"Xiu Ge! It's been two minutes!" Zhao Hao interrupted Fang Xiu's climax.
In an instant, Fang Xiu's expression returned to calm.
"Go further away. I'm about to test the power of my spiritual essence."
"So, you've really become the spirit master that Wang Zitong spoke of?" Zhao Hao exclaimed in delight.
Fang Xiu nodded, and Zhao Hao, understanding, immediately ran down the left corridor.
Suddenly, Fang Xiu raised his right hand, spiritual essence attaching itself to it.
He glanced at the female doctor, who was still eating, and muttered to himself, "Let you be the first to experience pain."
The pain ability pleased him greatly. Similarly, he suspected that this power was not weak.
In the hands of others, this ability would naturally be a weak one, but in his hands, it was a divine skill!
A one-hit kill!!
For with this punch, it represented the pain he had endured from dying twenty-one times—who could withstand that kind of agony!?
And with the increasing number of his deaths, the pain would only multiply, meaning this was an infinitely strengthening ability.
Boom!
Fang Xiu landed a punch on the female doctor's head.
The female doctor, still eating, didn't react in the slightest.
Bang!
A dull sound echoed.
Roar!!
The female doctor let out an agonized scream, her body crashing to the ground. Her long arms clutched her head, trembling uncontrollably, and the scalpel fell from her hands.
Although Fang Xiu had achieved some success, he furrowed his brows. This punch didn't yield the result he had hoped for.
Though the female doctor was in pain, it was clear that she had not experienced the same level of agony he had. The transmission of the spiritual essence was evidently obstructed, and after this punch, his spiritual essence had been depleted.
He couldn't strike again.
One percent of spiritual essence was still too weak, and the reason for the lack of effect was likely that it hadn't broken through her defenses.
There were no obvious external injuries to the female doctor's head, only slight damage, which prevented the pain from fully transferring.
It seemed that next time, he would need to truly harm the anomaly.
The power of a fist had its limits—he would need a weapon.
But would an ordinary weapon transmit spiritual essence?
As the thought crossed his mind, Fang Xiu suddenly noticed the scalpel that had dropped to the ground!
Without hesitation, he picked it up. The scalpel felt incredibly cold in his hand, like a block of ice.
The moment it touched his skin, he felt an overwhelming barrage of intense negative emotions—resentment, anger, hatred—all of them attacking his soul.
These savage emotions threatened to tear his spirit apart.
An ordinary person would have been shattered by these emotions upon contact, becoming a mindless monster driven only by the urge to kill.
But Fang Xiu was no ordinary person.
If these negative emotions could be compared to ink, they would stain every soul black. But what if the soul was already black?
It would still be black when coated with ink.
Thus, these emotions didn't break his spirit. Instead, they made him feel as though he was among his own kind.
Gradually, countless shattered images appeared before Fang Xiu. He saw half-human, half-anomalous beings strapped to operating tables, their bodies being cut and dismembered by a sharp scalpel.
Suddenly, he understood.
The female doctor had once used this very scalpel to experiment on anomalies in a mental hospital, so the blade had absorbed countless vengeful spirits.
Later, something must have happened in the mental hospital, and the female doctor, overwhelmed by the resentment embedded in the scalpel, had her mind shattered and became an anomaly.
This meant that the true anomaly was not the female doctor, but the scalpel itself, which had merely influenced her.
Now, with the scalpel in his hand, could he kill the female doctor?
Swish!
A flash of silver light streaked through the air, slashing towards the female doctor's pale neck.
Clang!
A sharp metallic clash sounded, followed by sparks flying.
The female doctor's neck remained unscathed.
Fang Xiu froze for a moment.
This was impossible!
A scalpel that had cut through countless anomalies—how could it fail to cut through the female doctor?
Unless... it was the spiritual essence!
He instantly realized!
The scalpel required spiritual essence to be activated, and since his essence was depleted, the blade could not unleash its full power.
It seemed that revenge would have to wait.
Without hesitation, Fang Xiu turned and ran.
He feared that if the female doctor regained her strength and stopped eating Wu Dahai's corpse, she might come after him.
Zhao Hao, who had been waiting in the left corridor, saw Fang Xiu running and immediately began to flee as well.
As they ran, Fang Xiu exited the hallway and entered a spacious hall. Here, he saw his two colleagues, who were hiding behind a large pillar.
At first, Fang Xiu couldn't see them, as the pillar blocked his line of sight. But since his senses had sharpened after awakening his spiritual essence, he easily heard their rapid breaths and the nervous pounding of their hearts.
The hall had four doors in all directions, but no one knew what lay beyond them.
"Xiu Ge, there are four doors. Which one should we go through?" Zhao Hao asked.
The two colleagues, hearing the voices, immediately stepped out from behind the pillar.
"Great, you two are fine!"
"Fang Xiu, lead the way!"
Zhao Hao was startled. "What the heck? You two were hiding here? You ran fast earlier and now you're asking Xiu Ge to guide us?"
The two of them gave awkward smiles and said nothing, instead casting pleading looks at Fang Xiu.
Fang Xiu paid them no mind and calmly stared at the four doors. "Simple. We try them one by one."
Zhao Hao and the others froze for a moment.
In this time-sensitive, eerie domain, who had the luxury to try them one by one?
Before they could persuade him, Fang Xiu was already walking toward the westernmost door.
The others had no choice but to follow.
But just then...
Roar!!
An inhuman scream echoed throughout the room.
Suddenly, the ceiling began to tremble, as though something was running above them.
Everyone was instantly filled with dread.
"Anomaly! The anomaly is on our tail!"
"How is that possible?! Wang Zitong and Wu Dahai were both alive just now, how could it be this fast?"
Fang Xiu quickly deduced that it was likely because of his attack on the anomaly or the fact that he had taken the scalpel, breaking the female doctor's killing pattern.
"Run!"
He shouted and shoved open the western door, rushing inside, with the others following.
Beyond the door was a staircase leading upstairs, so they began to ascend at full speed.
Among them, the fastest was Fang Xiu. Although his spiritual essence had been depleted, the boost from his spiritual awakening still remained, allowing him to draw on most of his muscle strength and unleash remarkable power.
However, no matter how fast he was, he could never outrun the anomaly. The female doctor, though lacking special abilities, had exceptionally long legs and moved with incredible speed.
In mere moments, she appeared on the stairs, completely ignoring the others and pouncing directly at Fang Xiu.
Fang Xiu had no time to dodge, and was instantly knocked to the ground. The female doctor's long limbs pinned him down like iron claws.
Roar!
She let out an angry growl, opening her blood-filled mouth and lunging for Fang Xiu's throat.
Splat!
Blood sprayed.
Fang Xiu fell... dead!