Chapter 2015 July 2nd, 12:25 PM

Coastal area, Golden Beach, Coastal Hotel.

Seventh floor, room 709.

Chen Zhicheng, feeling slightly uncomfortable from the surge of spiritual energy and the roiling energy within him, stuck out his tongue and lay on the bed. It felt like his internal organs were being gently massaged, an odd sensation that was both pleasant and unpleasant.

The sudden increase in spiritual energy concentration was undoubtedly a good thing for all life on Earth, but for individuals with greater sensitivity to spiritual energy, it could trigger a kind of allergic reaction.

Chen Zhicheng was one of these people. At the first moment of the spiritual energy outburst, his internal organs seemed to come alive, greedily and spontaneously absorbing the dense spiritual energy around him. This was, of course, a good thing, but in focusing on absorbing spiritual energy, his internal organs had somewhat neglected their primary functions, leaving him feeling weak and unable to even stand.

"You're a lot more energetic than I am."

In contrast, the flower fairy Xia Lan was full of energy, practically glowing. The little one was cheering and darting around the room. She was moving at a speed of over thirty meters per second, and that wasn't even her top speed.

"Happy, comfortable!"

Seeing the happy Xia Lan with her big, smiling face, Chen Zhicheng felt a little happier himself.

But at that moment, the entire room suddenly darkened. The sunlight outside the window faded within seconds, and the sound of rain began to patter against the glass.

"Is this atmospheric change caused by the fluctuation of spiritual energy?" Chen Zhicheng turned his head and looked out at the now-gloomy window. He felt a bit of strength returning to his body, and his eyes regained a glimmer of vitality. "Hmm, now that I think about it, I'm a bit hungry."

He hadn't eaten lunch, and his internal organs were absorbing spiritual energy and strengthening themselves, consuming a large amount of nutrients and creating a false sensation of extreme hunger.

However, with the support of official cultivation guidance, Chen Zhicheng knew that unless his digestive system was unusually strong, it was best not to actually eat anything at this time. His stomach and intestines simply didn't have the strength to digest the food and convert it into nutrients.

"Thank you!"

Xia Lan was very thoughtful and brought him a cup of warm spiritual honey water, warming his heart. After drinking the spiritual honey water, he felt much better. His chest and abdomen felt warm, and wisps of energy spread throughout his body.

But just then, a heavy collision sound came from the room next door.

"What the hell?"

The thirty-two-year-old middle-aged man sighed. Chen Zhicheng knew what that sound was.

*Clatter.*

But strangely, after the collision sound, he heard the sound of a door opening and closing... What were the couple next door doing? Why had they run outside?

Even with the hearing of an Awakened, he could only hear heavy breathing.

"What's going on?" Chen Zhicheng, feeling a bit of strength returning, had been planning to go out to eat. He didn't necessarily want to interrupt other people's fun, but this was a public place. Was he supposed to let their inappropriate behavior ruin his appetite? No way.

"Even in the American Federation, they aren't this open! I'll have to give them a scolding."

Chen Zhicheng muttered as he reached out, having Xia Lan perch on his finger and then placing her on his head. He stretched his limbs and then went out.

In the dimly lit hallway of the coastal hotel, under the pale yellow lights, a long-haired girl and a young man with his head lowered were embracing. The girl nestled against his chest, and they were embracing very tightly, showing that they had a good relationship.

"Okay, just hugging." At first glance, there was nothing wrong. Chen Zhicheng, who was raising his hand to cover Xia Lan's eyes, nodded in relief and lowered his finger. He complained, "You young people are too unrestrained. If you want to kiss..."

The smell of blood.

Halfway through his sentence, Chen Zhicheng stopped. His sensitive nose was filled with the scent of fresh blood.

In that instant, his smooth movements seemed to freeze. A thick, sweet, bloody smell was spreading throughout the hallway, and a dark spiritual light was shining from where the embracing couple stood.

The man 'tightly holding' the girl had his hands limply hanging down, as if his entire body had lost its support. He tilted to the side, his eyes blank. There was a hole in his throat, as if someone had dug it out with their hand, and fresh, hot blood was gushing out.

And in his chest, through the shattered clothes, was a hole the size of a human head. The ghoul-like girl pulled her head out of it.

*Thud.*

The woman, her body shimmering with a deep gray, dark spiritual light, mechanically turned her head. Her eyes flowed with an almost tangible hunger and greed. She released the man, and the emptied corpse fell to the ground.

"Gulp."

It was extremely difficult, but he swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

The overwhelming smell of blood and spiritual pressure slammed into the thirty-two-year-old middle-aged man like a storm.

Chen Zhicheng swore that this was the first time in his life, outside of a bathroom, that he had felt an overwhelming urge to urinate.

"Heh..."

In the next instant, the long-haired woman, like a ghoul, her body burning with a deep gray, dark spiritual light, rushed directly towards Chen Zhicheng with a spiritual pressure that made the surrounding lights flicker!

"Bang, bang, bang!"

Then, gunshots rang out, and the ghoul fell to the ground.

Even though his legs were shaking, Chen Zhicheng's hands holding the gun were incredibly steady.

After all, he was an Awakened cultivator. The recoil of the handgun was insignificant to him. And with an enemy rushing at him at close range, he didn't have to worry about aiming. Watching the man and woman who were now lying motionless in a pool of blood, Chen Zhicheng took a deep breath, trembling with lingering fear. "Phew... Luckily, official senior researchers are issued guns and spiritual bullets for self-defense... otherwise, this would be a horror movie plot."

"But what the hell is going on?! How did they suddenly start eating people?!"

As he thought this, Chen Zhicheng saw that the female ghoul was still twitching, and he instinctively aimed at her head and fired another shot. To be honest, he regretted it when he pulled the trigger. What if she had just lost control temporarily due to the spiritual energy outburst, and there was still a chance to save her? But now wasn't the time to dwell on such inexplicable softheartedness. What's done is done. He had acted in self-defense anyway.

"Damn it, what do I do now... Right, report to the authorities first!"

He picked up the confused Xia Lan, who hadn't understood what was going on, from his head and held her in his arms for protection. Chen Zhicheng was, after all, a researcher at the National Rare Plant Cultivation Center, and one who had just made a great contribution. Even on vacation, he was permitted to carry a gun for self-defense. In fact, military personnel had specifically trained them in shooting and evasion techniques.

But honestly, no one had taught him how to deal with man-eating ghouls! Besides reporting the situation, he couldn't think of anything else he could do right now.

At this time, people had heard the gunshots in the hallway and were nervously calling the police. Only an idiot would open the door to check what was going on. Chen Zhicheng was spared the trouble of wasting his breath explaining. He immediately returned to his room and dialed the emergency number in his employee handbook... After waiting for a long time, his call was finally transferred to an available communication port.

Without wasting words, Chen Zhicheng directly reported his situation and explained that he had shot and killed a suspected out-of-control cultivator in self-defense.

The person on the other end of the line also directly gave him instructions for the next course of action.

"Stay in your room and wait for rescue."

At the same time, in the sky.

Inside a rapidly moving helicopter.

Amid the roar of the violently rotating rotor, Su Zhou, who was alone in the cabin, had already put on a full set of protective gear. Although it wasn't an exoskeleton armor, it was the most advanced full-coverage NBC suit in the world.

And beside him, a strangely shaped spirit iron staff was placed to one side.

[Multiple cases of sudden, manic mutations of cultivators have occurred along the coast, accompanied by a widespread acute plague infection.]

[The mutated cultivators exhibit basically the same symptoms. They are mostly cultivators who have not yet opened their spiritual channels but possess a certain level of cultivation talent. After the mutation, their minds lose control, their spiritual light converts to yin, similar to evil spirits, and their bodies transform into something close to zombies, with stiff flesh that doesn't hinder their movement.]

[The strength of the mutated individuals is close to the middle stage of Awakening. They have a taste for eating flesh and blood, and their appetite is nearly endless. Even if their stomachs burst, they will continue to eat. It can basically be determined that they have transformed into 'hungry ghosts'.]

Su Zhou was listening intently to the analysis and instructions coming through his earpiece, his expression serious. [Some of the mutated individuals have become even more powerful, possessing the ability to temporarily become ethereal, allowing them to evade ordinary firearms attacks in addition to non-spiritual bullets.]

The middle-aged male voice spoke in a calm tone: [According to the current situation analysis, this disturbance was triggered by a large, transnational, mysterious organization.]

[This time, their seven leaders simultaneously attacked seven regions around the world, creating seven disturbances almost simultaneously during the period of spiritual energy outburst.]

On the electronic screen in the cabin, recordings of chaotic scenes from around the world appeared.

The coastal areas of the Europa Federation had been turned into a sea of fire, with fire-attribute ability users wreaking havoc.

In the Southeast Asian countries, hundreds of thousands of people were fainting in the streets with terrified expressions, as if they had entered a nightmare from which they could not escape.

On the West Coast of the American Federation, enraged crowds were shooting at each other, their emotions completely out of control, only able to vent their dissatisfaction and anger through destruction.

And on the East Coast of Fusang, the number of suicides had reached a new high. Among the skyscrapers, there were faint glimpses of evil spirits unafraid of sunlight, the combined souls of the deceased.

Chaos was happening all over the world.