Ying'er could also absorb the energy of the Six-Slash Zombie, which filled him with pleasant surprise.
After Ying'er finished evolving, Zuo Feng observed closely and found four circles of crimson patterns in Ying'er's eyes. The fourth circle was clearly one step away from fully forming, but it was precisely this step that brought Ying'er to the stage of being one step away from becoming a four-ring mutated zombie.
Next was Huo Er, who also evolved to the stage of being one step away from four vertical slashes.
However, Huo Er's evolution this time was more significant. Firstly, the patterns on his body, fur, fangs, and eyes all underwent drastic changes, turning from their original Black to a glazed color, like burning glazed flames swirling around his body, emitting a scorching aura as if capable of burning everything.
The patterns on his body also had a bloodline running through them. Huo Er not only gained an increase in strength but also a qualitative leap in his flames.
After Huo Er completed his evolution, it was Mu'er. Mu'er was now at the stage of three and a half vertical slashes. After absorbing the Six-Slash Zombie's energy, Mu'er's evolution also stalled at the critical point of being half a step away from entering four vertical slashes.
Its changes were not significant; a faint bloodline appeared within the emerald patterns on its body, as if a dormant Veins had been awakened, and subtle specks of crimson were faintly visible in its emerald eyeballs.
After Mu'er completed its evolution, Zuo Feng turned his gaze to Black.
After Black devoured the Six-Slash Zombie, he also evolved to the stage of being one step away from four vertical slashes. Black's changes were extremely subtle; almost no abnormalities could be seen on the surface, and even the bloodline within the Black patterns on his body was as deep as a dark night, almost impossible to detect without close inspection.
A faint hint of crimson flickered in his dark pupils, like a glimmer in the abyss, sending shivers down one's spine.
Zuo Feng nodded thoughtfully. One or two could be a coincidence, but six in a row getting stuck at the stage of being one step away from four vertical slashes was clearly not accidental.
Zuo Feng's gaze involuntarily turned to the last unevolved variant—Earth.
After Earth absorbed the Six-Slash Zombie's energy, Earth also failed to break through that barrier, still remaining at the stage of being one step away from entering four vertical slashes.
However, a dark red bloodline quietly emerged within the earthy yellow patterns on its body, like lava flowing from a crack in the Earth, subtly revealing a heavy and ancient aura.
Earth's aura was as stable as a mountain, as if it had merged with the Earth.
Zuo Feng frowned slightly, and a bold conjecture vaguely surfaced in his mind: seven variants simultaneously absorbing the same energy yet all being blocked at the same stage should be related to his own strength.
After all, Zuo Feng's current strength was just one step away from lighting the third Lotus Seed. Perhaps it was precisely because he was stuck at the threshold of the third Lotus Seed that these variants were unable to truly enter the four vertical slashes level.
They were all subdued by him, and their power was limited by his own strength, at most only one level higher than his.
However, this was only a conjecture. In two or three days at most, he would be able to fully light the third Lotus Seed, and then he would be able to verify whether this conjecture was correct.
If, after his breakthrough, these variants also uniformly entered the four vertical slashes level, then the conjecture would be confirmed.
Zuo Feng further catalyzed a Six-Slash Zombie, wanting to see if the variants could continue to absorb. The result was that the variants instinctively transmitted a message refusing to absorb, clearly, they could only absorb the Six-Slash Zombie's energy once; further absorption would be useless.
Zuo Feng pondered for a moment, then stopped the experiment, allowing Ying'er to retrieve the loss crystal and then kill the Six-Slash Zombie, obtaining an eight-line zombie crystal.
At this moment, Da Bai Tu, who was smiling and carefully examining Kong Ling, turned her head and asked Zuo Feng:
Xiao Nan Ren, how should the remaining pathogens be dealt with?
There were a hundred pathogens transported by Lu Zhuoyan, all on the verge of eruption.
Aside from the life crystal, there was probably no other way to treat them.
Zuo Feng naturally couldn't use life crystals to treat these pathogens, not to mention that the life crystals he had were far from enough.
Moreover, Zuo Feng was not a saint mother to use precious life crystals to save these pathogens that were about to erupt.
He coldly swept his gaze, having already made a decision in his heart.
Although these pathogens couldn't be cured, they could produce eight-line zombie crystals!
As for the Six-Slash Zombie's torso, although it was also a precious material, perhaps usable for forging level-eight weapons, its regenerative ability made Zuo Feng hesitate to try it easily. These pathogens would be directly catalyzed, and after they erupted, their loss crystals would be harvested.
Zuo Feng's lips curled slightly, revealing a hint of coldness, "Catalyze them all. Once they evolve into Six-Slash Zombies, retrieve their loss crystals, then kill them all, leaving none behind."
As Zuo Feng's words fell, Da Bai Tu nodded with a smile, clearly not surprised by this decision.
The girls also quickly took action. This time, the venue was chosen on an outdoor open space, and the seven withered corpses from the first floor were also transported to the outdoor open space.
As the remaining ninety-odd pathogens were successively catalyzed, their loss crystals retrieved, and then killed, more than ninety Six-Slash Zombie corpses piled up on the open space, emitting a strong, withered, and decaying aura.
In the hands of the girls, there were also more than ninety eight-line zombie crystals!
Zuo Feng stood at the edge of the open space, silently gazing at the mountain of corpses before him, yet there were no fluctuations in his heart. He coldly ordered, "Huo Er, burn them all!"
Receiving the command, Huo Er raised his hands, and two glazed flames, like roaring giant dragons, swept out, instantly igniting the entire open space.
As the flames churned, the corpses turned to ashes in the blaze, and the air was filled with a pungent burnt smell.
By this time, it was noon. Zuo Feng no longer lingered, leading the girls back to the two floors of the base.
Outside the bedroom, the companion beasts were still sound asleep on the rocking bed, but the number of vertical slashes on their foreheads was also one step away from four vertical slashes.
Ying Xingxing and Ying'er couldn't see how many circles of patterns were in their eyes because they were closed, but it was undoubtedly also one step away from four circles.
Clearly, the strength of the companion beasts and the strength of their variants evolved synchronously.
However, the girls couldn't help but feel a little worried. Even evolution didn't wake these little beasts, indicating that their consumption in the previous battle was too immense.
After lunch, Rou Moyu, Tie Zhenshan, and Mao Wudi came together again. Rou Moyu was followed by two women, who were Rou Moyu's confidantes and also the Deputy Leaders of Glory Capital.
A trace of shock still lingered in the eyes of Tie Zhenshan and Mao Wudi. When Rou Moyu confessed to them today that she was a symbiotic zombie virus carrier, it frightened them quite a bit.
After all, Rou Moyu's identity was too special; once something happened to Rou Moyu, the entire H City would fall into chaos.
But what shocked the two even more was that Zuo Feng actually had a way to completely cure the symbiotic zombie virus, and while curing it, he could also transform Rou Moyu into a Super Individual whose strength was comparable to a strong person who had lit eight Lotus Seeds.
To Tie Zhenshan and Mao Wudi, this was nothing short of a fantasy.
However, they dared not easily question Zuo Feng's words, as the strength and methods Zuo Feng displayed had long surpassed their cognitive scope.
Today, they came first to bring the strong people from the base who had lit Six Lotus Seeds to break through, and second to witness whether Zuo Feng could truly accomplish this almost impossible feat.
Rou Moyu's expression was calm, but a hint of anticipation and apprehension was hidden in her eyes. She handed a cloth bag to Zuo Feng and softly said, "Inside are 20 seven-line zombie crystals. These two are the two Deputy Leaders of my base. With their, Mao Wudi's, and Tie Zhenshan's witness, Left Leader Zuo can rest assured that even if this experiment fails and something happens to me, Glory Capital will not cause trouble."