Chapter 37: Awakening – Powerful Effects!

As Rod entered a state of slumber, the elements that had gathered around him slowly dispersed, eventually settling down and restoring peace. Aside from the messy room, everything else remained as usual, as if nothing had happened.

Curly Hair and the others clearly sensed this change. Looking up, they saw it was already dawn; the earth was slowly breaking free from the darkness and growing brighter. A faint glimmer of sunlight could be seen emerging from the horizon. An entire night had passed. They knew Rod’s cultivation must be nearly complete. This thought filled them with concern—the sudden halt worried them. Especially since last night, their leader had seemed so weak and vulnerable, his life hanging by a thread, seemingly on the verge of death. Seriously injured and alone, with such a commotion, it was inevitable to worry. If it weren’t for fear that their leader might be engaged in something crucial and couldn’t be disturbed, Curly Hair might have rushed in right away to find out.

His strong curiosity and concern were ultimately suppressed. Standing at the door, he anxiously watched the closed door, feeling uneasy inside, but unable to do anything.

The battle outside the city walls continued. Some wounded had been carried back to Area C for treatment, while the rest continued to fight fiercely. It was said this battle was exceptionally brutal, unprecedented in its intensity and horror under the leadership of the demons!

After a night of fighting, the defending forces suffered nearly 50,000 casualties—almost one-fifth of their remaining troops—showing just how terrifying it was. At that moment, it was said the city walls were a veritable hell of corpses and flowing blood. Even in Area C, a strong smell of blood could be sensed! This defensive battle caused losses no less severe than those of a large-scale war.

Watching those wounded who were carried back, moaning in pain, Curly Hair felt extremely heavy-hearted. He didn’t know what was going on—what about the demons? The vampires and werewolves? And those dragons? Besides the one killed by their leader, how many others were there? What about those magical beasts? How were the defending forces now? And what about his comrades?

If possible, Curly really wished he could grow a pair of wings and fly over to take a look, but Rod in the room kept him from moving! In the distance, another group of exhausted fighters, having just fought, walked toward the camp, supporting each other—all in terrible condition, covered in blood and wounds. This was the third group returning to rest; the first group that returned had already gone out again. At this point, no one cared about rest time; as long as they had time to recover their combat energy, that was enough! Those who could keep fighting would never stay behind lazing around. In such a critical moment of life and death, everyone showed selfless dedication. Now, facing an unprecedented danger, Iron Bar Town finally united as one.

…

Rod didn’t know how long he slept. It felt like he hadn’t had such a comfortable sleep in ages, nor had he rested so easily before. In a daze, he heard faint noises outside. Slowly opening his eyes, the sunlight streaming through the crack in the window made him frown. Winking slightly and moving a bit, his wounds immediately caused him to groan in pain. His whole body ached terribly, as if thousands of ants were biting him, accompanied by a faint tingling sensation. “Damn it!” he cursed silently, then remembered he was seriously injured. With a bitter smile, he looked down—his clothes were torn, and a thin layer of black solid substance covered his skin, emitting a foul smell that made him want to vomit. Rod wasn’t surprised by this; it had happened before—it was the result of using the bath powder the old man had given him. It was said to be impurities being expelled from the body. Thinking back to the ordeal last night, it must be those impurities—no doubt about it! His wounds seemed to have improved greatly. His abnormal healing ability showed once again—barely alive yesterday, he was fine today. Channeling his mental energy inward to examine himself, he was surprised to find that the most difficult-to-heal internal injuries were almost completely recovered and no longer posed any threat.

Looking outside, the wounds in his eyes had also recovered by about five or six points, while the lighter injuries were almost fully healed! Frowning slightly, Rod knew that no matter how strong his recovery ability was, it wasn’t that exceptional—his past experiences told him that much. There was no doubt that the rapid recovery this time was due to the properties and assistance of dragon blood. It helped him strengthen and transform his body, allowing his injuries to heal so quickly.

Upon closer inspection, he could clearly see that his body’s toughness had improved significantly compared to before. If his previous toughness could be compared to aluminum alloy, then it was now on par with that of an iron plate—a huge improvement.

Observing this, Rod felt secretly relieved and gratified. All the hardships and dangers of the day hadn’t been in vain; everything had been worth it. Effort always led to rewards.

Taking a deep breath, the pain in his body gradually subsided. Sensing the unpleasant odor around him, Rod smiled bitterly. Even he couldn’t tolerate such a smell, let alone others. He needed to find a place to clean up as soon as possible.

Additionally, he was worried about the battle going on beyond the city walls. Although he had killed one dragon in yesterday’s fight, three more dragons were still causing havoc, along with demons, vampires, and werewolves! Even though he was severely injured and his consciousness was somewhat blurred when he left, he could still see the dire situation—things were extremely critical.

Another night had passed, and he had no idea what had happened. He also didn’t know what had become of the Scythe of Death Squad members.

Getting up, he slowly walked toward the door, dragging his heavy body. The injuries he suffered yesterday were too severe. Though he had recovered a lot, he still felt some pain and discomfort.

Slowly opening the door, he immediately saw Curly’s figure before him.

“Boss! You… you’re okay? How are you?” Upon seeing Rod, Curly stepped forward eagerly and asked anxiously.

“No… it’s fine now. How did you end up here?” He replied with a wry smile, resigned. His injuries were indeed no longer a problem, but something still felt off! On top of that, there was still that time bomb inside him, threatening him at any moment. For now, it was contained by a seal, but if it exploded, he would surely die. All he could do was improve his strength as quickly as possible while finding a way to eliminate it.

Xuanyuan was no longer alive, and it was unclear what this guy was up to. It was likely related to that thing that had been sucked inside him yesterday.

“That’s great! That’s great! Brother Skora and the others will be very happy to hear this. Come on, I’ll go tell them right now!” He said excitedly, then immediately planned to head back to inform Skora and the others!

“Wait… first find me a place to take a bath. I’m in this state right now…” Rod said with a wry smile, spreading his hands.

“Hehe, I almost forgot! But captain, honestly, you’re now the great hero of entire Iron Bar Town—a dragon-slaying warrior! One hasn’t appeared in a hundred years. You’ve really become famous! Our Death Scythe Squad has also become well-known. You don’t know how many people want to meet you today. If we hadn’t stopped them, who knows what would have happened!

In a few days, your fame will surely spread across the entire continent. By then, your status will really rise even higher!”

Pulling Rod along, Curly Hair started talking nonstop again, leading him to another room.

“What about the others?” Rod interrupted Curly Hair’s bragging, smiling wryly. This guy was great at nothing else but talking nonstop.

Hearing Rod’s question, Curly Hair suddenly fell silent. This made Rod’s heart skip a beat, and an ominous premonition surged through his body!

“Hehe, go take a bath first. I’ll go inform Brother Skora and the others. We can talk about this later; it’s hard to explain now!” They had arrived at a room, which turned out to be a bathing area. Leaving Rod behind, Curly Hair gave quick instructions before turning away quickly, as if avoiding something. This made Rod even more puzzled and worried—something must have happened. His unease grew even stronger.

With a sigh, Rod watched the curly-haired figure leave. There was nothing he could do for now—hurt as he was, he definitely couldn’t chase after them. He decided to start cleaning himself first. What else could he do? He would have to wait until Skora and the others arrived before he could ask about these matters; it wasn’t something he could rush through. Outside, several soldiers from the Black Teeth Legion were guarding the area. Smelling the unpleasant odor, they hurried into the pool to clean themselves! This cleaning process required Rod to exert tremendous effort. Enduring the pain, he finished cleaning and was stunned by his freshly clean appearance, his mouth hanging open in disbelief.