If there were zombies in the Purple Moon era, there would certainly be zombie beasts. However, when compared to its human counterpart, the zombie beasts were countless times more ferocious.
Why? There were two points.
Firstly, beasts’ bodies were naturally stronger than humans. Even if they were infected after death, their body traits would not be altered.
Secondly, the Devil Fungus was the main reason that transformed humans into zombies, but it would never parasitize other living beings except for humans.
Why? Scientists had yet to come up with a theory.
However, in the mad and ever-changing Purple Moon era, there was more than one type of parasitic bacterias other than the Devil Fungus.
Other than the microscopic spores of the Devil Fungus constantly floating in the air, the other parasitic bacterias could infect all kinds of living beings. Maybe because the other parasitic bacterias were a lot less in numbers, even the most common one was stronger than the Devil Fungus. They might even possess talent abilities, and once they found a host to infect, the talent would be transferred to the host.
Some of them even had rapid enhancement mechanisms. As long as the nutrients were sufficient, both the parasite and the host would rapidly grow to an unusual level of power.
In summary, zombie beasts were a terrifying existence. Despite being rare in numbers, zombie beasts that were formed as a result of all kinds of coincidences possessed abilities that surpassed their own power level.
Besides having the same undying traits of a humanoid zombie, they were absent of all emotions and driven purely by desire. The thought about it alone was terrifying enough.
Zombie beasts were not afraid of damages. As long as their limbs remained intact and they could still move, any damage inflicted on them was useless.
Lastly, they could not feel pain.
The Black Shroom Zombie Ape was one of the rather well-known zombie beasts because there was a special type of fungi, the Black Spore Silk Mushrooms, that loved infecting the corpses of apes.
According to scientific research, the reason why the fungi loved apes’ corpses was because they matched them well, especially the Level 5 mutated ape, the Black-scaled Moss Ape.
Once the two came together, a very powerful zombie beast would be born.
A Black-scaled Moss Ape was only at level 5, but once it evolved into the Black Shroom Zombie Ape, its category surged to become a level 7 mutated zombie beast.
On top of that, its growth speed was ridiculously fast. Usually, within one to two months, it would further evolve into a level 9 mutated zombie beast, and in less than half a year, it would surpass the line of the mutated beast and evolve into a level 1 vicious beast.
The level categories of zombie beasts were correspondent to their living counterparts, unlike humanoid zombies who were categorized individually.
Humanoid zombies might be weak, but they used to be human and all kinds of unimaginable abilities might branch out from their transformation. Therefore, it was only natural that they were categorized individually!
The differences between humanoid zombies and zombie beasts might be related to the human brain.
Regardless of which, all the stated reasons were why the Black Shroom Zombie Ape was so well-known! On top of that, its combat capabilities were off the charts. There were rumors that a level 9 mutated Black Shroom Zombie Ape had even managed to kill a rank 2 Purple Moon Warrior.
The giant figure in the gray mist slowly became clear to the eyes. Those who had never seen the zombie ape before might find the ape comical.
Its body was huge and its muscles were tightly coiled. Its primate face was withered and coupled with the grayish-white eyes, it should be terrifying to look at, but on top of its head was a black mushroom.
Tang Ling stood in the spot. His slightly scrawny physique made him look tiny in front of the giant Black Shroom Zombie Ape. Only his blood-dripping fists and crimson-dyed sword slightly boosted his presence, but no matter how the audience looked at it, he could never be a match for the zombie ape.
Zombie beasts could fight beyond their own ranks!
The zombie ape before Tang Ling was definitely not a newborn. Its giant size was proof that it had been growing for a while now, so it was at least a level 8 mutated beast. Theoretically, before ascending to a Purple Moon Warrior, the strongest beast that a newbie could kill was a level 9 mutated beast, but that was just on paper.
Man was naturally weak against beasts, except for Purple Moon Warriors on rank 3 or above whose talent ability would start to show. Otherwise, everyone below rank 3 was no match for beasts of the same rank. It was a sad but true fact.
Therefore, how could Tang Ling be a match for the zombie beast?
That was also the reason why some of the members of the audience complained that the appearance of a zombie beast was against the rules. Unfortunately, making a scene could not do anything. The requirement to achieve a SSS rating of clearing Gray Mist Street was as such.
As the one involved, Tang Ling did not feel that there was anything wrong about the zombie beast’s appearance. He did not even flinch. As a matter of fact, the scenario had given him obvious hints throughout his short run.
The killer demons that he killed all over the street were actually level 5 mutated beasts. They were Black-scaled Moss Apes. The so-called gray mist was a common environment for the Black Spores Silk Mushrooms to grow before they infected a host.
Therefore, Tang Ling already deduced that the SSS trigger event might pitch him against a zombie beast, the Black Shroom Zombie Ape.
Things turned out as he expected!
Tang Ling curled his lips into an excited grin, making him look like a battle maniac in people’s eyes. Only he himself knew that he had finally found the best practice target! Speaking from a certain perspective, the scenario aided him a lot!
Why?
His spirit visualization method still had its limits when seeing through the bodies of living beings, but before him was a zombie beast which had no heartbeat, no breath, no blood flow, nothing! Other than moving around as if it was alive, it was no different from an inanimate object.
If that was the case, he could use the spirit visualization method to fight the zombie ape.
As the mist scattered away, the Black Shroom Zombie Ape finally revealed its terrifying yet comical look.
After it saw Tang Ling, it growled excitedly and charged towards him without a second thought.
At that moment, everyone saw Tang Ling closing his eyes.
“Hoho!” After seeing Tang Ling close his eyes, Tang Long chuckled in a profound manner.
Since Tang Ling was able to predict the appearance of the Black Shroom Zombie Ape for the SSS rating, so could Tang Long.
He stood up and walked out of the resting lounge without any expression on his face. He wanted to go to the next scenario because he knew how the fight between Tang Ling and the zombie ape would end even without deducing.
If Tang Ling was pitched against a live level 8 mutated beast, the fight would be a lot more interesting.
“That little bastard is getting all the advantages! He’s becoming the center of attraction!” Boss Huang grumbled, but his gaze betrayed his emotions.
There was no way that the one who taught Tang Ling the spirit visualization method could not see through the things that even Tang Long could.
He was actually quite pleased that Tang Ling was able to garner attention like that because it would only further prove his earlier words right! As for his stand, no one really cared about stands anymore at this stage.
…
Tang Ling concentrated his spirit on his pineal gland, and when coupled with his fully operational Precise Instinct, his sight turned into something bizarre.
The street, the lingering mist, the giant Black Shroom Zombie Ape, and everything else was gone. What he saw was the deconstructed model of a body.
That was what Tang Ling saw when he closed his eyes.
The Black Shroom Zombie Ape was quick because apes were naturally quick animals, but after it was zombified, its agility would only increase.
It appeared in front of Tang Ling in a flash. It swung its sharp metallic claws towards him while its big mouth with a vile stench tried to chomp on his head. Other than that, the floating moss on its body turned into thinner threads and wriggled towards Tang Ling.
The threads of moss were the talent of the Black Shroom Zombie Ape. It was a plant type talent called Constrict!
It’s still a very young zombie ape.
It took but an instant for Tang Ling, who had fully operational Precise Instinct, to get the set of numbers in his mind.
The set of numbers proved that the Black Shroom Zombie Ape was indeed a level 8 mutated beast whereas its plant type talent, Constrict, should be a newly acquired talent. It was barely considered a talent ability. All it could do was support the battle and such speed could never catch Tang Ling, let alone bind him down!
In Tang Ling’s eyes, the zombie ape’s body structure became clear. The joints of its bones, the strands of its muscles, how every part of its body interacted with each other when it moved, everything was displayed to him.
Then, Tang Ling made his move.
He moved his waist by 1 mm, so the sharp claws of the zombie ape grazed him. He tilted his neck sideways, and the ugly face of the zombie ape grazed his cheek as it missed its bite.
In the next second, Tang Ling grabbed one of the moss on the zombie ape’s body in reverse at a tricky angle. He swung himself up and dodged the threads of moss. Everything happened in milliseconds, but most of the audience failed to see what happened, hence gasps of shock came from them.
Tang Ling’s dodge was alarmingly dangerous as if everything happened by coincidence and he had to rely on luck to save his skin, but how long could luck favor him in the battle?
Most of them sweated nervously, but those who understood what happened were awe-struck. They were in silent disbelief and failed to react to the situation. All kinds of complicated emotions were rumbling in the insightful people’s hearts.
A closer look at the fight would reveal that Tang Ling’s body was as fluid as water!
If his body had already captured the feeling, it meant that he was not far away from achieving the body control technique that Purple Moon Warriors used when they unlocked the genetic lock—microsenses!
What kind of monster was Tang Ling to be achieving microsenses at this stage?
It was impossible because he had not even truly mastered the Transient Step, the genetic lock for speed and his body had not even been unlocked!
It was impossible!
Such thoughts lingered in many people’s mind, especially the powerhouses. Even Boss Huang stood up and glued his eyes to the screen showing Tang Ling’s battle.
With his Precise Instinct, Tang Ling was obviously capable of ending the battle quickly. For example, in the dangerous dodge earlier, he could have dodged it better and effortlessly. He could have simply jumped up, perform a quick wall run and get to the back of the zombie ape, yet he…
He was not just trying to achieve spirit visualization in the battle, but he was also trying to use the battle to hone his body control!
However, it was impossible without unlocking the genetic lock. It was impossible for him to enter the microsensing state, or was it?
Tang Ling did not care as he stopped his attack. With his eyes remained closed, he performed all kinds of extreme dodges of the zombie ape’s intense attacks.
The more he dodged, the softer his body looked. He was a lot less intentional than he was earlier. Instead, he looked like he was simply going with the flow.
“Mm-hmm.”
Inside the VIP room, the strange copper-faced person sat down and continued watching Tang Ling in silence. He was not at all surprised by Tang Ling’s performance as though it was only normal for the kid to achieve such an outrageous performance.
