The forest still reeked of blood.
Su Zhe stood motionless, the last lingering warmth of Xiao Hua's flesh still on his fingertips as he was annihilated.
The experiment had failed this time, but it had yielded a great deal.
Not only had he recovered the Devour Points, but, more importantly, he had confirmed beyond doubt that he had absolute control over the Blacklight Virus—and that creating "lesser infected" might be possible.
Although he had failed for now, the path was not a dead end.
It was simply that Xiao Hua's will had not been strong enough.
Su Zhe believed the odds of success would rise significantly if he could exercise finer control or find stronger, more promising "material."
"Psychic Power... Apprentice Level 6..."
Su Zhe closed his eyes and felt the new power within him.
Because he had acquired his Psychic Power by having the Blacklight Virus devour it, rather than possessing it naturally, his Psychic Power was not stored in his mindscape like other humans'.
Of course,
Su Zhe's body was also completely different from a human's.
He was now a mass of virus mimicking a human form. He had none of the fatal weaknesses humans had, so it was only natural that he lacked something like a mindscape.
His Psychic Power spread out like invisible tentacles, reaching toward the surroundings.
The few bullet casings scattered on the ground were enveloped by his power and lifted into the air. Still wrapped in it, they spun rapidly, letting out sharp whooshes.
Compared with the captain's crude Mental Shock and telekinetic object control, Su Zhe felt that his own Psychic Power was more concentrated and more finely controlled. Perhaps that was the result of combining Psychic Power with the Blacklight Virus?
Just as some Special Lifeforms were born with an aptitude for certain abilities, the Blacklight Virus could draw on the strengths of many. Developing a knack for Psychic Power should be no great challenge.
"Let's try this."
At a thought from Su Zhe, the muscles in his back rippled. With a sharp swish, a pair of enormous black-and-red wings patterned with gold unfurled once more, spanning ten meters.
But this time, things were different.
Su Zhe activated his Psychic Power at the same time.
A humming sound rang out!
An invisible psychic field instantly enveloped his enormous wings. Each feather seemed more nimble, wrapped in his Psychic Power.
Su Zhe beat his wings with all his might!
BOOM—!
The sonic boom sounded deeper and more powerful than before.
The ground of the rocky mountain beneath him shattered instantly, cracks spreading like a spiderweb as if it had been struck by a massive hammer. Su Zhe, however, became a streak of black-and-red Flowing Light, nearly impossible to follow with the naked eye, and shot thousands of meters into the sky!
"Awesome!"
Su Zhe let out a triumphant shout.
That was more like it!
Now this was what flying was supposed to feel like!
His Psychic Power at the Advanced General Level, combined with the Black-Crowned Golden Eagle's own explosive speed, didn't quite add up to a simple one-plus-one-equals-two—but in terms of overall speed, he was already no slower than an adult Black-Crowned Golden Eagle!
An adult Black-Crowned Golden Eagle could reach a burst speed of nearly 1,400 meters per second. Even a High-Level War God's burst speed on land was nowhere near that.
He suspected that only a High-Level War God Psychic could compete with his speed now.
And High-Level War God Psychics were usually called Invincible War Gods.
In other words, unless he ran into an Invincible War God, there was practically no stopping him from escaping.
Thanks to the Blacklight Virus, Su Zhe could maintain his top burst speed at all times. His stamina was beyond anything the Black-Crowned Golden Eagle could match. Even if he ran out of energy, devouring a few monsters would restore him to full strength in an instant!
"Whoosh!!!"
The wind howled like knives, slicing at his combat suit, but it couldn't shake Su Zhe in the slightest.
He spread his arms and hovered in the fierce currents high above. His black-and-red, gold-patterned wings stretched out behind him, their sinister colors glowing with an eerie beauty in the sunlight, like those of a fallen angel from hell.
Su Zhe looked down.
Below him stretched an endless range of mountains. County 0231 looked as tiny as a board game, and farther away, he could just make out the silhouette of a military base.
After devouring these five humans, especially the captain, who was a Psychic, Su Zhe could clearly feel that his talent had improved. His ability to sense and use the surrounding air currents had also reached a new level.
The memories of five different people weren't his own experiences, but they still broadened his horizons. They had even helped temper his composure and will.
As expected, devouring humans brought the greatest improvement.
Or rather, intelligent lifeforms were simply more useful than those without intelligence.
Monsters had to reach Lord Level before their intelligence came close to that of humans.
Those beast soldiers and beast generals still had a long way to go.
"I've mastered the First Form of the Ninefold Thunder Blade... but I still haven't obtained the blade form."
Su Zhe mulled it over.
The Nine-Layered Thunder Blade wasn't important for its blade techniques themselves. What mattered was the part about Force Amplitude.
In other words, as long as Su Zhe mastered its Force Amplitude method, he could use it in other forms, such as the Claw Form, even without a blade. He could even use it barehanded.
If he remembered correctly, the manuals on Force Amplitude on Earth were all incomplete, too. In the universe, Force Amplitude also included defense; it wasn't limited to strength and speed.
But unfortunately,
at this point in time, it would be difficult for Su Zhe to obtain cultivation manuals from the universe.
Unless... he created his own.
Though devouring several humans had improved his talent, could he really create something himself?
Su Zhe's thoughts stirred. Even if he couldn't create a manual from scratch, applying the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade's force techniques to other weapons should be no problem.
With that thought, Su Zhe began experimenting.
His right hand transformed into a Silver Wolf Claw as he simultaneously applied the force technique from the First Form of the Ninefold Thunder Blade.
The core of the Ninefold Thunder Blade lay in controlling the body's muscles in an instant to layer multiple bursts of force into an attack.
The first form involved launching the initial attack with seventy percent of one's strength, then instantly unleashing a second seventy-percent burst of hidden force. Together, they amounted to 140 percent of one's physical strength—that is, 1.4 times the body's strength.
Su Zhe tried several times. With his Proficient Level mastery of blade techniques, using the Ninefold Thunder Blade with a bladed weapon was fairly simple, but applying it to claw techniques proved difficult.
His repeated failures didn't discourage him. Instead, they helped him find a way forward.
The talent for creating secret techniques was not the same as the talent for cultivation!
The Ninefold Thunder Blade required a body with tremendous endurance. That was exactly what Su Zhe had in abundance!
RIP—!
Su Zhe clenched his claw and slashed fiercely at the air before him. A force exceeding the Intermediate General Level gathered in his talons and burst forth!
He had done it!
The Ninefold Thunder Blade... no, this had nothing to do with the Ninefold Thunder Blade anymore.
This was a force technique that belonged solely to Su Zhe.
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