Struggling to his feet, Luo Hou was overwhelmed with confusion.
When did I gain the ability to leap so high?The explosive strength required to propel oneself over two meters into the air—just how powerful had he become?
Stretching his arms and shaking out his legs, Luo Hou quickly realized that his strength had multiplied several times over compared to before the ring had evolved. His muscles pulsed with a wild, surging energy, as if they were on the verge of bursting. For a moment, he felt as though he could kill a bull with a single punch. The power had grown so drastically that his body had yet to fully adapt.
He glanced at the grime coating his skin and recalled the moment the Spirit Ring absorbed a hundred gray crystals—the wild torrent of energy that had surged into his body, the excruciating pain that had nearly torn him apart. Now, he understood: that surge had completely cleansed and reforged his physique.
And that wasn't all.
Snapping out of his awe, Luo Hou noticed something even more astonishing—his affinity with the elemental energy in the surrounding air had skyrocketed. With every breath he took, he could distinctly sense wisps of spiritual essence entering his body through his pores.
With a thought, a white crystal materialized in his palm. Calming his mind, he entered a meditative state.
As Luo Hou absorbed its essence, the spiritual energy stored within the crystal poured into his body. The milky luster of the crystal began to fade visibly. Within mere minutes, what once resembled a solid drop of condensed milk had turned translucent—and then crumbled into fine powder.
Without hesitation, Luo Hou retrieved every remaining white crystal from the ring's storage space. Cradling them between both hands, he continued absorbing.
Two full hours passed.All nine white crystals had been completely drained of their energy.
When he finally opened his hands, a cascade of powder drifted down between his fingers.
Luo Hou opened his eyes and broke into a silent, satisfied smile. A faint yet tangible stream of elemental essence was now circulating through his meridians, gradually strengthening his muscles and bones.
With a forceful clench of his right fist—now wrapped in a soft white glow—he smashed it into the hardened earth beneath him. Dirt exploded in all directions as half of his fist embedded itself deep into the solid ground.
Evolution Stage One!The radiant white aura surrounding his fist was the unmistakable mark of a first-tier Evolver.
Something that once felt impossibly distant—something he had dared not dream of—had come to him at last, silently and without warning. Looking at the crater left by his punch, Luo Hou stood in stunned silence, countless thoughts swirling in his mind.
A tall, slender silhouette emerged in his memory.
"It won't be long now. I'll be able to find her soon."
...
Under the blazing sun, a zombie in a ragged city enforcer uniform shuffled lazily between a few abandoned cars. Its rotting flesh had been scorched into a leathery shell, clinging tightly to its skeletal frame—making it look more like a walking corpse than ever before.
Suddenly, as if sensing something, the zombie froze and turned its head with a puzzled expression.
In the next instant, a glowing white fist grew rapidly in its vision—then smashed directly into its forehead. The sheer force of the blow sent the zombie hurtling backward until it crashed into a nearby car. A deafening bang echoed through the street, accompanied by the sickening crack of snapping bones—its spine shattered into pieces.
Luo Hou stood exactly where the zombie had been, inspecting his untouched fist with satisfaction.
"As expected, the power of a Stage One Evolver is on an entirely different level."
The noise had attracted attention. In the distance, several other zombies—seven in total—began shambling toward him. Without hesitation, Luo Hou drew a steel blade from the ring's storage space, let out a fierce roar, and charged forward.
After just a few strides, he stomped forcefully on the ground and launched himself over two meters into the air.
Mid-flight, the blade rose high above his head.
In a single, devastating slash, the steel edge came down like divine judgment, slicing the first zombie clean from left shoulder to right rib.
With a fluid twist of his body, Luo Hou evaded the falling corpse, then swept his blade in a diagonal arc. The second zombie's head flew clean off its shoulders.
The next moment, three more zombies lunged from different directions, surrounding him. Six blackened, claw-like hands slashed toward him in unison. Luo Hou didn't flinch—instead, he dropped his stance, dodging their attacks in a flash. Then, his right hand lashed out, blade sweeping wide.
A single strike—and all six rotting legs were severed from their owners.
Before the crippled zombies could collapse, Luo Hou pivoted and stomped again, spinning with lethal grace. His blade flickered—and three heads shot skyward in unison.
In the blink of an eye, five zombies lay dead at his feet.
The remaining two were still several meters away.
With practiced ease, Luo Hou reversed his grip and hurled the blade like a spear. It shot through the open mouth of the sixth zombie and buried itself to the hilt.
The final zombie, unlike its unfortunate brethren, was spared. Luo Hou had other plans for this one—he cast a spirit control spell upon it, binding it to his will as his newest pet. It would be useful soon enough—for all the dirty work he didn't want to do.
With the earlier crippled zombie included, Luo Hou collected seven white crystals—each carefully extracted by his new undead servant and laid out before him. A feast, no matter how small, was still a feast. Naturally, he wouldn't let them go to waste.
Guided by his zombie familiar, Luo Hou strolled south, toward the alleyway where the general store stood. Along the way, he encountered over thirty zombies, and just as many white crystals were added to his growing collection. When he reached the area where he'd previously spotted the evolved zombie, only a few common ones remained, leaving Luo Hou feeling a faint twinge of disappointment.
If that evolved zombie had still been there, he would have tried to subdue it. If he succeeded, he'd gain a powerful new fighter. And even if he failed—he was now confident that, as a first-tier Evolver, he could escape unharmed.
His second visit to the general store brought a sense of satisfaction. The shelves were packed with oil, salt, sauces, and over a hundred bottles of liquor. Luo Hou grinned and swept them all into his ring's storage space. Seeing that there was still plenty of room left, he added dozens of bottles of purified water—still within their shelf life.
Out in the world, you could go without food for a few days. But water? Two days without it, and you'd be finished.
As he stepped back into the street and noticed the sun was still high, Luo Hou made a decision—he would venture deeper down the avenue. So long as he didn't stray too far into the heart of the city, and avoided any second-tier zombies, he believed he'd be safe enough.