Architects' Exchange Conference

Chen Fan stood expressionless and silent on the spot, without uttering a single word. What could he say? One plus one already equaled four hundred forty-four. What else was there for him to say? Just as he had thought, there was simply no guessing such an answer. When one plus one didn't equal two, it could equal whatever anyone wanted it to. What he hadn't expected, however, was that this was actually a consensus among architects, meaning the other architects knew it as well. "Very well." Chen Fan smiled at Tianqi. "Go ahead. I grant you permission to hold the Architects' Conference in Fan City. Roughly when will it begin?" "Three days from now," Tianqi answered respectfully. He hadn't expected things to proceed so smoothly this time. "All right, off you go." Chen Fan watched Tianqi's departing back. He hadn't asked why one plus one equaled four hundred forty-four; since this was a consensus among all architects, he was supposed to know it too. Showing any lack of understanding would expose far too much. However, this incident also made him realize that the Architects' Conference would be very useful to him. At this exchange conference, he could see how other architects operated. Along the way, he could learn more basic common knowledge about architects. That way, if he ever ventured into some ancient ruin in the future and obtained an architect's inheritance, he wouldn't end up with a headache from being unable to unlock a storage ring due to ignorance of these common conventions. He needed to catch up on some lessons. After that, Chen Fan didn't linger long, heading down a side street. From time to time, he would crouch before a stall, pick up an exotic treasure to inspect it, and put it back down. Honestly speaking, he found the odds of finding a hidden gem were quite low. There were no particularly good exotic treasures; they were all fairly ordinary. If only he could discover another exotic treasure capable of boosting his luck for a short period. He still had a yellow-grade Lucky Bag left unopened. Soon, night fell. Another busy day of work came to an end, and the core members of Fan Domain returned to the camp once more. The camp grew lively again. In the past, the members of the Dark Pavilion spent most of their time cultivating inside the Spirit Accumulation Pavilion, rarely stepping outside and having little contact with the other members of Fan Domain. Today, however, the Dark Pavilion members all walked out of the Spirit Accumulation Pavilion dressed in night-travel suits, fiddling with daggers in their hands, their eyes brimming with pride. They certainly had the capital to be proud; both the daggers and the night-travel suits were crafted entirely from Earth Gold. To put it bluntly, if any member of the Dark Pavilion were to run off right now and hide in some obscure corner, they would never have to worry about food and clothing for the rest of their days. Of course, with the Eternal Night hanging over this world, there was hardly anywhere truly safe—just like Pingcheng, which no one mentioned anymore, having perished silently in this rainy season. Hardly anyone even spoke of Pingcheng's demise; only after the rainy season ended did quite a few factions from Jiangnan go to Pingcheng to scavenge corpses. This was why everyone wished to join a powerful faction—to at least survive the rainy season. "Stop showing off. It's just a dagger, what's there to show off? You've been flaunting it all day." Standing on the floor of the sinkhole, a Fan Domain member muttered quietly with a tinge of envy as he looked at the dozen-odd Dark Pavilion members, whose faces practically radiated smugness. "That's no ordinary dagger," an Artifact Pavilion member exclaimed with deep feeling. "If you took that thing outside to sell, it would be priceless. Forget Jiangnan; even on the Guanxi Plain, ordinary people could never afford to use it." This fellow had formerly been Zhao Shengping's disciple, later joining Fan Domain alongside Zhao Shengping. "Someone would actually have to dare to buy it first," the muttering Fan Domain member retorted. "Something like that is so conspicuous out in the open. The moment anyone dared sell it, wouldn't Fan Domain find out immediately?" "That's true too." The Artifact Pavilion member nodded in deep agreement. Such an item was indeed difficult to fence. Tonight was fairly bustling. At Zhao Shengping's suggestion, the Domain Lord held a celebration banquet to celebrate Qi Yue and Shao Qiu both breaking through to Martial King with complete body tempering, becoming Fan Domain's only two Martial Kings. All members of Fan Domain, including those previously left behind to guard Sunset City and Fan City, had gathered inside the sinkhole tonight. It made the night extraordinarily lively. There were no tables; everyone simply sat on the ground, taking in the aroma drifting through the air—the spiced braised fragrance wafting over from the Heavenly Artifact Pavilion. Soon, the fragrance grew richer and richer. Platter after platter of assorted braised meats was brought out and placed before the members of Fan Domain. "It really is delicious." Sick Monkey grabbed a braised chicken leg, popped it into his mouth, and chewed vigorously. "I strongly suspect Pavilion Master Zhao suggested holding this celebration banquet entirely because he wanted to make braised food." "No need to suspect," Zhou Mo, sitting nearby, remarked with deep feeling. "It's practically a certainty. It's definitely the case. Still, you have to admit Pavilion Master Zhao's culinary skill is truly something. I wonder if he has some secret recipe." "Domain Lord, would you like to say a few words?" Wang Kui leaned in close to Chen Fan and whispered. Chen Fan, who was cheerfully sitting off to the side admiring the building icons lit up on his Eternal Night Lord panel, looked up at the members of Fan Domain. Seeing that everyone was looking toward him without touching their chopsticks, he chuckled, rose to his feet, and addressed the crowd. "Today is just a simple celebration banquet. First, to reward everyone for your hard work these past days. I have seen the effort each of you has put into Fan Domain. In Fan Domain, no one's dedication will ever be ignored, and no one's efforts will be wasted. "Second, to celebrate the Dark Pavilion's triumphant return from its first operation. Shao Qiu led the Dark Pavilion members to successfully annihilate the Wind and Rain Tower, making a name for Fan Domain's Dark Pavilion without suffering a single casualty, and even brought back 470,000 ghost stones. A commendable feat worthy of reward. "Every member of the Dark Pavilion may claim a reward of 1,000 ghost stones, and Shao Qiu may claim a reward of 5,000 ghost stones. "Third, to celebrate Fan Domain now having two Martial Kings. Qi Yue and Shao Qiu simultaneously broke through to Martial King with complete body tempering—a rarity in this world! This signifies that Fan Domain's fortune is flourishing day by day. "Fourth, to celebrate the smooth implementation of Fan Domain's Silk Road plan, which has already begun yielding results. This, too, could not have been achieved without everyone's joint efforts over these days. "Gathering everyone here today is to celebrate this moment. There's no need to be restrained. Eat and drink to your heart's content. "In a dozen or so days, it will be the new year. When that time comes, we'll have another feast." As his voice fell, the members of Fan Domain clapped and cheered together before finally picking up their chopsticks to eat. Though called a banquet, it was essentially eating braised food. There were hardly any standard dishes, mostly just braised foods, though the variety was vast. Zhao Shengping had worked hard as well. Cooking this much braised food all by himself for over two hundred people in Fan Domain was no simple task. However, there was plenty of wine, virtually unlimited, and with meat and drink in abundance, this truly counted as a lavish meal in this world. The atmosphere gradually grew lively and cheerful. Having received the Domain Lord's affirmation, everyone was in high spirits. "Not bad." Sitting next to Chen Fan, Shao Qiu put a braised duck wing into his mouth, savoring it carefully, and nodded in satisfaction. "Pavilion Master Zhao, not only is your artifact crafting impressive, but your braised food is also excellent." Wait. He suddenly froze. An artificer who made great braised food... he seemed to have known someone like that back on the Guanxi Plain, though the flavor back then was only about seventy percent similar to this. "Pavilion Master Zhao." Shao Qiu turned his head toward Zhao Shengping and asked in a daze, "Your full name wouldn't happen to be Zhao Shengping, would it? From the Guanxi Plain, once hailed as the most useless artificer in Guanxi, nicknamed the Guanxi Braise Master?" "That's me." Zhao Shengping rubbed his nose in embarrassment. He hadn't expected his dark past to be exposed so quickly. "Holy shit, it really is you!" Shao Qiu looked somewhat astonished. "Weren't you in Guanxi? Why on earth did you run off to Jiangbei? The difference between the two places is night and day." Jiangbei was relatively impoverished, and people from Jiangnan had always looked down on Jiangbei. The Guanxi Plain, in turn, was even more prosperous than Jiangnan; people from Guanxi looked down on Jiangnan, let alone Jiangbei. Generally speaking, no one from the Guanxi Plain would willingly go to Jiangbei. "And I ate your braised food seven years ago! Back then, I bought it from someone at a high price. It was astonishing—the best braised food I'd ever eaten. But what you made today tastes even better than back then, and the flavor is somewhat different. What's the story there?" "Ahem." Zhao Shengping coughed lightly into a clenched fist. "Well, so many years have passed, after all. Isn't it only natural that my skill improved? A man has to make progress, doesn't he?" "I remember seven years ago you were a Tier 9 artificer. What about now? Have you reached Tier 10?" "No," Zhao Shengping replied deadpan. "How come that didn't progress?" "That depends on fate. It can't be rushed." "True." Shao Qiu nodded in deep agreement, pressing no further. The night quickly passed, and the celebration banquet drew to a close. One couldn't stay tense all the time; everyone needed to unwind once in a while. This celebration banquet had allowed all members of Fan Domain to relax considerably. Time slipped by, and three days passed in a flash. On this day, many factions arrived at Fan City. Fan City became even more bustling than before. While merchant guilds frequently came and went from Fan City in the past, this time many factions had brought their own architects along. Architects from various factions usually rarely stepped out of their doors, but today they had all arrived alongside their faction masters. No architect was a rogue cultivator. An architect had to join a faction or establish one themselves. A cultivator could be an independent rogue cultivator, but an architect could never be. Relying on an architect alone, it was simply impossible to obtain so many ghost stones and construction materials. Architecting wasn't something one person could pull off; there had to be a faction handling logistics. "This city doesn't look like much." Standing before a carriage convoy, a young man looked at the walls in the distance. The area around was bustling with carriages coming and going, one convoy arriving after another. He recognized the banners of quite a few factions among them. "These look like Tier 1 walls. Didn't they say Fan Domain is very powerful?" The young man curled his lip. Back in their faction, their walls were all Tier 3; Tier 1 walls had been abandoned long ago. "You can't look at it like that." An elderly man beside him shook his head sternly. "Fan Domain definitely has strength, but its foundation is rather shallow, after all. "Think about it. Fan Domain is a faction that rose during the rainy season. From its founding until now, only a few months have passed—not even three months. To achieve this much is already very good. "Moreover, Fan Domain's primary development camp is located inside the Nameless Mountain nearby. It was precisely by relying on the camp in there that they slew a ghost king and killed the Dan Sect young master during the rainy season. "Fan City is merely Fan Domain's mortal city, meant for trade, not a primary defensive structure against ghost creatures during the rainy season. To reach this stage is already very impressive. "How many years has our faction's heritage lasted, and how long has Fan Domain existed? Our foundation is naturally beyond theirs, but as an architect, for Chen Fan to build up such a faction in such a short time, he must possess extraordinary methods. "Our main goal this time is to find an opportunity to communicate with Chen Fan and try to learn something from him. "So, I hope you adjust your attitude. We didn't come here to compete with Fan Domain, but in hopes of progressing together." The old man turned a solemn gaze upon the young man beside him. "Drop that frivolous tone of yours. When you get the chance to meet Domain Lord Chen, you must never speak like that." "I know," the young man grumbled, pouting. "I obviously wouldn't say that to his face. But can he really hear me if I just mutter a few words under my breath?" He was simply feeling disgruntled. This old man was his biological grandfather. He was an architect of the younger generation in their clan. With his impressive talent, the clan had originally taken great pride in him. But ever since Chen Fan's rise, everyone in the clan—whether the clan head or the elders—incessantly discussed how Chen Fan had pulled it off, leaving him feeling somewhat sidelined, his limelight completely stolen by Chen Fan. Only then had he been unable to resist grumbling. Yet he wasn't stupid enough to say such things in front of Chen Fan and create an enemy for his clan for no reason. Soon, faction after faction arrived in Fan City. Accompanied by Sick Monkey, Chen Fan walked through Fan City. He had specially cleared an open space in preparation for this Architects' Exchange Conference. The Architects' Exchange Conference. There was no competition. No one competed to determine first, second, or third place. It relied entirely on exchange. This was also the first time Chen Fan had seen how other architects built structures. He stopped in front of four or five people. These four or five were all architects from various factions, but they seemed to belong to the younger generation and weren't very old. In the architect profession, there was an ironclad rule: The older an architect, the stronger they were bound to be. This was an absolute certainty. After all, how many details of building blueprints could a greenhorn architect remember in their mind, and how much time had they had to comprehend them? Of course, Chen Fan was an exception. This was also the outside world's greatest doubt and confusion regarding Chen Fan. "I'll go first!" One girl among the four or five appeared somewhat nervous, but she still took a deep breath, retrieved an "Arrow Tower" building blueprint from her bosom, and quickly reviewed it carefully once more. Only then did she tuck the blueprint back into her clothes, standing on the spot with her eyes tightly closed. Her arms trembled faintly. Before her, a phantom building of an arrow tower outlined in white lines soon materialized. The ghost stones piled beside her feet shattered one by one, turning into a viscous white emulsion that surged toward the building phantom. The building gradually solidified. Until several breaths later. Crack! A crisp cracking sound rang out from the building phantom. Before it could fully solidify, the arrow tower phantom shattered in an instant, dissipating into spiritual energy and fading into the air. "Failed again." The girl opened her eyes, gazing at the shattered arrow tower phantom before her, her head drooping dejectedly. "It's fine, it's fine," a young man in a robe beside her stepped forward, patting her shoulder to comfort her. "The arrow tower is indeed one of the harder white-grade buildings to construct. You just misplaced the seventeenth node earlier. Just make sure not to make the same mistake there next time." "Pfft." Chen Fan, who had originally just been standing quietly to the side watching the show, couldn't help but chuckle when he saw this. This scene reminded him of his previous life. During exams in his past life, quite a few people would pull out their textbooks from their bags right before the opening bell rang, cramming at the last second, and then frantically scribbling answers the moment they got the test paper. This girl was just like that. "What are you laughing at?!" Perhaps his chuckle was too abrupt. The young man comforting the girl turned toward Chen Fan with some irritation. "You don't look very old either, so you must be a low-tier architect. Could you build it any better?" Those allowed into this venue today were essentially architects and their entourages. There were no outsiders. "I can." Chen Fan smiled and waved his hand. A phantom building of an arrow tower outlined in white lines quickly appeared on the open ground, solidifying in the blink of an eye. In a single breath, an arrow tower took shape. The four young architects gathered in discussion froze in place, utterly dumbfounded. Only after a long while did they recover their senses. "How is that possible?!" The young man was the first to react, his eyes filled with disbelief before he stared eagerly at Chen Fan. "Senior, may we consult you on a few questions?" Although this person looked about the same age as them, showing off this hand proved he was at least a Tier 5 or Tier 6 architect—naturally their senior. "Don't call it consulting; let's just exchange ideas," Chen Fan smiled as he looked at the four young architects. Pure, earnest people like this were rarely seen nowadays. He had no idea which factions they hailed from, but they exuded an aura of uncorrupted innocence. "First, tell me how you went about building that arrow tower," he said, looking at the girl who had just failed. "Senior..." The girl in the white dress took out the arrow tower building blueprint from her robes and said timidly, "I just followed the method my master taught me, dividing the 'Arrow Tower' schematic into thirty-seven nodes and constructing them node by node." "What I mean is, you looked at the blueprint before building, tucked it away during the process, and kept your eyes shut the entire time. Since you couldn't memorize the blueprint, why didn't you just look at it while building?" Chen Fan asked in confusion. This wasn't an exam. Was there really a distinction between open-book and closed-book here? "Huh?" The girl blinked in surprise, glanced at her three companions, and then whispered: "Senior. When constructing a building, one needs to draw every line of the building in their mind. This step is called 'spirit drawing.' In reality outside, as the architect sketches the spirit drawing in their mind, a phantom structure composed of white lines will gradually manifest. "Then, one crushes ghost stones, channeling the spiritual energy released from the shattered stones into the phantom structure to bring the building to form. "However... "Except for truly formidable architects, when we junior architects construct buildings, we all have to keep our eyes shut tightly. Otherwise, there are too many external distractions, making it impossible to complete the spirit drawing step in our minds. "And the spirit drawing must be done in one continuous breath. "There can be no pauses or hiccups in between. "It's... practically impossible to look at the blueprint while building..." She was somewhat bewildered as to why this young senior would ask such a question. Had this senior's master never taught him that? "Of course I know that," Chen Fan nodded with a serious expression. "Then have you reflected on why you failed?" He knew jack shit. This was the first time he had learned how other architects actually built things. It was complicated enough. If even a single mistake occurred during the process, the building phantom collapsed, all the ghost stones were wasted, and he could clearly sense that most of the spiritual energy dissipated into the air, causing substantial waste. It pained him just watching it. "Because I hadn't memorized the blueprint thoroughly..." "Rote memorization isn't a good way," Chen Fan shook his head. "Do you remember what your master taught you? One plus one equals four hundred forty-four. Do you remember the principle behind that?" "I do." The girl took a deep breath. Knowing how precious this opportunity to converse with a senior was, she did her utmost to present herself well, speaking solemnly and firmly: "Master stated in our very first lesson: "For architects, one plus one equals four hundred forty-four is a consensus shared by all architects, and the very first lesson for every architect. "This phrase originated from a very, very long time ago. "It is said that the first architect of the Eternal Night Continent left behind many famous sayings that became warning maxims for later architects, the most renowned of which is that one plus one equals four hundred forty-four. "It means that the building blueprints an architect can comprehend throughout their lifetime are few and far between. "A single person's effort, no matter how brilliant they are, is futile. "However, when two people join forces, exchanging their experiences and thoughts, they can achieve the effect of 444. Four sounds like death, symbolizing slaying all ghost creatures. "And because of this... "Architects have set dates specifically for exchanging ideas. "Even factions that are at odds on normal days will exchange their insights and thoughts on this day. "That is the significance behind the founding of the Architects' Exchange Conference." Chen Fan stood expressionless and silent on the spot, without uttering a word for a long time. He knew it. Whenever a phrase sounded utterly bizarre yet was widely circulated, it was bound to be some old relic talking completely out of his ass—and because that old relic had achieved a bit of prominence, the nonsense ended up being passed down through generations. "Actually, that's not quite right," Chen Fan shook his head after a while. "One plus one doesn't just equal four hundred forty-four; it also equals six hundred sixty-six." Having said that, he didn't linger and immediately walked away into the distance, intending to see what other architects were discussing. He felt this Architects' Exchange Conference was actually quite lively. The girl stared at Chen Fan's departing figure, frozen in place, unable to comprehend for the moment why one plus one would equal six hundred sixty-six. Right then, however— An elder from their clan strode over to her side. Following her gaze, when he saw Chen Fan's back, his pupils constricted sharply. "Did Domain Lord Chen just speak with you?" "Domain Lord Chen?" The several youths were taken aback, looks of disbelief flashing across their eyes. "He's the Domain Lord of Fan Domain, Chen Fan?!" "Indeed," the elder said gravely. Chen Fan. These two words had become known to virtually everyone in recent days. Whether it was slaying the ghost king during the rainy season, the night raid on Dan Sect, or the recent Silk Road, all of it had caused Chen Fan's fame to soar, making him the most talked-about figure of late. "If I had known earlier, I would have asked a few questions too!" The young man who had initially comforted the girl was filled with regret. He had heard Chen Fan's name countless times, but had never known what Chen Fan looked like, so naturally he hadn't recognized him just now. Rumors outside hailed Chen Fan as an absolute prodigy of an architect; exchanging thoughts with such a figure would have yielded immense gains! If nothing else, had it not been for Chen Fan, he wouldn't have been able to buy a Skeleton Horse for 2,000 ghost stones. "Earlier, Junior Sister tried to construct the white-grade Arrow Tower, but because her spirit drawing failed at the seventeenth node, the building collapsed, and Domain Lord Chen laughed beside us. "I didn't know who he was at the time. "So I told him, if he was so capable, he should do it himself. "And he personally constructed an arrow tower right there. His spirit drawing was extraordinarily fast—faster even than yours, Master." "Is it that one?" The gaunt elder, who looked practically skin and bones, had a fanatical gleam flash in his eyes as he looked at the several-meter-tall arrow tower standing nearby. He rushed forward and examined every detail meticulously. After a long time, he murmured in disbelief, "Flawless, like a work of heaven." "What else did he say to you?" "He also said that one plus one doesn't just equal four hundred forty-four; it also equals six hundred sixty-six." The elder lowered his head, his brows deeply furrowed. This sentence was tantamount to denying the consensus of all architects. "One plus one equals four hundred forty-four" meant architects should exchange ideas regularly. Yet Chen Fan had used the phrase "doesn't just," meaning he probably wasn't denying the concept itself. Then what profound meaning did that "six hundred sixty-six" hold? Talking nonsense? Impossible. A figure of his standing wouldn't speak recklessly. There was zero benefit in deceiving a few juniors. There had to be deep meaning behind it. And taking into account the context before and after, it was very likely related to how to perform spirit drawing rapidly! "I seem to have attained enlightenment!" A brilliant light burst from the elder's eyes, and he sat cross-legged on the spot, shutting his eyes tightly. "Do not let anyone disturb me." "As expected of Master," the young man sighed in awe. When hearing the exact same sentence, he hadn't felt a thing, yet Master was already having an epiphany. Truly worthy of being the strongest architect in their sect. Chen Fan walked through the midst of the Architects' Exchange Conference. There was actually one matter that puzzled him deeply: for blueprints like "Arrow Tower" and "Wall," there were line drawings on the blueprints themselves. Being able to clearly see the building structure and perform the spirit drawing in one's mind was normal. But what about abstract buildings? For instance... "Vehicle Workshop." Or "Heaven-Piercing Pillar." That was something the Undying Heavenly Master had failed to comprehend even up until his death. The actual object bore no resemblance whatsoever to the picture. Comprehending that would be a miracle; anyone who could actually figure that out would be a goddamned miracle worker! No. He had to go back and ask again. For questions regarding such basic architectural knowledge, asking others wouldn't be appropriate; those young architects from earlier seemed much easier to hoodwink. He immediately retraced his steps. Soon, he once again spotted the four youths talking among themselves, while beside them sat the cross-legged elder, looking like skin and bones, almost as if he were passing away into meditation. "This is..." Chen Fan looked at the elder with an odd expression. "Domain Lord Chen," the young man who had comforted the girl hurried over respectfully upon seeing Chen Fan return. "Earlier, I was ignorant of your identity and offended you. This is my master. "He is currently meditating on the Dao." "Meditating on what?" "Before leaving, Domain Lord Chen, you said that one plus one doesn't just equal four hundred forty-four, but also six hundred sixty-six. We juniors are dull and failed to grasp the profound meaning within, but Master seems to have realized something and is meditating on the Dao right now. He can't hear anything from the outside world. "We must thank Domain Lord Chen for your generous guidance. "This junior also has a question I would like to consult you on... if that is permissible..." The corner of Chen Fan's mouth twitched slightly. "Ask." He finally understood how the consensus of "one plus one equals four hundred forty-four" had been passed down. The young man took a deep breath and asked the question that had troubled him for a long time: "Senior. "I would like to ask, how can one minimize energy loss when constructing a building as much as possible?" "Good question," Chen Fan nodded calmly. "The lower the energy loss, the smaller the cost of erecting a building. This touches upon how architects comprehend blueprints. "Do you know how architects comprehend blueprints with indistinct diagrams?" "I do," the young man's expression turned solemn as he replied earnestly. "When constructing buildings with indistinct diagrams, there are generally two methods. "The first method: "Sect inheritance. "The master passes down the actual diagram of this building blueprint. "The second method: "Self-comprehension. "Attempting to sketch the spirit drawing from scratch in one's mind. With each attempt, carefully distinguishing the successful lines of spirit drawing, and then continuously refining them until, after numerous trials, comprehension is achieved." "Indeed," Chen Fan gave a slight nod and said placidly, "That is precisely where the issue lies. One plus one doesn't just equal six hundred sixty-six; it also equals eight hundred eighty-eight." Having spoken, he walked away once more. Go ahead and meditate slowly on that. Just like how he had racked his brains back then and couldn't figure out what one plus one was supposed to equal. Since they all liked talking nonsense, he might as well talk nonsense too. After leaving the four youths, Chen Fan continued strolling around. Today's Architects' Exchange Conference was bustling with crowds coming and going. Every few steps, one could see several architects gathered together in discussion. Architects, who were normally exceedingly rare to come across, were gathered here in droves today. Everywhere one looked, there were architects, as common as Chinese cabbages. To put it bluntly, if he were a ghost king, he would spare no expense today to lead an army and slaughter this batch of architects. Once these architects died, the four regions of Jiangbei might as well wait for death in the next rainy season; not a single one could be saved. All factions and all cities would fall. Countless living beings would perish as a result. "Hmm?" Chen Fan raised an eyebrow and walked into the crowd ahead, looking toward an architect standing on a platform who was imparting his experience. Quite a few people had gathered here—over a hundred in total. Excluding attendants, there were easily more than thirty architects present. "As everyone knows," the person sharing his experience on stage was an elderly man, neatly dressed and bearing an air of refined composure, "after a building upgrades, random 'upgrade branches' appear, which we call 'Heavenly Dao bestowals.' "Based on experience, we know there are three upgrade branches in total. But how can we ensure that we roll the specific branch we desire? "My experience is: "Sincerity! "As long as your heart is sincere enough, you will be able to roll the upgrade branch you want. "Take 'walls,' for instance. "Walls with uniform patterns are several times more effective than walls with chaotic patterns. In the process of constructing Tier 3 walls, we often have to dismantle vast numbers of walls with incorrect patterns to ensure the final walls possess uniform patterns. This step wastes massive quantities of ghost stones. "And how can one achieve absolute sincerity of heart? "First, one must sever their worldly root! "After severing my worldly root, the probability of rolling the upgrade branch I desired increased substantially. While not reaching eighty or ninety percent, it has reached forty to fifty percent—much higher than before. "As architects, we ought to shelter the world and resist the Eternal Night. "A mere worldly root is an external attachment; there is no need to care about it. "I originally did not wish to pass down this experience, but my lifespan is nearing its end. Before departing this world, I wish to leave something behind for posterity, so I am sharing it at this Architects' Exchange Conference, hoping it will be of help to everyone." The architects below nodded thoughtfully. Chen Fan stood rooted to the spot in deadpan silence. He desperately wanted to believe the man on stage was just an old fool telling an irreverent joke and that the audience was laughing along. The reality, however, was that the old man on stage was speaking with utter seriousness. Judging by his voice, this elderly gentleman practiced what he preached—he truly had severed it. And the audience below didn't question it in the slightest; instead, they were actively pondering it. Soon, the elderly man stepped down. Another architect walked up to share. This was a middle-aged man in green robes. People below called out his identity—he was the Grand Elder of a Jiangnan faction, draped in gold and silver, yet sharing his insights on stage today in a very approachable manner. "The topic I wish to share today is 'qualitative change.' "We are all architects, so we should all know that during the building upgrade process, there is a minuscule probability of triggering a qualitative change. Whenever a qualitative change occurs, it usually means the building gains an unfathomably powerful effect. "Is there a way to increase this probability? "I believe there is. "The secret is 'timing intervals.' "Through my experiments, when you build the 100th, 200th, or 300th building of the same type—such as the 100th arrow tower, 200th arrow tower, or 300th arrow tower—the probability of triggering a qualitative change increases drastically. "Therefore... "I suggest everyone keep a record of the number of buildings they construct. When reaching a certain interval, a building constructed at that moment will have a high probability of possessing a qualitative change effect. When constructing it, one must carefully consider its placement to avoid squandering a qualitative change effect in vain." The listeners below nodded thoughtfully once more, clearly having gained much. When the man stepped down, another person took the stage. This was an old woman with snow-white hair and a face full of wrinkles, yet she exuded an air of noble dignity. The jade necklace around her neck was particularly eye-catching. She chuckled a few times after stepping onto the stage before speaking: "It is truly a blessing for all of us fellow Daoists to have the fortune to gather here today and exchange ideas. "Every architect has their own unique insights. "What I wish to share today is— "'Spirit drawing.' "Spirit drawing speed comes from practice; with enough repetition, speed and accuracy will naturally follow. "However, many architects of the younger generation find it difficult to even enter the door. "My suggestion is to train your spiritual intent. For example... spend a certain amount of time each day visualizing what an apple looks like, visualizing a candle placed beside that apple. "Visualize what effects are formed when a beam of light falls from different angles. "Visualize what it feels like to touch soil, to touch tree bark, thereby tempering your spiritual intent to achieve..." The old woman spoke at great length before finally coming to a stop. Thunderous applause erupted from the audience. A young architect raised his hand to ask, "Senior, my spirit drawing fails right at the beginning every time. I can't even perform the most basic spirit drawing; I can't visualize even the slightest miniature image of a building in my head, not even a wisp of ghost fire. What should I do?" "Yours might require the aid of medicinal pills. Perhaps you could inquire at Medicine King Valley." Chen Fan turned his head toward the inquiring architect with a deadpan expression. He desperately wanted to speak up—he really, truly wanted to say something. He badly wanted to tell him: You don't need to go to Medicine King Valley for this condition. He could diagnose it right here. You have total aphantasia. You're completely unsuited to being an architect in this lifetime; you're hopeless. The symptom of aphantasia was the inability to visualize any images in one's mind. An architect had to perform spirit drawing within their mind; if you couldn't visualize any images, naturally you couldn't perform spirit drawing. He had pretty much figured it out by now. What every architect shared was essentially folk remedies. But because there was no known correct answer, none of it could be disproven, so everyone preferred to believe it rather than dismiss it. Setting aside whether what they shared was right or wrong, at the very least, there truly was an atmosphere of genuine exchange. Whether high-tier architects of Tier 7 or 8, or novices of Tier 1 or 2, everyone was sharing their insights. He also really wanted to share. The correct answer was right here with him. If you all just handed all your ghost stones over to him, he would defend Jiangbei for you. Once that was done, he'd head south, collect all the ghost stones from the Guanxi Plain, and defend Guanxi as well. If all the ghost stones on the Eternal Night Continent were given to him, starting tomorrow, there would be no more Eternal Night. Giving ghost stones to you lot was an utter waste. Thinking about it now, these architects really hadn't had it easy. Groping in the dark all these years without knowing what the correct answer was, they had actually managed to fumble out a few things. He even felt a bit of sympathy for them. They were just blindly feeling their way through. It was like groping for a stone woman in the dark—fumbling around for ages unable to find an opening, only to end up touching her mouth. While it wasn't the right answer either, at least something got in. It still counted as finding an answer. Right at that moment— The old woman suddenly looked toward Chen Fan. "Domain Lord Chen has been listening here for quite some time. Would you be willing to come up and share your insights on architecture? For Domain Lord Chen to establish Fan Domain single-handedly during the rainy season, you must possess extraordinary talents." As her words fell, everyone followed the old woman's gaze, only then realizing that the master of Fan City, Chen Fan, had actually been standing among them listening for quite a while. Instantly, a multitude of expectant gazes turned toward him. "Domain Lord Chen, please say a few words!" "Just share anything at all!"