Chapter 120 - 102: "Let Darkness Descend on Schedule!
Chapter 120: Chapter 102: "Let Darkness Descend on Schedule!
The military funds from Qian Hu.
The cesspool of Hey Hey’s parents.
The opportunity from the Meat Worms’ Ghost Tide.
These three windfalls made the camp instantly rich, with the cumulative Ghost Stones at one point approaching a hundred thousand!
But...
As the saying goes, easy come, easy go.
For the past seven days, Hey Hey had been working hard digging tunnels. The passageways inside the mountains on both sides of the canyon had been completely excavated.
He built 100 Level 5 Cannon Towers and placed them high up on the canyon walls.
And now!
The heights on both sides of the canyon now boasted a total of 140 Level 5 Cannon Towers. The walls of the Celestial Pit had 38 Level 5 Cannon Towers, while the Level 3 City Wall in front of Cave No. 1 was equipped with nine Level 5 Cannon Towers and one Level 6 Ghost Eye Cannon Tower.
Many days’ worth of savings were wiped out in an instant.
In exchange, the "Meat Grinder" defensive formation was now nearly complete.
It was no exaggeration to say,
that stepping into the canyon meant entering his kill zone.
Normally, these cannon towers were hidden high up in the mountains, making them nearly impossible to spot. But once a battle began, they would reveal themselves to deliver a devastating blow to the enemy.
Now, he only had a little over ten thousand Ghost Stones left in his pocket.
He couldn’t spend any more of them.
They had to be kept as a reserve.
Outside the city walls, a continuous, gloomy rain fell, chilling one to the bone. The weather was getting colder and colder.
Atop the city wall.
Chen Fan sat in a rocking chair on the wall. Before him, a small charcoal brazier burned brightly. He held a coarse pottery bowl, filled with freshly cooked tofu boiled with salted vegetables.
A few days ago, he had obtained a type of Ghost Plant.
It was called "Soybeans."
It didn’t have any major effects, but it tasted good.
Qi Chong was a skilled cook. He had processed the Soybeans into tofu and boiled them with salted vegetables, making a pot of tofu with salted vegetables that was both warming and fragrant.
The soup was still bubbling, steam rising straight up.
Chen Fan picked up his chopsticks, neatly sliced off a piece of tofu from his bowl, dipped it in the nearby sauce, blew on it haphazardly a few times, and popped it into his mouth.
"Hah..."
He opened his mouth to let the scalding tofu cool down quickly, his eyes narrowing in enjoyment.
’Tastes pretty good.’
The dipping sauce was actually very simple, made under less-than-ideal conditions—just chili powder mixed with coarse salt, but it was delicious.
Especially the long-pickled vegetables, dark brown and finely chopped. They were salty and tough, making a CRUNCH CRUNCH sound when he chewed.
He lifted the porcelain bowl and took another sip of the soup.
A scalding warmth instantly traveled from his throat to his stomach, transforming into threads of heat that flowed toward his stiff, frozen limbs.
"So satisfying!"
Chen Fan let out a long puff of white breath, put down his bowl and chopsticks, and watched Zhou Mo swinging his saber in the rain outside the wall. He leaned back in his chair and hummed casually.
"After a bowl of boiled tofu with salted vegetables, not even an emperor has it better than me."
The weather had grown cold.
’If only I could have a pot of braised pork with vermicelli now.’
’Fragrant pork, sticky-soft vermicelli, and tender, flavorful cabbage all mixed together, sprinkled with some dried chili flakes, and paired with a few fluffy white steamed buns... tsk, tsk, I can only imagine how delicious that would be.’
Unfortunately, the camp’s supplies didn’t allow for such a meal. It was out of reach for now.
Just then—
"Hah!"
Zhou Mo, who had been practicing with his saber in the rain outside the city wall, suddenly let out a loud shout. The monotonous chopping motion he had repeated countless times suddenly became incredibly fluid.
In that moment, Zhou Mo seemed to forget his arm, forget the saber, and even forget himself. Relying only on the deep muscle memory from days of hard practice and an unyielding obsession in his heart, he swung again!
"SHIIING—"
A tearing sound, completely different from all his previous attempts, rang out.
The curtain of rain was torn apart.
The falling sheet of rain in front of him actually split open for a brief instant.
A cold, white blade of light shot out from the saber in Zhou Mo’s hand, cleaving through the rain before dissipating several meters away.
"..."
Only then did Zhou Mo snap out of it, standing frozen in place. He stared blankly down at the Big Saber the Station Chief had given him, his eyes turning red. He looked up at Chen Fan on the city wall and said hoarsely.
"Station Chief, I did it!"
"I’ve finally succeeded with my Broken Water Sword Technique!"
"Good!"
Chen Fan, who had witnessed the entire scene from the city wall, couldn’t help but stand up, smiling and applauding in congratulation. His eyes were filled with wonder. In both of his lives, this was the first time he had ever seen such a skill.
’He’s just like a real master, able to project Sword Qi.’
Thanks to the Yunling Pavilion and the Sunflower, Zhou Mo’s Cultivation, which had been stagnant for years, had broken through to Level 3 Cultivator a few days ago. Since then, he had been comprehending the Broken Water Sword Technique in the rain.
Today, he had finally reached the Entry Level.
Although it was only the lowest of the six realms—Entry Level, Skilled, Mastery, Great Success, Perfection, and Great Perfection—he could finally use the Broken Water Sword Technique.
"Stop cutting the rain. Try it on the city wall. Let’s see how powerful it is."
"Alright!"
Zhou Mo agreed immediately. He took a deep breath, recalling his youthful dream of becoming a wandering Swordsman, then thinking of his life of mediocrity, and now, with the Broken Water Sword Technique in his grasp.
A heroic spirit swelled within him.
He sank his qi into his Dantian, channeling all the frustration from his mediocre years into the saber in his palm. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes.
He pushed the Broken Water Sword Technique to its peak!
Taking a large step forward, he roared, the veins on his neck bulging as he unleashed his full power in a strike against the nearby city wall.
A pale green arc of light shot from the blade, striking the city wall squarely. This strike was even stronger than the last; Zhou Mo had unexpectedly had another epiphany on the spot, deepening his comprehension of the Broken Water Sword Technique.
However...
The Sword Qi struck the city wall with full force.
It didn’t even manage to chip off a single fleck of stone.
"..."
After a long, expressionless silence, Chen Fan waved his sleeve. A phantom image of a city wall, composed of white lines, quickly appeared on the ground of the Celestial Pit. "A Level 3 City Wall is still too much. Try this Level 1 City Wall."
"Alright!"
Zhou Mo wasn’t too disheartened. After taking a deep breath, the pale green arc of light shot from his blade once more!
This time, it finally had an effect.
Stone fragments flew.
A gash as deep as a fist appeared on the surface of the Level 1 City Wall. But seeing Zhou Mo panting heavily, it was clear he would have a hard time mustering a second Sword Qi anytime soon...
"Not bad."
Chen Fan nodded lightly. ’The power is actually decent, but it’s still a bit difficult to breach a city wall. Still, if that strike had hit me, I have no doubt it would have disemboweled me.’
The sky grew dark.
The Eternal Night gradually enveloped the world.
"The rainy season is almost over."
Chen Fan toyed with the ring in his hand. He opened the city gate to let Zhou Mo back into the camp before walking down from the wall toward his Wooden House, ready to sleep.
When the Meat Worms’ Ghost Tide had attacked that day, it had dropped tens of thousands of Ghost Stones, but only two Exotic Treasures.
One of them was the "Ghost Eye."
He had used it to upgrade the Level 6 Ghost Eye Cannon Tower.
The other was the Jade Ring in his hand.
-
[Exotic Treasure Name]: Jade Ring.
[Exotic Treasure Level]: White.
[Exotic Treasure Effect]: A one-time use Exotic Treasure. When someone directs intense killing intent toward you, the ring will grow warm and then shatter.
-
Like the Ghost Skin crafted by Qiu Kui, it had become an Exotic Treasure he carried with him at all times.
Standing inside his Wooden House, Chen Fan gazed at the Eternal Night Year Calendar carved into a Wooden Board and murmured, "The rainy season is almost over." After it ended, it would be time for the Mortal Sect to make its grand debut. All his current preparations were for the sake of making a stunning impression in the future.
And he was about to face the greatest crisis since his arrival in this world.
He had made the camp as strong as he possibly could.
But...
he didn’t have much confidence in whether they could withstand a Ghost King.
He didn’t know the Ghost King’s abilities or methods, but he had done his best. Whether it would be enough all came down to this.
’If I lose, I’ll accept it.’
’Such is fate.’
But if he won, he would usher in a true opportunity to rise. The name "Mortal Sect" would become synonymous with Jiangbei.
The Jiangbei Mortal Sect!
His Nine-Five Dragon Carriage would race across Jiangbei, carrying the Banner of the Mortal Sect.
His name, too, would echo throughout all of Jiangbei.
Everyone in the world would know the name Chen Fan.
’Let the Mortal Sect arrive, right on schedule.’
...
「Jiangbei Wilderness, Ping City.」
The ground was scarred and devastated.
The city wall connecting to the Jiangbei Wilderness had been completely breached. Ruins were spattered with a viscous green liquid, and the city’s rooftops and streets were all coated in a sticky fluid.
Night fell.
Darkness enveloped all of Ping City.
The light from the Natural Ghost Fire Zone illuminated the city as it always had.
But tonight...
there were no soldiers patrolling the city walls, no human cries or sounds of battle to be heard. It was deathly silent, the air thick with the stench of blood and rot.