As dusk fell and darkness descended, the towering fortress, standing out against the snow-covered landscape, became particularly striking.

When Lin Ruo and the others arrived near the fortress, A Liu spotted them from afar, waving her willow branches joyfully at them. The lush greenery instantly put them at ease.

However, the few animal skins still stained with blood at the base of the tree detracted from its aesthetic appeal.

Once on the platform, Lin Ruo jumped off Ashou's back, and Afu and Ashou began to shake their bodies, causing many tiny ice crystals to fall from their fur to the ground.

On the platform were the carcasses of a mutated cow and a mutated sheep, both frozen solid—the prey that A-Liu hadn't finished eating.

Lin Ruo stroked A Liu's tree trunk with her hand before storing all the prey into her spatial storage, and also helped it collect the pelts of the mutated rabbits at the tree roots.

After half a year of extreme cold, Ah Liu is no longer the same as before. Each willow branch is as thick as an adult's finger and as tough as iron. It can easily hang prey weighing hundreds of kilograms upside down in the air, rendering them unable to resist.

Its trunk is over two meters in diameter and over 30 meters tall. Its entire canopy can completely cover the fortress. If it wanted, it could control the direction in which the willow branches droop, completely enveloping the fortress under its branches, making it impossible to detect its existence from a distance.

Every time Lin Ruo saw how quickly A Liu and the other two grew, she wondered if her fortress was really too small.

The fruit on the willow tree is already bright red, and according to what A-Liu said, it should be ready to be picked in two or three days.

Thinking about the spiritual power she would gain from eating the fruit, Lin Ruo felt a surge of anticipation. However, she had been going through a breakthrough when she ate it last time, which was why she felt like a barrier had been broken. This time, the feeling would probably be different from last time.

Afu and Ashou had already run to Aliu's side and rubbed their bodies against Aliu's rough bark. The rough bark of Aliu helped them rub off the fur that was produced from their bodies.

Sometimes, dog hair was everywhere on Ah Liu's tree trunk. Lin Ruo chuckled as she recalled the last time Ah Liu lost her temper.

"Come here! After we finish eating, I'll brush your fur. If you keep rubbing against me, A-Liu will get angry, and you'll have to watch your bottoms."

A-Liu's current strength is already much stronger than A-Fu and A-Shou's. The shiny level 2 crystal core under the tree roots is a reminder to Lin Ruo that its strength is rapidly increasing.

Currently, Afu and Ashou both have level 1 crystal cores in their brains, which is a level lower than Aliu's, so they are naturally no match for Aliu.

Now, A-Liu leads their morning training sessions, one against two, and each day ends with A-Fu and A-Shou being hung upside down from the tree.

However, A-Liu has a very good temper. Although it is powerful, it is usually very gentle and is very close to A-Fu and A-Shou, which is why they dare to rub their fur on its bark without restraint.

Afu and Ashou ran quickly toward Lin Ruo and poked her with their big noses.

Lin Ruo didn't look at them. They were already three meters tall at the shoulder. If you added their two big heads, they would be more than four meters tall. She couldn't stand looking up at them every day, so she simply turned her head away.

Lin Ruo sighed at her own 6-meter-high gate. When she built the fortress, she thought she had left enough space and height, but now, she scratched her head and realized that she probably had to modify the gate.

Afu and Ashou were unaware that Lin Ruo was worried about their rapidly growing height. They quickly ran into the house, their huge bodies squatting at the doorway, waiting for Lin Ruo to give them a bath.

Lin Ruo lifted the newly made rabbit skin curtain and walked into the house. The temperature difference between the inside and outside was several tens of degrees. As soon as she entered the house, a wave of heat hit her. Then she saw four bright eyes staring at her.

Encouragingly, Lin Ruo patted Afu and Ashou's front legs. His hands flashed with blue light, and two huge water spheres quickly enveloped Afu and Ashou, with the water inside gently washing over their bodies.

Afu and Ashou squinted their eyes in enjoyment; it felt like a gentle massage to them, very comfortable.

Lin Ruo then had time to take off her cold-weather clothes and hang them on a clothes rack.

The wood in the fireplace crackled as Lin Ruo went to the living room and turned on the TV for them. They had already watched several cartoons on the hard drive, and now even A Liu had taken a liking to cartoons.

Ah Liu's willow branch slipped through the gap in the curtain and waited obediently in the living room.

By this time, Afu and Ashou had also finished their baths. Lin Ruo threw the water they had used to wash into the distance of the fortress before starting to do her own thing.

When I got to the bathroom, I changed out of the clothes I had worn that day. I had used my powers to kill people and mutated beasts today, so there was no blood on my clothes and I didn't need to wash them.

As she undressed, she thought to herself that she would be using her superpowers more often in the future, which would save her a lot of laundry detergent and electricity.

Lin Ruo looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair had grown a bit longer. She took out scissors and started trimming her hair. She worked quickly and soon gave herself a short haircut that reached her ears.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Lin Ruo smiled with satisfaction. It would be a waste not to open a hair salon with such skills.

She turned and walked into the bathroom, where the sound of running water began.

A dozen minutes later, Lin Ruo walked out of the bedroom, looking clean and refreshed. The voices of Xiong Da and Xiong Er, speaking with accents, were still echoing in the living room. She glanced at them and then turned and went into the kitchen.

The food bowls for the three of them have grown several sizes. Originally only half a meter in diameter, they are now one meter in diameter, and they have to be filled to the brim every time they eat.

The three of them now need 90 jin of raw meat and offal at each meal, plus fruit as a snack, which means they need 100 jin of food at each meal to be full. No wonder they are growing so fast.

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