[Flashback : The Marrow That Shouldn't Exist]
Timeline: Past Life — Year 2 of the Apocalypse
The wind inside the ruins of Blackstone Lab wasn't natural. It whispered in reverse—like something dead trying to speak.
Li Zhen crouched behind a rusted reactor pipe, rifle strapped to his back, heart pounding in his ears. Across the chamber, the beast was feeding.
"Team Three's signal is gone," Feng Mo whispered through the comm.
"Confirmed. I saw their heat signatures vanish," Zhen replied calmly. "We're next if we don't move in ten."
He peered through cracked safety glass into the containment chamber. The creature inside wasn't just a mutant—it was a devourer.
Twelve feet tall. Black fur matted with dried blood.
Its spine glowed faintly with internal qi threads, pulsing with every breath.
They called it a Howler Ape, but it wasn't a beast anymore. It had transcended.
"That's not natural evolution," Zhen murmured.
"That's a spiritual awakening in a corrupted host."
The ape snapped its head suddenly—like it heard him think. Then it charged the reinforced wall. The steel cracked. The team flinched.
Zhen didn't.
[Earlier That Week]
They had discovered the ape near the ruins of the eastern spiritual crater. It had wiped out an entire survivor colony overnight—intelligent enough to disable power, fast enough to dodge bullets, strong enough to tear through armored gates.
But it didn't eat for hunger. It consumed to refine.
"It's using qi," Zhen had said.
"And its marrow… must be condensed with essence."
The others thought he was crazy. Until the ape killed their captain by spitting flame laced with spirit rot. Then they listened.
[Back in the Chamber]
The ape turned. Its eyes glowed blue-black.
Then it leapt—straight at the viewing window.
"Now!" Zhen shouted. Feng Mo detonated the pulse mine. The ape howled as its qi clashed with suppressor fields.
It fell—but not dead.
Zhen ran through smoke and blood, sliding beneath its arm. He jammed a black-tipped extractor into its spine. The marrow hissed.
It tried to claw him. Too slow. Zhen ripped the vial free—thick, golden, radiant with fury.
"Got it!"
But three teammates didn't make it out. The ape triggered a qi explosion in its final moments, blowing the eastern wing apart.
Zhen escaped half-burned. He kept the marrow in a bio-sealed case.
Buried it. Hid the coordinates.
Swore he'd never use it… unless there was no other choice.
[Present Timeline — Now]
In the silence of his steel system space, Li Zhen stared at the empty vial. The marrow was gone—absorbed into his new core, binding lightning qi to bone.
"One vial. Three deaths. One rebirth."
He closed the file. "Next time, I don't lose anyone."
The city still pretended to be alive. Billboards blinked. Traffic crawled. Cafés buzzed with shallow conversations about weather and diets.
But Lin Xue knew the heartbeat underneath was rotten.
And tonight, it would show.
[April 12th — Old Industrial Zone, District 9]
Lin Xue moved through the crumbling streets, a shadow among shadows. She wasn't here to fight. She was here to test her flame. She needed live targets. And she knew where to find them.
The abandoned meatpacking plant at the edge of District 9 had been "condemned" months ago. Rumor said wild dogs roamed the grounds. Vicious. Unnatural.
"Mutated," Lin Xue corrected silently.
The virus had reached here already. The authorities had simply stopped reporting it.
The factory loomed ahead—rusted, broken windows, graffiti peeling in sheets.
She tightened her gloves, adjusted the strap across her chest, and stepped into the dark. The smell hit immediately. Rot. Wet metal. Burnt hair.
Her senses prickled. Her cultivation wasn't strong enough yet for full spiritual perception, but her instincts—honed by death—screamed in warning.
Something's hunting. A low growl answered the silence. From behind a collapsed conveyor belt, a form slithered out.
It was canine once.
Now? Its body was wrong—too long, muscles tearing through skin.
Its mouth split wider than natural, showing double rows of jagged teeth.
One eye glowed red, the other sagged, half-melted.
It had mutated beyond simple rabidity.
"Perfect," Lin Xue whispered, eyes calm.
The beast charged. No hesitation. No warning. It moved faster than any natural dog—limbs snapping against the concrete as it lunged straight for her throat.
Lin Xue didn't dodge. Instead, she raised her hand. The lotus flame burst alive. A bloom of golden fire flared from her palm, twisting, spinning into a sharp lotus petal formation.
The creature howled—but it was already too late.
The flame struck its chest—and where ordinary fire would burn surface flesh, this flame devoured corruption. The mutation inside the beast screamed.
It convulsed, its body writhing as spiritual flames crawled under its skin, purifying as they burned.
Seconds later, the beast collapsed—smoke rising from a hollowed core. The smell of burning corruption filled the air.
Lin Xue lowered her hand. Her core pulsed—hot, stronger.
The lotus flame flickered once more before settling back into her dantian.
"The purification effect… works even against mid-grade mutations."
She knelt beside the corpse, checking the residue with a gloved hand. The beast's marrow was weak—still unstable, not worth harvesting.
"Only early-stage," she assessed. "No core." Still, it was a start.
She stood up, face expressionless. One kill wasn't enough.
"I need more."
If she wanted to survive what was coming, her flame had to grow stronger. Much stronger.
[Meanwhile — Distant Surveillance Feed, Private System Space]
In the steel-blue glow of his system realm, Li Zhen watched. Through a micro-drone hidden above the old factory, he saw the woman raise her hand—and burn the mutated beast like cutting paper.
He leaned back in his chair, fingers tapping against the console.
"Your flame purifies," he murmured. "Mine disrupts."
Two paths. Two weapons. He closed the feed.
"We're not enemies yet," he said.
"But one day… even allies burn."
The beast's corpse sizzled as the last threads of corruption burned away.
Lin Xue wiped her gloved hands clean. She didn't linger.
Experience told her — where there was one mutation, there were always more.
She stepped deeper into the abandoned factory, her boots silent against broken concrete.
The next howl came fast. Then another. Not just one this time. Three. No—four. They emerged from the shadows—mutated canines, bone exposed where flesh should be, eyes glowing sickly green.
The air thickened with bloodlust.
Early mutation pack. Driven mad by hunger and spiritual imbalance.
Lin Xue exhaled softly. She didn't panic.
She adjusted her stance, circulated her qi, and raised her hand again.
The lotus flame flared brighter this time—richer, hotter.
The first beast lunged. Lin Xue sidestepped cleanly, her flame slicing a burning arc across its throat. It dropped instantly.
The second circled wide, baring needle-like teeth. Lin Xue crouched low, letting it snap where her shoulder had been, then thrust her palm into its ribcage.
Boom.
The lotus flame pierced straight through the beast's core. It screamed—a sound not meant for human ears—and died convulsing.
Two down. The third and fourth beasts moved together, learning from the deaths of the others.
"Mutations adapting faster…"
They weren't mindless zombies. They were corrupted evolution—feral, strategic, desperate.
Lin Xue narrowed her eyes.
She fed more qi into her flame. Her core trembled slightly under the strain, but she forced it stable. The lotus flame blazed larger now—six petals spinning around her wrist like small shields.
The beasts hesitated. That was enough. She moved. Fast. Efficient.
A downward palm strike—flame sinking deep into one's skull.
A spinning kick—burning a gaping hole in the other's ribcage.
Both fell within seconds.
The air went still again. Lin Xue stood among four burning corpses, sweat sliding down her back under her clothes.
Her dantian pulsed painfully. Her meridians screamed for rest.
But—
She smiled faintly. She had won.
[Inner Realm Notification — Hidden Space Pendant]
Flame Qi Resonance: +12%
Combat Efficiency Calibration: Complete
Warning: Dantian nearing capacity — Risk of Overflow
She didn't care. "Overflow if you want. I'll burn through it."
If she could stabilize the excess qi… If she could cycle her lotus fire faster, deeper…
She could break into Foundation Establishment soon—months faster than her previous life.
"I'll carve my path through fire and blood if I have to."
[Above — High Altitude Surveillance Drone]
Far above the factory ruins, a silent drone hovered—capturing every burst of flame, every brutal kill.
Li Zhen watched from his system space, a faint, rare smile curving his mouth.
"You don't flinch," he murmured.
"Good."
The world needed fewer cowards.
He logged the footage into his private archive under a simple title:
"Potential Future Asset: High Threat / High Value."
But somewhere deep inside, another thought flickered—
Not just an asset.
Maybe… something more.