Epoch of Twilight

Luo Yuan looked a bit uneasy.

The most special characteristic of creatures who lived in a group was their intelligence and ability to build a community.

This was not unusual in nature. For example, ants were able to organize their marching route, build a complex nest, launch large-scale raids, and execute other amazing actions.

In fact, ants were not particularly intelligent. They were low-level creatures, just like all other insects. However, a large number of ants together could often accomplish incredible things.

They did not need a commander to order the soldier ants, and there was no boss to monitor the workers. The queen ant was only responsible for reproducing. Even if there were 60,000 ants in the colony, they did not need to be managed to carry out everyday operations. What they relied on, was the numerous interactions between individuals. They just followed simple rules to form a unique, amazing collective intelligence.

Tiny creatures such as ants were not dangerous to humans. However, when it came to a parasite, and especially a parasitic worm that had mutated, a whole group of them could produce a powerful attack if they were to fight other creatures using their close connection with each other.

There were a lot of bumping noises coming from the staircase. The shelves had started to distort, and the mutated beasts had begun to cross over the shelves and rush towards them.

Everyone was worried, and they subconsciously stepped back a little.

Without any obstruction, the mutated beasts could now move forward fast and easy. The mutated human beasts were agiler than normal humans. They could cross the 7-8 meter long passage in just a few seconds.

No one would have expected that Wang Xiaguang would be the first one to attack. She shouted softly and instantly moved forward, holding the knife in both her hands. She aimed at one of the mutated beasts and chopped it without hesitation. In the past, she had used to practice kendo, and the martial art foundations still remained, although it had been a long time since she had last practised.

In a flash, the head of the mutated beast was split into two, and blood splashed onto her face, somehow making her look both strange and beautiful.

Everyone had an excellent quality knife in their hands. Although they were not as good as Luo Yuan’s, the knives were all blue level weapons, so it was not difficult for them to deal with white level mutated beasts.

Wang Xiaguang was tense, but she did not feel uncomfortable. On the contrary, the bloody scene in front of her made her kind of excited. She cautiously stepped back and aimed before she cut in half another mutated beast that had sneaked up on her from behind.

Everyone felt motivated by Wang Xiaguang’s performance. They had never expected those horrible mutated beasts to be so useless and easy to kill. Wang Xiaguang was the weakest among them, after all.

"We’ve got nothing to fear! Let’s do this together!" Huang Jiahui shouted loudly and started towards the mutated beasts with her knife.

Everyone, including the timid Cao Lin, followed with their knives in hand.

Only Luo Yuan, Wang Shishi, Zhao Yali and Chen Xianfeng, who were all badly injured, stood aside.

Zhao Yali felt awkward and uncomfortable as she hid in the back while everyone else fought in front. She could feel Wang Shishi’s contempt without even looking at her.

"Well," Wang Shishi gave Zhao Yali a contemptuous snort as she stared at her.

Zhao Yali’s face instantly flushed. She felt ashamed. She wanted the ground to open up and swallow her.

The number of mutated beasts was getting bigger. There had only been a few initially, but in less than half a minute the whole passageway had been entirely occupied by them.

However, the passage was only two meters wide, so it could not fit all the mutated beasts. Besides, there were more and more carcasses on the ground, making it increasingly difficult for the beasts to move forward.

While everyone was fighting intensely, Luo Yuan closed his eyes.

He could feel the chaos growing outside as he heard Lao Huang and the giant lizard’s depressing roars from time to time. Apparently, they were having an intense battle. This time, it was not a normal mutation. The beasts had a certain order and group wisdom. Plus, they were low-level parasites. The giant lizard might not be able to last for long if they attacked it continuously.

All along the way, it was the lizard’s deterrence that had helped the group avoid getting attacked. The lizard’s strength was a powerful weapon. It would be a big waste if he had to give it up. However, there were too many mutated beasts outside. There was no chance of survival for him if he rushed out to help. Unless he could enter into the frequency of the Earth Stomp again.

It had been a coincidence when he had entered into the same frequency as the Earth during the last battle. He could never do it again. That had been a special case. His internal organs and sternum had all been broken, his heart had almost stopped beating, and he had almost died.

In other words, he would have been dead if he had not managed to connect with the Earth. Since then, Luo Yuan had been speculating that the phenomenon might be related to the heartbeat. A human could only enter into the Earth frequency when their heartbeat reached a certain low rate, such as five or six beats a minute.

One’s heartbeat was never stable. The main function of the heart was to supply blood and deliver nutrients to the whole body. The greater the energy consumption, the faster the heartbeat. The slower and calmer the body was, the slower the heartbeat would become as well.

If he could slow down his breathing and keep it that way, he might be able to slow down his heartbeat.

That would not be enough, though. He tried very hard to think of another helpful strategy. He realized death might be an important factor, but he could not go looking for death. It was too risky.

Then he thought of his Will. Undoubtedly, determination was a mysterious force. He had known right from the beginning that Will was not just used to control external parameters. It could be used freely to control the human body as well. Every time he increased his Will, his Strength was easier to control. Now he was able to control every single one of his muscles. Whenever he was injured, he was able to close the wound and stop the bleeding.

He could do all this naturally.

“What would happen if I were to concentrate all my Will?”

Luo Yuan’s heart pumped faster at the thought. He had never tried that before.

He began to meditate, and his Will was concentrated instantly.

This time though, there was nothing abnormal about it. There was no flash or light appearing around him. It was as if nothing had happened, except for the dense mist surrounding him.

In just a moment, his emotions fluctuated and his concentrated Will suddenly collapsed.

He was shocked and amazed. It was an unprecedented, bizarre experience. He had never felt the real presence of his flesh. He seemed to be in control of everything inside his body.

He breathed deeply, and tried to calm down and gather his Will again.

He could feel the dense network of fibers in his muscles, the hardness and density of his bones, his blood flowing like a river, and his internal organs moving. Last but not least, he could feel his heart pumping hard.

He could not see it, but he could outline every single inch of his body in his mind.

He felt it for a while, but he did not dare waste any more time. The situation was already very critical outside. The giant lizard was roaring fiercely again and again. This had to be its last defense against the mutated beasts.

He quickly switched his attention toward his heart. He could not explain why, but he had a feeling that he could control it.

The idea flashed through his mind as he felt his heartbeat get slower. It was a whole process. It felt like when someone was trying to stop a big, fast-moving object using a small force. He felt kind of helpless.

He was happy with the result, though.

He tried to control his emotions so that his Will would not collapse again as his heartbeat got lower and lower.

After a few minutes, he started to lose his Strength and his face turned pale.

The situation had become more critical. There were several dangerous fights taking place at the same time, and Wang Shishi was too busy watching her surroundings. Zhao Yali was the only one who noticed that Luo Yuan had almost fainted and quickly ran towards him to hold him up.

"Luo Yuan, are you alright? Please, you’re scaring me!" Zhao Yali said in a tearful voice, her face looking worried.

Luo Yuan signed to indicate that he was fine. His heartbeat had already been reduced to ten times per minute. He was experiencing a serious shortage of blood transmission, and his overall abilities had hit rock bottom. However, he was still able to hold on for a short period of time thanks to his physical fitness.

The mutated creatures kept coming at them, and the number of carcasses on the floor kept rising. The space where they could fight was limited, and everyone had been forced to move back.

The ceiling started to fall, some parts beginning to collapse. The roof and the wall on both sides were cracking. The building itself had already been seriously corroded, and the attack from the mutated beasts had only accelerated the destruction process.

It could not last any longer.

Everyone had been injured lightly. Their clothes were tough enough to protect them from an attack by low-level mutated beasts.

Still, they were all exhausted.

They had just been learning to fight, so they were still new to energy allocation. They used their full power in every attack, and in combination with their tension and fear, their energy consumption was multiplied. Without Wang Shishi’s help and support, they would’ve been killed by the mutated beasts. They were completely exhausted after only a few minutes of fighting.

Suddenly, the wall along the passageway came crashing down. Without the support of the wall, the ceiling collapsed as well.

A bunch of mutated beasts fell down from the higher floors. The situation had just gotten worse.