Chapter 80: Jiangbei Old Demon
Chapter 80: Chapter 80: Jiangbei Old Demon
In all these years.
Only mindless Ghost Objects had ever dared to approach Nameless Mountain.
But...
The crimson triangles in his pupils spun rapidly. According to his plan,
once the rainy season ended, he would break through to Ghost King and marry Qiu Kui!
He would officially usher in an era that belonged to him.
If he waited another year, he would miss this rainy season, one so abundant with Ghost Qi. The rainy season didn’t arrive early every year. He had to break through to Ghost King during this one.
The timing, the place, the Ghosts—everything was aligned.
It was an opportunity he couldn’t afford to miss.
After a long moment,
the man finally made up his mind, his voice hoarse.
"It’s been 180 years. That person isn’t coming back."
"Go."
"Cross the Dead Sea and land on Nameless Mountain. Find the Mountain Remains Embryo, and I will credit you with a great merit. Once I ascend to Ghost King, I will spare no effort in cultivating you."
"As you command, my King."
...
「Jiangbei Wilderness, within Nameless Mountain.」
Daybreak.
No Ghost Objects had attacked last night. It had been a safe night.
"..."
After quickly washing up, Chen Fan walked out of Cave No. 1’s entrance and stood in the Celestial Pit, gazing at the surrounding cliffs. He glanced at the crocodile sleeping soundly in a cave, taking shelter from the rain, and a smile touched his eyes.
’So this thing sleeps too, huh?’
’I really thought it was made of iron.’
The progress was excellent.
A total of 17 holes had been dug into the surrounding cliffs. These were the tunnels the crocodile had excavated last night. Without delay, he entered a cave and stepped into the passage the crocodile had bored through the mountain, beginning to install the cannon towers one by one.
The passage snaked upward.
Soon,
he arrived at the first hole on the cliff face.
The crocodile’s excavation method was "vein-like." It first dug a main artery through the mountain, then branched out like a growing plant, connecting to Nodes on the cliffs and carving out holes to the exterior.
This method minimized the workload as much as possible.
He set up one Level 5 Cannon Tower after another.
A section of City Wall materialized to cover each opening.
Copper Pipes were laid inside the passages, connecting the cannon towers to the Ghost Fire and providing them with power.
These 17 excavated holes were all located no higher than 50 meters up the cliff face, well within the camp’s range. There was no need to build the Ghost Fire up higher to extend the camp’s effective area.
...
「An hour later.」
Chen Fan stood in the center of the Celestial Pit, looking up at the four cliffs that disappeared into the rain and mist. Directly ahead was his Cave No. 1. The dark red Ghost Blood Pattern on the Level 3 City Wall made the entire structure look exceptionally sturdy.
The next moment—
With a single thought,
a section of the Copper Pipes connected to the Ghost Fire lit up.
Eighteen dark openings suddenly appeared on the surrounding cliffs. Level 5 Cannon Towers sat at the edges of the holes, overlooking the Celestial Pit. Their attack range covered the entire area. Once activated,
they would form an incredibly powerful network of fire.
Any Ghost Object that dared to step into the Celestial Pit would face devastating annihilation.
"Hmm..."
Chen Fan propped his chin on his hand, looked up at the scene, and nodded in satisfaction.
When these Level 5 Cannon Towers were upgraded to Level 3, the Upgrade Direction he had chosen for most of them was...
"Crossbow Arrow will be imbued with the Thunder Element, effectively paralyzing enemies and inflicting chain damage to up to three nearby creatures."
Now, at Level 5,
their attack method had changed from Crossbow Arrows to beams of light.
However, they still retained the effect from that Upgrade Direction, allowing them to inflict chain damage.
Each of these cannon towers could inflict massive damage on groups of enemies. The only drawback was... there were still too few of them. ’It would be great if I could install 100 Level 5 Cannon Towers on the surrounding cliffs.’
’Eighteen just doesn’t feel very secure.’
It was worth mentioning that for three of the Level 5 Cannon Towers, he had chosen the "Arrow Rain Storm" Upgrade Direction. This was the only Active Skill in the camp. Activating it on a Level 5 Cannon Tower would cost 50 Ghost Stones, but he had never tested it.
He still didn’t know how effective it would be.
Zhou Mo and Big Fish had already left early in the morning, each riding a Skeleton Horse. They were headed out into the Wilderness to retrieve supplies from abandoned stations and would bring back Ghost Corpses from the unmanned stations on their way back.
After the darkness receded,
the camp became busy once again.
The camp had 2,135 Ghost Stones remaining.
"It’s not a lot again..."
Chen Fan sighed softly. These Ghost Stones were spent all too quickly. They were gone before he even really used them.
’I wonder how other factions earn their Ghost Stones.’
He had earned over ten thousand Ghost Stones from digging two latrine pits, which should have been a huge haul. A normal station would have to host over ten thousand travelers to earn that many Ghost Stones. How did he burn through them so fast?
He shook his head,
not dwelling on it any further.
He mounted his horse and rode out again to continue setting up unmanned stations.
An unmanned station only cost 160 Ghost Stones, making it very cost-effective.
...
"Jiangbei Old Demon."
「Jiangnan, in an immense forest.」
A woman in a white dress stood on the grass, her expression calm as she faced a middle-aged man in a green robe. "Are you truly unwilling to marry me? I am my father’s only daughter. After he abdicates, you will be the master of the city behind me."
"Ghost Objects are running rampant across the continent. Sooner or later, you’ll die if you keep running around all day."
"Stay here, and you can live."
The city behind the woman was incredibly formidable.
It was nestled within a dense jungle.
The City Walls were ten meters high, covered in countless dark green, wrist-thick vines that spread like iron chains, extending from the base of the walls into the forest.
The entire city seemed to be one with the forest.
"It’s certainly impressive,"
The middle-aged man in the green robe and bamboo hat casually plucked a foxtail weed and stuck it in his mouth. He clicked his tongue, looking at the city behind the woman with genuine admiration. "The entire city is made of Level 3 City Walls."
"And it’s uniformly the Vine Pattern. That’s the best pattern for a forest environment. When the city is attacked, the vines can draw nutrients from nearby plants to repair damaged sections of the wall almost endlessly."
"The pattern a City Wall gets when upgraded to Level 3 is completely random. To achieve a uniform pattern, you have to tear down and rebuild any wall section that gets a different one, repeating the process over and over."
"Building this city must have consumed a vast amount of manpower and resources."
"It’s a masterpiece."
"There isn’t a single city in all of Jiangbei that’s this impressive."
"My ancestors began construction on this city 57 years ago. A massive amount of resources were poured into it, and it took two years to complete. It has never once been breached by Ghost Objects since, and it has only become more perfect over the years."
A trace of pride and smugness flashed in the white-gowned woman’s eyes. "So? Are you tempted? Will you marry me?"
"As long as you don’t leave Jiangnan, as long as you stay and marry me, this city is yours."
"We can even consummate our marriage tonight."
"No."
The man in the green robe slowly shook his head, his expression lazy. He gazed distractedly toward the distant Jiangbei Wilderness. "The rainy season in Jiangbei has arrived early. In a little over two months, it will be that old bastard’s birthday."
"Everyone in his family will be gathered there that day."
"I have to go and kill to my heart’s content."
"That’s a lot more fun than a wedding night."