Mind Spike

Driven by the overwhelming pain in his abdomen, the Gluttonous Aberrant went completely berserk, his massive body suddenly bursting forth as he charged towards Lu Heng.

Lu Heng gripped the Deboning Knife tightly and stepped forward to take the impact head-on.

With a muffled thud, the two forces collided. Two shallow grooves were crushed into the soil beneath Lu Heng's feet, and he was jolted back half a step, his hands tingling and his arm muscles aching slightly.

He won't gain the upper hand in a direct confrontation.

All around, a large number of ordinary Zombie continued to gather, forming a dark circle that trapped the two in the center.

A thought flashed through Lu Heng's mind: he had originally planned to take this opportunity to test the actual power of Kiss of Nightmare. However, after scanning the densely packed zombies around him, he immediately rejected the idea.

These are just ordinary Zombie without any rating; it's not worth wasting your special abilities on them.

Moreover, we are currently engaged in close combat with Gluttonous Aberrant, and the situation can change in an instant. To draw Kiss of Nightmare, we would have to switch weapons temporarily, and this gap could easily be exploited by the monster, making it too risky.

After a moment's consideration, Lu Heng immediately abandoned the idea of testing the waters.

He no longer rushed to attack, his feet firmly planted in the mud, wary of the Gluttonous Aberrant's next attack while keeping his eyes fixed on it.

The monster launched another sweeping attack, its thick forelimbs slashing down with a stench of blood. Lu Heng dodged to the side, his blade cutting a shallow gash in the monster's ribs. But as soon as the wound reopened, the Gluttonous Aberrant lowered its head and bit down on an ordinary Zombie beside it, tearing off large chunks of flesh and swallowing them whole.

In less than two breaths, the flesh around the wound began to writhe and contract at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Lu Heng's gaze darkened slightly.

The recovery was faster than he had expected.

Taking advantage of the brief moment of dodging, he quickly adjusted his position, deliberately creating half a body length's distance, no longer getting too close. The Gluttonous Aberrant missed its target, its massive body propelled forward by inertia, its feet crushing a patch of mud. Just as it turned, Lu Heng noticed a slight stiffness in its abdomen—a very brief pause, as if something inside was violently churning, affecting its movement.

This detail was fleeting, but Lu Heng remembered it vividly.

After several brief probing attacks and defenses, Lu Heng's judgment became increasingly clear.

This Gluttonous Aberrant is a deformed monster with virtually no weaknesses.

Its sheer physical strength overwhelmed him; every charge and swing carried immense, brute force. In head-on collisions, he was always the one being pushed back. Its defense was even more absurd; ordinary slashes could hardly seriously damage its core. The most troublesome thing was its means of sustaining itself—the endless stream of ordinary Zombie around it became its mobile blood bank. Wounds, exhaustion, and fatigue could all be quickly replenished by devouring flesh and blood. Its regenerative abilities far surpassed Lu Heng's at this stage.

Its movement speed is not fast, and it is even somewhat clumsy, but its reaction speed is astonishing.

Whether it's a surprise attack, a side slash, or a feint, it can instantly detect, block, or dodge almost any close-range move. There are no sluggish openings or delayed reactions, making its margin for error in close-quarters combat extremely low.

Strength, defense, recovery, and reaction time – all four attributes are maxed out.

Its only weakness is its mediocre speed in a straight line.

Lu Heng sidestepped the monster's fierce attack, his fingertips pressed against the blade, his eyes growing increasingly calm.

He had seen countless strange beasts and bizarre creatures, but never one that was truly perfect.

Every living thing has its flaws, and even the strongest have their weaknesses; there is no absolutely invincible life form.

This Gluttonous Aberrant seems to have everything, but I just haven't found its fatal weakness yet.

In another close-quarters probing, Lu Heng deliberately feigned an opening, his blade moving a fraction of a second slower. The Gluttonous Aberrant fell for it, its forelimbs lashing out, claws aimed straight for Lu Heng's chest. Lu Heng leaned back, the claws grazing his clothes, leaving a wisp of fabric. Using the momentum of his backward lean, his gaze swept over the monster's gaping mouth—between its dense array of sharp teeth, remnants of unchewed flesh remained, a dark red glow faintly emanating from the depths of its throat.

That's not ordinary biological tissue.

Lu Heng's heart stirred, but he did not rush to investigate further.

Through repeated close probing and back-and-forth exchanges, Lu Heng thoroughly understood his opponent's fighting style. The sense of defeat in his heart faded away, leaving only extreme calmness.

The physical confrontation has come to an end.

Brute force is insufficient, endurance is unsustainable, and it's difficult to find openings in close combat. Conventional sword fighting will only lead to an endless tug-of-war of attrition, making it impossible to break the deadlock quickly.

Thoughts raced through my mind, and a previously shelved method suddenly came to mind.

Mental Energy.

He has always relied on physical combat and weaponry, but he has overlooked his most unique trump card.

No matter how strong, how fast, or how inexhaustible the physical body may be, it ultimately relies on the consciousness and neural perception of the living being.

A barrier that physical attacks cannot breach, perhaps a mental attack can.

Lu Heng quickly grasped the key points and became completely certain of his approach.

Ordinary Zombie have completely ceased brain function, their nerves are dead, and they have no instinctive thoughts; they are utterly empty. Mental attacks are meaningless against such a completely lifeless body.

However, this is different for those with Gluttonous Aberrant.

It evolved to the Bronze Tier, with a complete and intact body structure and fully activated brain nerves. Relying on its healthy brain nerves, it developed an extremely strong devouring instinct and ferocious fighting nature.

Since his physical offensive and defensive reactions were almost perfect and flawless, Lu Heng decided to try a different approach.

It doesn't attack the body, but directly targets the brain.

Lu Heng gripped the Deboning Knife tightly with one hand, his mind calm, gathering all the scattered Mental Energy around him and concentrating it on the blade, silently building up his power.

The surface of the blade showed no change; there was no light, no hum, and not even a change in temperature. But Lu Heng could feel an invisible force slowly flowing along the blade, like a thread stretched to its limit, just waiting for a trigger to release it.

His gaze was fixed on the head of the Gluttonous Aberrant, waiting for the perfect moment.

The monster seemed to sense something, and its movements suddenly became cautious. It stopped charging recklessly and instead lowered its body, slowly pacing around Lu Heng, its turbid eyes fixed on the Deboning Knife in his hand.

Lu Heng did not move.

He's waiting.

After waiting for a good dozen breaths, the Gluttonous Aberrant finally couldn't hold back any longer. The excruciating pain in its abdomen struck again, and its massive body trembled violently. Its primal instinct to devour overcame any remaining primal wariness, and it opened its blood-red maw, lunging at the nearest ordinary Zombie.

Now!

Lu Heng moved with lightning speed, grabbing an ordinary Zombie that lunged at him from the side and kicking it with the same speed.

The heavy corpse flew through the air and landed precisely on the head of the Gluttonous Aberrant, wedging itself firmly between its wide-open mouth.

The scent of flesh and blood assaulted its senses, and the primal instinct to devour, ingrained in its genes, instantly overwhelmed everything.

Even in a state of rage, the Gluttonous Aberrant would instinctively lower their head and frantically devour the corpse above them.

The opportunity has arrived!

Lu Heng's eyes were sharp as a blade. He charged forward, and as his Deboning Knife, which had been fully charged, slashed out, an invisible spiritual power suddenly erupted.

There is no so-called spiritual core, no ethereal spiritual penetration.

A highly refined Mind Spike, pure and brutal, aimed directly at the entire brain nerve system of the Gluttonous Aberrant, piercing deep into it!