Mind Force

Chapter 15: Mind Force

On the third floor of the law office, the classically patterned floor and artfully painted walls were now stained with shocking blood, severed limbs, and fragments of internal organs. Every trace of the carnage sent terror deep into one's soul. By now, there was no normal person left in the third-floor corridor—only more than a dozen crimson monsters crouched on the ground, devouring flesh and blood.

Suddenly, some of the mangled corpses on the floor rose one after another as though reanimated. Some of the crimson-fleshed monsters transformed into black-fleshed monsters. They no longer fed on the corpses that had abruptly risen, instead leaving one after another.

Only a small number of crimson monsters grew increasingly dark red, their muscles becoming tighter and denser. Before long, the exposed crimson muscles grew skin like that of ordinary humans. Their bulky bodies shrank down, restoring them to bodies no different from normal people's—except their eyes were entirely blood-red, filled with bloodthirsty desire.

These were the mutants Mu Xiao had mentioned.

Those monsters that had transformed into black flesh were the lowest-ranked zombies.

Mutants were half-failed products of evolution into new humans, living composites whose seas of consciousness were filled with loneliness, resentment, selfishness... and all manner of negative emotions. Yet mutants possessed intelligence. Having lost their humanity, they craved fresh flesh and blood. Their entire bodies were weapons, and they evolved by devouring superior genes, which gave them a wide variety of abilities. To put it bluntly, their abilities were too mixed. If they devoured more and more high-grade flesh without exploding to death, they would become extremely terrifying beings.

However, in the early stages, mutants could not possibly live in groups. They would even attack their own kind and devour each other's flesh to evolve to a certain degree. Once one became a "king," it could command other low-level mutants and zombies.

Zombies were failed products whose genes had completely collapsed after becoming carriers of the deteriorated PB Virus. Their genes remained in a state of hunger at every moment, yet they would not die. Therefore, they instinctively hungered to devour any flesh and blood. No matter how badly damaged their bodies were, as long as their brains and hearts had not been completely destroyed, they could repair their broken bodies by consuming flesh and blood.

Thus, every living being was their target. They generally would not actively attack other zombies, unless one of their kind had died completely. Only then would they devour a fellow zombie's corpse.

If zombies consumed enough flesh and blood, they had a chance to repair their genes and evolve into mutants.

Zombies carried the PB Virus. Ordinary people could easily be infected if they were injured by them, while new humans possessed a certain degree of immunity. The PB Virus in mutants had already changed. If one was unfortunate enough to be injured by a mutant but treated the wound properly in time, there was basically no risk of infection. But if the wound was not handled properly and worsened, the PB Virus would lose balance and deteriorate, turning the victim into a biochemical monster.

However, injuries inflicted by mutants were not so easy to heal.

The human body could resist the PB Virus invading its bloodline genes, but the strength of that resistance depended on one's power. Once the damage caused by the virus exceeded one's own strength, one would still become a walking corpse.

In the bathroom, Mu Xiao lay in a bathtub continuously filling with cold water. The full tub had nearly submerged his head, yet he remained completely unaware, deeply asleep. Gradually, his brainwaves replaced his heartbeat, and their frequency began rising at an alarming rate.

They rose and rose... transforming into brainwaves that surged upward at high speed. Soon, their frequency broke through the absolute limits of ordinary humans. His sea of consciousness seemed like a golden ocean, radiating a vast, pure, sacred aura like that of a supreme deity. It was as if his sea of consciousness had surpassed mortal limits and ascended into that of a god.

Faint golden blood threads emerged across his shattered and reconstructed body. As his rapidly rising brainwaves accelerated the repair of his body, they optimized his bloodline genes and strengthened his cellular immunity. His bloodline also gained an endless devouring trait.

On the first day, the first generation of zombies had completed their evolution. Mutants had also begun genetic fusion, and their minds gradually regained awareness. However, they had already lost their humanity. They possessed only evil thoughts, darkness, and an instinctive craving for fresh flesh and blood... Humanity's survivors on Earth welcomed their first terrifying night.

The world under nightfall became a nightmare humanity would never forget. Horror and fear filled everyone's hearts. The entire night was packed with heart-rending cries and shrill, miserable screams, rising and falling like a black tsunami without a moment's pause. There was only tragedy and despair...

The night was the monsters' paradise. Their strength increased dramatically in the darkness, and like life-reaping demons, they swallowed countless living people in an instant.

Only a small number of people obtained weapons and fought back desperately. During battle, they awakened their new human genes and gained the "innate abilities" hidden within their genetic potential—the so-called "superpowers." The type of innate ability determined the extent and direction of a new human's potential for cultivating "Source Force Martial Arts" and "Soul Secret Arts" in the future.

At long last, humanity welcomed the morning of the second day. The mutated monsters also quieted down. Zombies wandered aimlessly through the streets, lifeless and dull. Only when they saw fresh flesh and blood would they become vigorous as though injected with stimulants, chasing down their prey.

But by the afternoon of the second day, most people's firearms had stopped functioning, and all machines could no longer operate normally. Only cold weapons remained usable. Yet because firearms were gone, more people awakened their new human genes and gained innate abilities for self-preservation through close combat with monsters.

On the afternoon of the third day, a low pop sounded from the bathroom where Mu Xiao was.

Centered on Mu Xiao, invisible currents of air rippled outward. The water curled into whirlpools and floated up. Strange changes occurred throughout the bathroom as all the smaller objects slowly rose into the air. His cracked body rapidly healed. The swirling airflow grew slightly stronger, sending objects in the air crashing about. Water droplets filled the surroundings, colliding and splitting apart, then merging together again.

Second by second, the skin outside Mu Xiao's body fully healed. His internal organs, eyes, and eardrums were also reconstructing themselves and returning to life, becoming even stronger than before.

Mu Xiao's heart completed its reconstruction and began to beat slowly. Every time his heart beat, the invisible airflow rippled once.

The magnetic field in the room grew increasingly powerful. Nearly every object floated up, except for the bathing robot, which swayed without rising. At that moment, Mu Xiao's entire body had finished reconstructing. Every muscle on him was sharply defined, like steel blocks yet resilient. The powerful thump-thump of his heart was as loud as war drums beating within his body.

Mu Xiao's breathing was long and heavy, his vitality abundant. He was like a slumbering ferocious beast.

Clatter, clatter...

A series of objects hit the floor. Mu Xiao suddenly opened his eyes, and a bright golden gleam shot out. The faint gold in his eyes dimmed, returning to a deep black. Flashes of sharpness flickered within them from time to time, bright and dazzling as stars, captivating anyone who looked at them.

Mu Xiao closed his eyes and accepted the information about his body fed back by his brain.

When he opened his eyes again, their sharpness and brilliance had become utterly ordinary.

"Is this the power brought by the Miracle Serum? Or is it the innate ability I awakened?" Mu Xiao looked around at the objects scattered across the floor and lightly raised a hand. Under the control of his thoughts, every object on the ground floated up.

Mu Xiao frowned, as if he had noticed something wrong. With a thought, he said, "Destroy!"

The floating objects seemed to be torn apart, crushed, and compressed by an invisible giant hand... In his mental perception, every floating object was shattered into pieces.

At that moment, a wave of hunger swept through his body.

"So this is my innate ability. It contains the traits of thought source force and mental power... The formula really was genuine! This Miracle Serum altered my bloodline genes, giving me enormous potential to cultivate both Soul Secret Arts and Source Force Martial Arts!"

Thought source force possessed strong cohesion, allowing it to control certain objects and serve as a means of attack. Mental power was equivalent to a person's consciousness, thoughts, and intelligence. Its range of diffusion was greater than thought force, its ability to receive external information was stronger, and it possessed great flexibility. It could also develop numerous abilities, such as hypnosis, illusions, perception, and detection. Mental power was used to sense one's surroundings and was mostly suited for support.

"Thought source force" drew upon the body's combined energy of essence, qi, spirit, and blood. The greater one's physical strength, the greater one's thought force. It possessed extremely strong combat traits, but lacked the detection and perception traits of mental power.

Mu Xiao could fully cultivate a scripture from the future Age of Evolution called "Mind Force," a martial and secret art that could strike at close range and attack the soul. However, when he had just used thought source force and mental power, merging the two forces into mind force, the hunger flooding his body gave him an uneasy premonition. He could only stop this cultivation that had stirred his heart and blood.

Mu Xiao had once killed several new human cultivators, so he naturally remembered this scripture. Most importantly, his abilities were "thought source force" and "pure mental power." In the future, many abilities contained mental power, but people with "pure mental power" were rare, because "pure mental power" was the source of all psychic abilities.

"Mind Force" was a scripture researched by a powerful expert during the future Age of Evolution. In that era, many cultivation scriptures could be purchased, and many people had already developed mature cultivation methods. However, not everyone possessed abilities with both "source force" and "mental power" traits.

Some people could only cultivate two compatible abilities. Though they still had a certain degree of power, they could not achieve the immense might envisioned by the expert who had created "Mind Force." However, if Mu Xiao fused his "thought force" and "pure mental power" in cultivation, he would be someone truly capable of unleashing the full power of "Mind Force."

Other forms of mental power all possessed certain specialized traits, with highly targeted effects. Only "pure mental power" had no specialized trait. Yet pure mental power could develop every psychic trait and could restrain all psychic abilities. Of course, one had to gain sufficient insight before one could develop every psychic trait.

"Source Force Martial Arts" and "Soul Secret Arts" were cultivation methods of orthodox realms. The former originated from bloodline genes, while the latter originated from the soul and spirit. "Mind Force" contained both thought source force and mental power traits, which meant he possessed the potential to cultivate both Source Force Martial Arts and Soul Secret Arts. But cultivation was not so simple. At the very least, he had to become a new human, optimize his bloodline genes until they resonated with his own soul, and establish a solid cultivation foundation before he could formally cultivate the realms of evolution.

Mu Xiao recalled the classifications of the early Age of Evolution.

The physique type, mental type, transformation type, source force type, spiritual intelligence type, spatial type, and mysterious type. But Mu Xiao came from the future era at the end of evolution, and he knew very well that all these abilities would ultimately develop into the final cultivation paths of Source Force Martial Arts and Soul Secret Arts.

But he had yet to complete the "Foundation Establishment" realm of a New Human, so in the early stages, his abilities would still be his main means. Once he successfully established his bloodline genes, he would possess a cultivation path far ahead of countless New Humans. In truth, Mind Source Force—also known as psychic force—could already be called king among the many source forces. As far as early-stage evolutionary abilities went, it was an exceptional power.

As for Mu Xiao's current abilities, aside from psychic force, they also contained certain traits of the spiritual system, such as detection and perception. As he developed his abilities further, these traits would become increasingly pronounced and might even accommodate more things, laying the finest foundation for Soul Secret Arts.

"Even among the powerhouses of the future era of evolution, very few possessed the innate talent to cultivate both the soul and martial arts. That must be one of the benefits brought by the Miracle Serum." Mu Xiao switched to his spiritual power and sensed his own body. He discovered that his physique had already reached the peak of the Earth Federation's highest classification, SSS-grade. He was only a step away from breaking through into a New Human physique.

But Mu Xiao knew that beyond an SSS-grade physique lay only the first step of a New Human's physical body, merely the prerequisite for entering the top-tier physique of a New Human. Moreover, he had not yet reached the "Foundation Establishment" realm. His genetic evolution level was only in its initial transformation stage; his bloodline genes had yet to resonate with his soul and his own potential.

"My innate abilities, Mind Source Force and spiritual power, can eventually be cultivated into the secret arts and martial arts of 'Mind Force.' Perhaps I cannot cultivate them at my current realm, but I can merge Mind Source Force and spiritual power to produce Mind Force's initial might. However, it would cause great harm to my body, so it can only be used as a trump card. I'll call those two abilities Mind Force."

Mu Xiao had a feeling that his potential was not limited to this. There was a good chance he possessed more than just the talent to cultivate both secret arts and martial arts through Mind Force. After all, the Miracle Serum could not possibly be a bloodline with only one bug-like effect. Could its effects really end there?

Moreover, Mu Xiao recalled Water Bailan's true origins. Her blood had originally been a divine treasure, containing the genes of countless races. Her original blood, in particular, had been combined with more than a dozen extinct and precious medicinal herbs. If that still could not produce heaven-defying potential, Mu Xiao truly wanted to return to the future and curse out those damned freaks for whatever the hell they had created.

"Now that I'm a New Human, the right path is to quickly increase the number of evolutionary resonances. Otherwise, neither Source Force martial arts nor Soul Secret Arts can be cultivated."

With the help of a future heaven-defying creation like the Miracle Serum, Mu Xiao becoming a New Human was only natural. But if he wanted to cultivate his realm, he still had to go through the initial stage of this era, following a path much like killing monsters and leveling up in a game.

He could also sense that his physique and abilities were far stronger in overall value than before. A dual-system innate ability alone completely surpassed the single ability he had previously possessed. He was confident he could easily raise his realm and complete the so-called hundred-resonance process.

Mu Xiao's guess was correct. The Miracle Serum had more effects than that; he simply had yet to uncover some of its unknown secrets. Not even the freaks of the future who had developed its formula could clearly understand just how many traits it possessed. After all, at that time, Water Bailan had been the most terrifying killing weapon in the entire world. Who would dare set their sights on that Queen of Annihilation?