Wasteland Lord: Starting from Thirty Days to Live

Vittorio stood behind, watching helplessly as Edmund's back bulged out and his entire abdomen was pierced by tentacles.

Edmund's body fell heavily to the ground. Sleeping Lina pulled out one of the tentacles, looked up at the sky, and let out a strange howl. The sound was like a woman, a child, or some kind of insect buzzing its mouthparts.

"Like an ant trying to shake a tree, utterly overestimating its own strength!"

Sleeping Lina seemed very satisfied with her power, and walked over Edmund's fallen body toward Vittorio and his group.

Vittorio's heart sank; he knew the second simulation would likely end here.

Despite his best efforts, he still couldn't defeat Lina. Perhaps he should think of another way.

Just as Vittorio was mentally preparing himself for the end of the second simulation, the sleeping Lina, who was moving forward, suddenly stopped.

It wasn't that she didn't want to move forward, but rather that something was holding her back.

A hand reached out from the ground and grabbed one of his tentacles tightly. The hand was so strong that it was like an iron nail, pinning her foot to the ground so that she could not take another step forward.

To the astonishment of Vittorio and his companions, Edmund, who lay on the ground seemingly on the verge of death and whom they had already mentally condemned, actually raised his head.

His face showed a death wish, but what was more terrifying than that wish was his unwavering certainty.

He was certain that if he didn't want this thing to leave, then she couldn't leave.

Because Edmund hasn't given permission yet!

Edmund slowly rose from the ground, and one after another, stone pillar-like objects suddenly burst forth from his body, breaking through his clothes and armor, growing out of his body like the carapace of a beetle.

As such a change occurred in him, his aura also rose steadily.

When Vittorio checked the system again, he discovered a startling fact.

[Primal Breakthrough Edmund: Due to his anger exceeding its limits, a certain willpower drove him to unleash the power from the rift that had been stored within him for many years. This outburst was unlike any ordinary cultivation path; it could even be described as a mutation.]

[But regardless, his strength has reached a level comparable to a level three magical beast, and the people in the imprinting area call it—"Heart Forging"!]

Vittorio was puzzled, but he heard Isolde beside him make an incredulous sound.

"Impossible! How could this be! I've never seen anyone break through the mental forging bottleneck in this way!"

Vittorio asked in a low voice what was going on, and Isolde spoke quickly and with a hint of shock, recounting everything he knew.

"Body forging, body shaping, and mind forging: the first three realms of a warrior cultivating a body imprinted with scientific knowledge."

"Generally speaking, someone at the Shaping Realm can serve as a sheriff in a small town, while someone at the Heart Forging Realm is an absolute powerhouse, extremely rare in the entire kingdom."

"The reason I say this is because it represents a qualitative change compared to the previous two realms, namely, the powerhouses of the Heart Forging Realm possess a domain."

field?

Vittorio pondered, and it seemed that there was such a thing in his memory. It was said that the most elite royal knights in the entire kingdom were all experts in the Heart Forging Realm. This knightly order was stationed in the capital year-round and would only attack when the king gave the order.

However, a level-three rift had previously occurred in a major town in the north of the kingdom. Because this town was located on a major transportation route, unlike the insignificant river bends on the border, the fall of that town immediately alerted the entire kingdom.

Upon hearing the news, the king dispatched only an ordinary member of the Royal Knights, who quelled the Level 3 Rift outbreak in one fell swoop.

Of course, such powerful individuals are not just random; the entire Royal Knights Order only has a dozen or so members.

It could be said that such a powerful individual could potentially resolve the Level 3 rift that plagues the Reach all by himself.

Isolde once said that Edmund was a near-third-level ascetic.

However, a near-level three is not a true level three. This step is like an insurmountable chasm. Countless people have wasted their lives before this chasm and have never reached the other side.

However, Edmund did it today, in a fit of extreme anger, though only in a simulation.

Logically, Vittorio should have been excited about this, but observing Edmund's condition from afar, Vittorio felt strange and even terrified.

"Do all cultivators who reach the Mind Forging Realm become like this?"

He was describing Edmund's face as dark and gloomy, and how his entire body was constantly sprouting chunks of rock, as if a bursting mineral vein was hidden within him.

But it was, after all, a human body of flesh and blood, and the fact that rocks kept growing out of it looked very strange.

Isolde's worried voice came from the side.

"That's exactly what I wanted to say. Newly arrived powerhouses usually don't have this kind of appearance. Although he broke through to a new path, it's more like a kind of mutation breakthrough, as if he's been... corrupted. This is very unusual."

Vittorio realized something: Edmund, like him, had been infected by the monster, but had not ultimately become a Soulless One.

Edmund said that he later even frequently sought out battles to leave marks on him from various magical beasts in order to enhance the power within his body.

Could this be the reason why Edmund's breakthrough was so unusual?

Vittorio didn't know, and he couldn't understand.

But one thing is certain: despite some unpleasant consequences, Edmund has become stronger, much stronger! Not just ordinary stronger!

The sleeping Lina became extremely frantic when she saw one of her tentacles being grabbed and her steps blocked.

He hated the man behind him who was like an insect. Despite repeatedly crushing him with his feet, he could not kill him completely. In fact, after being seriously injured, he stood up again!

This time, the man not only stood up, but also underwent some strange changes.

Sleeping Lina knew that if she didn't deal with the man in front of her, she wouldn't be able to kill everyone else.

So she turned around and used the same trick again, activating her tentacles and shooting them straight at Edmund's abdomen. This trick worked last time, and it worked again this time!

Edmund's abdomen, which had just been filled with rocks, suddenly opened up wide again.

Vittorio's eyes showed anxiety and doubt.

Didn't you say you'd become stronger? Didn't you say you'd break through? Why are you still like this?

However, Isolde, who was standing beside him, saw through something and pulled Vittorio back.

"Don't rush, look!"

Vittorio looked in the direction Isolde pointed and saw that the sleeping Lina, whose abdomen was originally protected by eight tentacles and was practically impenetrable, now had a huge wound appear out of nowhere!

It was as if a god had vanished into thin air and delivered a fatal blow to her from the sky!

The sleeping Lina herself screamed in disbelief, letting out cries of pain!

"What's going on?" Vittorio asked, puzzled.

But Isolde laughed.

"As I said, the strength of the Mind Forging Realm lies in its domain, and Edmund's domain has already unfolded."