Four Years, Three Hundred Million, Guard Jiangbei

Chen Fan quietly pulled his gaze away from the bamboo slip. Big Croc and Little Croc were almost certainly Weiwei's parents. What surprised him was that the senior had actually been garrisoned in Jiangbei; he had assumed the man had merely sought out a quiet spot for cultivation. Why did it sound as if he had been under orders? The diary was far from complete. The previous slip had dated back to Year 176 of the Eternal Night Calendar, yet the next jumped straight to Year 181. The bamboo scroll had been scattered. Only a fraction of the slips remained. "Eternal Night Year 181. So bored." "Eternal Night Year 183. Really want to get laid." "Eternal Night Year 190. The rainy season arrived early this year. But with me here, the ghost tide dares not make landfall. Ah... I really am incredible." The man had been more than a little narcissistic. He was definitely male, and subject to mortal desires. Chen Fan quietly pieced together the senior's personality in his mind. And... the ghost tides made landfall from the sea? What struck him as most bizarre was that an existence this formidable could still want to get laid. Chen Fan had assumed someone of that caliber would have long transcended the mortal realm. "Eternal Night Year 198. The war on the front lines is critical, and the situation has turned precarious. I may have no choice but to depart. Once I am gone, this breach will be left undefended. Massive ghost tides will surge up from the seabed into Jiangbei, sweep into Jiangnan, and ravage the Guanxi Plain. "Fortunately, the aura I leave behind should continue to deter the undersea ghost tide for another 185 years. "During the twenty-seven years I guarded this place, the Heavenly Dao blessings I received yielded immense harvests. If the front lines are not in dire straits, I should return before my aura fades. "A pity. If only the Level 4 wall along the old Jiangbei front line were still..." There was nothing after that. A single bamboo slip could hold only so many words. Chen Fan took a deep breath, trying his best to stay calm, but after a moment he could no longer hold back a furious curse. "Is the timing really that damn exact?" "Why not one hundred and ninety years?!" "Why not two hundred years?!" "Why did it have to be precisely one hundred and eighty-five years on the dot?!" The senior had been gone for one hundred and eighty years—almost one hundred and eighty-one. In other words, four years from now, the aura lingering over Nameless Mountain would disperse completely, and undersea ghost creatures would make landfall in droves! Who would bear the brunt of it? Wouldn't it be his Fan Domain?! Motherfucker! Move! The thought sprang into Chen Fan's mind instantly. When the sky fell, the tall ones held it up; he was hardly tall, and with his current stature, he definitely couldn't hold off a catastrophe like that. He had to relocate. Move where? Jiangbei was out of the question; the moment the ghost tide made landfall, Jiangbei would be the first to fall. Jiangnan wouldn't work either; Jiangnan would be slaughtered just the same. The Guanxi Plain further back wouldn't do, either. They would all die. And further inland... fuck, any further and he would practically run straight into the front line! That was even more dangerous! There was nowhere to run. There were three more bamboo slips, but they lay face down on the ground. He could not touch them for now, nor could he read what was on them. Without lingering, he climbed onto Weiwei's back and returned to the surface. Sitting alone on the ground, Chen Fan picked up a twig and began roughing out a map of the Eternal Night Continent in the dirt. He had no idea what the continent truly looked like, so he could only guess. No one else knew either. Still, the slips revealed several critical pieces of information. First. There were two kinds of ghost tides. Those on land, and those beneath the sea. The ghost kings on land clearly knew the senior had departed one hundred and eighty years ago, yet the undersea ghost tides still had no idea, continuing to hold back from making landfall. Ruling out the possibility that land and sea creatures simply did not get along, it meant undersea ghost creatures had low intelligence, acting purely on instinct and lacking the ability to communicate. Their strength was likely vastly superior, too. Otherwise, there would have been no need for someone of that senior's stature to personally station himself here to guard Jiangbei. "A breach..." Frowning deeply, Chen Fan sketched a coastline in the dirt. The senior had referred to Jiangbei as a breach. Did that mean the undersea creatures would not make landfall anywhere else? Or did other regions possess defensive fortifications, while Jiangbei's defenses had been destroyed, reducing it to an open gap? "Heavenly Dao blessings." He closed his eyes, leaning back against his chair and murmuring softly. Guarding Jiangbei. In the eyes of the Heavenly Dao, was that considered an act of great merit, one that brought immense rewards? He fell silent for a long time. Barring a miracle, that senior would never return before his aura completely dissipated. In four years, Jiangbei would face an unprecedented landfall of ghost tides—tides that would make the flesh worm ghost tide look like child's play. For a wave to demand the personal garrison of an expert like that, its scale was unimaginable. Perhaps it was the kind of tide where even a ghost king was nothing more than a minor lackey. To flee, or not to flee? That was the question. Where could he even go? He would have to keep fleeing toward the rear, retreating all the way to an area where someone could hold the line. But that meant abandoning everything he had built here. The authority he had established, the connections he had forged, the Silk Road plan—all of it would go down the drain. Moreover, the factions deeper inland were far stronger; competing with them for scraps from the table would be brutally difficult. He couldn't retreat any further, either, or he would run into the front line, which was even more perilous. Running meant starting over from scratch. And if he didn't run... He would have to dig in and hold. The breach along Jiangbei's coastline stretched roughly one hundred and seventy kilometers. To seal it off entirely, he would need to raise a wall along the entire coast. A Level 3 wall? Certainly not enough. It would have to be at least Level 4. The bamboo slip had noted that a Level 4 wall once guarded the Jiangbei front line, and only that had been enough to hold this breach. He would also need to deploy countless cannon towers and logistical structures. It was a monumental, unimaginably massive undertaking. Constructing a single meter of Level 3 wall cost five hundred ghost stones. One hundred and seventy kilometers equaled one hundred and seventy thousand meters. Building a Level 3 wall to completely seal the Jiangbei coastline would require a staggering eighty-five million ghost stones. If he upgraded to the Level 4 wall mentioned in the slips and factored in cannon towers and other defensive installations, the project would cost nothing less than three hundred million. "Three hundred million." Chen Fan gave a wry, humorless laugh. The figure was so absurdly enormous that it drained all the anger right out of him. Just this morning, he had been rejoicing that a single Skeleton Horse yielded a profit of fourteen hundred ghost stones, and that a thousand horses would net him 1.4 million. He had wondered how he could ever spend so many ghost stones. Well, now he knew. He knew exactly where they would go. And it still wouldn't be enough. How many horses would he have to sell to fund an undertaking like this? Yet frustration was one thing; once he settled down, he began calculating the feasibility. Earning three hundred million ghost stones in four years—was it possible? Chen Fan leaned back against his chair, doing his best to think dispassionately. If the Silk Road plan succeeded and he could dump vast quantities of high-quality, low-cost goods into the richer regions of Jiangdong, Jiangxi, and Jiangnan— or even further into the prosperous Guanxi Plain— then earning three hundred million ghost stones in four years was not entirely out of reach. "Hah..." After a long time, he let out a heavy sigh, his expression gradually hardening with resolve. He had made up his mind. He wanted to see whether Fan Domain could hold this "Jiangbei breach." Four years, three hundred million, guard Jiangbei. By now, he understood that the entire Eternal Night Continent was under siege by ghost tides. His position lay toward the rear; the battles on the front line were far fiercer, and falling back would not necessarily make him any safer. Yet as long as he held this breach, Jiangbei would become utterly secure—his absolute, unshakeable rear base. If that was the case! Then the first step was to use the auction in a month's time to blast open his "Silk Road"! He would lay a solid foundation for four years and three hundred million! With his decision made, Chen Fan's anxiety eased considerably. At any rate, he still had four years. If things went south in two or three years, it wouldn't be too late to run then. He stood, smiling as he patted Weiwei's head. "Good boy." It was lucky Weiwei had brought him this news. Otherwise, if the undersea ghost tide had made landfall four years later without warning or preparation, it would have been absolute doom. This intelligence could not be leaked. Other factions could not find out. If panic broke out and every faction packed up and fled, the hubs along his Silk Road would vanish overnight. "Come on, let's find you something to eat." The following day. While Chen Fan was busy in the camp, a man clad in the standard robe of Fan Domain rushed up to him, bowing respectfully. "Domain Lord, a man calling himself Qi Yue requests an audience outside the canyon." "Oh?" Hearing that, Chen Fan set down the hammer in his hand and grinned. "Quickly, invite him in." Before long, Qi Yue walked into the canyon alone and reached the sinkhole. Chen Fan stepped out from the camp, striding forward with a smile. "Senior Qi, what brings you here today?" "To teach your people the sword." Qi Yue stood as straight and unyielding as a pine, his face deadly serious. "Two months from now, I am going to kill a group of people. I will likely die. Over these next two months, I will impart everything I have learned in my lifetime to your men. "However— "I cannot stop worrying about Gongyang Yue. If possible, I hope this trade will earn the Gongyang clan a measure of your protection." Qi Yue had arrived entirely alone, without the ever-present Gongyang Yue and Gongyang Yiyue by his side. "My men don't use swords." "Sabers will do. The principles are much the same." "Sit." Chen Fan did indeed want Qi Yue to instruct his subordinates, but... what he wanted even more was Qi Yue himself. At present, Fan Domain did not possess a single person with cultivation as formidable as Qi Yue's. He led Qi Yue into a wooden cabin on the surface of the sinkhole. After pouring him a cup of tea himself, he looked at Qi Yue and spoke softly. "When I first took over Jiangbei Chen Family Outpost No. 37, you were the one who taught me how to survive out in the wasteland. For that, I have always been deeply grateful. "If the people you want to kill are too much of a challenge, "leave them to Fan Domain. "Fan Domain will kill them for you." Qi Yue remained silent for a long time before shaking his head, offering a self-deprecating smirk. "Your Fan Domain cannot kill this person. Only I can." "You underestimate Fan Domain." "I know full well what Fan Domain is capable of. It is simply that you cannot see him. Only I can." "He can turn invisible?" Qi Yue shook his head and offered no further explanation, though a faint hint of deathly resignation crept into his eyes. Chen Fan nodded thoughtfully and pressed no further, switching topics instead. "Do you care for Gongyang Yue, then?" "I do not." "If you don't like her, why keep her around?" "She clings to me." "No fond feelings at all?" "I harbor goodwill toward her. She is one of the few people who have ever treated me well." "Tsk." Clicking his tongue, Chen Fan rose and smiled at Qi Yue. "Every person walks their own path; I won't interfere with yours. I will leave my men in your care for the next two months. They're right over there. "Whatever you need, just ask." He pointed toward Zhou Mo and his group not far outside the cabin. After Qi Yue stepped outside, a figure slowly materialized from the shadows within the room, clad entirely in white. It was Shao Qiu. "Not bad," Chen Fan remarked, glancing toward Shao Qiu as he stepped out from the corner. "It seems he didn't notice you at all." "Naturally." A glimmer of pride flashed in Shao Qiu's eyes. "Now that that sliver of my soul has returned, my cultivation is a mere step from Martial King. We share the same realm, so of course he couldn't detect me." Yet a moment later, a trace of stubborn defiance showed on his face. "Still, he's far too arrogant. There is no one in Jiangbei I cannot kill. "Anyone he can kill, I, Shao Qiu, can kill. "Anyone he cannot kill, I, Shao Qiu, can also kill." "You truly can't kill this one." Chen Fan pulled out the bamboo slips detailing intelligence on Old Demon Jiangbei and Qi Yue from beneath the desk. After skimming through them once more, he leaned back against his chair and spoke softly. "The last person he wants to kill is himself. He wants to slay the cowardly self of his past. "He has hidden his name and identity all these years not out of fear of retribution, but simply because he cannot accept his own past. "No one can help him with that. "Only he can kill that person." "I can kill him," Shao Qiu insisted after a moment of earnest thought, his voice absolute. "Now that my strength has recovered, I have a fifty percent chance of killing him. Give me a specialized weapon forged from Earth Gold, and it becomes seventy percent. Give me a night-travel suit woven from Earth Gold, and it is a guaranteed hundred percent. "Within three breaths, I would take his life." Chen Fan looked up at Shao Qiu, utterly exasperated. "Can you stop with the killing for five seconds? He wants to put an end to the rest of his life, not that kind of kill. He wants to execute himself—to kill the man who bore that humiliating past. "It's a tragic story, can you understand that?" "I understand, Domain Lord," Shao Qiu muttered sheepishly, lowering his head. "I just felt he spoke too boldly. What does he mean, 'no one else can kill him'? I can kill him. If he doesn't believe it, I'll kill him right in front of his eyes." "Hah..." Chen Fan let out a long sigh and said nothing more. He had come to realize that Shao Qiu genuinely loved his line of work. Payment or no payment, even without a single coin of bounty, the moment someone claimed 'no one in Jiangbei can kill me,' Shao Qiu would happily trot over with a dagger. Not for anything else, but solely to prove that there was someone in Jiangbei who could kill them. What pure, unadulterated dedication. Just like when Shao Qiu had charged up to the Immortal Slaughter Holy Land—his primary motive hadn't been the bounty at all, but simply to make a name for himself. "Dismissed. That's all for now." "Do we still kill him, then?" "No." "Understood. When will the Domain Lord issue our first assassination mission?" "Wait until the rainy season passes, at the very least. Who would you even go kill right now?" "The president of the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce." "...Get the hell over to the Spirit Accumulation Pavilion and train your men." "Yes, sir!" Out in the sinkhole, Zhou Mo stood attentively beside Qi Yue, listening with complete focus to his instruction. "Hmm?" Qi Yue carefully sensed Zhou Mo's aura, and his brow furrowed sharply. "Your cultivation is rising at an unnaturally rapid pace. You're already bordering on a Level 4 cultivator. You..." His voice cut off abruptly. Realization dawned on him instantly. He glanced toward Cave No. 1 not far off, and an understanding light flickered in his eyes. It was likely thanks to a Training Chamber. It seemed Fan Domain possessed a Training Chamber of its own. Though only a newly risen faction, its underlying foundation was remarkably solid. Still... even with a Training Chamber, could cultivation speed advance this quickly? Was that even natural? "Uh..." Zhou Mo stood there, completely at a loss for how to explain. What was he supposed to say? That the Spirit Accumulation Pavilion ran twenty-four hours a day without interruption, and they ate Cultivation Pills like candy? Could he really disclose that? "You haven't dabbled in demonic cultivation, have you?" Qi Yue asked in a raspy, grave voice. "Demonic cultivation? Does demonic cultivation make you advance faster?"