Chapter 58: Bitter Victory's Afterglow·Progress First Shown

The clamor and chaos outside the city lasted nearly two hours before gradually giving way to a deathly panic.

Liu Du Tou's army retreated without any victorious vigor, only the disheveled state of those who had escaped death.

Helmets and armor were abandoned, flags slumped, the wounded's painful groans replaced battle cries—like an injured giant python slowly writhing away into the distant horizon.

On Jiao Tu Zhen's walls, after a brief joy came deeper fatigue and a spreading sorrow.

We won.

The cost was corpses littering the ground and blood nearly drained dry.

Chen Wen ordered the battered city gate opened; gunpowder and a strong stench of blood assailed the senses, making one nauseous.

The setting sun dyed heaven and earth a mournful gold-red, shining on the dark-red land and on the young faces that could never return home.

Under Aunt Wang's organization, the surviving militiamen silently began to clean the battlefield.

Each time they bent to identify a comrade, each time they lifted a still-breathing companion, it felt immensely heavy.

Suppressed sobs began to sound sporadically, then merged into a continuous chorus.

The joy of victory, before such heavy losses, appeared pale and powerless.

As Chen Wen walked among them, his sixteenfold-amplified senses left him unable to escape any detail.

Each congealed pool of blood, each lifeless face, felt like a whip lashing his heart.

Zhang Cheng followed at his side, his report low and hoarse:

"Chief... the brothers able to fight number only one hundred three, all wounded."

"Those killed in action... one hundred twenty-seven."

Over half have fallen in battle!

Chen Wen closed his eyes, nails digging deep into his palms.

This is the chaotic age; this is the price one must pay to protect.

"Give the fallen brothers a proper burial and erect a monument."

"Their families will be cared for by the town for life."

His orders were concise yet heavy.

"Spare no expense to fully treat the wounded."

He approached a severely wounded soldier; the terrifying abdominal wound was shocking.

Chen Wen crouched, attempting to pass a thread of extremely mild Ability Granting meant to stimulate life potential.

The wounded man's feeble breath seemed slightly stronger.

This let him see a glimmer of the ability's application beyond the battlefield.

His consciousness sank into his mind, the 【Growth Progress Bar】 clearly showing 【8%】.

Repelling strong foes and stabilizing the crisis—this is undoubtedly important 'growth'.

At the same time, he noticed beneath the bar an extremely faint gold vortex, previously unseen, slowly rotating.

It had no label, no explanation, but Chen Wen, at first sight!

A word inexplicably jumped into his mind—Fortune Momentum.

Indeed, the system had vaguely mentioned that upon touching a certain limit, it would relate to 'Fortune Momentum'.

Could this be the manifestation of some fundamental qi that begins to coalesce after a force is born and undergoes a life-and-death battle?

Is it so weak because the foundation is shallow, or because this battle's casualties were too severe, damaging the fate?

Chen Wen fell into thought.

This thing seems closely tied to the people's hearts, vitality, and even the future rise and fall of this land.

It cannot be seen or touched, yet it may be more important than swords and spears.

Returning to the town, the grief grew sharper.

Home still stands, yet lies in ruins.

Chen Wen climbed to a high point, his gaze sweeping over face after face of sorrow and confusion.

"Fellow villagers! Brothers!"

His voice was not loud, yet it overcame the sobs.

"We held our ground!"

He paused, letting grief flow.

"But our price is too great! This blood debt must be repaid to Liu Du Tou and to this chaotic age!"

"After weeping, we will live!"

"Live better! The departed brothers watch from heaven!"

"Their families are our families!"

"As long as I, Chen Wen, draw breath, Jiao Tu Zhen will never again be left to the mercy of others!"

"We must become stronger! Strong enough to make all enemies tremble at the sight!"

No flowery rhetoric, only weighty promises and ironclad will.

The survivors lifted their heads, gazing at the leader who led them to create miracles.

Despair in their eyes gradually gave way to a tenacious light.

To live is to have hope.

【Growth Progress Bar：9%】

The progress advanced another point.

Chen Wen knew the true test had only just begun.

Soothe wounds, regroup, face future storms…

Moreover, that mysterious and unfathomable "Fortune Momentum" also requires him to explore and grasp it step by step.

The sunset sank into the horizon; the last trace of afterglow swept across the blood-soaked scorched earth.

It also illuminates a legend reborn from destruction, slowly unveiling its prologue.

And that faint yet genuine "Fortune Momentum" is silently gathering.