This was a vast, cold, and suffocatingly sterile underground space. The four walls were made of a special, reflective, stark white coating, reminiscent of a hospital operating room.
Just as Mu Xi's vision, momentarily blurred by the intense light, began to clear, she noticed a colossal cylindrical glass container standing prominently in the very center of the room, beside a massive steel dissection table!
Inside the transparent cylinder, an enormous bat specimen, far exceeding normal size with a wingspan of nearly two meters, floated silently in a chilling blue liquid!
(Of course, it was alive; Mu Xi just thought it was a specimen.)
The moment Ling Chen stepped into this space, especially under the intense stimulation of the stark white lights overhead, which suddenly flared like a doomsday judgment, the giant bat specimen, specifically its tightly shut mouth and nose, violently twitched!
Simultaneously, the liquid inside flickered on and off, as if due to… immense electrical energy?
Several thick tubes connected to the container trembled violently, emitting a grating, teeth-grinding sound! It was as if a slumbering beast was about to awaken! The reinforced glass surface of the entire container was under immense pressure!
"No! Put me down! Let me go!!!"
The immense terror finally broke Mu Xi's last shred of sanity!
Under the shock of witnessing this bizarre scene up close, she erupted with inhuman strength, her body desperately twisting and struggling on Ling Chen's shoulder!
Her fingers scratched futilely against the cold, smooth wall, her nails producing a piercing "screeching" sound.
Ling Chen remained oblivious to her struggles and screams.
Like someone carrying an item that must not be damaged but needs proper placement, he strode to the cold, solid metal dissection table in the center of the room.
Without any hesitation, he abruptly turned his shoulder, exerting force with both arms simultaneously, and with the steady motion of someone unburdening a heavy object, he slammed the wildly twisting and struggling Mu Xi heavily onto the smooth, flat stainless steel surface!
"Thud!"
A loud impact echoed through the space.
"Ah!!!"
Mu Xi shrieked, feeling as if all the bones in her body were about to shatter, her internal organs displaced, and intense pain accompanied by severe dizziness caused her a momentary lapse of consciousness, halting her struggles.
The cold metallic sensation quickly penetrated her thin clothing, freezing her back.
At that very moment!
The instant her body struck the metal table with a dull thud!
Inside the ceiling, several trigger devices, hidden beside the lights and perfectly aligned with the dissection table, were activated!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several tough, cold black nylon restraints suddenly shot out from the edges of the dissection table, the top frame, and even the base below!
Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap!
A series of lightning-fast metal clasps clicked crisply into place!
Mu Xi's wrists, ankles, waist, and even her shoulders and sternum were locked down by these suddenly deployed restraints with astonishing speed in less than a second!
Powerful pre-tensioning devices almost instantly bound her firmly and mercilessly to the cold dissection table!
Every restraint dug deep into her flesh!
The exquisitely crafted metal clasps clamped down with immense force, rigidly fixing her limbs and torso, which had been temporarily weakened by the impact, making even the slightest struggle futile and painful!
Her body was forcibly stretched into a humiliating "spread-eagle" position!
"Ugh ah—!"
The excruciating pain of instant confinement and the extreme terror of losing her freedom made Mu Xi emit an inhuman shriek, like a wounded young beast!
Her eyes widened, her amber pupils dilated to their maximum from fright and despair, filled with spiderweb-like red blood vessels, and tears mixed with sweat poured out frantically, instantly blurring her vision.
There were 30 seconds left until the apocalypse.
"Ling Chen!!!"
Mu Xi's scream was filled with broken sobs:
"Why?! Why me?! What exactly do you want to do to me?!"
"Do what?"
Ling Chen looked at Mu Xi's delicate, terrified features and smiled.
"Guess?"
With that, he picked up a scalpel, smiled slightly, and began to cut open Mu Xi's clothes layer by layer over her chest.
"Ah, no! What are you doing! Don't take it off." Mu Xi shed humiliated tears, watching in terror as Ling Chen unhurriedly removed his own jacket.
"Why not take it off? The clothes will get dirty."
Ling Chen looked at her strangely.
"It might hurt a bit later, so please excuse the slight intrusion."
Seven seconds left.
"Actually, this is the first time I've done something like this in this life."
Ling Chen maintained his smile, tore with force, and instantly, a large expanse of Mu Xi's fair chest was completely exposed. At the same time, he also removed all his upper body clothing, his somewhat pale body exposed to the air.
"So…"
Two seconds.
"I'm about to…"
One second.
"Taste you."
Just then—the hour hand on the wall clock jumped to "7."
Later historians documented this historic moment. At 7:00 PM on June 23, 2065, the New Era began!
Spiritual energy… revived!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Overhead! Not inside the room! But deep within the rock strata! A series of deep, colossal roars suddenly erupted, so immense they almost stopped one's heart!
That was… the earth itself splitting open!
The walls, ceiling, and floor of the entire underground space were violently shaking!
As if an unimaginable super-earthquake had occurred! Fine, grayish-white dust continuously showered down from above!
Even more chilling was what was outside!
"Swoosh—Boom!!!"
Outside the heavy, dozens-of-centimeters-thick, radiation-proof observation window embedded in a corner of the basement, the alloy protective plate that had always shielded it was torn away and flung aside as if by a giant hand! It vanished without a trace like discarded scrap metal!
In an instant!
An indescribable, utterly pure, crimson light, thick as boiling blood, instantly poured into the entire underground space like a waterfall from the forcibly opened window!
The previously stark and dazzling lights instantly dimmed, paling in comparison to this pure, dominant crimson waterfall of light!
The entire room was drenched in a shocking, dizzying blood-red hue!
The walls, the floor, the cold metal instruments, the eerie giant bat specimen in the glass jar… everything was stained with a flowing, nauseating blood-red tint!
Mu Xi, fixed on the cold metal table, experienced an uncontrollable, violent spasm throughout her body the moment that apocalyptic blood-red light suddenly poured in!
She felt a restless sensation rising within her body, as if wanting to tear everything in front of her to shreds.
"CRAAAACK—SQUEAL—"
It came from deep within her body! First, her spine! A crackling of bones like popping beans!
Then, the various joints of her limbs! Each violent twitch was accompanied by the grating sound of dislocated joints and bone proliferation!
Her fingernails gradually thickened, whitened, becoming sharp and grotesque bone claws.
Beneath the skin, tightly constricted by the restraints, pale blue veins visibly bulged out.
All the muscle groups in her body were uncontrollably spasming!
Her violently heaving chest struggled to rise and fall under the pressure of the sturdy restraints!
Her eyes suddenly widened! Filled with incredible pain and a bizarrely twisted frenzy!
Her amber irises were like shattered glass, covered in a spiderweb of vicious blood vessels!
And in the deepest part of her pupils, a pure, cold, yet madly vital crimson light suddenly ignited! The light of the Blood Moon stimulated her!
She… began to mutate.
Spiritual energy! Violent spiritual energy of heaven and earth! Flowing through that forcibly opened window, it induced a violent mutation in the hidden things within her body!
The restraints dug deep into her flesh, almost into her bones!
But her body's struggle was no longer out of fear, but a painful, incomparable transformation stemming from the instinct of life itself!
Her skin began to turn hot and red, her body temperature rapidly rising!
At this moment, as Mu Xi twisted in pain from the sudden infusion of spiritual energy, her body emitting twisted, strange sounds! Ling Chen was like a medical machine calmly executing a task!
He showed no panic, no hesitation, not even a trace of superfluous emotion. His movements were precise, swift, and terrifyingly fluid!
He suddenly turned! He charged purposefully towards the operating console next to the giant bat specimen container! On that console were several trays, one of which was covered with a sterile white cloth. He ripped off the white cloth!
Neatly arranged on the tray were not scalpels! But—
A sharp, gleaming kitchen knife specifically used for deboning and removing cartilage!
A stripper with a curved hook at the end, specifically used for hooking tough tendons and blood vessels!
A special dissection knife with a blood groove!
Ling Chen's gaze swept over these tools for only a few tenths of a second! He unhesitatingly grabbed the sharp dissection knife!
As Mu Xi let out an even more shrill, inhuman howl due to the spiritual energy impact, her body forcibly twisted and transformed, and the restraints stretched taut, threatening to snap!
Ling Chen returned to the cold metal dissection table!
He didn't even look at Mu Xi's face, contorted in extreme pain, nor did he look at her crimson eyes, which were almost devoid of anything but savage bestiality!
His left hand was like an iron clamp! The knuckles of his five fingers were white from exertion, firmly and forcibly pressing down on Mu Xi's clawed wrist, which was fixed above her head, wildly twisting, veins bulging blue, and nails growing and blackening from the drastic change!
He firmly pinned that thing, which could no longer be called a hand, to the cold metal table!
Ling Chen's right hand instantly gripped the handle of the boning knife in a reverse grip! The blade was not aimed at a fragile part, but pressed against the connection between Mu Xi's left shoulder and neck! A physiological gap where muscle coverage was relatively thin!
His gaze was as cold as ancient, unmelting profound ice! His thin lips parted, his voice devoid of any ripple, each word clear as an ice pick:
"The first cut, to sever karma."
Before his words had even faded!
The sharp blade, with a faint whistle of cutting through air, chopped down fiercely! The force was extremely heavy!
Pffft! Crunch!
The sharp blade cut through the skin and thin muscle layer without resistance! Immediately followed by the clear, shattering sound of bone being split!
Instantly! An entire left arm, rendered powerless to resist by numbness, was cleanly severed from the shoulder joint! The cut was neat!
Blood, under the violent crimson light, sprayed out in a large mist!
The severed arm, propelled by immense force, slid down under the cold metal table! The cut end was a grotesque array of bone fragments!
"Ah—ow—!!!" The pain, exceeding human limits, twisted Mu Xi's screams into inhuman sounds!
Ling Chen did not cast any sympathetic gaze upon her. He raised the boning knife, his right hand making a steady downward cut, severing the constantly howling head.
There!
Deep within the heart of that chest, churning with blood and muscle fibers! In the cracks of shattered bone! A pigeon-egg-sized, pure, icy blue crystal, like a living entity burning with cold flames, was forming and solidifying under the stimulation of the violent spiritual energy!
His fingers were stained with hot blood and bone fragments! With an indescribable, ruthless and decisive posture! Firmly, powerfully! He dug out that radiant, chillingly cold, dark blue crystal that was forming between the broken bones and flesh!
He dug it out by force!
Viscous blood vessels, delicate nerve bundles, mixed with burning dark blue light points, were forcibly torn apart!
"This is the lowest-grade shattered crystal. However, even this kind of shattered crystal contains terrifying energy for ordinary people."
Ling Chen held the cold, hard "crystal" that emitted terrifying energy fluctuations; it glowed faintly blue in his palm.
He didn't even spare another glance at the bright red blood gushing from Mu Xi's severed arm wound like a high-pressure water gun!
Under the apocalyptic blood-red light shining from outside the window!
Amidst Mu Xi's body's final twitch.
Ling Chen lowered his head!
Opened his mouth!
As if swallowing a cold fruit.
Without hesitation…
He took the dark blue crystal, dug from her broken bones and flesh and emitting terrifying spiritual energy!
And swallowed it whole!
The moment the cold sensation touched his tongue!
An extreme searing heat, like the fires of hell instantly scorching his brain!
Immediately followed by an extreme burning, like an underground volcanic eruption, with magma surging and raging through his blood vessels!
Like countless sharp blades forged from ice and fire, they instantly rushed from his mouth to all his limbs and bones! Wildly impacting and tearing at every nerve! Every blood vessel! Every cell in his body!
"Ugh ah—!" Ling Chen suddenly tilted his head back! Veins instantly bulged on his neck like crawling dragons! All the bones in his body let out a dense "crackling" sound like popping beans! As if old structures were pulverizing! And a new framework was reconstructing!
His eyes, tightly shut from the extreme pain, suddenly snapped open after he tilted his head back and roared!
Deep in his eyes!
Two clusters of crimson light ignited, like a cluster of blood flames, burning wildly and steadily!
This light, purer! More dazzling! Even carrying a hint of cold divinity—transcending the mundane and entering the inhuman realm—than the crimson Blood Moon light that covered the entire world outside the window!
Outside Ling Family Villa.
The invisible spiritual energy tide, covering the entire globe, surged and swept forth with an apocalyptic might!
All lights of civilization and order were utterly crushed under that eerie Blood Moon!
In the deepest part of the sturdy fortress.
On the cold metal table, a pool of blood spread.
Mu Xi, bound to the table, already in a dying state from blood loss and extreme pain, her body undergoing the final stages of uncontrollable, deformed, twitching mutation, had lost her core energy source.
And Ling Chen.
He slowly straightened his body, feeling the chaotic power of destruction and rebirth intertwined within him. Around him, a cold, primal, terrifying pressure, like that of a newborn predator, silently permeated!
His crimson eyes emotionlessly scanned Mu Xi's remaining body.
Then he slowly bent down, and a chilling chewing sound echoed in the room.
The New Era… had opened its doors to him in the cruelest, coldest way possible!