, bit by bit.

Zhang Lie had seen this sort of evolution before on Mt. Wanren, when the crag eagles consumed some golden roc meat and began turning golden themselves. However, their evolution was far less intense and immediate than what Zhu seemed to be undergoing now.

This sort of evolution had only been reported to occur for alien races, whose evolution was linked to consuming particularly compatible flesh. Most alien races could only grow stronger by cultivation and training, but they were limited by the fundamental restrictions of their race. Only a rare few could hope to overcome those barriers.

Of course, there were some exceptional alien races, such as the sura and the rock spirits, who boasted different routes to evolution of their own.

Many alien races, however, were unable to find such routes to evolution—or rather, for whom such routes didn't exist. As a result, they had to grow stronger only incrementally, battle after battle.

As a result, growing stronger was much harder for them than for humans.

Humans started at a lower baseline, but as long as they didn't die, they could keep amassing gene fragments, progress through the realms, and ultimately reach the level of a sura king after a few decades.

However, members of the alien races were largely incapable of realizing such a feat, considering that the flesh of genetic lifeforms was of little more use to them than ordinary food. It wasn't completely useless to them, but trying to get stronger by eating the flesh of genetic lifeforms was a much slower and much less efficient process than extracting gene fragments outright, as humans did—unless these alien races could find the flesh of particularly compatible lifeforms to consume.

Doing so would allow them to augment their genes and strengthen their body from a genetic level, allowing them a straightforward route toward evolution. However, there were millions of species in the second realm, and perhaps only a hundred of those at most would provide such an effect.

This route to strength was a perilous and highly variable one, which required persistence and no small amount of luck. One generation—even a hundred generations—might not be sufficient to find a suitable match.

However, once that match was found, these alien races would have a chance to undergo a massive evolution in strength, unlocking newfound talents that would herald the rise of their race...