One person: Starting with the Snow Drinking Blade

Chapter 282 The Awakened Experimental Subject

"Buzz..."

The faint buzzing sound was almost completely drowned out by the intense and noisy battle. But Nie Lingfeng, Wang Ye, Chen Duo, and even the black-robed "envoy" who had been standing there like a ghost all sensed something unusual.

Nie Lingfeng delivered a fierce whip kick, sending a test subject with insect-like mouthparts that was trying to pounce from the side flying. Dark golden flames erupted from the point of contact, igniting on the monster's body. The "Nirvana Feather" jade pendant on his chest suddenly burst forth with unprecedented heat the moment it hummed! The feeling was no longer simple warmth, but a scalding, throbbing, and even resonant heat carrying a sense of sadness and anger, burning his chest and making his heart clench violently! He subconsciously turned his head, looking towards the largest culture tank deep inside the laboratory.

At this moment, Wang Ye was positioned according to the Qimen Dunjia divination method, his hands forming hand seals as he used the "Kun Character - Earth River Chariot" technique to create several surging streams of earth and stone, slamming several experimental subjects with tattered fleshy wings that had swooped down from the air to the ground. He also sensed the faint but unusually clear fluctuation, seemingly originating from the soul level. His brows furrowed tightly, and he thought to himself, "Damn, is this for real? Is the sleeping beauty inside about to wake up? Judging from this, she probably won't be here to offer comfort after waking up! (；一_一)"

The moment Chen Duo heard the buzzing sound, her petite body trembled violently. The golden-red fireball she was about to unleash from her fingertip involuntarily veered slightly, grazing the monster's ear. Her emerald eyes widened instantly, filled with an indescribable mix of emotions—shock, bewilderment, a hint of instinctive fear, but more than anything, a deep-seated, inexplicable…pulse and resonance! It was as if an invisible connection existed between her and the distorted figure curled up inside the giant glass jar, and at that moment…that connection…had been stirred.

The black-robed "messenger" reacted most directly. His usually calm, even playful and greedy, strangely synthesized electronic voice revealed for the first time a clear, barely suppressed wave of surprise and ecstasy: "Oh? At this moment… a resonance actually occurred? Is it because of the pure flame aura of that little girl outside? Or is it because… there's something special about that man?"

His gaze was fixed on the area of ​​Nie Lingfeng's chest where the fabric was emitting a hazy golden-red glow due to the heat, then abruptly shifted to Chen Duo, before finally settling on the figure in the incubator whose eyelids were trembling slightly.

"Incredible... Absolutely incredible!" His hoarse voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement. "Could it be... that the almost undetectable 'divine bird' bloodline within her, stimulated by the shared aura and some kind of 'token,' has begun to truly 'activate'? Hahaha! Heaven is on my side! Perfect material, plus a vessel that is about to be fully awakened, the closest thing to 'perfect'! Today is truly... my lucky day!"

He suddenly raised his hands, and the dark red light on his black gloves shone brightly. It no longer just flowed, but transformed into countless fine, dark red energy threads, like blood vessels and meridians, which were frantically injected into the huge culture tank base and the pipelines connecting to the experimental subject!

"Awaken! My 'perfect creation'! Awaken completely! Absorb! Merge! Seize that purity...!!"

"Buzz—!!!"

As the black-robed messenger poured in his energy, the enormous culture tank began to vibrate violently! The dark red, viscous liquid inside boiled wildly as if it were being scalded! More bubbles surged out, and the tubing connected to the female test subject shone brightly, even emitting a crackling sound of electricity struggling to keep up with the load! The reinforced glass surface of the culture tank began to develop a dense, spiderweb-like crack!

Inside the tank, the curled-up figure trembled even more violently! The pair of tattered fleshy wings on her back flapped unconsciously, slapping against the viscous liquid; dark red lightning flickered faintly from the curved horns on her head; her body, covered with dark red scales and twisted runes, began to stretch and straighten uncontrollably... A powerful, chaotic, and violent aura, yet mixed with an extremely faint, almost imperceptible, ancient and sacred aura, began to emanate uncontrollably from her!

"Not good!" Wang Ye's expression changed. He keenly sensed that once the "thing" in that culture tank came out, it would definitely be a big problem! He changed his hand seals, and the Qimen formation under his feet shone with light. He aimed at the direction of the huge culture tank and was about to use his methods to interfere.

"Wang Ye! Ignore that! Clear out the smaller monsters first!" Nie Lingfeng roared. He felt the urgency and warning emanating from the jade pendant on his chest more clearly than Wang Ye, and he also sensed the faint but undeniable "sacred" aura emanating from the incubation tank, a aura shared with Chen Duo. They couldn't let the black-robed envoy completely control or enrage the experimental subject! But right now, there were still over twenty frantically attacking experimental subjects around them. If they were distracted, Chen Duo would be in danger!

"Damn it!" Wang cursed, forced to abandon his long-range interference and turn to deal with the situation. In that moment of distraction, the three experimental subjects broke through the Earth River Chariot's obstruction and pounced on him from different angles! One was covered in pustules, which burst during the charge, splattering foul-smelling, corrosive green venom; another's arms had mutated into huge bone blades, gleaming with a metallic cold light, and it slashed fiercely at his neck; and the third was extremely fast, crawling along the ground like a lizard, suddenly leaping up, opening its blood-red maw covered with fine barbs, and biting at his calf!

"Damn! They're playing dirty tricks! And they even have bio-weapons?!" Wang Ye exclaimed, his footwork incredibly swift and mysterious, moving like a ghost as he took several steps in the blink of an eye, leaving a trail of afterimages as he narrowly avoided the venom, bone blades, and sharp teeth! The venom landed on the ground, corroding the white tiles and causing them to sizzle and smoke; the bone blades struck empty air, creating a piercing whistling sound; the lizard test subject bit into empty air, its sharp teeth clashing together with a sickening sound.

"Xun Character - Wind Ropes!" Before Wang Ye could even steady himself, his fingers shot out swiftly. Several condensed, almost tangible, cyan wind ropes appeared out of thin air, coiling around the lizard test subject like serpents, temporarily binding it to the ground. At the same time, without turning his head, he unleashed a "Splitting Palm" strike, the palm wind carrying a strange force, slapping the chest of another test subject that lunged forward, causing it to stagger backward.

But he was preoccupied with most of his energy, and the experimental subject with the double-armed bone blades roared and pounced again, the bone blades slashing down with great force!

Just then, a golden-red fire line, condensed to its extreme, only as thick as a thumb, yet dazzling like a miniature sun, silently and swiftly struck first, piercing the forehead of the bone blade test subject with unparalleled precision! The test subject's forward momentum abruptly froze, the frenzied light in its eye sockets instantly dimmed, and its massive body crashed to the ground like a collapsing mountain, leaving only a small, charred hole on its forehead, but the inside had been completely burned away.

It was Chen Duo! At the crucial moment, she once again demonstrated astonishing precision and lethality. However, after this attack, her face paled even more, and her breathing became somewhat disordered, clearly indicating that she had exhausted herself greatly.

"Thanks, Chen Duo!" Wang Ye took the opportunity to break free from the entanglement, caught his breath, gave Chen Duo a thumbs up, and then looked at Nie Lingfeng and shouted, "Old Nie! Can you hold on over there? That big one inside looks like it's about to explode! (⊙ˍ⊙)"

At this moment, Nie Lingfeng was like a war god, his entire body covered in dark golden flames. Every punch and kick carried overwhelming power and a will to burn away all filth. He had just used a powerful punch enveloped in flames to smash the head of a giant toad-like experimental subject that was trying to spew acid! Slime and bits of flesh turned into smoke in the flames. Hearing this, he roared without turning his head, "Hold on! You protect Chen Duo! That big one... leave it to me!"

He wasn't entirely confident either. The aura emanating from the enormous culture tank was growing stronger, bringing him immense pressure. But at this moment, the jade pendant on his chest was burning hot, almost igniting, and a powerful, indescribable impulse was driving him—he had to get closer! He had to do something! Not to destroy, but to…prevent something far more terrible from happening, or…awaken something buried and corrupted!

"Arrogant!" The black-robed envoy's voice rang out again, laced with cold mockery. "You think you can interfere with the awakening of the 'Embryo of God'? You overestimate yourself!"

Before he finished speaking, he pressed his hands down sharply! More dark red energy threads were injected into the culture tank.

"Crack—Boom!!!"

Finally, the largest culture tank, unable to withstand the surge of violent energy from within and the influx of external forces, shattered completely! The explosion was far more violent than any before! The reinforced glass, several meters thick, shattered into countless sharp fragments, shooting out in all directions like a torrential downpour! A viscous, dark red liquid, like a burst dam, mixed with turbulent energy currents, surged and swept across the entire laboratory!

Nie Lingfeng, Wang Ye, Chen Duo, and the remaining test subjects were all forced to temporarily retreat in the face of the sudden explosion and shockwave!

Nie Lingfeng roared and pulled Chen Duo behind him. At the same time, dark golden flames shot up from his body, forming a thick fire barrier in front of him, blocking and burning all the incoming glass shards and liquid impacts! Wang Ye also instantly erected a thick earthen wall (Kun character · Earth Flow Wall) in front of him to resist the impact.

The test subjects weren't so lucky. Those that were close by were riddled with glass shards or torn apart by the energy turbulence, while those that were farther away were thrown about.

Before the smoke and splashed liquid from the explosion had completely dissipated, an even more violent, chaotic, and terrifying pressure, filled with an aura of destruction and pain, spread out from the center of the explosion like a tangible tsunami!

"roar--!!!"

A piercing scream, inhuman and filled with endless pain, violence, and madness, tore through the echoes of the explosion, shaking the entire laboratory! It even caused dust to fall from the sturdy laboratory walls and ceiling!

The smoke and dust slowly dissipated.

Deep inside the laboratory, where the culture tanks had once stood, only a huge crater remained, filled with slime and shards of glass. In the center of the crater, a figure slowly, unsteadily... stood up.

It was that female test subject!

She was now completely exposed to the air. She was about 1.7 meters tall, with a slender figure covered in twisted, writhing, dark red scales, from which a faint, dark red light flowed. Her pair of tattered, fleshy wings were fully extended; though torn and riddled with holes and tears, their wingspan still exceeded three meters, and with a gentle flap, they stirred up gusts of foul-smelling wind. A pair of curved black horns atop her head gleamed with an ominous, cold light at their tips. Her face still vaguely retained human features, even possessing a refined beauty, but her skin was also covered in fine, dark red scales. Her eyes were bloodshot, pupils invisible, only burning with endless chaos, pain, and flames of destruction! Her mouth was slightly open, revealing sharp, inhuman fangs, and a low, beast-like roar emanated from her throat.

She was still connected to several broken tubes and electrodes, which swayed with her movements. Dark red viscous fluid dripped continuously from her body, pooling at her feet.

Most strikingly, her hands had nails that had turned jet black, sharp, and half a foot long, like ten razor-sharp daggers! Her aura was violent, chaotic, and filled with twisted malice, but within this suffocating evil, there was actually a faint, almost completely corrupted, trace of...ancient, sacred, and scorching charm! This charm resonated slightly with the Phoenix True Fire on Chen Duo's body and the jade pendant on Nie Lingfeng's chest!