Each battle was more difficult than the last. While the malignant energy could strengthen his body, Feng Rui's endurance remained the same, and every movement drained him further.
A zombie with unnaturally long arms caught him off guard, its rotten claws tearing into his shoulder. Feng Rui cried out in pain, stumbling back as his mind scrambled for a solution.
'Focus on their weak points,' he reminded himself. 'Strike quickly and end them before they attack again.'
Diving forward, he narrowly avoided a bite and plunged his energy-infused hand into the creature's abdomen, ripping it apart from within.
Another zombie lunged at him from behind, sinking its teeth into his leg before Feng Rui could react. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he retaliated with a kick, sending the creature sprawling.
Time seemed to stretch endlessly as Feng Rui fought. He was covered in cuts, bites, and bruises. Each breath seared his lungs, and his muscles trembled under the constant strain. His body was drenched in blood—his own and that of the zombies—and the viscera of his enemies clung to him like a second skin.
The constant use of malignant energy had begun to take its toll. His flesh and blood started to mutate subtly, and it felt as if he were fighting on autopilot, his movements guided by instinct rather than thought.
'If I can still move, I can still win,' he told himself, a mantra born from years of obsession with the game.
The malignant energy around him swirled and surged, responding eagerly to the new core within his dantian. It strengthened his body, but it also drained him slowly, like a creeping poison.
'At this rate, I'll end up diving headfirst into demonic cultivation,' he thought as he dodged a zombie that nearly tore out his throat.
He hated to admit it, but the signs were obvious.
The first step into demonic cultivation was the creation of a corrupt seed—the pearl he had formed earlier. It allowed him to manipulate the malignant energy at a level his body and soul could tolerate. However, it also made him more vulnerable to losing his humanity while granting him greater strength.
The second stage, the "Dark Heart," involved anchoring the corrupt energy in the cultivator's heart. Most practitioners lost themselves to illusions and madness at this stage.
Hadn't he been having a lot of nightmares and hallucinations recently?
The third stage, the "Rotten Body," spreads corruption throughout the cultivator's flesh, granting inhuman strength at the cost of health and appearance. At this point, a cultivator was indistinguishable from a zombie.
It was a relief that nothing reflected his current appearance.
The final step of the first stage was the "Malicious Soul." After mastering the malignant energy, the practitioner's soul would be cursed, rendering them unable to die by conventional means.
Yes, it all sounded disturbingly familiar.
And at its peak, it allowed control over other weaker ghosts and unclean beings.
'Let's not think about that right now. Focus on killing these zombies,' he thought, driving his body to keep moving.
After what felt like an eternity, Feng Rui sensed a breakthrough.
With each zombie he defeated, his body grew slightly stronger, faster, and more flexible. The pearl in his dantian had turned pitch black, speckled with faint glimmers of light, like a miniature galaxy. It spun happily, absorbing the residual energy from the fallen creatures.
And, of course, those supposed stars weren't trapped souls or anything like that. Definitely not.
Despite the pain, Feng Rui felt exhilarated. At last, he could defend himself. His movements became fluid, his strikes precise. Slowly, his body adapted, and he began to master his techniques.
At this rate, after killing a hundred zombies, he could achieve true martial arts proficiency.
A group of five zombies attacked him simultaneously. Feng Rui spun on his heels, dodging two of them while elbowing another one in the jaw. He sharpened the evil energy cut the fourth zombie at the waist and finished off the fifth with a powerful kick to the chest.
When the final zombie fell, Feng Rui was left trembling, his hands resting on his knees as he struggled to stay upright.
Ding!
[The first condition has been met.
Progress: Defeat 100/100 Corrupted Beings.]
Feng Rui looked up at the horizon. No more figures shambled toward him. Instead, dozens of corpses littered the ground.
[The Soul's Blessing will now commence.]
Feng Rui wanted to wipe the blood off his face, only to realize that he had nothing to wipe it with. He was soaked.
He spat and removed the remains from the top of his clothes.
Straightening his posture, he let the malignant energy flow through him once more. If he wanted to survive and complete this trial, he would have to push past his limits.
Feng Rui was determined to prove that he was worthy of inheriting the power of the Han Clan.
Ding!
[The Soul Blessing will begin.]
Feng Rui took a deep breath, bracing himself for what he knew was coming. He had faced this challenge before in the game, and although he wished things were different, a familiar evil was easier to endure.
But confronting a fear once didn't mean it would vanish completely.
'I can do this,' he told himself, though the knot in his stomach tightened with every passing second.
The world around him began to warp and shift, the barren land of the Legacy fading away. It was replaced by stark white walls and flickering fluorescent lights. The sterile scent of alcohol and medicine filled the air. Feng Rui instantly recognized the hospital where he had spent years after his accident.
The first sound was the hurried echo of footsteps in the hallways, followed by a loud crash. Seconds later, the screams began.
'Not again,' he thought, feeling his heart pound in his chest. He lay motionless in his bed, his body betraying him as it always did, leaving him helpless as chaos unfolded around him.
The door to his room burst open, and his parents rushed in, their faces etched with fear. His mother was the first to reach him, placing a trembling hand on his forehead as she whispered words of comfort.
"It's okay, sweetheart. Don't worry. Your father will carry you now, alright?" she said, though her voice quivered with uncertainty.
"Be careful. Don't make any noise"
Outside, the guttural groans of zombies grew louder, echoing through the hallways. His father moved quickly, carefully lifting Feng Rui from the bed, ensuring not hurt him further or let him fall.
"Let's move, quietly," his father murmured.
Through the windows, Feng Rui could see the hospital descending into chaos. Doctors and nurses ran frantically while zombies tore through everything in their path. Patients who had been bedridden only moments before now stumbled down the corridors as monsters, their bodies riddled with open wounds and empty, soulless eyes.
His father led them cautiously through the halls, his mother gripping a metal rod tightly. Feng Rui barely dared to breathe as he watched the zombies contort unnaturally, hunting their prey. He feared one of them would turn toward them at any moment.
As they descended the emergency stairs, his mother suddenly screamed.
"Watch out!"
A zombie lunged out of nowhere, but she reacted swiftly, striking it with the metal rod. The sickening sound of flesh being hit filled the air as his father kicked the creature away.
Feng Rui nearly slipped from his father's grasp, but his mother quickly helped adjust him on his father's back again.
"Are you okay?" she asked, rubbing his back soothingly as they hurried down the stairs.
"Are you okay?" Feng Rui managed to whisper, though his voice trembled.
His father opened the door to the lower floor and quickly shut it behind them after his wife passed through.
They tried to leave through the main door, but it was impossible, so they headed to the parking lot entrance.
It was even worse.
The parking lot was a scene of total devastation. Cars were crashed, bodies lay dismembered, and dozens of zombies wandered.
Before they could retreat, a man bumped into his mother, causing her to fall.
Before his father could react, a zombie lunged from the side, sinking its teeth into her arm. She screamed, struggling to push it away.
"Go away!" she shouted, her voice firm. The sound echoed in Feng Rui's mind like a hammer. He shut his eyes, unable to watch. He had lived through this once in the game, but his heart felt like it was being torn apart, and his eyes burned with unshed tears.
This wasn't the strong, powerful Feng Rui from the game, who could fight the Celestial Demon on equal footing. Nor was he the NPC Feng Rui, capable of wandering even as a ghost.
He was just Yun Chen, the actor who had suffered an unfortunate accident, a hobbyist video game streamer overshadowed by younger generations, surviving only on the remnants of his past fame.
His father tried to help his mother, but she pushed him away.
"There's no time! Go away!"
"I can't leave you, I…" his father's words were cut off as another zombie lunged at them.
Though he managed to dodge, his wife became the zombie's target, serving as the distraction they needed.
Gritting his teeth, his father held Feng Rui tightly and ran.
After navigating through endless twists and turns, they managed to hide in an abandoned house. But when the others saw Feng Rui's condition, their attitudes shifted.
Yun Chen was nothing but dead weight, a burden.
In the best—or worst—way, he was the perfect bait for their safety plan.
In the end, the inevitable happened. As food and water ran out, the others no longer wanted to keep supporting Feng Rui.
With no other option, his father decided to stay outside with him.
When supplies ran out, his father had no choice but to leave Feng Rui hidden while he searched for food and water.
"I'll be back soon, son," he said with a strained smile, his face suddenly aged by a decade.
Feng Rui wanted to hit himself. He wanted to be able to talk about what would happen, but the words wouldn't come out. He wasn't allowed to reveal anything or help with his knowledge of the future.
He had to live through every part of his nightmare again.
He also couldn't ask his father to leave him behind, to live his life without him because he knew he was the only reason his father hadn't ended his life yet.
Hours passed, and then he saw his father in the distance, shambling with a bag of supplies in one hand.
But his eyes were vacant, and his skin was gray and lifeless.
His father, now a zombie, had returned to him, instinctively delivering the provisions he had gone to find.