Ling Feng frowned, his expression solemn. Conscious lickers were far more difficult to deal with than unconscious ones.
Unconscious, common zombies were immune to pain and lacked any semblance of strategy, only wanting to tear their opponents apart. They wouldn't defend themselves, making them easier to handle.
But conscious ones were different. Ling Feng's sure-kill strike, which should have been fatal, was now met with a defense, making it harder to kill.
"First strike, best strike!" Ling Feng's eyes flashed with cold light. Just as he was about to act, a familiar voice reached his ears, causing him to pause.
"Little brother, save me, save me."
"Is that Director Jin's voice?!" Ling Feng was stunned. The familiar voice belonged to the Director Jin he remembered vividly.
But he had personally seen Director Jin bitten by a zombie. Even if he had escaped the zombie at the time, he should have been infected and mutated by now. So where was this voice coming from?
Could this Licker possess some kind of mental attack?
This made Ling Feng even more vigilant.
"Little brother, save me, take me home. My mom is waiting for me at home... I can't let my mom worry."
Director Jin's voice echoed in his ears again. This time, Ling Feng realized where it was coming from. It was from the Licker in front of him.
"What's going on? Director Jin isn't dead yet? Inside the Licker's belly?"
"No... something's wrong. He was bitten by a zombie. It's been so long, he should have turned into a zombie."
There was only one possibility now: this Licker in front of him was Director Jin!
"Little brother... please, save me." This time, Ling Feng saw the Licker speaking with his own eyes, which confirmed that the Licker before him was Director Jin.
But how had Director Jin become like this?
Was it caused by that so-called Chaos Energy?
Ling Feng was bewildered. He had never encountered such a situation and didn't know what was happening. However, Ling Feng still replied coldly to Director Jin, "You've already become a monster. If you go back, you'll only harm your mother."
"Monster?" Director Jin sounded confused. He raised his palm and saw his sharp claws and exposed muscle tissue. What else could this be but a monster?
"No... impossible... how could I..." Director Jin's voice trembled slightly, as he vehemently denied it, unable to accept the fact that he had turned into a monster.
However, Director Jin only lowered his head and denied it for about three seconds before standing still in a daze. It was as if he had suddenly gone AFK during a game.
Ling Feng was puzzled. He picked up a stone from the ground and threw it at Director Jin.
"Ugh!" As soon as the stone hit Director Jin, he let out a beastly growl. No, it shouldn't be called Director Jin anymore, but the Chaos creature, the Licker. The Licker lunged at Ling Feng again, and its long, slender tongue also whipped towards him.
Ling Feng had no time to think about what was happening. He swung his sword, "Xian Li Mie Chen," to deflect the attacking tongue and tensed his muscles to fight the Licker with all his might.
Sharp claws and a long spear clashed rapidly, neither able to gain the upper hand. However, the Licker clearly had the advantage. The Licker's strength and speed were both superior to Ling Feng's. If Ling Feng hadn't been significantly smaller and more agile than the Licker, he would have been completely overwhelmed.
"Hah!" Ling Feng unleashed a full-powered sword strike, whistling through the air as it hit the Licker's claw, repelling it. Ling Feng finally had a brief moment to rest.
"What was that just now? Director Jin's consciousness disappeared? Has he completely mutated?" Ling Feng narrowed his eyes, watching the Licker charge at him again. The scene just now was eerily similar to Director Jin's complete infection at the end of the movie.
"I had a good fight, but! It's time to end this!"
Ling Feng's gaze sharpened. He stomped his foot and charged towards the Licker. "Xian Li Mie Chen" disappeared from his hand, replaced by a broadsword emitting a dazzling blue light. It was Ling Feng's only five-star divine weapon, the Blade of the War God.
With his strength at the eighth level of Qi Refining, Ling Feng could now barely lift the Blade of the War God without the aid of true qi.
*Whoosh!*
Ling Feng raised the Blade of the War God and brought it down with immense force.
*Splat!*
Ling Feng and the Licker's figures passed through each other. Ling Feng shook the Blade of the War God, flicking off the green blood that had splattered on it, and then stored it back into his spatial ring.
The Licker's massive body crashed to the ground, its head severed from its body by a single stroke.
[Ding! Host has killed a low-level Chaos creature, "Large Licker," gaining 50 Wish Energy.]
[Ding! Hidden mission for "Train to Busan" has been completed. Rewards will be distributed uniformly after the trial.]
[Ding! Reminder: Only the main mission remains incomplete.]
"Phew, as expected, I can't use the Blade of the War God casually," Ling Feng wiped the sweat from his forehead. The side effects of using the Blade of the War God were still quite taxing.
Ling Feng turned around and looked at the Licker's corpse. Purple-black light particles were emanating from the corpse. Ling Feng frowned as he watched these particles slowly dissipate into the air.
"Is this Chaos Energy?" Ling Feng narrowed his eyes. The system's description for the Licker mentioned that it was mutated by something called Chaos Energy.
Within three seconds, all the Chaos Energy on the Licker's body had completely dissipated.
"System, what exactly is this Chaos Energy? Can you explain?" Ling Feng asked.
『Chaos Energy originates from beyond the world and is a collection of negative energy. It is generated by the negative emotions of intelligent life. It is the antithesis of creation, symbolizing destruction and demise.』
『Chaos creatures are formed by being eroded by Chaos. They are specifically designed to eliminate the 'Destiny's Chosen' in various worlds, thereby altering the original plot lines of world development, and then corrupting the entire world.』
『The Chaos creature you just killed was a small amount of Chaos Energy that infiltrated from outside the world's barrier. When Chaos Energy combines with a living being, it can be eliminated by killing the Chaos creature.』
"What would happen if I left without destroying it?" Ling Feng inquired.
『The world of "Train to Busan" would be completely eroded and destroyed by Chaos!』
"So, I'm essentially saving the world?"
『You could consider it that way.』
"But isn't this also changing the plot?"
『It's different; the nature is different. Our alteration of the plot does not lead to world destruction, but Chaos creatures are different. Once they kill members of the protagonist group, they absorb their destiny and continuously grow stronger. If they completely eliminate the protagonist group, the consciousness of this world will also be eroded until it is completely destroyed!』
"Mm, I understand." Ling Feng nodded. He had a clearer understanding of his trial missions now. It was likely that he was sent to save these worlds that were on the verge of being eroded by Chaos creatures.
Ling Feng looked towards the distant train station and then quickened his pace, running towards it.
There was nothing else to do here, and he definitely couldn't catch up to Shi Yu and the others. Therefore, Ling Feng wanted to kill more zombies to earn some Wish Energy, as Wish Energy was genuinely difficult to acquire, a fact Ling Feng deeply understood.
Ling Feng's speed was incredible. Running at full speed, it only took him two minutes to return to the train station. Using the terrain and his speed, Ling Feng employed a kiting strategy to kill the zombies one by one in the train station.
Wish Energy flowed in quickly, soon surpassing the 300 mark. In twenty minutes, he had almost cleared out all the zombies in the train station. Originally, Ling Feng felt a little uncomfortable killing zombies, even feeling nauseous, but after killing so many, he had become numb.
Ten minutes later, the system's notification finally chimed.
[Ding! Main mission has been completed! You will now be teleported to the system-created rest space for trial mission evaluation!]
Ling Feng stood on top of a building, looking down at the gathering horde of zombies below. He let out a long sigh of relief. It was finally over.
Three seconds later, Ling Feng vanished from the world. In Busan, Shi Yu and his group, who were undergoing military inspection, seemed to sense something and simultaneously looked in the direction where Ling Feng had just been standing.
In the system's rest space.
[Ding! This movie trial mission for "Train to Busan" has a completion rate of 100%. All mission rewards, except for the hidden mission, will be doubled.]
[Ding! Total rewards for this trial mission: 3150 Wish Energy, Five-Star cultivation technique "Blazing Flame Saber Technique," and one Merit Point.]
[Ding! Host's body has been cleared of all bacteria and viruses!]
"Holy cow, 3150 Wish Energy. *Slurp*, I can do a ten-pull now, hehe. ( ´▽` )ﾉ" Ling Feng looked at the virtual panel in front of him with immense satisfaction.
"Five-star cultivation technique 'Blazing Flame Saber Technique.' It sounds pretty good just by the name." Ling Feng took out the jade slip containing "Blazing Flame Saber Technique" from the system space and absorbed it.
Every move and stance of the "Blazing Flame Saber Technique" was imprinted in Ling Feng's mind.
"Yosh, I really needed a combat technique. And here it is delivered right to me. 'Carefree Sword Control Art' is still too restrictive. This saber technique will be perfect for regular use."
"Hmm, what is this Merit Point?" Ling Feng looked at the last item he received – Merit Point.
What was a Merit Point?
Ling Feng opened his character panel to check and found that a new entry, Merit Point, had appeared.
Ling Feng clicked on it.
[Merit Point]: 1 (Merit points are awarded by the world consciousness when killing Chaos creatures that infest worlds. The amount varies depending on the world's strength.)
"...You didn't say what Merit Points are for! System, come out and explain."
『Information: Merit points can be used to offset the power of heavenly tribulations or transform tribulations into Merit Tribulations. They can also be used to enhance one's cultivation, and even purify Chaos creatures. Their uses are endless.』
"Enhance cultivation? Offset heavenly tribulations?" Ling Feng was dumbfounded. He hadn't expected Merit Points to be so powerful. What were heavenly tribulations? They were the wrath of the Heavenly Dao incurred when breaking through to a major realm. Surviving them led to cultivation advancement, while failure meant near-certain annihilation!
And Merit Points could actually offset the Heavenly Dao's condemnation. This was incredibly useful for him at his current stage. He was about to reach the ninth level of Qi Refining, and breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage would require enduring heavenly tribulations, as recorded in the Yuan Ling Jue.
The system had also warned him not to attempt a breakthrough unless he was absolutely certain, as inviting heavenly tribulations, even the minor one for breaking from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment, was not to be underestimated. A single misstep could lead to death.
The system had also mentioned that his spiritual root, being a Heavenly Spiritual Root, would make the heavenly tribulations even more terrifying. Either the number of tribulations would increase, or their intensity would escalate. It advised him to obtain items that could counter heavenly tribulations before attempting the breakthrough.
Currently, besides his physical body, he had nothing to deal with heavenly tribulations. The probability of death was extremely high.