Ling Chen’s goal was precisely the Purple Lightning Bat’s “Thunder Wings” characteristic! He needed those bat wings that could control violent currents!
“Alright.” Chen Xue’s voice pulled Ling Chen back to reality from his memories. New bandages were already wrapped, and although they still couldn’t hide his weakness, at least they weren’t bleeding anymore.
Ling Chen opened his eyes and gave Chen Xue a reassuring smile: “Thank you.”
He leaned on the wall and struggled to stand up. Every step seemed so heavy, as if he might collapse at any moment.
“Ling Chen… you must be careful!” Chen Xue’s voice was tearful.
“Don’t worry.” Ling Chen nodded, his gaze sweeping over everyone, “Wait for me… to bring food… back.”
He no longer hesitated, dragging his “exhausted” body, step by step, towards the classroom’s back door, which was tightly blocked by tables, chairs, and storage cabinets. There was a relatively hidden hole there, leading to the downstairs tool room, which had been broken open by a mutated rat earlier.
Li Mingyu and Sun Qiang worked together to move the heavy obstacles.
Ling Chen took a deep breath, bent down, and squeezed out.
His figure disappeared into the depths of the dark corridor.
The door was blocked again.
Inside the classroom, after a brief silence, there were suppressed gasps and worried whispers.
Lin Wei walked to the window and looked out through the broken glass at the campus ruins, which were shrouded in the faint light of the Blood Moon and resembled a ghost domain. Her fingers unconsciously brushed over the cold dust on the windowsill, and her fingertips were stained with a few dark red, long-dried bloodstains.
Her gaze followed that lonely and weak figure struggling to move through the shadows of the ruins.
Until that figure completely merged into the deeper darkness and disappeared.
Lin Wei withdrew her gaze, looked at her blood-stained fingertips, then looked at the dying Wang Lei in the corner, and finally, her gaze fell on the spot where Ling Chen had just been sitting.
There, on the floor, were a few inconspicuous drops of blood, much darker, almost black, than a normal person’s blood.
Her brows furrowed deeply.
…
The shadows of the corridor were like viscous ink.
When the muffled sound of the classroom’s back door being re-blocked was completely cut off behind him, Ling Chen’s originally hunched and weak body, which seemed as if it would fall apart the next second, was suddenly straightened as if by an invisible string!
All trembling, stumbling, and painful groans instantly vanished!
He straightened his back, like a drawn sword, standing steadily in the center of the corridor, which was covered in gravel and broken glass.
The weakness and fatigue on his pale face were like a wiped-off mask, leaving only an icy calm and a pair of astonishingly bright, unfathomably deep dark eyes in the darkness.
Where was there any sign of being critically injured?
He raised his “injured” left arm, his movements fluid and steady, his fingertips brushing over the blood-soaked bandage. With a slight thought, the powerful willpower of the Soul Jade Physique, like the most precise valve, instantly shut off all the tiny blood seepage points in the arm wound.
At the same time, hidden by the bandage, deep within the flesh, countless tiny granulation tissues began to proliferate, intertwine, and reconstruct at an unprecedented speed!
(Deep repair command issued: accelerate wound tissue regeneration)
Strands of itching and a slight burning sensation came from the wound, a sign of super-rapid flesh growth. But this feeling was easily suppressed by Ling Chen’s powerful willpower.
He tilted his ear to listen.
From the depths of the corridor came a faint “shuffling” sound, like fingernails scraping a wall, and suppressed, inhuman growls. They were wandering low-level ghouls.
Ling Chen’s lips curved into a cold arc. Not only did he not hide his aura, but he deliberately released a trace of the cold and primal pressure belonging to a first-level ghoul!
That aura, like the arrival of a predator at the top of the food chain, spread out like invisible ripples.
The “shuffling” sound stopped abruptly!
The growls turned into terrified whimpers!
Several crimson eyes, hidden in the shadows of the corner and eager to move, instantly recoiled as if burned by a hot iron upon sensing this aura!
This was followed by frantic footsteps, like a stray dog fleeing, quickly receding.
The corridor instantly returned to deathly silence.
Ling Chen took a step. His pace was still not fast, but it was no longer light and weak; instead, it was steady and agile, like a leopard before a hunt, landing silently. Each step precisely avoided the debris on the ground, his figure appearing and disappearing in the dappled blood-moonlight cast by the broken window frames.
His destination was clearly the Ling Family Villa.
More precisely, it was the secret room deep in the villa’s basement, which he had converted into a temporary cultivation chamber and where he had devoured Mu Xi. There, he had prepared his “transformation feast”—those “Purple Lightning Bats” that had been artificially created using biotechnology!
Soul Jade Physique!
This was his greatest reliance!
The indestructible core consciousness bestowed by the Soul Jade Physique would be his strongest barrier against the surging bestial frenzy during gene fusion!
Passing through the campus plaza, which looked as if it had been ravaged by a giant beast, and climbing over the collapsed wall, Ling Chen’s figure merged into the shadows of the city’s ruined outskirts like a ghost.
His speed became faster and faster, eventually almost turning into a blurred black shadow, rapidly moving through the broken walls and ruins. The night wind ruffled the fringe on his forehead, revealing a pair of eyes that gleamed with cold and fanatical light in the darkness.
The outline of the villa appeared under the Blood Moon, like a crouching beast.
He didn’t use the main entrance but went around to the back of the villa, skillfully pushing aside a dense patch of vines to reveal a hidden alloy secret door leading to the basement. Fingerprint recognition, iris scan.
“Beep—click.”
The heavy alloy door slid open silently, and a cold draft, mixed with disinfectant, formaldehyde, and… a strong biological stench, rushed out.
Ling Chen stepped into it without hesitation.
The door slowly closed behind him, completely cutting off the red light of the Blood Moon.
Inside the underground secret room, a pale light came on.
More than a dozen huge cylindrical reinforced glass cultivation tanks were neatly arranged, like cold tombstones. The tanks were filled with a faint blue nutrient solution, emitting a weak glow. In each tank, a huge bat, with a wingspan of nearly a meter, hung upside down!
Indeed, Ling Chen’s decision not to immediately devour them after devouring Mu Xi was correct.
They had already mutated, clearly becoming true Purple Lightning Bats. If he could devour them, the enhancement effect would obviously be stronger than devouring them before mutation! The improvement would also be greater!
Their dark purple fur shimmered with a metallic luster under the faint light, and their grotesque snouts and sharp fangs were like poisoned daggers. What was most unsettling were the dense, dark gold patterns, like circuit boards, covering the areas around their closed eyelids!
At this moment, these bats seemed to be in a deep state of hibernation, completely motionless.
Ling Chen walked to the control panel, his fingers quickly sliding across the touchscreen.
“Command confirmed: Terminate nutrient solution circulation.”
“Command confirmed: Inject highly effective anesthetic gas GX-7.”
“Command confirmed: Start live dissection procedure.”
A cold electronic voice echoed in the silent secret room.
The blue nutrient solution in the cultivation tanks rapidly drained. A pale purple anesthetic gas was injected, and the bats in the tanks twitched slightly before becoming completely limp.
A mechanical arm descended from the ceiling, precisely reaching into the tank, grasping a Purple Lightning Bat by the neck, dragging it out, and placing it on the cold metal dissection table that had already been prepared in the center of the secret room.
The sharp alloy scalpel gleamed with a cold light under the lamp.
Ling Chen walked to the dissection table, looking down at the unconscious dark purple creature. His gaze was no longer the gentle or weak look he had when facing his classmates, but rather like the coldest scientist, or the most devout believer, about to perform a sacred and bloody sacrifice.
He reached out and grasped the cold handle of the knife.
The tip of the blade was precisely placed at the Purple Lightning Bat’s heart.
There, a deep purple crystal core, the size of a walnut, with fine purple electric arcs leaping within it, was radiating an alluring and violent energy fluctuation through its fur!
The transformation began.
Under the pale lights of the underground secret room, the metal dissection table reflected a cold gleam. The anesthetized Purple Lightning Bat lay spread out on the table like a dark purple velvet blanket, its dark gold circuit-like patterns faintly visible in its wing membranes. Ling Chen’s hand, holding the scalpel, was as steady as The Boulder, the blade’s tip precisely positioned at the faintly pulsating spot on the Purple Lightning Bat’s chest.
There, a walnut-sized, deep purple crystal core was emitting violent, almost tangible energy fluctuations through its fur! Fine purple electric arcs leaped and flickered within the crystal core, making faint “crackling” sounds, like imprisoned thunder.
There was no hesitation, no mercy. The blade cut through the tough fur and muscle fibers with a soft “hiss.” Dark purple blood, with a strange, sweet, ozone-like smell of something burnt, slowly seeped out. Ling Chen’s movements were fast, precise, and ruthless, like the most accurate instrument, avoiding major blood vessels and nerve bundles, going straight for the target.
The moment the blade tip touched that deep purple crystal core—
“Sizzle—!!!”
A dazzling purple electric arc suddenly burst from the surface of the crystal core! Like a startled poisonous snake, it viciously struck Ling Chen’s wrist, which was holding the knife!
A strong sensation of numbness and burning pain instantly surged! The scalpel almost slipped from his hand!
This was actually a special Heterocrystal with lightning properties!
Ling Chen’s pupils contracted slightly, and the powerful willpower granted by the Soul Jade Physique instantly suppressed his body’s reactive response! Not only did he not retreat, but he tightened his fingers, forcefully enduring the violent current, and plunged the scalpel fiercely into the connection between the crystal core and the flesh!
“Pfft!”
The crystal core was forcibly gouged out!With dripping purple blood and jumping arcs !
Almost the instant the crystal core left its body, the Purple Lightning Bat on the dissection table convulsed violently! Its dark purple eyelids suddenly snapped open! These were not normal eyeballs, but two furiously swirling vortices filled with countless leaping purple electric flashes! A dying, violent, ferocious aura swept out like a storm!
It had actually forcibly awakened for an instant, despite being deeply anesthetized and having its heart removed!
“Roar—!!!”
A sharp roar, piercing the eardrums and mixed with the high-frequency hum of electricity, erupted from its torn throat! The remaining wing membrane flapped wildly, bringing with it a fishy wind smelling of char! Its dark golden patterned claws fiercely swiped at Ling Chen's face! Its speed was like lightning!
The threat of death instantly descended!
A cold light burst from Ling Chen's eyes! He had no time to think; his left hand shot out like an iron clamp, gripping the incoming bat claw tightly!
At the same time, his right hand, holding the still wildly discharging purple crystal core, carried a decisive ruthlessness as he swallowed it whole, as if it were a red-hot branding iron!
"Ugh ah—!!!"
The moment the crystal core, leaping with violent purple arcs of electricity, was swallowed by Ling Chen in an almost self-mutilating manner!
Time seemed to freeze!
An indescribable, extreme pain, as if tearing, burning, and then reshaping the soul, exploded like billions of red-hot steel needles from the point of contact! It instantly swept through every nerve ending in his entire body!
That was not merely physical pain! It was a tearing and reorganization at the genetic level! It was the ultimate torture of life's origin being forcibly twisted, grafted, and plundered!
"Boom—!!!"
Ling Chen's vision was instantly completely swallowed by a pure, violent, all-destroying purple lightning! His body was violently slammed by an invisible giant hammer, arching sharply backward! All his bones emitted a groaning "crack" sound, as if about to shatter under the unbearable pressure!
Countless fine purple electric arcs, like living things, instantly crawled over his exposed skin like wildly growing vines! Wherever they passed, his skin charred and carbonized, and muscle fibers violently spasmed, twisted, and even instantly vaporized under the high-voltage current! The stench of burning flesh permeated the air!
His heart pounded frantically in his chest, like an engine injected with high-voltage current; each beat brought tearing pain! Blood vessels, like pipes about to burst under the impact of violent energy, bulged out under his skin like a spiderweb of bluish-purple lines!
"Hoo... hoo hoo..."
Ling Chen's throat emitted a non-human, gasping sound, like an old bellows.
He gritted his teeth tightly, and a strong metallic taste instantly filled his mouth—his gums were bursting and bleeding under the immense force!
His eyeballs bulged from the extreme pain, the depths of his pupils reflecting leaping purple electric snakes, and his consciousness, like a small boat in a storm, was on the verge of capsizing in the waves of agony!
However, just as his consciousness was about to be completely submerged, on the verge of being torn apart by violent bestiality and electricity!
A cold, solidified willpower, like ten thousand years of profound ice, erupted from the deepest part of his soul!
The Soul Jade Physique!
That indestructible core consciousness, like a stabilizing needle in the sea, firmly anchored his crumbling self!
No matter how genes raged, how bestiality roared, or how electricity destroyed his body, that core "self" remained unmoving like a reef!
Cold, clear, with an undeniable sense of control!
The Soul Jade Physique was activated!
The intense pain still slammed into his nerves like a tsunami, but his consciousness was clearer than ever before! He could even "introspect" the terrifying and magnificent scene unfolding within his body!
The purple crystal core, like a spark thrown into boiling oil, instantly ignited the cold and bloodthirsty energy of the Corpse Ghoul rank already within him! Two completely different forces violently clashed, tore, and annihilated each other within his body!
The purple lightning energy was violent and scorching, rushing wildly through his meridians; wherever it passed, cells were destroyed, and tissues were torn!
And the dark red blood energy belonging to the Corpse Ghoul rank, with its greed to devour all life force, tightly entangled the purple lightning, attempting to assimilate and devour it!
The clash of the two forces unfolded a brutal war within his body! The battlefield was every inch of his flesh and every meridian!
But in this destructive conflict, under the forced guidance and suppression of the Soul Jade Physique's cold will, a faint, strange fusion was quietly occurring at the most intense point of collision!
A trace of dark red blood energy, like the most cunning venomous snake, suddenly wrapped around a wisp of escaped purple electric arc! Instead of the expected annihilation, it began to slowly and arduously... intertwine, like yin and yang complementing each other!
Dark red and deep purple intertwined and spun, finally forming a completely new, dark purple energy, as beautiful as amethyst yet emanating a strange evil aura!
This newborn energy was extremely faint, but it contained unimaginable potential! It was no longer as violent and chaotic as pure lightning, nor as cold and greedy as blood energy, but carried a strange characteristic of... control coexisting with destruction!
The moment this wisp of newborn dark purple energy was born, it was like a stone thrown into a calm lake, rippling outwards!
Ling Chen's body violently shook!
At the position of his shoulder blades, the muscles and bones beneath his skin began to emit a grating "creak" sound, like steel being thrown into a furnace! Intense bulging and deformation appeared under his skin! It was as if something was frantically growing and breaking through!
"Rip—!"
Accompanied by the crisp sound of tearing fabric, two hideous, large wounds, as if cut by a sharp blade, suddenly tore open below his shoulder blades on his back! Dark red blood gushed out like a fountain!
But immediately after, from within the gushing flesh, a pair of dark purple fleshy wings, covered in slippery mucus, as fragile as newborn chicks, yet already vaguely formed, suddenly unfurled like a butterfly breaking free from its cocoon!
The wingspan was not large, only about one meter, and the wing membranes were translucent dark purple, covered with fine, dark golden patterns that pulsed like blood vessels!
At this moment, these patterns flickered with faint purple electric light!
"Ugh ah—!!!"
The intense pain of the wing bones piercing his flesh made Ling Chen let out an extremely suppressed roar! But his eyes burst forth with a light of wild ecstasy!
It worked! The nascent Thunder Wings!
However, the transformation was far from over!
The deep purple crystal core was still deeply embedded in the flesh of his chest, frantically devouring the newborn dark purple energy within him, while also releasing even more violent purple lightning, continuing to damage his body!
Intense pain surged like a tide, almost drowning him. The newborn fleshy wings hung limply, each faint flap bringing heart-wrenching agony.
Ling Chen gritted his teeth tightly, blood from his cracked gums flowing down the corners of his mouth.
The cold will of the Soul Jade Physique was like the strongest dam, firmly resisting the impact of pain and bestiality.
He concentrated all his spiritual energy, guiding that wisp of newborn, faint dark purple energy within him, like guiding the most docile stream, slowly flowing towards the nascent, extremely fragile Thunder Wings.
The dark purple energy seeped into the wing membranes and bones like a sweet dew.
Wherever it passed, the charred flesh began to heal and regenerate at a visible speed!
The dark golden patterns on the wing membranes began to glow with a clearer purple aura! The limp fleshy wings began to become tough and powerful!
At the same time, he no longer suppressed the blood patterns at the corners of his eyes; his eyes returned to dark red, his fingers regrew sharp claws, and his teeth also became incredibly sharp again!
He even bent down and bit into the mutated bat's arm, tearing off a piece of flesh!
The bat trembled violently, releasing even more violent electricity in resistance!
But Ling Chen's will was like cold iron tongs, locking it down tightly!
Traces of pure purple energy, containing the power of the lightning origin, were forcibly drawn out and integrated into his newborn dark purple energy, then transported throughout his body, repairing tissues destroyed by electricity and strengthening every inch of his flesh and bones!
This was a painful and slow process; time slowly passed amidst agony and rebirth.
After an unknown amount of time, when the deep purple crystal core completely lost its luster and turned into grayish-white powder, crumbling from the wound in his chest—
"Whew..."
Ling Chen exhaled a long, slow breath. The breath carried a faint, almost imperceptible scent of char, like burning air.
He slowly opened his eyes.
In the depths of his pupils, the previously incredibly wild red now settled into a subtle, dark purple glow, like abyssal lightning, flashing and then disappearing.
He moved his fingers. His fingertips brushed the air, producing a faint, almost imperceptible static "crackling" sound.
With a slight thought.
"Hum..."
The pair of fleshy wings on his back, covered in dark purple wing membranes and flowing with dark golden electric patterns, silently folded up!
The wing bones softened and contracted, finally perfectly conforming to the area below his shoulder blades, leaving only two faint, dark purple wing marks, like tattoos!
He looked down at his hands. His skin was still pale, but the lines of the muscles beneath his skin seemed smoother and firmer, containing explosive power.
At the same time, besides the blood pattern at the corner of his right eye, another blood pattern had grown at the corner of his left eye, proving that he had advanced to Corpse Ghoul Level 2!
He could clearly feel that every inch of his muscle fibers flowed with a new dark purple energy, a mixture of cold blood energy and violent lightning! This energy was like a dormant beast, quiet yet dangerous.
He tried to gather a trace of energy at his fingertips.
Zzzzt!
An extremely faint, inch-long purple electric arc, like a mischievous electric snake, flashed across his fingertip! A faint smell of ozone filled the air, and the light bulb above his head flickered, almost exploding.
Ling Chen's eyes narrowed! He immediately forcibly suppressed the surging energy within him! The electric arc at his fingertips instantly vanished.
No! Too dangerous!
Lightning ability was an absolute trump card that could not be exposed! At least not before he gained enough power to protect himself!
He had to lock this newly acquired power deep within his body, like the deepest secret! Not even a single trace of it could escape!
He walked to the full-length mirror in the corner of the secret room.