Chapter 152: Victory

The Corpse Vein’s transformation happened all at once. This meant someone born with the Corpse Vein Life Grove already possessed a transformed body the moment they entered the world. Their Physique Strength would grow stronger only as their body matured through exercise.

If someone else received the Corpse Vein through transplant, the Life Grove would still reshape the host’s body to suit the environment it needed to survive. But that transformation was subtle and slow. It required absorbing energy and nutrients daily. Typically, it took three to five months to finish.

Even after that transformation, a human body could never gain nearly as much as Zuo Zhicheng did.

For Zuo Zhicheng, the effects were greatly amplified because the Night Sea Life Grove in his left eye had become inexplicably powerful. When he woke up, he discovered his Physique Strength had turned orange-colored. The coverage reached 100%.

It wasn’t just his physical strength. As he himself noticed earlier, his brain processed information much faster after implanting the Corpse Vein. More data seemed to stream in from his left eye. He didn’t understand the principles of those pulses, values, or curves. But their meanings became crystal clear to him.

Yilezi was trying to escape. Some of the insect swarm seemed ready for a suicidal attack.

The Ghouls had all fled. Quinlin and Alice displayed absolutely no will to fight. They intended to reach the docks and escape by boat.

Then there were the unidentified woman and the swordsman. The woman radiated terror. The swordsman remained calm despite severe injuries. His Flying Sword contained potent Spiritual Power. They showed no hostility.

Hostility, intent, emotions, fragments of thoughts—he seemed able to perceive them all.

Besides these changes to his brain and body, Zuo Zhicheng sensed an alteration deep within his Heart Mind.

‘Emotions… there are fewer of them now.’

He found himself thinking with a logic closer and closer to pure, absolute reason.

‘My personality seems altered. Previously, though calm, I would have felt hatred and anger towards Yilezi.’

‘But now, those feelings are almost absent. I simply want to capture him, and I also need to capture him.’

‘It feels like a block of ice has been shoved inside my heart.’

‘However, this transformation is good. It boosts combat power. No adjustment is necessary.’

The Blood Pool Yilezi created contained far more than simple energy. It held vast amounts—an immense concentration—of thoughts left behind by countless condemned prisoners and experiment subjects he trapped. This mental residue was the very fuel he intended to harness for crafting and fueling his sorceries.

Putting it superstitiously, it was the lingering resentment, murderous intent, fear, and countless other negative emotions of the dead.

Taken scientifically, it was brain waves, magnetic fields, fragments of consciousness.

With the aid of Night Sea and the Corpse Vein, as well as Zuo Zhicheng’s own extraordinary willpower and killing aura, he perfectly absorbed all this energy.

So, after absorbing the Blood Pool, he didn’t become a grotesque embodiment of vengeful spirits. Instead, he harnessed its impetus to shatter the shackles of the Self Aspect stage he was at in Spirit Refining, breaking through to reach the Human Phase Realm.

The countless negative emotions coalesced into purest, unadulterated killing intent.

Therefore, when Zuo Zhicheng punched forward, aiming at a dense cluster, a large swathe of insects simply fell to the ground like stones. An intense chill capable of freezing a man’s very blood penetrated their tiny bodies.

Without causing any actual drop in temperature, it froze them all completely solid and lifeless.

At this single blow, a panicked shriek echoed from within the insect sea. Yilezi’s frantic escape accelerated. More insects stayed behind, launching themselves like stones flung from slingshots—a storm of suicidal projectiles hurtling straight at Zuo Zhicheng’s body.

Their strength, coupled with their hard carapaces and an acid-like ability to dissolve metal, could have easily blasted through an iron gate. Their force resembled point-blank gunshots.

Sadly for them, they never got near. Zuo Zhicheng simply spread his hands. Ferocious killing aura exploded skyward. A vast BUZZ erupted through the jungle, startling countless birds into flight.

The wave of oncoming insects were swept aside as if by an arctic gale. They rained down like stones, falling to the ground completely rigid and dead.

‘Powerful. Too much drain.’ After testing the Human Aspect’s destructive potential, Zuo Zhicheng reached his conclusion and ceased using this Human Phase technique against the swarm.

The Power of Mind and Spirit was consumed far too quickly. To freeze the entire swarm of Huangquan Flies solid would exhaust him to the point of collapse.

‘Until I find a more efficient application, I’ll reserve it as a trump card—for breaking through defenses, assassinations, or crucial one-on-one duels.’

While these thoughts flowed, the battle raged on. Zuo Zhicheng pulled out a container of fuel and matches from his cloak. Splashing the fuel over a nearby Ghoul corpse, he tossed a Match onto it.

The entire body exploded into a towering bonfire. Zuo Zhicheng grasped this fiery mass and wielded it like a weapon.

Li Xunyi gaped beside him. He watched as Zuo Zhicheng moved like a living tornado of flame—a blazing, spinning weapon searing a path through the tide. Everywhere he passed, insects merely brushed by the inferno dissolved into embers, instantly reduced to ash sprinkled on the ground.

Zuo Zhicheng had deduced Yilezi’s creatures feared fire during their encounter in the study. Yet, the actual effect surpassed even his expectations.

Furthermore, a Ghoul corpse boasted incredible durability. It resisted burning and withstand the brutal force of being swung violently, making it an exceptionally effective implement.

Under wave after wave of attacks, culminating in this firestorm, the number of Huangquan Flies was utterly decimated. Zuo Zhicheng then moved systematically, hunting down those hiding deep inside decomposing bodies, within tree hollows, or beneath dense bushes.

With the observational might of his left eye, every remaining insect blared hostile red heat signatures. Hiding offered no refuge. None evaded his final purge.

Had Yilezi prepared fully from the start, he might have stood a chance against Zuo Zhicheng now. But Zuo Zhicheng’s combat ethos never granted opponents a fair chance. The moment he ambushed and gravely wounded Yilezi at the outset, Yilezi forfeited any chance at victory.

‘All clustered in such small groups… seems like too few insects, or perhaps a single one, can’t house his consciousness anymore?’

As Zuo Zhicheng pondered, only one small cluster of Huangquan Flies remained alive. Staring at the tightly balled mass of insects, Zuo Zhicheng drew out a small vial from his cloak. He spoke coldly. “You’re not escaping. Get inside yourself. I have many questions. I might let you live.”

“Ha… ha… ha…” A feeble voice emanated from the swirling insects. “Do you think this means you’ve won?”

“You comprehend nothing.”

“Just rot and die on this island with the rest!”

Before Zuo Zhicheng could react, the entire swarm burst into countless shimmering blue sparks, vanishing into the air.

“Suicide?”

Zuo Zhicheng scanned meticulously with his left eye. He detected no lingering hostile life signs. He was certain he hadn’t let a single insect escape.

Contemplating briefly, Zuo Zhicheng gave a slight shake of his head. Paying no heed to Li Xunyi or Liu Manwen nearby, he took one stride—covering ten meters instantly. Another stride, and he shifted into a streaking shadow, finally disappearing completely into the tree line.

Watching this, Li Xunyi desperately wanted to follow and see what happened next. But he glanced down at his unconscious junior brother, then at the pitiful Liu Manwen and the remnant injured soldiers beside him. He sighed. “Let’s go. I’ll protect you back to the ship. Those Ghouls shouldn’t be able to block us now.”