The cold air in the secret chamber condensed into white frost.

Ling Chen leaned against the cold alloy shell of the constant temperature life support pod, each inhale pulling at the searing, tearing pain from the wing scars on his back.

He slowly raised his head, his gaze like a surgical knife falling upon Zheng Xiyun's corpse.

The value of this body far surpassed that of an ordinary Corpse Ghoul.

Deep within her chest cavity, where the azure crystal core had been gouged out, lingered an icy, crystalline energy afterglow—the lingering resonance of the Daydream Nightmare ability.

And even deeper, within the brain tissue protected by the skull, a highly condensed, nebulous vortex-like invisible spiritual essence was slowly dissipating—this was her true core as a unique species.

It possessed both an ability user's and a mutant's core! Dual cores!

Ling Chen's fingertips brushed his empty eye socket.

The weakness from stripping the two Blood Markings clung to him like a maggot to bone; the Soul Jade Physique's cold will operated at high speed, weighing the pros and cons of consumption.

Consuming this corpse, especially the torso containing surging flesh and blood energy, could quickly replenish his depletion and even break through to a higher Blood Marking barrier.

However, the loss would be immense.

For a Corpse Ghoul's body, forcibly devouring an ability user's spiritual essence resulted in a loss rate exceeding forty percent.

Just as ability users also experience loss when absorbing Ability Crystals.

A forty percent loss was almost no different from cutting it in half, and to perfectly absorb that spiritual essence, he would have to become an ability user.

In his previous life, Ling Chen was also an Ability Mutant; unlike Zheng Xiyun, his ability was awakened after mutation when the prerequisite conditions were met.

Abilities that require prerequisite conditions to awaken are either extremely special or extremely powerful, but many people who possess such abilities are purely relying on luck.

Because they do not know what their prerequisite conditions are.

Some normal ones are better, for example, killing 1000 people, or eating 20 pounds of salt, but the key is that abnormal ones account for a larger proportion.

In his previous life, he encountered a guy whose prerequisite condition was 【Dismemberment into Ten Thousand Pieces】; this fellow only awakened after being chewed to pieces by a mutated beast, and under the powerful restorative effect of 【Awakening's Gift】, he was pieced back together, achieving a complete resurrection.

But some awakening conditions are clearly more outrageous, for example, a guy with the 【Extreme Toughness】 ability, whose prerequisite condition was 【Spinning Spiral Ascent in Place for Two and a Half Turns】; he awakened when he was slapped by a mutated gorilla...

As for injuries, there's no need to worry at all, because there's 【Awakening's Gift】.

【Awakening's Gift】 is actually a powerful, time-reversal-like healing ability; no matter how you awaken your ability, how severe the injuries sustained after awakening, or what kind of damage was incurred during the awakening process, under the effect of "Awakening's Gift," everything will be fully restored.

Ling Chen's prerequisite condition was 【Near Death】, a seemingly easy-to-achieve but actually very luck and operation-dependent prerequisite.

In his previous life, he awakened because Mu Xi had kept him imprisoned and abused him, almost to the point of death.

Thinking about it now, he really had to thank Mu Xi; if it weren't for Mu Xi slowly depriving him of his life in that way, he probably wouldn't have had a future, let alone been able to be reborn.

The thought of awakening his ability coiled like a venomous snake.

His past memories were clearly imprinted: "Awakening's Gift"—that time-reversal healing power capable of reversing life and death.

The hideous wing scars on his back, the wound on his left shoulder piercing his lung, the depletion of his essence from stripping the Blood Markings... everything could be instantly erased.

Returning to normal was inherently a good thing, but what Ling Chen least wanted to see right now was precisely this.

If he returned completely unharmed, would the skin beneath his acid-corroded, claw-torn clothes be as clean as new? Would surging power lie beneath his pale, weak complexion? Would Lin Wei's eyes, like precise instruments, overlook these flaws?

The guilt that sprouted in Li Mingyu's eyes due to his "serious injury," Sun Qiang's instinctive stance of shielding him with his metallic body, Chen Xue's trembling fingertips and rolling tears as she bandaged him, Lin Wei's lingering, yet unvoiced, suspicion as she examined his wounds... all these subtle relationships hinged on his current disguise as a "near-death hero."

Awakening's Gift might be a blessing at other times, but at this moment, it was the most fatal curse.

The cold calculation took only an instant.

Ling Chen abruptly pulled open the pod door, and cold air surged out like a tide, exposing Zheng Xiyun's corpse to the light, her skin a deathly grayish-blue from the low temperature.

He extended a bony claw, faint electric arcs swirling around his fingertips.

With precise, ruthless movements, like the most skilled anatomist, he first severed the connection between the cervical spine and the skull, completely removing the head. The grayish-white cross-section of the spinal cord was exposed to the air, like a frozen lotus root section.

This solitary head was placed into another metal container with an independent cooling unit, and at the same time, he also placed the Ability Crystal inside.

Ling Chen also planned to freeze that azure crystal core; the evolution of mutants primarily relied on flesh and blood, and in essence, Ability Crystals were actually a central energy conversion organ for Corpse Ghouls or mutants.

It constantly absorbed the surrounding spiritual energy and converted it into blood energy to sustain daily bodily functions, but conversion required a process, so the accumulated spiritual energy was compressed into spiritual liquid and stored within the energy-crystallized heart, forming the Ability Crystal.

As the cold consumed the astonished face, Ling Chen turned and walked towards the southeast corner of the secret chamber—where three cylindrical cultivation pods stood, their walls covered in thick frost, and inside, suspended in a dark blue nutrient solution, were over a dozen dormant bats covered in dark purple fur.

He had cultivated many of these.

"Awaken," he murmured, his fingertips gliding over the control screen.

Hiss—liquid nitrogen white mist surged out! The nutrient solution rapidly drained! The bats' wing membranes inside the pod suddenly twitched, and their crimson eyelids snapped open!

Ling Chen pulled open the pod doors. Three bats stumbled out, landing in his palm with faint squeaks.

They were slightly smaller than the previous batch, and the golden circuit patterns on the edges of their wing membranes were fainter, but they should be enough to consume the remaining flesh and blood he had.

Having completed all this, he turned to face the dark red chunks of meat. Hunger roared in his stomach like an awakened beast.

He actually detested the taste of human flesh, but he had to do this to recover his cultivation. He had consumed too much; if he didn't eat soon, the Corpse Ghoul's madness and instincts would control his rationality.

Electric light flickered between Ling Chen's claws, mobilizing a portion of his blood energy to compress all of Zheng Xiyun's flesh and blood energy into a single chunk of meat.

He picked up the dissecting knife, cut the chunk of meat into a strip, then opened his mouth wide without chewing or letting it touch his tongue, only swallowing.

The warm chunk of meat slid down his throat, bringing a burning sensation. His stomach writhed and absorbed frantically, like parched land receiving long-awaited rain!

Boom—!

A scorching torrent erupted from his stomach! Massive blood energy instantly rushed into his dry meridians!

The weakness brought by the stripped Blood Markings rapidly receded! A dense tingling sensation came from deep within the piercing wound on his left shoulder; it was flesh regenerating wildly, filling the void! Along the edges of the deep, bone-revealing claw marks on his right arm, pink new flesh spread and interwove at a visible rate!

Beneath the skin at his eye corner, a dark red glow pulsed violently like an awakening volcano! One, two... the stripped Blood Markings were rapidly replenished and restored! Following closely, the third, the fourth...

When he crammed the last bit of flesh into his mouth, it was as if a furnace ignited in his stomach! A torrent of violent energy surged through his limbs and bones!

The fifth Blood Marking, like a red-hot branding iron, was fiercely seared beneath his left eye! Five dark red Blood Markings, resembling porcelain crackle patterns, each line seemingly with blood slowly flowing deep within, exuding a heart-pounding energy fluctuation!

Power! A sense of power far surpassing his previous peak state filled his entire body!

Muscle fibers felt re-forged, brimming with explosive strength! Bones emitted subtle strengthening sounds, becoming denser and tougher! His five senses became sharper; he could even clearly hear the faint hiss of refrigerant flowing in the condensing coils in the corner of the secret chamber!

He slowly stood up and stretched his limbs. There was a faint crackling sound from inside his body, like a bowstring being drawn taut. The wing scars on his back no longer burned, but instead conveyed a sense of overflowing power, as if they could tear through his clothes and unfurl at any moment.

The piercing wound on his left shoulder was reduced to a shallow indentation, covered with tender new skin.

The claw marks on his right arm had also almost disappeared, leaving only a few faint pink marks. The weakness from excessive blood loss was completely gone, replaced by a volcanic energy eager to erupt!

But he immediately extended his bony claw, tearing open the almost healed claw marks on his right arm again. At the same time, he fiercely stabbed several large but not critical indentations into the piercing wound on his left arm.

Simultaneously, he immediately activated the Soul Jade Physique, forcefully suppressing this surging power! The bulging blood vessels under his skin flattened, the sharp glint in his eyes receded, and his breathing once again became weak and erratic.

He did not take off the tattered clothes he was wearing, which were already soaked in blood and grime. Instead, he carefully tidied his appearance in front of a blurry reflective metal plate on the wall. He controlled his facial muscles to make his complexion appear pale and sallow from blood loss, and his eyes were deliberately adjusted to look tired and unfocused.

He even re-wrapped several layers of bandages around the original wound on his left arm, creating the illusion that the wound had not healed and was still seeping blood.

Finally, he walked to the refrigerator and took out a little less than half of the remaining compressed biscuits and mineral water inside, just enough for a few people to have one meal—three flattened packs of biscuits and four bottles of water.

The previous Four-Eyed Ghost Tiger had not caused too many casualties; he only needed a few ability users and a few ordinary people with potential and resolve. Too many ordinary people would be counterproductive when the army arrived. What if they suddenly decided to inspect?

Having done all this, he once again became the severely injured, exhausted "Ling Chen."

He opened the heavy alloy door of the secret chamber and stepped back into the cold, damp rain outside. The blood moon's light was obscured by leaden clouds, with only sporadic raindrops falling.

He took a deep breath, carrying the meager food and three bats on his shoulder, and stumbled step by step towards Linghui Academy, each step deliberately conveying the unsteadiness and heaviness of a severely injured person, his knees slightly weak, as if he could fall at any moment. This formed the most ironic contrast with the surging, terrifying power of a Five-Marking Corpse Ghoul within him.

...