Chapter Fifty-Nine: Purification of Weakness

Fan Bei rose and walked into the living room, where he saw Da Bai diligently doing push-ups, panting with his tongue hanging out. After breakfast, Da Bai’s morning exercise ended right on time. As Da Bai wagged his tail, preparing to head out, Fan Bei called him back.

“Da Bai, today you’ll go out with your master,” he said, “and bring Xiao Bai along. Visit the places you’ve been frequenting lately.”

Da Bai immediately trotted over, tail wagging furiously, and replied, “Alright, Master! I’ll call Xiao Bai to meet at the gate now.”

Fan Bei nodded and led Da Bai out of the living room to the agricultural sector. Two small vehicles were parked outside the duty room—those open-air tricycles commonly seen in amusement parks, found by Chef He in the cleared area. One, naturally, was for his own use.

He climbed into the driver’s seat, and Da Bai nimbly jumped into the back, sitting obediently. After starting the vehicle, he drove north instead of east, entering the corridor leading directly to the food storage area. He drove straight to the storage zone.

The main door to the storage area stood wide open, and heavy noises echoed from within—someone was cleaning spoiled food and repairing the freezing equipment. As he approached the entrance, he slowed down and stopped ten meters away.

On the east side of the corridor was a side door, opening onto a shortcut connecting the food sector to the shelter’s exit. He got out, instructing Da Bai to stay put, and pushed open the side door. As he settled back in, ready to restart the engine, he faintly heard three voices in quiet discussion from inside the storage area's main entrance.

It seemed the side effect of his recent cultivation had appeared again—his hearing had significantly improved.

“Chen Gang, you’re close with Chef He’s family, could you put in a word for us?” The first voice, a man’s, was somewhat deep.

“What about?” replied a tired young man.

“We’re all working so hard—it’s not too much to ask for better accommodations, is it? Ten people squeezed into one two-story house, it’s suffocating, when there’s so much unused space.”

“Exactly. Every time we return, there’s a queue for showers—it’s such a hassle,” chimed in a third man.

“That’s right, Chef He is in charge now. If we all make a request together, we don’t expect a whole house per person, but at least a master bedroom with a private bathroom for each, right?”

Chen Gang replied, “Let’s finish the work first. I’ll bring it up at lunch.”

Hearing this, Fan Bei restarted the vehicle and drove through the side door into the shortcut. Heading east for five minutes, he shook his head and muttered to himself, “Seems some people can only endure seven days before slipping back into the comfort zone.”

Da Bai barked from the back seat. “Master, these people really don’t appreciate what they have. You saved their lives, and only days later they’re complaining about small living quarters. I’ve spent years sleeping in that ‘small’ dog bed in the living room, and never once complained.”

“If you hadn’t emphasized ‘small’ so much, I might have believed you,” Fan Bei replied, somewhat annoyed.

Da Bai sheepishly scratched his head with his front paw, whimpering defensively, “It’s just that I’ve noticed I’m still growing lately—rolling around at night is getting cramped, and I don’t have space for all my new toys.”

Fan Bei sighed, “Fine, tonight I’ll ask Chef He to prepare a spare bedroom for you, make it your new home.”

“Master is so good to me! I’ll make sure to do my best today,” Da Bai exclaimed with delight.

“You don’t need to perform today, just focus on protecting me.”

“No problem at all,” Da Bai flexed his much stronger forelegs proudly. “I’m now a level 10 dog: strength 8, agility 10, intelligence 2, charisma 9. Xiao Bai is ready to teach me new skills.”

“Impressive,” Fan Bei feigned astonishment, “If you keep leveling up, you’ll turn into the Ultraman of dogs.”

“Uh, Xiao Bai has speculated that I can’t keep adding points indefinitely. My canine body has limits—strength maxes out at 16, agility at 20,” Da Bai shook his head.

Sixteen points—an ordinary person only has about five—that’s over three times the average. So, even if Da Bai reaches his body’s full potential, he can’t exceed nature’s limits.

Fan Bei nodded, “Just keep training to the limit; there’ll be other ways to raise your cap in the future.”

“Yes, Master.” Da Bai wasn’t concerned, sprawled in the car, enjoying the wind on his doggy face.

Fan Bei considered it wise to run a quick diagnostic on Da Bai, his most reliable fighter. Previously he couldn’t see Da Bai’s attributes, but now that Da Bai and the Celestial Dog system were fully trusted, he should be able to access all skills and stats.

With that thought, he opened the Celestial Dog system page and mentally commanded, “Display all host attributes.”

Sure enough, a prompt appeared.

“System contains ‘level-up attribute allocation’ module. Full trust established with host; attributes viewable.”

“Host: Da Bai. Level 10, Strength 8, Agility 10, Intelligence 2, Charisma 9.”

Da Bai truly hadn’t lied to him.

He thought again and issued a new command: “Display all attribute caps for the host.”

To his relief, the book didn’t require anything further and showed the results directly.

“Strength cap: 15, Agility cap: 21, Intelligence cap: 5, Charisma cap: 45.”

Da Bai’s intuition was remarkable—he’d long wanted to boost his charisma.

Fan Bei felt complicated seeing the last stat. Da Bai really did rely on his looks. If he reached 45, he’d easily attract hordes of admirers.

Xiao Bai’s prediction was spot on; clearly, he’d spent plenty of time pondering Da Bai’s system.

Just then, Da Bai barked a few times. Fan Bei looked up and realized they’d reached a bend. He deftly turned the wheel, steering into a northward corridor.

Accelerating down the northern passage, he arrived at the shelter’s main exit in under three minutes.

The gate was open, and a young woman with a dusky complexion, dressed in a white sundress, was waiting there with a metal sphere in her arms.

Seeing Fan Bei drive up, she stepped forward.

He stopped the car and got out with Da Bai.

“Hello, Mr. Fan. I’m He Xixi, Chef He’s daughter,” she said, somewhat nervous at the sight of man and dog.

Unlike others, she had been warned by her father that Mr. Fan was no ordinary man; he had pressed the button without flinching, eliminating three bandits who tried to ambush the shelter.

“Thank you, Miss He. You’ve worked hard,” Fan Bei replied politely.

Da Bai wanted to approach and make friends, but Fan Bei held him back—Da Bai’s current size was nearly as tall as his waist.

He spoke kindly, “Alright, Miss He. Hand me the sphere, and you can head back.”

“Yes, Mr. Fan.” He Xixi carefully handed him the sphere.

Fan Bei took it and placed it on the back seat, called Da Bai to watch over it, and started the vehicle, driving out through the gate.

He Xixi watched them leave, thinking, Mr. Fan doesn’t seem cruel—he’s probably forced by circumstance, given this is a wasteland world.

But he must have some advantage. The owner of the mysterious sphere, whom everyone revered, didn’t seem to matter to him.

Thinking this, she turned back and closed the gate behind her.

……

Outside lay a mountain valley, running north-south, with an eastern gap where a damaged road led out.

Leaving the shelter, Fan Bei soon stopped the car and took out a core of spirit.

“Da Bai, have Xiao Bai add another layer of last time’s spiritual protective aura, and tell it to suppress its presence—don’t scare off the lesser evil spirits,” he instructed, handing the core to the sphere.

Before Da Bai could bark, the gray-white core vanished, and a brass-colored glow enveloped him.

The familiar warm sensation returned, and he felt reassured.

It really was useful—purifying it outright would be a waste.

He also had to consider Da Bai’s feelings; unlike himself, Da Bai couldn’t always act decisively. Smart as he was, at heart he was still a loyal dog, mindful of favors.

Xiao Bai wasn’t entirely trustworthy, but so far had brought Da Bai many benefits.

As Fan Bei mused, Da Bai barked twice.

He looked up, spotting a grayish-white bird streaking through the air toward him, clearly targeting him as easy prey.

Perfect—a chance to experiment.

He steadied himself, focusing his intent on his eyes, channeling the technique from his martial arts.

The first perfected stage of the “Wolf Might Demon-Driving Fist” now fully manifested!

Heart guides fist, all evils revealed…

In his sight, the gray-white bird’s chest and abdomen gradually lit with a red spot.

He didn’t strike, but let a thought flash through his mind.

“Weak Point Purification!”

In the next instant, the gray-white bird—still dozens of meters away—suddenly burst apart!