Chapter 14: The Interrogation of Humanity, Reason or Bestiality
The place where Hate Douluo lived was not a particularly poor environment.
Inside the enormous stone chamber, bright Spirit Tool lamps shone overhead, giving off a light similar to sunlight. A special Spirit Tool operated continuously, clearing away the room's dark, damp air and even the faint hidden smell of blood.
All kinds of daily necessities were available. Chen Ming even saw various storybooks on several shelves, seemingly used for ordinary amusement, though he did not know whether Hate Douluo or someone else was the one reading them. There were also a few green plants placed in the corners. They were not especially beautiful, but it was clear they were carefully tended on a daily basis.
Overall, although the place looked somewhat strange, it truly carried the atmosphere of somewhere people lived every day.
Seeing this, a trace of hope rose in Chen Ming's heart.
But as he continued forward, that hope gradually sank.
It was not until a bloodstained door was opened, revealing the scene inside the cultivation room, that Chen Ming involuntarily began to retch.
A huge number of corpses had been piled into a mountain of bodies.
Among them were Spirit Beast corpses, but far more of them were human bodies.
Commoners in coarse cloth, nobles and merchants in luxurious clothing, soldiers in leather armor, capable Spirit Masters...
Men, women, the elderly, children...
All kinds of corpses and severed limbs had been stacked into a corpse mountain nearly 10 meters high. A decaying plague spread across the mountain of bodies, and through some evil secret technique, the entire corpse mountain was kept in a constantly rotting state without ever fully decomposing.
The melted bodily fluids flowing from the corpses spread across the ground and formed a strange puddle of liquid that was hard to describe. Unknown materials and methods had been added to those liquids, eventually refining them into a kind of medicine that could increase the cultivation speed of Evil Spirit Masters.
Chen Ming instinctively wanted to vomit.
But as he breathed in the stench of decay in the air, he did not feel any physical nausea. Instead, he felt comfort and ease rising from his Martial Soul. It was as if this twisted corpse mountain was even warmer than a mother's embrace.
Just by standing in this environment, with the lower part of his legs submerged in that liquid, Chen Ming could feel his Spirit Power becoming several times more active than usual, while his cultivation steadily and slowly increased.
"Do you see? This is the cultivation ground I specially prepared."
Seeing Chen Ming retching, Hate Douluo did not become angry. Instead, he proudly puffed out his chest.
"The so called Abomination Martial Soul is a departed Martial Soul, an existence that despises all living beings. Only by devouring flesh and blood, only by fully embracing suffering, can we walk our Dao of survival."
"A cultivation ground like this, one suitable for the Abomination Martial Soul, is unique to me even within the entire Holy Spirit Cult. Cultivating in such an environment will grant you far greater blessings than ordinary people could ever imagine."
"You have only recently awakened your Martial Soul, so you have not yet experienced the true wonders of the Abomination Martial Soul. How about this, since you have become my Disciple, I will find you a gift..."
Hate Douluo patted his grandson on the shoulder.
"Genggeng, have a good talk with your junior brother. I will go get something delicious."
"Okay," Lu Genggeng replied with a nod.
After Hate Douluo left, Lu Genggeng curiously walked over to Chen Ming.
"Hello, I am Lu Genggeng, my grandpa's grandson. My Martial Soul is Abomination, and I am a level 23 Spirit Grandmaster. What about you?"
"Senior Brother... hello. My name is Chen Ming. My Martial Soul is Abomination, and I am a level 14 Spirit Master."
Chen Ming forced out a stiff smile and replied with great difficulty.
"Oh."
Lu Genggeng did not seem like the stereotypical Evil Spirit Master who gave off an aura of wickedness. Instead, there was a kind of liveliness around him. Seeing Chen Ming's somewhat "reserved" expression, Lu Genggeng's mind quickly turned.
"Junior Brother, you have not eaten yet, right? How about we eat together?"
As he spoke, Lu Genggeng casually walked to the side of the corpse mountain and reached out to tear off 2 large chunks of rotten flesh with bone from one of the corpses.
He summoned his Martial Soul. His body inflated like a balloon, transforming into a fully revealed original form. His gaping mouth opened wide, corrosive saliva dripping from its corners. The flesh of his exposed arms and shoulders looked as though it had been stitched together from bloated chunks of fat, while his skin appeared mottled and patchy.
If Chen Ming's Martial Soul Possession gave people a feeling of disgust and caution, then Lu Genggeng's Martial Soul Possession gave people pure terror.
Compared to Lu Genggeng's Abomination Martial Soul, Chen Ming's Abomination Martial Soul could almost be called slightly cute.
Lu Genggeng grabbed a large thigh and tore into it with his mouth again and again, while at the same time stuffing the other chunk into Chen Ming's hand.
"Here, Junior Brother, let us eat together. From now on, we are family."
Chen Ming's humanity and reason told him that this was disgusting, that he must not touch it.
But the instinct of his Martial Soul told him that this was a juicy, delicious piece of flesh. Eating it would bring him enormous benefits, so he absolutely had to devour it all.
Humanity and bestiality, reason and instinct, collided violently at this moment.
For the first time, Chen Ming felt a deep fear toward himself.
Suppressing his instincts with all his strength, Chen Ming took several steps back. With an indescribable expression on his face, he quickly waved his hand at Lu Genggeng.
"Senior Brother, no need. You should enjoy such a good thing yourself..."
"Hmph!"
Seeing Chen Ming reject it so completely, even showing signs of wanting to flee, the previously enthusiastic Lu Genggeng's expression instantly darkened, and disgust appeared on his face.
At that moment, Chen Ming felt a deep regret for the first time.
Perhaps he should never have come to the Holy Spirit Cult in the first place. Perhaps he should never have chosen to become Hate Douluo's Disciple at all.
As a Transmigrator whose heart still contained reason and conscience, Chen Ming simply could not accept this situation.
Nor could he accept becoming a beast completely ruled by instinct, devouring raw flesh and blood.
If Chen Ming had truly transmigrated into a beast, then he could not guarantee he would still maintain a human moral boundary.
But Chen Ming knew, and Chen Ming understood, that in this life, he was a human, a human with reason, conscience, and the most basic sense of benevolence and morality.
No matter what happened, no matter what the circumstances were, the most basic reason, conscience, and empathy of a human being must never be abandoned.
Even though his heart carried hatred and confusion, Chen Ming still clearly knew who his target of revenge was.
Just as he had never touched tobacco or alcohol in his previous life, because he believed his willpower was weak and feared that once addicted he would never be able to quit, he had chosen to refuse them from the very beginning, cutting off the possibility of dependence at the root.
And this temptation to devour flesh and blood was not merely like tobacco.
It was even more intoxicating and more captivating than drugs.
Both the dependence it caused and the increase in strength it offered were real, stubborn, and undeniable.
If Chen Ming devoured the flesh and blood of Spirit Beasts and wild beasts, he would not feel any psychological burden. At most, the way he ate would look somewhat primitive.
But he could not guarantee how far his own bottom line might one day slip.
If he abandoned reason and conscience and became a beast, letting instinct rule him and greedily devouring the flesh and blood of his own kind, then even if he eventually became a powerful cultivator, what difference would there be between him, who had abandoned his very self, and a beast?
Did he really want to become that kind of person?
Chen Ming watched Lu Genggeng chewing joyfully on the severed limb. He fell silent for a moment.
Then he shifted his gaze to the enormous corpse mountain, piled with an unknown number of bodies, and a deafening roar erupted in his heart.
No, absolutely not!
He absolutely would not become that kind of person!
.....
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