Greatest Legacy of the Magus Universe

Chapter 1388: Courting Death

Adam raised the fruit to his lips and bit down.

The flesh burst apart with a heavy, wet crunch. Thick, crimson juice flooded his mouth. It felt warm, metallic, and unbearably rich. The taste was overwhelming, to say the least.

It was like raw life force compressed into matter. The moment he swallowed, vitality surged through his body.

His frail body reacted instantly. His muscles tightened, and sunken flesh filled out. Cracked skin knitted together at a visible pace. His heartbeat thundered wildly, sending blood roaring through his veins that had long been starved.

Warmth spread from his chest to his limbs, pushing back the exhaustion, hunger, and pain. For a brief moment, it felt as though his body was being reborn. The feeling was far more potent than what he’d experienced in the Tsuitsui Clan.

Then something changed...

The vitality did not stop flowing, but it did begin to accumulate. It was too much, and it was too fast. The energy turned heavy and oppressive. It was no longer nourishing. It had become invasive.

Adam’s face contorted in a grimace as his wounds reacted first to the sudden change. Around the torn flesh of his shoulders, the skin darkened further. More black veins spread out like crawling roots.

And then, from the edges of the wound, thin, slick tendrils began to emerge!

They writhed weakly as if a newborn entity testing the air. A deep ache gnawed at Adam’s bones. His muscles spasmed as foreign impulses ran through his nerves.

The vitality of the fruit still continued to pour in, reshaping him without restraint, blurring the line between healing and something else.

Adam clenched his teeth as the tendrils on his shoulders thickened.

The fruit had given him life.

But it had also given him corruption!

The six-winged serpent had claimed that every forest, every river, and every creature that once thrived in this valley did not vanish. They were all consumed, their vitality drawn into the unholy tree. The vitality of the valley and all that grew here were condensed into fruits that grew on the unholy tree.

Moreover, this valley was the domain of the abomination. So how could something that grew here not be corrupted?

The serpent also mentioned that these fruits were meant to be consumed by the great one from the Beyond. It was guarding the unholy tree for that singular purpose.

Of course, Adam knew that the great one mentioned by the serpent was none other than the abomination residing in the depths of the Dark Valley.

As for why it needed to consume these fruits? He did not know.

But that did not matter now.

Adam knew that the fruits, despite containing nigh-boundless vitality, had been corrupted. He knew that the chances of his being marked by the corruption were high if he were to consume the fruit.

So then why did he do it?

The answer lay in the Five Elemental Codex!

Legend has it that in the beginning, when all things were in chaos and raw mana ran rampant, five fundamental elements emerged to shape the world.

Air, gentle yet powerful, brought movement and change. It danced across the void and shaped the world.

Water, soft yet unyielding, filled the cracks and hollows left behind. Together, air and water carved rivers and oceans.

Earth, solid and steadfast, formed the foundation upon which all life would stand. It sculpted mountains, valleys, and plains.

Fire brought light and warmth. It blazed across the world, igniting life and driving away the primordial darkness.

Last came wood, the element of vitality and growth. Forests emerged, jungles flourished, and life finally took root. Wood bound the other elements together, maintaining balance among them.

With the union of the five elements, life was born.

From chaos came order.

The Five Elemental Codex was created based on this very principle. It allowed the user to extract mana from the surroundings in the most optimal way possible.

The Codex siphoned the mana from the five fundamental elements and allowed the user’s mana to take the characteristic of the fusion of these five elements. The more Adam practiced this mana extraction technique, the purer his mana became.

Balance. That was the cornerstone of the Five Elemental Codex.

And that was Adam’s solution to counter the corruption!

He did not panic. He circulated the Five Elemental Codex the moment the corruption began to overtake him.

Within his body, mana shifted. The refined, orderly, and pure mana that he had cultivated for years responded instantly, flowing according to the principles etched deep into his body.

Inside of him, pure elemental mana and otherworldly corruption collided repeatedly.

His flesh cracked, then healed. His veins darkened, then cleared. Tendrils tried to grow and take root, only to wither away.

Adam’s body was constantly adapting!

The clash between the two forces lasted for hours... or perhaps, weeks... maybe months.

Pure elemental mana pressed down from all sides, while the corruption resisted desperately, until it was crushed, diluted, and neutralised.

When the process ended, the black veins had receded. The tendrils had dissolved. His wounds had healed, leaving only faint scars.

At last, his body had been stabilized. The Five Elemental Codex had brought his body to balance, eradicating the corruption without destroying the immense vitality he had absorbed from the fruit.

Adam exhaled heavily.

His frail, emaciated body slowly filled out. Sunken muscles tightened and rebuilt themselves into lean, functional strength. The hollows in his face filled in, restoring sharp but healthy features.

His skin, once pale and stretched thin over his bones, now smoothed out and regained a natural tone, free of blemishes and decay. His hair and beard, dull and brittle from years of malnourishment, darkened and regained their luster.

Although his height had been slightly diminished, a lasting mark of the long deprivation his body had endured over the years. And, of course, he was still missing a pair of eyes.

By the time his transformation ended, Adam no longer looked like a man on the verge of death. He appeared youthful again. He was now lean, balanced, and whole.

His body had reached equilibrium, perfectly aligned under the harmony of the Five Elemental Codex.

Adam turned towards his shoulder and sensed the faint scars. In the end, the corners of his lips curled upward ever so slightly, and he let out a light chuckle.

”Perhaps, I should stop courting death so often...”