Chapter 314 - Aftermath
Back in his divine realm, Han Wu was still held in a hug by the beautiful lady, even after Huang Shengjun’s retreat. Han Wu considered himself quite manly and found this position deeply embarrassing, though he certainly wouldn’t have minded had the roles been reversed.
Embarrassed, he stammered, “C-Could you please let me go?”
The lady, however, ignored his protests and hugged him even tighter.
“Wait, you are hurting me!” squealed Han Wu, a sound that he never thought could come from his mouth. This time, the lady reacted, gently relaxing her grip a little. She looked at him, but still did not let him go.
“Ske-Skelly! I need to console my units!” Han Wu said in panic. The lady, however, did not take it well, and her face rapidly hardened.
“I am the only one for you, my God!” she stated with a cold and resolute tone.
Han Wu could feel a headache incoming. Skelly, with her extreme beliefs, had tried to destroy his Core in the past, resulting in her expulsion from his divine realm. It seemed that even after her long exile to Doron City, her attitude remained unchanged.
Now that Skelly had grown stronger, Han Wu’ worry deepened—she could destroy his divine realm on a whim if she became displeased. He instantly knew he had to change his approach.
“Yes, you are the most important in my heart, but these units sacrificed their lives for me. As their God, I am honor-bound to repay and reward their favor and worship in kind.”
The sincerity in his eyes caused the coldness on Skelly’s face to soften somewhat. “If you really have to, then go. However, you have to return to me, or I will destroy this divine realm.”
A chill run down Han Wu’s spine at those words. Before, he had been able to control Skelly because she was weaker than him, but now she was much stronger. He was genuinely worried she would destroy his divine realm for real.
Han Wu frantically nodded, and Skelly reluctantly released her grip on him. Now with the freedom to check his divine realm, he scanned the seat area and immediately felt like he had been punched in the gut, his heart sinking at the sight of the immense destruction before him.
Over 60% of his divine realm was destroyed. Not only would he have to use numerous Divine Points to restore it, but he would also have to purchase portions of land from other divine realms to rebuild it.
Nearly 80% of his locusts had died, and 4 billion of his Tigermen had perished. The other races had also suffered heavy losses, with a 30-50% mortality rate—the biggest loss he had experienced so far in this life.
Han Wu appeared before his units and, disregarding the immense cost, activated Inverse Domain to rewind their injuries. He then promised rewards for their participation in the war, especially for those with stellar performances.
After some time, his units finally managed to live past the trauma of the war and returned to their regular lives. With his task complete, Han Wu returned to Skelly like a hen-pecked husband, and she smiled with satisfaction.
Following a quick conversation, Han Wu learned that Skelly had been living a good life in the Class Civilization. After her expulsion, she had used Doron City as her base and, without any opponents, she grew rapidly and became the ruler of Doron City within a year.
Skelly continued to expand her influence, improving her strength using the Class system until she reached the rank of Sage. After gathering and absorbing a large amount of the Divine Points that could be earned in the Class Civilization, she was able to finally ascend into a God.
The fact that Skelly was higher ranked stung Han Wu’s ego. He was envious that she was already a God while he was still a Demigod. Acknowledging that he would most definitely be bullied by her, Han Wu grew even more determined to ascend to Godhood as soon as he could.
That reminds me—my battle with Huang Shengjun is over. He publicly announced his surrender, which means... I won! No matter what anyone says, the Exquisite Skill Gem is mine!
Han Wu was quite interested in learning how the Exquisite Skill Gem could help him awaken new powers, so he explained his situation to Skelly. She wholeheartedly supported him in collecting the Exquisite Skill Gem as his rightful prize and even wanted to accompany him back into the Divine Civilization.
Han Wu was startled. Due to the vast difference in rank, divine realms could not directly connect to the Divine Civilization. Regular units could not follow their gods back to the Divine Civilization unless they had reached the God rank themselves. Only by using Divine Authority could they somewhat resist the suppression of the Will of the Divine Civilization.
Han Wu, having no other choice, agreed to bring Skelly with him, and the two were swiftly transported back to the office. Butcher had already departed, unable to stand the smug look on Xu Hai’s face, leaving the other three Major Gods in the room.
Seeing Han Wu and Skelly appear in the office together, Xu Hai smiled mischievously and gave Han Wu a knowing look. Though he was a Major God, he understood the appeal of the opposite sex as a fellow male.
“Teacher...”
The moment Han Wu saw Xu Hai’s smile, he knew his mentor had completely misunderstood the situation. With no idea how to explain and fearing that a single wrong word would only escalate the misunderstanding, he decided to remain silent.
“Good job, Han Wu! I am very proud of you!” Xu Hai congratulated, but his eyes kept darting towards Skelly.
Is he congratulating my performance in the battle or my supposed feat of taming a God-ranked skeleton? Han Wu thought, sighing to himself.
With an inward roll of his eyes at his colleague’s childishness, Feng cleared his throat.
“Han Wu, I believe this belongs to you,” he said, proceeding to present Han Wu with the Exquisite Skill Gem. The precious item shimmered with iridescent light, mesmerizing everyone who looked at it.
The moment Han Wu received the Gem, he could sense its gentle energy without even having to absorb it. He could tell this special power was not meant for combat, but rather to serve as a catalyst to activate greater power.
“Thank you so much, Teacher, Ms. Su Lan, and Mr. Feng!”
“You deserve it—it’s the result of your hard work,” Feng praised. “I hope you’ll continue to work hard in the future and establish glorious merits.”
As one of the department heads of Imperial College, Feng was hoping Han Wu would use this chance to ascend to become a powerful God and, in doing so, build up a good reputation for the college.
“I will, Mr. Feng!” Han Wu said, nodding with sincere gratitude.
Once I ascend into a God, my divine realm will increase in size, my Core will be able to equip even more Sacred Objects, and the strength of my core race will grow. When that happens, I’ll definitely need even more resources.
However, those are issues for another day. What’s more important right now is to ascend into Godhood—I cannot be suppressed by Skelly any longer!
Eager to find a suitable place to ascend, Han Wu was about to bid farewell to the Major Gods, but Feng spoke up, stopping him.
“Han Wu, I am at fault this time. I hope you are willing to accept this as compensation.”
Feng handed an unusual helmet to Han Wu, giving both Xu Hai and Su Lan a massive shock. They couldn’t decide what was more surprising—the fact that Feng possessed such a rare item, or his willingness to give it to Han Wu.
Noticing the incredulous expressions on their faces, Han Wu hesitated to take the helmet. Xu Hai, however, quickly grabbed the helmet and pushed it into Han Wu’s hands.
“Take it, you little idiot! Oh, and don’t forget to thank Mr. Feng.”
“...Thank you, Mr. Feng.”
Han Wu used his authority to check the helmet’s data, and found that its name was the Reincarnation Helmet.