The undead have descended upon the world? I possess a sword that can cleave the heavens once more!

Seeing this, Hu Lie smiled.

He clapped his hands, and the crisp applause echoed across the square, drawing everyone's attention.

He glanced around, his voice steady and powerful: "Now that everyone has completed today's task..."

"Everyone can return to reality to rest on their own, or if you still want to do some tasks, you can accept them on your mobile device. But please pay attention to the end time of the Dark Mist Tide."

He paused, then changed the subject: "By the way, you've already tried the training rooms in the accommodations, and they worked quite well, right?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"But that's just a scaled-down version." Hu Lie's lips curled into a meaningful smile. "The original is in this base. You can go and take a look."

"A friendly reminder—"

"The official training room costs a lot of contribution points. Don't get so engrossed in training that you lose track of time and end up with a mountain of debt."

A few laughs came from the crowd, and some people had already started checking the location and price of the authentic training room on their watches.

"Dismissed."

As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd dispersed in twos and threes.

Xia Wan looked at Huang Shaolin and Lu Chenzhou beside her, her eyes gleaming with excitement: "Let's go take a look? The authentic training room?"

Huang Shaolin yawned, a rare hint of anticipation appearing on his perpetually sleepy face, and nodded.

Lu Chenzhou didn't speak, but simply nodded silently.

Wang Qi also came over, a cigarette dangling from his lips, and asked Wu You, "Old Wu, do you want to go take a look? The abbreviated version of the training room works this well; the original must be even better."

Wu You shook his head, his voice tinged with exhaustion: "I was quite tired earlier, I'll go back upstairs and rest for a bit."

Wang Qi nodded without asking any further questions.

Although he didn't witness what happened in the A-level danger zone firsthand, he could guess a thing or two from the kill log on the screen.

Eight seventh-tier corpse species and three eighth-tier corpse species are definitely not an easy task.

"Chiyu, then take care of yourself and get some rest." Wang Qi patted Wu You on the shoulder, then turned and caught up with Xia Wan and the others. "Wait for me, I'm going to check on them too."

Wu You watched them leave, then turned and walked towards the huge portal in the stronghold plaza.

He arrived at the plaza and passed through the portal of light. The biting black mist enveloped him once again, but this time he was used to the cold.

Then his vision and sound disappeared, and the next moment, he was standing on the ground of the Jiuli Base in the real world.

It's afternoon in the real world, and the sun is blazing.

But at the same time, there was no dark fog or damp, cold air in the sweltering air; only the mixed scent of sunshine and vegetation.

Wu You took a deep breath and walked back to his detached villa on Fifth Street.

The sensor on the gate recognized his watch, emitted a soft "beep," and the door lock popped open.

He pushed open the door and went in, standing in the living room. Just as he was about to take off his trench coat, he suddenly remembered something.

His hand paused on the button, then he reached into the inside pocket of his trench coat and pulled out a limp black hoodie.

Hakimi lay sprawled in his palm, his tongue slightly protruding from the corner of his mouth, his eyes tightly closed, his whole body as limp as a ball of cotton.

It remained motionless. If it weren't for the slight rise and fall of its chest, Wu You would have almost thought it was a dead Hakimi.

"Dizzy?" Wu You looked down at it and poked its belly with his finger.

The kitten didn't react at all, except that its tongue stuck out a little more.

Wu You thought about it and concluded that he must have been frightened unconscious by the sword intent of the Pivot of Calamity.

That destructive aura was so strong that even an eighth-tier Lustful Corpse Seed couldn't withstand it. This little thing, which wasn't even a first-tier creature, was already showing remarkable willpower by not being scared to death.

He shook his head, grabbed the kitten by the scruff of its neck, walked into the cultivation room, and tossed it into the center of the magic array.

The kitten bounced twice when it landed, then remained sprawled out, completely still.

Wu You ignored it and turned to walk towards the bathroom.

The bathroom light was a warm yellow, not too glaring.

He took off his trench coat, hung it on the hook behind the door, then stood in front of the mirror and reached out to unbutton his shirt.

The person in the mirror still made him pause for a moment.

That face was still the same—otherworldly, absolutely androgynous, every inch of it seemingly meticulously sculpted.

At the same time, he also noticed that his skin was whiter than before, as smooth and lustrous as porcelain, and his muscle lines were smoother than before, not the exaggerated bulges, but the natural undulations like flowing water.

His body is becoming more and more perfect, every proportion is just right, and every inch of his skin is as smooth as jade.

He stared at himself in the mirror, his gaze suddenly stopping between his eyebrows and eyes.

Something seemed to be gestating there.

It's not wrinkles, it's not scars, it's a... feeling.

A feeling of indifference, superiority, and something that seems not to belong to humankind.

Those eyes were still his eyes, but the light in them was no longer the light of the gloomy boy from before.

It was a calmer, more distant light, as if gazing into the distance.

Wu You shook his head. The indifferent feeling in his eyes disappeared again, and he looked normal again in the mirror.

But he knew it wasn't an illusion.

Wu You frowned: "Is this an effect of merging with divinity?"

He turned on the shower, and the hot water poured over his head, washing away some of his jumbled thoughts.

Steam filled the bathroom, and a layer of white mist covered the mirror, making the reflection of oneself blurry.

Wu You closed her eyes and let the hot water wash over her body.

Having spent a long time fleeing along the swamp in the Class A danger zone, I did indeed pick up some of that smell.

After taking a shower, Wu You changed into a loose set of loungewear. Her hair was still wet, with water droplets dripping from the ends and leaving small watermarks on the floor.

He had just picked up the hair dryer when his watch vibrated.

He raised his wrist, the screen lit up, and a message from the investigation platform popped up.

LH-1120: Image.

That was a photograph.

In the photo, Mr. and Mrs. Wu are sitting at the dining table, eating lunch.

Several home-style dishes were laid out on the table: braised pork, stir-fried greens, and a bowl of seaweed and egg drop soup, similar to before, yet also somewhat the same.

Mr. Wu's hair seemed to have turned grayer, but his complexion was much better than Wu You had noticed before. Mrs. Wu's worried expression had also faded considerably. Wu Jing was eating, still as quiet as ever.

They were all looking in the direction of the camera—the person taking the picture was clearly standing across the table, holding up their phone.

Wu You's gaze lingered on the photo for a long time.

The sadness in Mr. and Mrs. Wu's eyes was still there, but their spirits had improved a lot, and they were no longer in the numb and listless state they had been in before.

Wu You immediately realized that these were photos sent by Hua Linlin through the investigation platform.

He had previously asked her to help take care of Mr. and Mrs. Wu, and LH-1120 should be her investigation bureau number.

His personal cell phone had been completely switched off and locked in a safe at the Lanhe City Investigation Bureau, which was the only way Hua Linlin could contact him.

He was silent for a moment, then typed a reply.

LH-36: Thank you.

There was no further reply from the other end.

Wu You stared at the photo, seemingly lost in thought, lost in thought.

After a long while, he sighed, though the sigh was very soft, it was exceptionally clear in the quiet room.

Then he set an alarm on his watch for 19:00 PM, dried his hair, and went to bed.

Perhaps he was just too exhausted, because he soon fell into a deep sleep.

. . .

buzz-

The vibration of the watch made Wu You open his eyes abruptly, raise his wrist, and glance at the time—19:00, exactly the time the alarm clock was set to.

He sat up, stretched, and his bones made a slight cracking sound as the muscles that had been tense from the intense battle relaxed completely.

He hadn't slept this soundly in a long time.

Although the Sword Intent of the Pivot is powerful, it also puts a great burden on the body.

He got up, washed his face briefly with water, changed into a clean black trench coat, and went out the door.

As soon as the courtyard gate opened, they saw Xia Wan and the others walking towards them with excited expressions.

When Xia Wan and the others saw Wu You just come out, they immediately surrounded him, their excitement barely concealed.

"Chief, you have no idea how useful the complete training room is!" Xia Wan exclaimed excitedly. "In just a few hours, I'm almost at the sixth-tier, grade C level!"

She was halfway through her sentence when she suddenly remembered something, and the excitement on her face turned into embarrassment. The person in front of her was already a formal practitioner of the Nine Li tribe.

She opened her mouth, then hesitated before asking, "Um, can I still call you Chief...?"

Wu You gave a faint smile: "Of course."

Xia Wan finally breathed a sigh of relief and continued to chatter on: "Chief, the complete version of the cultivation room is so useful! It's just that it burns through contribution points a bit!" She clutched her chest, her expression a mixture of pain and pleasure.

Upon hearing this, Huang Shaolin nodded in agreement, a rare serious expression appearing on his perpetually sleepy face: "A sixth-level cultivation room costs five thousand contribution points per hour. It's expensive, but the results are truly amazing."

When he said this, there was no complaint in his tone, only a firm conviction that it was worth the price.

Lu Chenzhou was silent for a moment, then spoke in a low and steady voice: "We still need to do more missions, otherwise we won't have enough contribution points to cultivate in the training room."

Wu You nodded: Five thousand contribution points per hour, that's indeed not cheap.

He glanced at his watch; it was already 7:05. He then said to the three of them, "I still need to go see Old Wei. I'll be going now."

The three nodded and made way for each other.

"Chief, please continue with your work. We'll head back now." Xia Wan waved to him.

Wu You nodded and took to the air.

His long white hair fluttered gently in the night breeze, his black trench coat billowed behind him, and his figure gradually disappeared into the night.

Xia Wan and her two companions stood on the side of Fifth Street, looking up at the figure in the sky, their expressions varied.

Xia Wan put her hands in her trench coat pockets, her eyes full of envy, and muttered, "I'm so envious. When I reach the eighth level, I'll fly around too."

Huang Shaolin yawned, but his eyes remained fixed on the shrinking figure. He muttered, "It has to be the chief. Even the tenth-rank guardian is paying special attention to him."

Lu Chenzhou remained silent for a moment before muttering to himself, "Perhaps, being able to meet the Chief is already lucky enough."

Upon hearing Lu Chenzhou's words, Xia Wan and Huang Shaolin both nodded in agreement.

Yes, some people are destined to transcend the mundane and shine brightly upon all living beings. To be able to meet them for even a short while is already an immense stroke of luck.