Talent Potential

Strange energy substances had surfaced in his Consciousness Sea twice in a row. Mu Xiao vaguely felt that this was not an illusion created by himself.

"Could it be that my soul fused with my future soul and produced some unknown energy that only appears when I grow stronger?" Mu Xiao took an experimental approach and, with practiced ease, sank into the stillness of cultivation. His faint, untrained thoughts probed into his Consciousness Sea, searching for the strange substance that had vanished.

The instant his thoughts entered the Consciousness Sea, a clear awareness quickly responded.

"No way?" Mu Xiao froze for a moment, then his heart stirred. "It's actually a purer Primeval Source. This is a source that can be used to enhance talent and potential!"

The evolution of New Humans relied on the PB Virus—or rather, the primeval energy within PB Drugs. That was the catalyst behind the greatest genetic changes in New Humans. In other words, an "energy substance" in the air altered New Human genes, much like the "spiritual energy" in cultivation novels.

However, primeval energy was also known as the Primordial Source. The "primeval" substances in the air were simply far too difficult to refine. After all, the entire world had undergone viral mutation, and all Primordial Source substances had changed. Only those people on the moon had preserved a portion of the Primordial Source. That was why, in the future, the moon still had countless exceptionally gifted New Human warriors.

Now that Mu Xiao could independently absorb this kind of Primordial Source, he could naturally optimize his own potential even further, with a high chance of accelerating his future cultivation.

"Perhaps after my rebirth, my soul—which had already cultivated to a profound realm—released immense energy that affected my Consciousness Sea and caused some mysterious change. Maybe the Miracle Bloodline Formula also played a part, triggering all these changes and fusing some refined essence source into my Consciousness Sea. If primeval energy substances were useless, why would those False Gods in Divine Oracle who called themselves 'gods' go to such lengths to conduct genetic research..."

Mu Xiao considered it and decided that this was the most likely mutation caused by his soul's rebirth. In any case, it was a good thing, another foundation for increasing his potential.

His thoughts returned to the Consciousness Sea. He guided part of the scattered Primordial Source into his soul and part into his body. This way, both Source Force Martial Arts and Soul Secret Arts could attain extraordinarily powerful talent and potential.

He already possessed Mind Source Force and Mental Power, allowing him to cultivate Mind Force, a method combining martial arts and secret arts. Now, with the Primordial Source capable of strengthening both soul and body, nothing would hinder his future cultivation. He could fully unleash the greatest power of Source Force Martial Arts and Soul Secret Arts without suffering from insufficient talent weakening their effects.

"Perhaps my soul has changed, but the absorption doesn't seem very obvious there. It's much more apparent in my physique. Besides, this isn't the time to cultivate my soul. Improving my physique is far more useful for fighting right now." Mu Xiao carefully considered his circumstances and decided that the next batch of Primordial Source would mainly be used to strengthen his physique.

In short, more strength was always better. He composed himself and dug another nine low-quality brown Blood Beads from the four zombies he had just killed.

"Although the quality of these Blood Beads is a little poor, even a mosquito has meat on its bones. Besides, some drugs require large quantities of Blood Beads as materials." Mu Xiao placed the Blood Beads into the same small cloth pouch, picked up the metal electric baton, and headed down the stairs.

The fifth floor had only one secret room. Basically, every floor had one. Mu Xiao followed the neither narrow nor wide staircase downward. This was an internal passage hidden within the Lawyer Building. It could lead directly underground or to the secret rooms on other floors.

The four zombies upstairs had died, and the stench they gave off soon permeated the entire staircase. Suddenly, the sound of a sliding door creaking open rang out, followed by footsteps heavier and stronger than those of an ordinary person. In the dead, dim stairwell devoid of any living humans, the sound echoed with chilling clarity, filled with eerie dread.

"I wonder how many zombies are hidden in this Lawyer Building, and whether any Mutant Humans are still here." Mu Xiao frowned. He wanted to eliminate every source of danger in the building at once and smoothly take over the Lawyer Building, but that was clearly no easy task. If he had firearms, this would not be so troublesome. Though his SSS-Class Physique meant he was basically unafraid of zombies, killing them would undoubtedly be much slower. Of course, he could use grenades, but that could easily damage the structure of the building. He did not want his base to end up in ruins.

"I can only wait for the rabbits by the tree stump." Mu Xiao stopped in the stairwell on the fourth floor, intending to use the zombies' desire to devour the corpses of their own kind to draw all the zombies in the building over. Mutant Humans had no interest in rotten zombie flesh, so they were unlikely to be attracted—unless they craved Mu Xiao's fresh flesh and blood.

Mu Xiao set down his backpack, held a military knife in his left hand and the metal electric baton in his right, and guarded the entrance to the fourth floor. His Mental Power extended seven or eight meters. As long as a creature entered that range, he could roughly detect its strength and sense the level of danger it posed.

Actually, he had another excellent method: using Telekinesis to kill the monsters. But he did not want to expend too much energy. After all, he had personally witnessed the birth of a Mutant Human, so he was naturally extremely wary. If he encountered a Mutant Human after exhausting himself, he would be in danger. Besides, his current strength was more than enough to deal with zombies. He would avoid using his trump cards whenever possible. In this world filled with monsters, not a shred of strength could be wasted, and leaving himself with no reserves was extremely dangerous.

Hoarse, dry, broken breaths and solid footsteps entered Mu Xiao's Mental Detection.

"One, two, three... Back then, I could kill hundreds of these little things with one palm. But now I'm re-leveling like I'm playing a game, completely devoid of any skill. This is unbearably boring!"

Mu Xiao muttered to himself, but he knew very well that even "re-leveling" gave him only one chance. Once he died, he would truly be dead. So no matter how boring it was, he remained highly alert to every danger.

At that moment, among the swarm of zombies was one whose muscles were more developed than the others. It possessed Gene Resonance equivalent to ten evolutions, and its physical strength was extremely close to an S-Class Physique. It was the strongest among the dozen or so zombies. Given time, it would most likely regain its intelligence and evolve into a Mutant Human.

Mu Xiao let out a breath and fully entered a combat state.

The first zombie entered his attack range. His hand moved swiftly, drawing a dark blade trail as he viciously slashed across the zombie's neck. Its entire head was severed in an instant. Wind surged beneath his feet as he delivered a powerful kick, sending it flying like a ball. The zombie's head burst like a rotten watermelon, exploding into a spray of black rain.

Roar!

The moment Mu Xiao attacked, the scent concealment effect vanished. More than a dozen zombies caught the smell of fresh flesh and blood. Like starving wolves and tigers, they let out hair-raising growls, erupting with five or six times their usual strength as they lunged forward with bloodthirsty eyes, clawing and biting.

Fortunately, the stairwell could only accommodate three zombies at once. The zombies in front blocked most of those behind, so Mu Xiao did not have to face the frenzied attacks of over a dozen zombies immediately.

The metal electric baton fell like a dense rainstorm. The heads of the three zombies in front burst one after another. Whenever a zombie in front fell, those behind would recklessly surge forward. Using the advantage of his SSS-Class Physique, Mu Xiao smashed zombie heads one after another into pulp with the simplest and most brutal methods possible.

A zombie's twisted, grotesque face burst apart with a soft crack, becoming a bloody mess. Mu Xiao drove his entire blade into another zombie's brow, then cleanly and decisively twisted it. At the same time, he kicked the zombie's chest. With a crack of breaking bones, the zombie's body was sent flying back like a sandbag, slamming into another zombie behind it and easing the momentum of the oncoming charge.

Mu Xiao used both hands and feet, meeting the zombies' attacks with wide, powerful movements.

Not a single zombie could withstand even one strike from Mu Xiao. After all, an SSS-Class Physique was far beyond comparison to dozens of A-Class Physiques. Moreover, zombies only attacked by instinct. They had no technique, no coordination, and no understanding of defense or evasion. They were merely targets.

Suddenly, the sound of a fist tearing through the air came crashing toward Mu Xiao's head.

Mu Xiao had long noticed this muscular zombie with ten levels of evolution. He slightly adjusted the angle of his military knife, then viciously stabbed the sharp point of the blade into the hammer-like fist.

How could flesh and blood withstand the sharpness of a blade? Combined with the force of the punch itself, the knife plunged directly into the zombie's fist. Yet the zombie seemed unable to feel pain. Its punching force only slowed slightly, and it still appeared to strike toward Mu Xiao without losing momentum. In reality, the force of the punch had weakened considerably.

The moment Mu Xiao thrust in the military knife, he immediately withdrew his hand and retreated, unwilling to take the muscular zombie's heavy punch head-on.

He knew that zombies had no pain nerves, but that did not mean stabbing a blade into its fist had no effect on its condition. After all, the blade was embedded in the fist's muscles, greatly obstructing its output of strength. The human body was like a machine. If something jammed a machine, its output would certainly not be as smooth as before.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Mu Xiao swung his baton at the muscular zombie's head. With a resounding impact, there was no expected burst of pulp. Instead, the metal baton bent slightly. Still, Mu Xiao gripped it firmly, twisted aside to evade the muscular zombie's heavy punch, then smashed the head of another zombie attacking from the side.

The muscular zombie swung both fists, carrying a bloody gale. Mu Xiao suddenly exerted force through his arm, sweeping the metal baton sideways like a blade. Accompanied by a gust of tearing wind, it struck the zombie's fist. With a heavy collision of hard objects, the entire metal baton bent beyond use. But the muscular zombie's fist also became a bloody mess, black blood streaming out like a small creek.

A cold glint flashed in Mu Xiao's eyes. He retreated several steps in succession, dodging the muscular zombie's punches. At the same time, he hurled the ruined metal baton into the head of a zombie behind it. When the muscular zombie's fist lost its follow-through force, Mu Xiao stepped forward, lightning-fast, seized the blade lodged in its fist, and pulled it free. Then he advanced again, gripped the military knife in reverse, and sharply stabbed and twisted it into the muscular zombie's temple.

Its physique was powerful, but some parts of its body were still fatal weak points.

The same was true for New Humans, and the same was true for zombies.

The muscular zombie's head had already suffered severe damage, greatly reducing its strength. After Mu Xiao added several more strikes in succession, the muscular zombie with ten Gene Resonances also collapsed in the stairwell. The remaining two or three zombies were quickly beheaded by Mu Xiao as well, their heads kicked apart one by one.