Grey was back home. Evening had already fallen, the last glow of sunset fading beyond the horizon. By now, both his sister and his father, Richard, had returned—Alissa likely just finished her training, while his father had come back from work.
Without pausing, Grey made his way straight to his room and shut the door behind him.
Seeing this, Richard and Alissa exchanged a brief raised eyebrow—but as usual, they quickly returned to their own activities. This kind of behavior from Grey was nothing new.
In Grey's room.
He swiftly threw his dress and entered the shower, the technique he utilized made him sweat a lot with some turning into pure smoke from the heat radiated from his body.
Taking a quick refreshing shower, Grey was now ready to check out his newly found power.
Definer of Heavenly Logic. It was a rare ability which allowed him to comprehend what normal people or even geniuses would struggle to comprehend.
For example, in the moment of life and death he defied the odds and the heaven which is said to be the sole existence that governs the world and comprehended a technique which could utilize his body without wasting energy or a single movement and control the adrenaline to burst out with a speed and power which can only be outputted by someone at Pseudo rank depending on what path they cultivated.
Pseudo-evolvers were those who haven't really reached the threshold of 1st rank and were a bit weaker than a 1st rank evolver at the first level.
"This is a very interesting bug I can utilize." Grey nodded with a matter-of-factly look. If he had a eyeglass then he would definitely try to readjust it with a professional look on his face but unfortunately, he didn't have one.
He had read almost hundreds of web novels and he didn't have any confusions or doubts of what path he should take in the future and what he should do with his heaven defying ability.
It was simple.
First, He will get rich enough to drink energy potions as if they were mere water!
Second, Become the strongest being there is!
And third, forge his own perfect evolutionary path without any flaws!
Now, forging one's own path might seem crazy or even outright impossible, but as a professional web novel reader he was confident in himself to actually build one!
For one thing, he for sure couldn't make himself be compatible with cosmic energy. Since that was the case, should he not try to build his own evolutionary path?
"Maybe I can, but what's the point of that?"
There was a probability that he could in fact deduce a technique that could alter his body to make him compatible with cosmic energy but why would he do that?
He will find an energy even more powerful than cosmic energy and energies utilized by other evolvers!
He believed in his ability whole-heartedly especially after finding out it's true capability with the Truck incident.
"But how will I find one another form of energy though?" Thinking about made Grey's eyes darken.
His aspirations were high but he didn't know where to start.
"Should I start with observing other forms of energies?" Grey mused as he searched up types of energies in the internet using his computer.
With his heaven defying ability, he believed it was definitely within it's capabilities.
Soon, his eyes fell onto the Immortal Evolutionary Path.
Immortal Path was special; they didn't utilize cosmic energy and instead relied on Spiritual energy, which was believed to be superior to cosmic energy. There was no literal way to measure which one was stronger, but people still loved coming up with theories on the internet.
Unfortunately, he couldn't cultivate the Immortal Path; in fact, he had the least compatibility with Spiritual energy—even worse than with cosmic energy.
But he felt like sensing other forms of energy might just help him understand more energy as whole and he might even deduce a technique related to an energy that way.
He had to become an evolver no matter what and he wouldn't settle for anything less.
He had his dreams, one day he would become a being who can swallow the stars and decide the fate of millions with a snap of his hands and roam the starry sky with his body alone like in those novels.
And to reach that goal he had to become a strong and perfect evolver with no errors!
Just then, he heard of the doors to his room opening and there stood his father Richard.
His father, Richard Lockhart, was a man in his thirties with a rough stubble beard, long eyebrows, and steady brown eyes. His face was rather plain, but his body told a different story—broad shoulders, corded muscles, and a presence that made people instinctively second-guess whether he might be an Evolver.
But Richard was no Evolver. He was just an ordinary factory worker, his powerful physique forged from years of hauling heavy loads and grueling labor.
Richard and Grey shared no resemblance, and for good reason—they weren't bound by blood.
Years ago, Richard had found Grey abandoned in front of a public park, just a few months old. Unable to turn his back, he took the infant home and raised him as his own.
"Were you studying for the upcoming Entrance Exam?" Richard asked with a gentle smile as his eyes fell on the glowing screen, evolutionary path materials open before Grey.
"It's good that you've already started preparing. If you can pass, you might even have the chance to become an evolutionary path researcher—and perhaps discover a path of your own." His tone carried warmth, edged with encouragement. "Work hard."
"Yes…" Grey nodded lightly.
In truth, he wasn't preparing for the so-called entrance exam to the top universities in two months' time. What he was really doing was trying to make sense of his newfound abilities—testing the edges of them, searching for the faint outlines of a path he could call his own. But of course, he couldn't exactly tell Richard that.
Richard's smile deepened. "It's time for dinner. Come, I made stir-fried chicken today."
"Yes, Dad." Grey stood up from his chair and followed Richard toward the dining room, leaving the glowing screen behind.
Grey followed his father into the dining room, where his sister was already seated.
Alissa sat across the table, her gaze fixed on her phone, expression cool and unreadable.
"Alissa Lockhart," Grey thought.
Her long, silken white hair shimmered faintly under the warm light, framing a face both delicate and striking. Those deep blue eyes, calm yet piercing, seemed to hold an untouchable sharpness. Every detail of her features blended into a beauty that felt natural, effortless—paired with a poise that drew attention even when she wasn't trying.
This stunning girl was his step-sister. But more than that, she was a prodigy. Invited into the Evolver's Association before even finishing high school, she had already become an official ranker of Nova City.
Only a week ago, she'd earned her license as a ranker. At this pace, it wouldn't be long before she surpassed their father's efforts entirely.
With her status as a First Rank Evolver, she now had the qualifications to take on Association missions—hunting inside those Corruption fields, earning money, carving her place. Grey wouldn't be surprised if she had already started and simply kept it from him and Richard.
This world wasn't normal. It was plagued by a strange power that slowly corrupted everything, gnawing at existence itself. They were known as Corruption Fields.
A Corruption Field appeared without warning—an obsidian rift ringed by writhing streams of crimson energy. It was like the world itself had been slashed open, a festering wound that devoured anything that strayed too close.
From swallowing a single street to consuming an entire town, if left unchecked, a Corruption Field could eventually grow large enough to engulf a whole city.
The only way to eliminate a Corruption Field was to hunt down and destroy the corrupted beings that crawled out of it. Their strength varied, twisted by the level of corruption they carried. Once they were eliminated, the foul energy lingering in their wake had to be cleansed from the core of the fields. Only then would the Field collapse.
In short, it was a plague gnawing at the world itself—an endless disaster that demanded vigilance. Across Blue Star, millions of evolvers were constantly on the frontlines, struggling to keep the Corruption Fields in check.
Richard, however, was just a father at heart. Gentle, caring, and protective, he wanted nothing more than to keep both his children safe. More than anything, he wished Alissa could stay far away from danger until she finished high school and passed her entrance exam.
In short, he wanted her to enjoy the last remnants of a normal youth before stepping onto the harsh path of an evolver.
But Grey knew his sister better than that. Aloof and indifferent on the surface, she was far from heartless. Beneath the cold exterior was a girl who had always carried the burden of wanting to support Richard, even when she was little.
Of course, there was one other detail worth mentioning—Alissa absolutely hated his guts.