As the sun climbed high into the sky, its midday rays dispelling the last vestiges of gloom from the land, Chen Luo, supporting Hu Tao who had gone soft in his arms, descended from the city walls.
Nestled in the now-limp Hu Tao’s embrace was a small, silver-white wolf that had witnessed the entire spectacle.
Xiao Yue’s eyes blinked rapidly, glancing between Chen Luo and Hu Tao, her mind filled with wonder and curiosity about humans.
Everything that followed was simple. Chen Luo once again summoned tens of thousands of colossal "magic dining tables" in the Starfire Plaza.
Delicacies from myriad realms appeared on the tables, accompanied by wondrous skill effects, nourishing the weary bodies of the survivors after the battle.
Although the soldiers had not participated in the final Purgatory or even Abyss-level combat,
they had, before that, fought valiantly against the undead for several days under Chen Luo’s legion skills.
However, the results of such large-scale combat were incredibly gratifying.
All one hundred thousand combat-sequence soldiers in the entirety of Starfire City had met the conditions to break through to Tier 1. They had simply not advanced due to the tense wartime situation.
While compared to a terrifyingly powerful monster like Chen Luo, ordinary Tier 1 individuals might seem insignificant,
once they underwent the most basic life transition,
Tier 1 soldiers, if placed in the past world, would each be comparable to Captain America, the shield-wielding hero from pretty country’s movies.
The unlimited supply of delicacies soothed the soldiers’ weary bodies and minds after the battle.
And while everyone was enjoying the banquet, Chen Luo, along with Hu Tao and his two disciples, returned to the Lord’s Mansion.
During this battle, Chen Luo had kept his two disciples outside the Land of the Dead, allowing them to passively gain experience from the periphery, without even directly witnessing the battlefield.
When the Purgatory battle commenced, Chen Luo had even directly canceled their legion summons, sending them back to the city first.
At this point, both had also grown to Level 10. However, as they were still human cubs, Chen Luo decided against sending them into the fray.
At least, as long as Chen Luo could still wield a sword, the cubs should focus on attending classes and doing their homework.
A certain young wolf, who had been thrown onto the battlefield multiple times by Chen Luo just half a month after its birth, had no objections to this.
...
Having fought for many days, there was certainly no time for everyone to bathe.
Even the two human cubs, preoccupied with thoughts of Chen Luo and the others on the battlefield, had barely eaten properly, let alone taken the time to wash up.
Therefore, while they didn’t smell unpleasant, everyone was somewhat dirty.
This was also why Chen Luo brought them back to bathe first. Most of the soldiers in Starfire Plaza had also returned to the functional areas to wash and tidy themselves before rejoining the plaza for an endless feast.
Meanwhile, outside the large bath in the Lord’s Mansion,
Xiao Yue, having reverted to her cub form, struggled fiercely in Hu Tao’s embrace:
“Awooo! Awooo!” (My honey ham! My roasted whole lamb!)
Hu Tao looked at the struggling Xiao Yue in her arms with some confusion:
“Chen Luo, what’s wrong with Xiao Yue? She’s been so excited since you brought her back.”
Beside them, the Ruo Shui and Ruo Bing sisters, dressed in slightly smaller mage robes, clung to Hu Tao’s leg, gazing curiously at the adorable little wolf. Their eyes clearly conveyed a desire to pet it!
Chen Luo looked at Xiao Yue speechlessly. Although Xiao Yue was a legendary-tier pet with innate divine qualities,
even after a bloody battle, her silver-white fur still emanated a moonlit glow, showing no signs of dirt.
However, was his pet really that fond of food? So much so that it wouldn't even delay for a bath?
Thinking of the majestic wolf king on the battlefield, and then looking at the little wolf squirming on Chen Luo’s chest, Chen Luo sighed helplessly:
“Alright, Xiao Yue and Hu Tao, you two go take a good bath. We’ll eat at home afterward.”
“If you’re good, I’ll summon a separate dining table for you later, so you can eat by yourself.”
Upon hearing this, the struggling Xiao Yue suddenly quieted down, her azure eyes widening.
Master is willing to summon a separate dining table just for me, when he usually shares one with a few people?
I, Xiao Yue! Am super obedient!
Hu Tao looked at the suddenly obedient Xiao Yue, who was sticking out her tongue and wagging her tail. After patting the dog’s—no, wolf’s—head in confusion,
she led Ruo Shui and Ruo Bing towards the women’s bath.
...
Lying back in the spacious bath, listening to the delicate laughter drifting from the adjacent bath, Chen Luo’s mood became incredibly serene.
This battle had actually been extremely perilous. Strictly speaking, Chen Luo had died once during the battle.
If not for seeing familiar things in that vast, unknown soul vortex, which allowed Chen Luo to regain his sense of self,
Chen Luo’s ultimate fate would likely have been to be crushed into fine white powder within the vortex, just like those soldiers, after sinking to a sufficiently deep pressure.
“What exactly was that place? The underworld? Hell? The land of reincarnation?”
“And why did I see so many soldiers from Great Yan? Only those who died in battle should be there, right? Are battles still so fierce in other places?”
During the past half month spent confined in Donghai City and accumulating strength, due to the electromagnetic interference after the nuclear explosion,
Chen Luo’s primary source of information had been the daily Doomsday Settlement report each morning.
Over this half-month period, Chen Luo had dedicated most of his time and energy to the rescue and integration of safe zones within Donghai City.
The nearly ten thousand square kilometers of land in the entire Donghai City had been traversed by Chen Luo in the first ten days of this half-month.
During this process, he had witnessed countless silent safe zones and, in numerous ruined safe zones, brought survivors back to his territory.
Of Donghai City’s tens of millions of inhabitants, only the more than one hundred thousand people in Chen Luo’s city had ultimately survived.
And outside Donghai City, according to the system settlement prompts,
the number of survivors worldwide had not changed significantly for a long time.
However, recalling the soldier souls he had seen in that unknown place, Chen Luo harbored a slight premonition:
“Once the rear is stabilized, I must get news from the outside world as soon as possible!”
There were no more monsters left in Donghai City. Chen Luo’s next task was to re-deploy landmark items, incorporate the entire Donghai City into his territory, and then upgrade Starfire City again.
After upgrading from a small city to a large city, the territory’s functions would be further enhanced.
This would be Chen Luo’s great rear base in the apocalypse!
....
Logically speaking, if one’s physique reached five hundred points, immunity to the elements would be a basic manifestation. If one’s racial values were sufficient, they could even bathe in lava.
While seemingly powerful, this would inevitably bring inconvenience to daily life.
The most obvious one being that normal temperature hot water would be unable to provide a strong individual with a proper bathing experience.
However, the power of qi and blood was incredibly miraculous.
As long as Chen Luo willed it, by actively suppressing his qi and blood, his body could be like an ordinary person and enjoy all pleasures.
It was truly wonderful!
After thoroughly enjoying himself in the bath, Chen Luo, upon exiting, sincerely marveled at the miraculous nature of his qi and blood body.
Well, in the future, when he got married, doing the things he liked,
he wouldn’t have to worry about the significant difference in physique causing actual harm.