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

Jiuli Base, No. 101, Fifth Street, Zone 1.

Bright light streamed through the gaps in the bedroom curtains, falling on the floor and bed, drawing a golden, sharply defined band of light.

The air temperature was much higher than in the morning, carrying a kind of dry heat unique to a summer afternoon, and the cicadas outside the window were chirping in waves.

It was clearly getting late.

buzz-

A vibration alert sounded.

The white-haired figure on the bed suddenly opened his eyes.

Wu You's gaze lingered on the ceiling for less than half a second before turning to the mobile terminal on his wrist.

The light from the terminal screen cast a small blue halo on his face, making his silver eyes appear even brighter.

Open the terminal interface, and an unread message is displayed.

Wang Qi: Lao Wu, Wei Lao said you're back?

Old Master Wei? Wu You's silver eyes narrowed slightly.

When did Wang Qi get involved with Old Wei? How did he manage to get information about Old Wei's whereabouts from him?

Old Wei is usually not very talkative, let alone reveal his whereabouts.

Wang Qi managed to get Old Wei to talk to him and even get Old Wei to speak up—what method did this kid use?

An image of Wang Qi offering a cigarette to Old Wei inexplicably flashed into Wu You's mind, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

Thinking this, Wu You didn't reply directly, but instead got out of bed.

He walked to the window and drew back the bedroom curtains.

Looking at the blazing sun high in the sky outside, Wu You stretched his arms upwards, yawned, and his spine made a few soft cracking sounds as the muscles in his shoulders relaxed during the stretching motion.

He hasn't slept until noon in a very long time.

Since awakening the Sword Codex and practicing basic sword techniques, his physique and energy have become beyond what can be described as simply being a "sports student."

Moreover, as his strength has continued to increase, he can now go for a month or two without sleeping or eating without any problems.

The cool energy within his body circulated continuously, each cycle replenishing his body with energy sufficient to meet his daily needs.

Sleeping until noon this time is just a side effect of exhausting my mental energy last night when I tried to perform the ritual.

That feeling of being emptied out from the depths of one's consciousness still needs some time to recover.

Wu You turned her gaze away from the midday sun in the sky outside the window and replied to Wang Qi with: 111

buzz-

Wang Qi replied to the message very quickly.

Wang Qi: OK, shall we have a meal together?

Upon seeing Wang Qi's message, the starlight in Wu You's clear silver eyes dimmed slightly.

Want to grab a meal together?

Wu You's eating frequency has decreased significantly now.

Now, the energy he needs is mainly supplied by the coolness in his body. He only eats occasionally to enjoy life, satisfy his appetite, and maintain his old habits.

Looking at Wang Qi's message, Wu You pondered for a moment.

As Mr. Wei once said, clearing two danger zones in one day would not cause a large-scale return of the corpse species.

When Mr. Wei said "one day," he meant a buffer period of about 24 hours, not midnight of the same day.

He cleaned those two Class A danger zones last night, so just to be on the safe side, he'll have to go back and clean them again tonight.

Otherwise, if you accidentally kill too many, you'll have to wait a few more days before you can harvest experience points again.

Thinking of this, Wu You couldn't help but sigh: I'm still not strong enough.

If he could clear all the danger zones near the Deep Dark Domain stronghold in one night, then there would be no need to worry about this at all.

Harvesting all the areas at once yields far more experience points than harvesting two dangerous zones one day at a time.

However, this also has a problem. Last time, Wu You only cleared less than ten danger zones at once, which caused all the zombie species near the stronghold to flow back to the S-level restricted area, and it took several days to recover.

If all those dangerous areas were cleared out, how long would it take to recover?

Or rather, is it possible to recover?

Depleting resources to the point of exhaustion or sustainable development? That is the question.

Wu You shook his head, pulling himself out of his thoughts, and sent Wang Qi another message: 1

Since the harvest can't resume until evening, I have plenty of time to have dinner with Wang Qi.

buzz-

Wang Qi immediately responded: Base canteen, come quickly!

canteen?

Wu You couldn't help but smile.

Such a large Jiuli base naturally has a canteen specifically set up for the torchbearers.

The food inside wasn't bad at all; on the contrary, it tasted quite good.

Furthermore, there are many special dishes made from unique medicinal herbs or exotic plants from the deep dark realm.

Of course, the fees are also very high.

Wu You replied on his mobile device: OK, I'll be there in ten minutes!

After sending the message, he went straight to the bathroom.

At his incredible speed, it would only take him less than half a minute to get to the cafeteria.

These ten minutes were for Wu You to take a shower.

He was covered in sweat after exhausting his mental energy last night and hadn't taken a shower yet.

Even now, he still feels that uncomfortable sensation from being soaked in sweat and then dried.

In the bathroom, warm water poured down from above, and Wu You quickly finished taking a shower.

However, this time he didn't blow-dry his hair; he just dried it slightly before leaving the bathroom.

After changing into a new black trench coat, Wu You was about to head out.

Then, he stopped walking away, as if he had remembered something.

Then he turned around and went back into the bathroom. He rummaged in the pocket of the black trench coat he had taken off and put a few small boxes of items into the pocket of the black trench coat he was wearing before pushing the door open and leaving.

As Wu You left, in the cultivation room, a pair of blazing golden eyes flashed in the energy mist, and a mature, husky voice came from the curled-up black fur ball: "Divinity Manifestation..."

After saying this, the golden eyes dimmed layer by layer in the mist, until even the last glimmer of golden light disappeared into the black ball of fur.

The cultivation room returned to silence, with only the energy mist slowly churning, as if nothing had happened.

. . . . . .

Half a minute later, Wu You slowly landed in front of a neat square building with the words "Canteen" engraved on the top.

Upon entering the cafeteria, one is greeted by rows of simple, unadorned alloy tables, and even the chairs are just simple, fixed long benches.

Although it was already past midnight, some torchbearers were still having lunch in the cafeteria.

They sat in twos and threes in different places; some were engrossed in eating, some were talking in hushed tones, and some were checking the information on their watches while eating.

As Wu You entered the cafeteria, his gaze swept across the room, and he quickly spotted Wang Qi sitting on a bench at the back, a cigarette dangling from his lips.

Next to him sat another young man in a black trench coat with medium-length hair tied up.

Wu You was no stranger to this person; he was none other than Gongsun Baizhan.

At that moment, Wang Qi also spotted Wu You at the cafeteria entrance. He immediately raised his hand, waved twice in the air, and called out, "Here she is!"

Wang Qi's shout also attracted the attention of the other torchbearers in the cafeteria.

Those who were previously engrossed in eating, looking at their phones, or talking in hushed tones all raised their heads at the same time, their gazes turning in unison towards the direction of the cafeteria entrance.

Even one of this year's preliminaries waved to Wu You and said, "Chief!"

Upon seeing this, Wu You's lips twitched: he was about to be the center of attention again.

After all, he wasn't wearing those large sunglasses when he first came out.

But the next moment, everyone's reaction surprised Wu You.

Those torchbearers who raised their heads glanced at him before turning away, not daring to meet his gaze.

Even the preliminary contestant who just called him "Chief" was no exception.

It was as if he were some kind of dangerous person.

They weren't like this before.

Thinking of this, Wu You's silver eyes flickered slightly: Had something happened that he didn't know about?