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

It was noon, and a bright sun hung high in the sky, radiating a heat that made people feel hot.

The air exposed to the sun was stifling, and heat waves rose from the concrete. Occasionally, a few cars would pass by on the road, kicking up a cloud of dust before falling silent again.

At this moment, in an underground parking lot in the center of Lanhe City, a tall and well-proportioned figure sheathed a translucent longsword that faintly shimmered with four colors: red, orange, blue, and green. He was wearing a fitted black trench coat, and black sunglasses covered most of his face.

It was Wu You.

Experience points +50.

Feeling the experience points added to his Sword Manual panel, Wu You nodded slightly, then frowned.

The proportion of lustful corpses is increasing.

Previously, most of them were pseudo-human corpses, but now, at least two or three out of the five pseudo-human corpses are parasitized by lustful corpses.

He shook his head, not thinking about it anymore. The bureau had previously issued a notice about the Lustful Corpse Seed, which meant that the higher-ups had already discovered the problem.

Now that the bureau already knows, there must be corresponding arrangements. He's just a bronze badge bearer; there's no use in worrying about it. Kill those who should be killed, and make money where appropriate.

Since being discharged from the hospital last month, Wu You has basically not been to school.

Going to school before was merely to conceal my identity within the Investigation Bureau and maintain my student image in the eyes of Mr. and Mrs. Wu, so as not to worry them.

But after that serious injury last month, Wu You no longer thinks that way.

This world is too dangerous. A sixth-tier royal family member suddenly appeared and opened their heart to him.

His most important task right now is to become stronger, and keep becoming stronger. Everything else can wait.

So he stopped going to school and instead ran around the entire city of Lanhe, searching for zombie species to gain experience points and earn contribution points along the way.

To make it easier to travel around, Wu You even obtained a driver's license through the internal channels of the Investigation Bureau and started driving the Torchbearer's designated vehicle—a black SUV, just like the one Lin Wen had driven before. It had plenty of power, a stable chassis, and weapons and emergency medicines in the trunk.

After getting used to it for a while, he has fully adapted to the series of changes brought about by his role as torchbearer.

Just like with the matter of not going to school, Wu You directly applied to the bureau's life department for intervention. The life department did a little work and he obtained the status of "having been pre-admitted to a certain university", and even his student registration information was directly transferred from No. 5 Middle School.

As for Wu's parents, he not only sent them money in various ways, but later, after Lin Yuan reminded him, he also submitted an application directly to the bureau.

The bureau was quite decisive and directly transferred Mr. and Mrs. Wu to a retirement-oriented company with easy work and good benefits.

Freed from the troubles of daily life, Wu You began to focus on carrying out the cleanup mission, living a regular life of getting up, practicing swordsmanship, earning experience points, practicing swordsmanship again, and going to sleep, operating like a machine with precision.

Of course, the gains from this month have been enormous.

With a thought, the Sword Manual panel unfolded before his eyes.

Sword Master: Wu You

Rank: Five

Swordsmanship: Phantom Cloud Swordsmanship (Mastery) (521/3000), Basic Swordsmanship (Perfect) (Trait: Sword Mastery), Swimming Fish Swordsmanship (Perfect), Phoenix Cry Swordsmanship (Perfect), Lone Goose Swordsmanship (Perfect), Star Pointing Swordsmanship (Perfect).

Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Hidden Realm: 0 (35%)

Allocable experience points: 230

He had mastered the Phantom Cloud Sword Technique. Even at the beginner level, this sword technique could kill third-tier corpses; after mastering it, he could almost fight against fifth-tier experts head-on.

As for those perfect sword techniques—the Lone Goose Sword Technique and the Star Pointing Sword Technique—Lin Yuan helped him obtain sword manuals from other places.

Wu You practiced casually, and all these sword techniques were perfected. This proficiency in swordsmanship was indeed very useful.

After putting away his sword, Wu You checked his watch; it was 11:40.

"Okay, let's have some food first."

Wu You took off his black trench coat and transformed back into a capsule. He also removed his sunglasses, revealing a face that was now almost excessively refined. The changes in Wu You's appearance were already quite noticeable when he had mastered the Phantom Flowing Cloud Sword Technique.

Now that he has mastered the Phantom Cloud Sword Technique, not only are his features more refined, but his whole demeanor is also different—there is a sharp edge between his brows and eyes, but his facial lines are still soft. The two temperaments blend together, making it hard to look away.

He randomly picked a noodle shop and pushed open the door. There weren't many people in the shop; a few tables were empty, and the fan above his head was whirring.

I ordered the noodles and just sat down.

"Huh? It really is you! I thought I was seeing things."

A crisp sound came from the side.

Wu You turned his head.

Three girls were standing at the entrance of the shop, all wearing blue and white school uniforms—Lanhe No.1 Middle School. The one who was speaking was standing at the front; she had short hair, a pretty face, and looked somewhat familiar.

He thought about it for a moment, and then he remembered.

At the White Fish Martial Arts Academy, in the beginner swordsmanship class, what was the name of the girl who lent him the wooden sword...?

"You are, Xiaoyu?" he asked tentatively.

"Yes, yes, yes! It's me!" The girl's eyes lit up, and she pulled her two companions over. "You remember me!"

As she approached, she suddenly stopped, stared at Wu You's face for two seconds, and her expression changed from surprise to stunned.

"You...you..." She opened her mouth, but couldn't speak coherently, "You've changed so much..."

Wu You subconsciously touched the bridge of his nose; he had just taken off his sunglasses.

There have been significant changes in the past month.

"From practicing swordsmanship," he said honestly.

Before Xia Yu could say anything more, the two girls next to her had already crowded around.

She had a round face, a ponytail, bright, sparkling eyes, and a gossipy look on her face.

The other one had long, flowing hair and was very quiet.

Wu You's gaze lingered on the long-haired girl for a moment.

Hmm... this face... looks kind of familiar.

Xia Yu realized what was happening and quickly introduced herself: "Oh right, we didn't get to know each other properly last time! My name is Xia Yu, and I go to Lanhe No. 1 Middle School. They are my classmates—"

She pointed to the one with the round face: "Bao Wei."

Then she pointed to the one with long hair: "Lin Xinmai."

Wu You's gaze turned somewhat strange.

By this time, he had already recognized who the girl was.

It was the girl he had saved twice.

Wu You glanced at her again; it was indeed her. She had been unconscious in the same alley twice, and he had rescued her both times.

And the "Xiao Mai" that the owner of Aijia Sporting Goods Store called out was actually Ruby Lin.

Lin Xinmai merely glanced at Wu You and nodded.

She did not recognize Wu You, whose appearance had changed drastically.

Wu You nodded politely: "Hello, my name is Wu You."

The girl named Bao Wei looked Wu You up and down several times, then nudged Xia Yu with her elbow and whispered, but not quite low enough, "Xia Yu, you have such a handsome friend? You're keeping it a secret from us? Afraid we'll steal him from you?"

Xia Yu's face flushed red: "What nonsense are you talking about! We just met while practicing swordsmanship!"

"Practicing swordsmanship?" Bao Wei became even more excited. "When did you start practicing swordsmanship? How come I didn't know?"

"Well... I signed up for a martial arts class before..." Xia Yu stammered, her eyes glancing at Wu You before quickly looking away. "His swordsmanship is really good, he's already at the professional level. I just lent him a wooden sword..."

Wu You smiled but didn't reply.

"Then you'd better make the most of it," Bao Wei said, winking.

"Bao Wei!" Xia Yu's voice rose, her face turning as red as if it could bleed.

At this moment, the waiter brought over a bowl of noodles and placed it in front of Wu You. It was still pickled mustard greens and shredded pork noodles, with a clear broth, topped with pickled mustard greens and shredded pork, and sprinkled with chopped green onions.

Wu You picked up his chopsticks and nodded to Xia Yu: "I'm a little hungry, I'll eat first."

"Okay, go ahead and eat." Xia Yu quickly pulled her two companions to sit down at the next table, and the three of them each ordered a bowl of noodles.

It's not the weekend, and they came out of school at noon just to have lunch.

Wu You, on the other hand, buried his head in his noodles; he was genuinely quite hungry.

. . .

At the next table, before their noodles even arrived, three girls were already whispering among themselves.

Bao Wei rested her chin on her hand, her eyes still glancing towards Wu You: "Seriously, Xiaoyu, is your friend a celebrity? It's a shame she's not one, she looks like that."

Xia Yu whispered, "I didn't know he looked like this... He wasn't like this when he was practicing swordsmanship last time..."

"Can practicing swordsmanship really make you more handsome?" Bao Wei didn't believe it. "Then I'll go practice swordsmanship too."

"Forget about it." Xia Yu rolled her eyes at her. "He's really good. I've seen him practice swordsmanship with my own eyes. Our martial arts school's instructor, a professional-level first-degree black belt, couldn't even last one move against him."

Bao Wei's eyes widened: "That's incredible?"

"That's why I said his swordsmanship is amazing," Xia Yu paused, "far more amazing than our instructor's."

Bao Wei clicked her tongue twice, then glanced at Wu You: "Handsome, and strong, but a bit aloof. He hasn't said a word since he came in."

"That's just her personality," Xia Yu said.

Bao Wei suddenly turned to Lin Xinmai: "Xinmai, what do you think?"

Lin Xinmai sat quietly, listening to the two women talk, occasionally glancing at Wu You. When her name was mentioned, she paused for a moment, then shook her head: "I don't have any opinion."

"Seriously?" Bao Wei exaggeratedly clutched her chest. "You don't even feel anything for such a handsome guy? Is your heart made of stone?"

Lin Xin didn't reply, but just lowered her head and fiddled with the chopsticks in her hand.

She had witnessed the darkness of the underworld, being dragged into the Dark Domain twice by the Corpse Species, and waking up from unconsciousness twice. She had seen those monsters with distorted features and those constantly writhing black mists.

After seeing all those, Lin Xinmai really lost interest in romance, handsome men and beautiful women.

She just felt that the world was dangerous, and that she was just grateful to be alive.

Of course, it would be even better if we could find the person who saved her twice.

Unfortunately, I never ran into that person again after that one glimpse that night.

. . .

Before long, the noodles for the three of them were served, and they quieted down and began to eat their noodles.

When Wu You finished eating, they were still eating. He pushed his bowl aside, stood up, and nodded to Xia Yu: "I'm leaving now."

"Okay, okay." Xia Yu quickly put down her chopsticks, waved to him, and said, "Bye-bye."

Seeing this, Bao Wei waved and echoed, "Bye-bye."

"Bye-Bye."

Wu You turned and left the noodle shop.

The moment the door opened, the midday sun blazed down on him, making him dizzy. He squinted, took out sunglasses from his pocket, put them on, and walked toward where he had parked his car.

He still has an afternoon left, enough time for him to visit two or three more places.

. . .

Inside the noodle shop.

Bao Wei watched Wu You's disappearing figure, poking at the noodles in her bowl with her chopsticks, and sighed softly, "Tell me, what's the deal with this guy? He's good-looking, his swordsmanship is amazing, and most importantly, he's young."

Xia Yu didn't say anything, she just lowered her head and ate her noodles, her ears were red.

Bao Wei then looked at Lin Xinmai: "Xinmai, say a few words."

Lin Xinmai finished the last mouthful of noodle soup, wiped her mouth, and said calmly, "What's there to say? They are indeed amazing."

She stood up, picked up her schoolbag, and said, "Let's go, it's time to go back to study."

Seeing this, Bao Wei and Xia Yu also stood up, and the three of them left the noodle shop together.

The midday sun was still scorching, and there were hardly any people on the streets, only cicadas chirping in the trees.

The three girls opened their parasols and hurried off towards the school.