Chapter 103: Understanding the Human Aspect

Rampant killing intent surged forth wildly. In the pitch-black corridor, only the squelching sound of blades slicing through flesh and bone echoed continuously.

With a squelch, the knife plunged into the chest, then, like cutting through butter, it followed the opponent’s bones, meridians, and nerves, tearing the corpse human in front into countless fragments.

Splattering blood sprayed onto Zuo Zhicheng’s coat, while the tactical knife in his hand already moved to another corpse human’s neck.

Just like a hot knife slicing through butter, the bones and flesh of the neck could not hinder Zuo Zhicheng’s blade at all. He moved like the most elegant anatomist, effortlessly severing the opponent’s head by following the gaps between the bones.

The sound of the blade tearing through flesh, the splatter of blood hitting the ground, the roars of the monsters—everything combined to form a symphony of slaughter.

And Zuo Zhicheng was like a devil in the darkness, dancing on the edge of the blade.

Platysma, trapezius, deltoid, latissimus dorsi, sacrospinalis.

Frontal bone, nasal bone, spine, humerus.

The structure of the human body was as familiar to Zuo Zhicheng as his own backyard. He could identify every bone and every muscle even with his eyes closed.

Not even the best forensic expert could match his familiarity with the human body’s structure.

And when this familiarity, this knowledge, was applied to killing, it was undoubtedly terrifying.

The fight in the darkness was different from his battles with Blood Rakshasa and Ellis. That time, Zuo Zhicheng had suppressed his opponents with overwhelming strength while holding the advantage.

But now, facing at least a thousand corpse humans, Zuo Zhicheng chose the most effective, precise, and energy-efficient method of killing.

With every step he took, bodies fell. With every attack, he risked being killed. In a one-against-many battle like this, the greatest fear was being entangled by the opponents. If a few corpse humans managed to grab him, the others would swarm over, and even Zuo Zhicheng, no matter how strong, would be torn to pieces.

So he kept moving, constantly changing his position in the corridor to minimize the interference from the corpse humans and the corpses on the ground.

With one slash, he split open a corpse human’s head, turning its brains into mush. With his other hand, he grabbed the shoulder of a corpse human behind him and threw it like a baseball.

Wherever it passed, over ten corpse humans were sent flying, and Zuo Zhicheng moved through the cleared space once again.

The thick smell of blood continuously assaulted his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. The shoes on his feet were already soaked with blood from the ground. The killing intent around him grew denser as he slaughtered. If an ordinary person were to lock eyes with Zuo Zhicheng now, they would likely be scared into incontinence—his gaze was inhuman, like that of a demon from the Underworld.

Zuo Zhicheng was like a machine, repeatedly swinging his knife, throwing punches, and charging forward, killing one corpse human after another.

His arms were starting to ache slightly, and his heart rate uncontrollably quickened.

The slaughter had already lasted over half an hour, but the corpse humans before him still seemed endless, rushing toward him one after another.

With a thud, one corpse human finally managed to grab Zuo Zhicheng’s shoulder, but a shockwave transmitted from his shoulder to the corpse human’s body, instantly breaking its arm.

That was the effect of the Yama Golden Body.

Then, he turned and delivered a slash, cutting the disarmed corpse human in half at the waist. Zuo Zhicheng had already thrown himself back into the fray.

But this was like a starting signal. As the fighting intensified, his stamina declined, and the blood and corpses on the ground piled up, reducing his space to dodge. More and more corpse humans could now touch Zuo Zhicheng’s body.

Under these circumstances, he inevitably began to get injured. Even with the protection of the Yama Golden Body, it still required energy.

An hour later, Zuo Zhicheng was already gasping for breath heavily. The corpse humans in front of him had stopped increasing at some point, but there were still at least seven or eight hundred left.

“Before I finish them off, my stamina will reach its limit,” Zuo Zhicheng assessed his condition. But the imagined scenario—where his killing intent would grow and allow him to break through to the Human Aspect—had not occurred.

Watching the corpse humans, who were somewhat hesitant under the impact of his killing intent and no longer as frenzied as before, Zuo Zhicheng thought to himself, “The killing intent has indeed grown, but it still can’t break through to the Human Aspect?

Should I keep trying, or just finish them off now?”

He smirked, wondering when he had become so hesitant. Had the peaceful life in Xinlu Port dulled his blade?

The next moment, he gripped his tactical knife and charged into the crowd of corpse humans like a lone, proud wolf. Blood paved the path beneath his feet, and the sound of flesh separating from bone became the most beautiful music.

Zuo Zhicheng did not know the principle behind the increase in killing intent. Was it the opponent’s brainwaves, the lingering obsession of the deceased, residual electromagnetic waves, the opponent’s curse, some kind of energy, imagination, or something else? But this did not prevent him from feeling the growth of his killing intent and the increase in his Power of Mind and Spirit during the slaughter.

One of the reasons he took the risk to stay was because he was confident he could leave. He wanted to use the fight against the corpse horde to see if he could break through to the Human Aspect.

When he stopped again, gasping heavily, he finally sensed something different. This was a breakthrough forged through slaughter—constantly using and increasing his killing intent until it finally burst through.

This feeling of the killing intent and the Power of Mind and Spirit connecting was clearly greatly beneficial for Zuo Zhicheng’s true breakthrough to the Human Aspect.

“Is this the feeling of the Human Aspect?”

With this unique sensation, Zuo Zhicheng had enough to contemplate and seek an opportunity to break through to the Human Aspect. Looking at the hundreds of remaining corpse humans, he decided not to take any more risks. He pulled out a piece of flint from his person, and a spark appeared in his palm.

During the earlier part of the slaughter, he had already spilled all the oil he carried onto the ground. Combined with the vines wrapped around the corpse humans, the sporadic sparks soon turned into raging flames.

Zuo Zhicheng wrapped himself in his fireproof coat and, like a gecko, scurried quickly along the ground toward the path he had come from.

Countless agonized screams erupted behind him as one corpse human after another struggled and fell to the ground.

Zuo Zhicheng mustered his last bit of strength, burst out of the corpse horde and the flames, and sprinted all the way to the intersection. Then, he cut down all the vines at the cave entrance to prevent the fire from spreading to the underground space and burning all the Spiritual Energy Food there.

But it wasn’t over yet. After doing all this, Zuo Zhicheng’s body was exhausted and hungry, but he kept running toward the hole leading into the cave.

At the same time, he directed his Infrared Vision toward the location of the Underworld King Snake. In his plan, he had always worried that the giant snake might wake up prematurely from its hibernation due to the intense heat from the flames.

And now, his fear had come true.

Logically, snakes are cold-blooded animals, so Infrared Vision should not be able to detect the Innate Primordial Breath on them. But the giant snake in this underground cave was clearly no ordinary snake.

In the Infrared Vision, the originally contracted Purple Innate Qi was slowly spreading across the giant snake’s body. This indicated that the power within the snake was beginning to awaken.

Seeing this, Zuo Zhicheng had no choice but to quicken his pace and dash toward the exit.