Time to Start Farming!

The next moment— The ten ghost stones on the ground shattered instantly, melting into a milky-white liquid that flowed into the ghost fire at the center of the camp. Before Chen Fan's eyes, an interface slowly emerged. *** [Ghost Fire upgraded to Level 2. Safe zone diameter increased to 20 meters. Deterrence against ghost creatures enhanced.] [Please select an upgrade path.] [1: Increase safe zone diameter to 30 meters.] [2: Moderately enhance deterrence against ghost creatures.] [3: Slightly reduce consumption of camp defensive structures.] *** "..." Chen Fan's eyes narrowed slightly. He had chosen to spend ten ghost stones to upgrade the ghost fire, this core structure, to Level 2. Along with boosting its base effects, it once again presented him with three upgrade paths. He was rather curious: native architects of this world certainly couldn't see this interface when upgrading structures, so how did they decide their upgrade paths? Was it completely random? After a moment's thought, he chose the third path. With two Level 2 arrow towers in place, he had some confidence in the camp's safety for now and had no urgent need for greater deterrence from the ghost fire. As for the first path, though very practical, from a long-term perspective, the third option undeniably offered the highest returns. The arrow towers didn't consume too much. During last night's battle, the two arrow towers had each used only a tenth of their embedded ghost stones. However, he was bound to have more defensive structures in the future. This upgrade path would save him considerable resources and directly boost the camp's strength. Once he made his selection, the ghost fire began to transform slowly. Its base took on an older, more archaic appearance, and two milky-white veins of energy extended across the ground like blood vessels, linking directly to the bases of the two Level 2 arrow towers. "Phew..." Chen Fan let out a slow breath. The camp's safe zone now spanned twenty meters in diameter, which was enough for the time being. Upgrading to Level 3 would cost fifty ghost stones. Without lingering, he immediately spent another two ghost stones to construct a plot of farmland and placed it near the perimeter of the camp. Five meters long, five meters wide. A square plot of farmland. As the translucent outline of the farmland solidified in midair, a freshly tilled square field materialized at the camp's edge. If normal crops like wheat were planted here, their growth cycle would be drastically shortened. However, planting exotic seed treasures would not reduce their maturation period. Still, that was no real issue. Both batches of seeds he possessed had relatively short cycles anyway. "Quehou!" Chen Fan shouted toward Quehou, who was squatting by the ghost fire examining the two white energy veins. "Time to work! Drag all the monkey-headed ghost corpses out from behind the wooden cabin and bury them in the farmland." "Right away!" ... By the time all the ghost creature corpses were buried in the field, noon had already arrived. Chen Fan reached into his robes, pulled out the monkey-head mushroom seeds and the Ghost Stone Mineral Vein Seeds, and buried them into the soil one by one. There was no need for water—at least the interface hadn't mentioned it, which meant watering wasn't required. After a long while, Chen Fan wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a deep breath. "Phew..." Farming was truly hard physical labor. There were seventeen monkey-head mushroom seeds and twelve Ghost Stone Mineral Vein Seeds. He had no idea what the exact harvest would be. Still, this had served as a reminder: he would certainly acquire more seeds in the future, and each would require different growing conditions. For instance, the monkey-head mushroom seeds didn't require ghost creature corpses as fertilizer, whereas the Ghost Stone Mineral Vein Seeds did. As the farmland expanded, the two of them alone would never be able to keep up. He had to build a faction. He needed people to farm for him and look after the fields. Only... He glanced sideways at Quehou, who was loosening the soil not far away using the God-Slaying Spear, and narrowed his eyes slightly. Loyal, hardworking subordinates like Quehou were hard to come by. "Young Master." Having finished his tasks, Quehou jogged over with a limp, looking rather comical. Grinning, he reported, "Just now, under the bed inside the cabin, I found a few seeds. Couldn't tell what crop they were, so I found a corner in the field and buried them." "Maybe they're fruit tree seeds or something. Then we won't run out of fruit to eat later." "..." Chen Fan chuckled and said nothing. They were probably just wheat seeds. After all this time, there was no telling if they could even sprout, but he wasn't about to say anything to dampen Quehou's enthusiasm. Right then— "Stationmaster Chen?" A voice full of astonishment reached their ears. Stationmaster Wang had arrived beside the camp with his subordinates without them even noticing. "It feels like we've only been apart for two days, haven't we? What's going on here...?" Wang Kui stood within the camp boundary, staring at the ghost fire that had clearly reached Level 2 and the two formidable arrow towers. His eyes were completely filled with bewilderment and shock. What was this...? Wasn't Chen Fan an illegitimate son of the Chen family, framed and sent out to the wasteland to die? What was the deal with these arrow towers? And two of them? He had rarely seen arrow towers at an outpost. Outposts were just temporary resting stops that rarely faced threats from ghost creatures. Who would pay such a massive price to erect arrow towers here? They were usually set up in a clan head's main territory or at vital strategic hubs. If Chen Fan hadn't been an illegitimate son, it might have made sense—the Chen family sending him down to gain experience, with a Level 5 architect assigned to build two arrow towers to escort him. As for now... A flash of predictable realization crossed Wang Kui's mind. The situation was crystal clear: Chen Fan's mother had indeed left a backup plan for him, and that plan was very likely connected to an architect. If that was true, the Chen family was going to regret this so deeply their guts would ache. A thousand thoughts raced through his mind, but his face merely showed a trace of helplessness. "Stationmaster Chen, you certainly had me fooled. I thought you... and yet here you are..." "..." Chen Fan glanced at the two large vats on the handcart behind Wang Kui and chuckled softly. "Returning things again? Seems my predecessor borrowed quite a lot from your outpost." "Stationmaster Chen, please don't tease me." Wang Kui turned his head in embarrassment. "Looks like the little bit of goodwill I managed to muster was entirely pointless." "Not at all." Chen Fan shook his head and said gently to Wang Kui, "I, Chen Fan, have taken Stationmaster Wang's kindness to heart. What you delivered last time was indeed a great help to me." "If there is an opportunity in the future, I will repay you generously." "Good, good, good..." Wang Kui couldn't hide the hint of excitement in his voice. "Then I'll head back to my station first. If you need anything, feel free to send someone over anytime." Leaving the cart behind, he led his subordinates back toward their outpost, his steps light and airy. He had truly made the right gamble this time: Chen Fan had very likely become an architect. Five ghost stones in exchange for an architect's favor. Could there possibly be a better bargain than that?