This Is Simply a Waste of God's Gifts

Objective laws do not change according to human will. Weiwei's intelligence was roughly on par with a human toddler, and its thoughts were rather simple. Yet when the flying boat touched down at the rim of the deep crater... Weiwei dug a few times with its claws, looked down at the heavy chunk of Earth Gold resting on its thick paw, and then raised its flat head to gaze out over the seemingly endless expanse of the crater. For the first time, a distinctly human expression of despair surfaced in its eyes. It was real. There really was Earth Gold here. And a tremendous amount of it. A heavenly material and earthly treasure like Earth Gold had a high probability of forming only after being subjected to immense, catastrophic force followed by the passage of vast stretches of time. Such force could rarely be generated by human effort; it typically required an earthquake, or something like the mighty blow struck into the nameless mountain by that supreme entity. This place satisfied both conditions completely. It was only natural that Earth Gold would exist here. "Hey!" Walking down from the flying boat, Wang Mazi stepped up to the edge of the pit and peered into the opening Weiwei had dug out. Earth Gold was immediately visible at a glance, and a wide grin broke across his face. "Zhang Damao, looks like you might actually become a vice pavilion master this time." What was this? This was an enormous merit! Earth Gold was a precious treasure of tremendous value. Shao Qiu, the current master of the Dark Pavilion in Fan Domain, had forged a signature weapon eight years ago on the Guanxi Plain using just a small amount of Earth Gold. He cherished it dearly, and it provided an extraordinary boost to his combat prowess. And now... They had discovered a colossal hoard of it right here. It was no exaggeration to say that if all this Earth Gold were dumped into the Guanxi Plain, the market price of Earth Gold there would plummet instantly. There was simply too much of it. The other Commerce Pavilion members were equally euphoric. Every single one of them would share in the credit. For the Commerce Pavilion to discover massive deposits of Earth Gold on the New Continent was another monumental achievement. Everyone was thrilled. Only Weiwei stood frozen in place, staring blankly into the distance, completely out of tune with the celebration around it. "Let's head back!" Taking a deep breath, Wang Mazi quickly made his decision. "We return at once to report to the Domain Lord in person." This matter was too significant. It had to be reported face-to-face. They were already deep within the interior of the New Continent, quite far from the coast, and the Signal Towers had not yet been extended out this far. The trip here had taken three full days, and the return voyage would take another three. Three days later. By this time, Chen Fan had long since returned to Fan Domain. He was sitting leisurely atop the ramparts of the Rainy Season Defense Line, flipping through a book of folk tales. It was quite entertaining. Beside him stood a giant umbrella, sheltering him from the curtain of rain overhead. Perched atop the twenty-meter-high wall, he faced the expansive Jiangbei Wasteland, quietly reading. Six days had passed since he resolved the incident involving Wang Mazi. Over these six days, no particularly massive ghost tides had attacked. When he referred to great ghost tides, he meant cataclysms on the scale of Great Ghosts Descending from the Heavens. As for minor nuisances like flesh worm ghost tides, he ignored them completely, as they posed not the slightest threat to Fan Domain. He had grown very fond of sitting here lately. These were the walls he had built with his own hands. This was the sanctuary he had forged for himself in the Eternal Night Continent. It was the capital that allowed him to survive in this chaotic world. Just sitting here and glancing out at the Jiangbei Wasteland from time to time filled him with joy. He felt like a miser who grew immensely happy simply by counting the coins inside his purse. Right at that moment— The voice transmission talisman in his robe suddenly grew warm. It was Wang Mazi, reaching out to him through the Signal Towers along the undersea tunnel. "Domain Lord, I have an urgent matter to report." "Speak." Chen Fan's brow lifted slightly. Hadn't Wang Mazi continued his exploration of the New Continent? Why had he returned? "It's like this," Wang Mazi's voice came through the talisman. "Six days ago, didn't you send me with Weiwei to inspect the bottom of that deep crater to see if there was Earth Gold? Weiwei and I dug several exploratory shafts, and our final conclusion is that an enormous quantity of Earth Gold is buried beneath that crater." "Oh?" Chen Fan's eyes lit up and a smile spread across his face. Having an ownerless continent truly was fantastic! If so many miraculous opportunities were discovered on the Eternal Night Continent, who knew how many lives would be lost fighting over them? But on the New Continent, there was no need for strife—by default, everything belonged to him. "That is good news. The Commerce Pavilion has done well." "However, our primary means of excavation right now is Weiwei. Aside from Weiwei, we don't have any effective mining methods. And Weiwei's mental state... uh, it's currently a bit dazed and overwhelmed..." "If we want to dig it all out, I'm afraid..." "It'll take nearly a decade of hard labor." The corner of Chen Fan's mouth twitched. He had completely overlooked this. He hadn't seen the crater in person, so he didn't know its exact size; everything had come from Wang Mazi's descriptions. Yet a crater blasted out by the self-detonation of a Heavenly Dao certainly couldn't be small. Expecting Weiwei to dig it all out alone would truly turn it into an "iron rice bowl"—Weiwei would spend half its life stuck down in that crater, chipping away until the end of time. "Hold on a moment." Cutting off his transmission with Wang Mazi, he contacted Zhao Shengping inside Fan Domain's Heavenly Artifact Pavilion. "Zhao Shengping, let me ask you something. If a hoe is forged from Earth Gold, can it speed up excavation?" "It can." Zhao Shengping's reply through the talisman was absolute and decisive, though laced with utter bewilderment. "Of course it can. Earth Gold is a fine material-type heavenly treasure. A hoe forged from Earth Gold would definitely dig much faster." "However..." "This is simply a waste of God's gifts!" "Earth Gold has two primary properties. First, it absorbs most light, sound, and spirit energy fluctuations, making it ideal for crafting night-travel suits and stealth grand formations." "Second, weapons forged from Earth Gold deal substantial destructive damage against protective spirit qi, exotic treasure shields, formation barriers, and the like, making it ideal for signature weapons." "Nobody has ever used Earth Gold to make a hoe." "Still, if you really did forge a hoe out of it, its digging speed would undoubtedly surpass that of an ordinary hoe." "Understood." Chen Fan disconnected his transmission with Zhao Shengping and reconnected with Wang Mazi. "Soothe Weiwei's mood. Tell it there's no need to excavate the entire thing. It only needs to dig out a portion—about thirty days' worth will do. The rest can stay in the crater for now, and we'll mine it slowly whenever we have time in the future." "In any case, the New Continent belongs entirely to us. There's no rush to extract it all at once; whatever stays in the ground can just be treated as sitting in a warehouse." "And then tell Weiwei..." "Its luzhu rations will be doubled!" "Understood!" Ending the call, Wang Mazi turned to the visibly sullen Weiwei, gesturing animatedly with his hands. "The Domain Lord said you don't have to dig it all out! Thirty days will be more than enough!" "And during this time, your luzhu will be doubled!" Weiwei could understand his speech, though he could not comprehend the sounds Weiwei made in return. In the entire Fan Domain, the Domain Lord was the only one capable of seamless communication with Weiwei. *Roar!* Upon hearing the news, the sullen beast's eyes instantly regained their luster. It trotted off happily, its tail thumping rhythmically against the ground, off to check on the troop of monkeys. Digging an undersea tunnel for three to five months was no problem at all for Weiwei. But that crater... If it truly had to dig the whole thing out, it would have been stuck there until its next life. Wang Mazi looked with an odd expression at Weiwei's tail happily smacking the ground as it walked away. He had prepared an entire speech to persuade it, but before he could even utter a word, Weiwei had cheered up on its own. *** Fan Domain, Heavenly Artifact Pavilion. Amidst the bustling Heavenly Artifact Pavilion, Zhao Shengping stood surrounded by rising plumes of steam. Having cut off the transmission, he busied himself checking over a dozen large pots of luzhu. As for the artifact refining workshop beside him, the forge fires had remained cold for quite some time. Demand for artifact forging was not particularly high in Fan Domain. Ever since arriving here, he had spent far more time stewing luzhu than anything else. "Did the Domain Lord assign a task?" A Heavenly Artifact Pavilion member stepped up excitedly from behind. He was formerly an apprentice of Zhao Shengping and had followed his master into Fan Domain. Although things had been very leisurely lately... Their master made luzhu every single day, while they handled minor chores without any serious work to do. Yet every month, they still received a generous salary, and Fan Domain was extraordinarily safe, leaving them with no worries about external perils. It was practically paradise. Even so, eating Fan Domain's food and using Fan Domain's resources without making any real contribution had left them feeling restless. Now that an order had finally arrived from the Domain Lord, they were thrilled—could their skills finally be put to use? "No," Zhao Shengping shook his head, looking puzzled. "The Domain Lord merely asked whether a hoe forged from Earth Gold would speed up excavation. It certainly would, but who on earth would use Earth Gold to make hoes? Wouldn't that be insane?" The excited apprentices instantly deflated. Their master loved cooking luzhu, but they did not—they wanted to forge artifacts! They were artifact refiners, not stew masters! Soon, darkness fell. Eternal Night blanketed all of Jiangbei, making the region appear utterly bleak beneath the sheet of rain. Ten days of the rainy season had already elapsed. Tomorrow would mark the eleventh day. This particular rainy season felt as though it had passed remarkably fast. In the dead of night, the port of Fan Domain remained brightly illuminated, with trains on the high-speed rail network traveling smoothly back and forth through the undersea tunnel in an orderly rhythm. The next instant— Red warning lights began flashing on the platform at the entrance of the undersea tunnel. The Fan Domain personnel working along the tracks quickly cleared the area. Before long, a fully loaded high-speed train rushed past the platform without stopping, heading straight toward the core region of Fan Domain within the nameless mountain and pulling up directly before the ramparts of Cave No. 1. Numerous members of the Heavenly Granary Pavilion had gathered there, preparing to hoist their gear and move the cargo into the warehouse as usual. Yet when they slid open the train doors, they stopped in surprise. The cargo inside this train was neither ghost stones nor ghost bones. Instead, it was filled with stones. They were blackish-gold in color, with a porous, honeycomb structure. The Fan Domain member operating the train stepped down from the locomotive and produced a sheet of kraft paper. "By order of the Domain Lord, this batch of Earth Gold is not to be placed in storage. Transfer it directly to the Heavenly Artifact Pavilion." The Heavenly Granary squad leader stepped forward to inspect the order, nodding only after confirming the official seal of Pavilion Master Quehou stamped upon the paper. With a wave of his hand, the squad leader directed his men, who swiftly and deftly began hauling the Earth Gold off the train and carrying it toward the nearby Heavenly Artifact Pavilion situated inside the sinkhole. Earth Gold was remarkably light. Transporting it took very little effort. It merely felt slightly chilly to the touch. If one were feeling extravagant, it would make a fantastic heat-dispersing aid during the sweltering days of high summer. Inside the Heavenly Artifact Pavilion, Zhao Shengping was busy attending to his luzhu when, out of nowhere, he saw lines of Fan Domain personnel hauling massive quantities of Earth Gold straight into his pavilion's private warehouse. He hurried forward to ask, "Wait! What is all this?" "Earth Gold. The Domain Lord instructed us to deliver it to the Heavenly Artifact Pavilion." "Since when does Fan Domain have so much Earth Gold in storage?" "It was shipped from the New Continent." "Did the Domain Lord say what it's for?" "He didn't say." Zhao Shengping abandoned his luzhu and hastily took out his voice transmission talisman to contact the Domain Lord. A short while later, he hung up and stood frozen in silence, blankly staring at the piles of Earth Gold being unloaded into their warehouse. The corner of his mouth twitched. The Domain Lord's instructions were crystal clear. Forge fifty thousand hoes. Earth Gold was supplied in unlimited quantities. More shipments were already on the way and would continue until he called for a halt. Using Earth Gold... to make hoes. In all his life, he had never imagined such a thing. To call it a reckless waste of God's gifts would be an understatement. Before this, the most extravagant luxury he could fathom was skipping ghost stones across water like pebbles. That had felt decadent enough. Yet now... He realized that skipping ghost stones was an absolute bargain—a few hundred ghost stones could keep someone entertained all day long until they grew sick of it. Whereas forging a single one of these hoes would cost far more than a mere few hundred ghost stones. Just moments ago in the transmission, he had tried to explain that Earth Gold was quite light and might not feel right when swung, hoping to preserve the precious metal. But the Domain Lord had simply asked, *Can you not make them?* That had silenced him completely. *Can't make them?* That was an insult to an artifact refiner! He would make them! Why couldn't he make them?! Taking a deep breath, Zhao Shengping rapidly drafted a plan in his mind for forging hoes with Earth Gold. First, the metal was indeed too light. A hoe needed heft, so some weight had to be added. There was no need for anything fancy—adding some bone slag refined from ghost bones would do the trick. It would add weight without adding any cost. In the past, ghost bones were considered costly materials, as they were ghost materials that could not simply be picked up off the ground. Ever since the New Continent had been opened up, however, ghost bones were no longer treated as rare ghost materials in Fan Domain. They could be used freely. Supply was limitless. Behind him, the apprentices wore complicated expressions. On one hand, they were thrilled to finally have proper work instead of simmering that damned luzhu; on the other hand, their hearts ached terribly. Wasn't this sheer, unadulterated waste?! Whatever. Having work was better than nothing, regardless of what it was! Time to get to work! The Heavenly Artifact Pavilion promptly plunged into frantic activity. Only this time, they were not bustling over luzhu, but rather a crowd of bare-chested men swinging hammers, striking metal in a feverish frenzy. It operated like an assembly line. As time passed, train after train loaded with Earth Gold pulled up right before the Heavenly Artifact Pavilion. The Domain Lord had specially laid several dozen extra meters of track so that the high-speed line running from the port into Fan Domain terminated right at their doorstep. In return, trains filled with finished hoes departed from the Heavenly Artifact Pavilion, rolling through the undersea tunnel toward the New Continent. There was very little rest in between. During what little downtime he had, Zhao Shengping quickly whipped up batches of luzhu. After all, this was no longer merely a hobby—the Beast Pavilion's provisions depended on him, and Weiwei was waiting for its feeding. In such tranquil industry, time slipped by. Twenty days vanished in the blink of an eye. As the overcast skies dispersed, the rainy season came to an end. Throughout this rainy season, not a single person in Fan Domain had perished. Everyone had survived. Or perhaps "survived" was the wrong word; they had passed through it effortlessly. On the first day after the rainy season concluded, Jiangbei gradually regained its former liveliness. Chen Fan stood leaning on his jade cane atop the ramparts of the Rainy Season Defense Line, gazing out at the long-absent clear blue sky and looking down upon the distant Jiangbei Wasteland with a light, silent chuckle. The rainy season was over. Over the course of this month, Fan Domain had developed at an astonishing pace without the slightest interference. Mining progress on the New Continent had also been gratifying. Shortly after dawn, the Logistics Pavilion had already departed Fan Domain aboard the high-speed rail to check for sections of the lines requiring maintenance. If any were found, Chen Fan would have to inspect them personally. Fortunately, the rainy season had not arrived prematurely, meaning ghost creatures had not run rampant, leaving most outposts completely intact. In a few days, he could head south to the Guanxi Plain. There were vast quantities of ghost stones waiting for him there, needed to support the Jiangbei Defense Line. His reasoning was simple: his defense line protected Jiangbei, and by extension, protected the Guanxi Plain. Taking a share of their ghost stones was only fair. By the second day, the Logistics Pavilion had finished inspecting all the rail lines. Some underground copper pipes had suffered damage in certain sections, and three Fan Domain outposts had been breached by ghost creatures. In contrast, camps housing Signal Towers featured high-grade walls and had suffered no damage whatsoever. The required repairs were minimal. After Chen Fan spent another day repairing all damaged sites, the Fan Domain high-speed rail network officially resumed full operation. On the third day after the rainy season's end, the four territories of Jiangbei were once again bustling with activity. Crowds boarded the high-speed rail to travel between the regions, and people from all directions began arriving in Fan City. The merchant caravans set out once more. Having spent the previous day toiling, Chen Fan returned to Fan Domain and sat atop the wall of Cave No. 1, reclining lazily in his rocking chair and swaying gently. He actually preferred the walls of the Rainy Season Defense Line. They were much higher. However, with more people coming and going in Fan City, having a faction leader sit atop the rainy season ramparts all day looked somewhat unhinged and undignified. It was better to stay perched on the wall of Cave No. 1 in the nameless mountain. "Domain Lord," Wang Kui stood beside him, delivering a report. "Over the thirty days of the rainy season, progress on the New Continent has been excellent. More than half of the First Defense Line has been excavated." "Currently, the ghost stone reserves in Fan Domain's warehouse stand at 189 million." "The number is steadily growing." "Very good." Chen Fan smiled. It seemed dispatching those fifty thousand auxiliary members had indeed been effective. One year ago, at the close of the previous rainy season, he had established a goal. *Four years, three hundred million, secure Jiangbei!* And now... That objective was on the verge of completion, though it still fell short of his current ambitions. Originally, his plan for the Jiangbei Defense Line had been an uninterrupted stretch of Level 4 walls—the same grade as the ancient Jiangbei Defense Line. Now, however, that was no longer enough to satisfy him. It was not enough. Especially after seeing the complete slaughter of all living beings on the New Continent, he felt compelled to construct an even stronger Jiangbei Defense Line—one capable not only of repelling the ghost tide landing in three years, but also of sheltering Fan Domain. When the Eternal Night Frontline collapsed, the Jiangbei Defense Line would be the very last line of defense on the entire Eternal Night Continent. He wanted a Jiangbei Defense Line composed entirely of Level 5 walls, or even Level 6—or Level 7. From the looks of it, the Eternal Night Frontline had weathered yet another rainy season. He had already learned that every rainy season brought an abrupt surge in danger to the frontline. Time was running out. He had to move as fast as possible to make the Jiangbei Defense Line impregnable before the frontline fell. "Let's go." After a brief pause, Chen Fan rose and descended from the wall. Accompanied by Wang Kui, he boarded the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage and traveled all the way to the port, gazing out at the towering Heaven-Piercing Pillars that reached into the clouds. Now that the rainy season had ended, the one hundred Level 6 Heaven-Piercing Pillars he had forged could no longer draw lightning. Their energy storage had paused, and they would only resume charging when the next rainy season arrived. It would take two more rainy seasons for them to reach full capacity. As for the fifteen max-level Heaven-Piercing Pillars, a dark cloud floated suspended above them. Lightning could be seen flashing within the cloud, while a violent downpour descended almost vertically, shrouding all fifteen pillars. Rain lashed their surfaces as every strike of lightning was completely absorbed by the fifteen pillars. Viewed from afar, the spectacle was breathtaking. The entirety of Jiangbei was bathed in clear, sunny skies, save for this single spot where, as if someone had splashed ink onto a clean white canvas, torrential rain fell in a tight cylinder accompanied by incessant lightning strikes. Nourished continuously by the Tribulation Cloud, these fifteen Heaven-Piercing Pillars would still require three full years to reach completion. "Time..." Chen Fan stood quietly in place, looking at the hundred-plus pillars. Three full years before they were fully charged—time was simply too costly for him. During the rainy season, he had conducted experiments. Within a total anti-air forbidden zone, Heaven-Piercing Pillars could not land at all. They would detonate high in the sky, dealing virtually zero damage to the ground, since their primary power stemmed from the lightning discharged upon impact. This meant no one could use a Heaven-Piercing Pillar against him. It sounded wonderful, but in reality, it was an entirely useless benefit. Only he met the operational requirements for such structures; without the game panel, no one else could utilize them anyway. Furthermore, it was virtually impossible for any other faction to possess a total forbidden zone. "Forbidden Air" was a specialization chosen when upgrading walls to Level 5. To achieve uniform anti-air across an entire perimeter, one had to dismantle and rebuild every section that rolled an incorrect trait, and then connect them end to end. Given the exorbitant cost involved, he doubted anyone across the entire Eternal Night Continent possessed the resources to duplicate it. This was an advantage unique to him. After watching for a while, Chen Fan returned to the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage and set off for the nameless mountain. He had come here with no specific agenda other than to look upon his Heaven-Piercing Pillars. Seeing them brought him peace of mind. *** At the southernmost edge of Jiangnan stood a great metropolis. It was Fuyao City, one of the Nine Great Cities of Jiangnan. Although located at Jiangnan's southernmost border, it was separated from the northernmost city of the Guanxi Plain by several hundred kilometers. Between the two regions lay almost no outposts, and travelers were virtually nonexistent. Establishing an outpost required capital, and capital required profits to sustain it. Jiangnan and the Guanxi Plain engaged in almost no trade, so no faction was willing to waste time and effort building outposts in that desolate corridor just to run an unprofitable venture. Now, with the end of the rainy season, the city had regained its customary bustle. While the end of the rainy season did not mean ghost creatures vanished from the continent, the risk of city walls falling dropped drastically. People no longer had to worry about ghost creatures smashing through their doors in the middle of the night. "Damn it!" A small caravan of two or three carriages, bearing no faction banners, drew to a halt not far from the gates of Fuyao City. A middle-aged man hopped down to stretch his stiff limbs, spitting a mouthful of phlegm onto the ground with a curse. "Riding in that carriage for days nearly shook my bones apart." "Once we're inside, I need to find a good place to warm up." He cast a casual glance over the passing crowds, a contemptuous sneer playing on his lips. He was a trusted confidant of the master of the Sun Moon Workshop from the Guanxi Plain. He had been sent on a mission to Jiangbei to locate the person in Fan Domain who cooked luzhu and bring them back to the workshop. Though traveling to a desolate backwater like Jiangbei was a grueling ordeal due to the sheer distance, subordinates like him loved field assignments. Wasting a few extra days changed nothing, and it gave him an opportunity to drink, feast, and indulge. Having been cooped up for a month during the rainy season, this was the perfect chance to unwind. It was a rather pleasant gig. The Sun Moon Workshop was a respectable power on the Guanxi Plain. While it could not match major factions like the Immortal Slaughter Holy Land, it far outclassed the lesser powers below it. As a trusted aid to the workshop master, he naturally looked down on the common folk of Jiangnan with an innate sense of superiority. "Let's go!" The middle-aged man grinned. After stretching for a bit, he prepared to climb back into the carriage, head into the city, and find some amusement. Lowly as he might act before his master, outside the Sun Moon Workshop, he felt like an emperor. Just then— "Excuse me, gentlemen. Are you from the Guanxi Plain?" An aged voice sounded beside them. An old man carrying a basket of firewood was standing nearby, speaking in a trembling tone. The middle-aged man looked away from Fuyao City, eyeing the old man up and down with a frown. "Something to say?" *Is our noble aura that obvious?* They had deliberately hidden their faction banners, yet this peasant had recognized them as Guanxi natives at a single glance. *Sigh.* *There's no helping it. High breeding simply shines through.* "I wouldn't dare lecture you," the old man said, shaking his head. He gestured to the surrounding area and pointed to a red line painted across the plain. "Sirs, haven't you noticed that no carriages are parked along this line?" "You aren't permitted to stop on this line." "Oh?" Only then did the middle-aged man notice that their carriages were resting directly atop a long crimson line. Looking along it, the line ran straight into Fuyao City ahead and stretched far into the plain behind them. He laughed out of sheer exasperation. "Interesting. Who set this rule? Let's hear it." *How utterly arrogant.* *Drawing a line on the ground and claiming it?* Even their Sun Moon Workshop wouldn't dare act so overbearingly on the Guanxi Plain. He wanted to see just what faction was arrogant enough to push their boundaries this far. "It's a rule set by Fan Domain from Jiangbei," the woodcutter said, glancing behind the group with an anxious tremor. "You should leave quickly. The high-speed rail will be arriving soon, and you might get hurt." "Interesting. Very interesting!" The middle-aged man let out a full laugh. "A Jiangbei faction setting rules down here in Jiangnan, and not a single soul in Jiangnan dares resist? What a bunch of spineless cowards." "I'm not moving today." "I'm staying right on this line." "Let's see what this Fan Domain of Jiangbei can do to me!" Without a word, the old man quickened his pace, scurrying aside with hurried little steps. "Cat got your tongue?" The middle-aged man clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction as he watched the old man scurry away. Seeing the surrounding crowd scattering rapidly as well, his brow furrowed. "What are you all..." Right then, he caught a faint sound from behind. It sounded like the air being pierced at immense speed. Subconsciously, he turned his head. A great dragon was hurtling out from the depths of the plain at terrifying speed, barreling straight toward him—or rather, straight toward his carriages. The man's expression changed instantly. Spirit energy flared beneath his feet, and he threw himself sideways in an evasive blur. At the same time, his subordinates inside the carriages used every skill at their disposal to scramble out in terror. *Boom!* A deafening crash erupted. The dragon-like entity slammed into their carriages without slowing down in the slightest. In a split second, it smashed the carriages to splinters, tore through the cloud of debris virtually unscathed, and sped straight toward Fuyao City before disappearing from sight. By the time the man collected his wits, their carriages had been reduced to fragments. Though no one was injured, they were covered in dust and looked thoroughly disheveled, while the surrounding spectators looked on as if mocking them. After freezing in place for a long time, cold sweat drenching his back, the man roared in fury, "What... what the hell was that thing?!" He didn't even know how to describe it. It was outrageously fast. If that thing had struck him, even as a cultivator, he would have been smashed into paste! No one around him answered. Instead, the onlookers cast admiring glances his way—after all this time, this was the very first person daring enough to block the Fan Domain high-speed rail line. Just then! Two people wearing matching faction uniforms emerged from the city and walked up to him. "Name." "Hu Zi," the man answered instinctively. "Faction." "Guanxi Sun..." Hu Zi suddenly cut himself off, his expression darkening as he glared at the two men. "Who the hell are you? What faction I belong to is none of your damned business!" *Why has everything gone wrong since arriving in Jiangnan?* *Where the hell did these two jump out from?* There was an emblem with the character "Fan" on their cuffs. *Wait... Fan Domain?* Hearing his retort, one of the Fan Domain members frowned slightly. It had been a long time since anyone dared speak to him in that tone. He pointed at the shattered carriage wreckage. "Didn't our Fan Domain high-speed rail just crash into your carriages?" "You're from Fan Domain?" Hu Zi's mind cleared, and he felt a wave of relief. It seemed Fan Domain handled things responsibly—having destroyed his carriages, they had arrived immediately to pay compensation. So that monstrous thing earlier was called "high-speed rail." Quite a novelty. These two were clearly Fan Domain personnel. How peculiar that a Jiangbei faction had members stationed in the southernmost city of Jiangnan, looking completely settled rather than merely passing through. Could a Jiangbei faction really extend its reach this far? *Ahem.* Hu Zi cleared his throat. "Fine. We had two carriages destroyed. Thirty thousand ghost stones, and we'll call this matter settled. How about it?" The carriages belonged to the workshop, so he could simply write them off as losses upon returning. Once those thirty thousand ghost stones were in his pocket, he could split them with his men as extra income. "That's not enough," the Fan Domain member said, shaking his head. "I'm not asking for much—just thirty thousand ghost stones. Those two carriages alone are worth twenty thousand, not to mention all the belongings destroyed inside. If I weren't worried your Fan Domain couldn't afford it, I'd ask for... wait, did you say that's not enough?" Hu Zi froze, completely bewildered. "Uh... well... if your Fan Domain wants to pay more, I certainly won't object." *Is Jiangnan really this strange?* The Fan Domain member's brow furrowed deeper as he scrutinized the middle-aged man. Without saying another word, he took a pre-written citation from his companion and thrust it into Hu Zi's hands. "According to Fan Domain regulations, anyone who obstructs the high-speed rail line unintentionally is fined fifty thousand ghost stones. Those who obstruct it intentionally are executed on the spot." "This is your citation." "Within ten days, report to any Fan Domain office across the four territories of Jiangbei and pay the fine in full." "You may attempt to flee." "If Fan Domain does not receive the ghost stones within ten days, a Fan Domain Bounty Order will be issued against you." With that, the two Fan Domain members turned and began walking back toward Fuyao City without another word. Hu Zi stood frozen, staring down at the fine in his hands and the red "Fan" seal stamped in the bottom right corner. An uncontrollable fury surged up inside him. They had smashed his carriages, refused to compensate him, and were now demanding *he* pay them a fine! This Fan Domain was far too tyrannical! "Hey!" Hu Zi stood trembling in rage, slowly crumpling the citation into a ball and hurling it away. He looked up at the backs of the two retreating Fan Domain members, a savage grin spreading across his face. "Do you two..." "Really think I'm someone you can push around?" "My nickname back home is Mad Dog!" The next instant— Spirit energy erupted wildly from his body. Hu Zi burst forward in an instant, moving at a speed nearly impossible for the naked eye to track, appearing behind one of the Fan Domain members as if teleporting. With a vicious sneer, he swung his right fist in a savage strike. *Boom!* A tremendous impact detonated. *Cough... spat!* Hu Zi lay crushed at the bottom of a crater, fine cracks spreading through the earth beneath him. Gravely injured, he vomited mouthfuls of blood, staring at the two Fan Domain members in sheer disbelief and despair as he wheezed, "How... how is this possible... You're a... a hundred-percent body-tempered... Martial King?!" "Are you... are you out of your damned mind?!" He was a Level 9 cultivator. Just one step away from Martial King. Such cultivation might not make him a supreme powerhouse on the Guanxi Plain, but it was certainly far from low. He had assumed that almost no one in Jiangnan could match him, and even if someone could, a mere Fan Domain errand boy certainly wouldn't. Yet he never imagined that this lowly errand boy was a Martial King—and one who had achieved a hundred-percent body tempering! How was this any different from seeing a ghost in broad daylight?! His sneak attack hadn't left a scratch on the man. Instead, the man's casual counterpunch had nearly ended his life. The Fan Domain member who had spoken earlier glanced at Hu Zi's terrified subordinates, who dared not take a single step forward, and then crouched down before Hu Zi. Pointing at the two raised embroidered bars on the chest of his robe, he spoke calmly. "Didn't you see this?" "I am a Tier 2 member of Fan Domain. Did you really mistake me for an auxiliary member?" "Attacking a Fan Domain member is punishable by immediate execution." "However, you clearly don't belong to the four territories of Jiangbei—you're likely from the Guanxi Plain or elsewhere." "You'd better pray the faction backing you can afford your ransom." "Otherwise..." "You can start reminiscing about your life right now." Shortly after, he pulled a voice transmission talisman from his robes and whispered into it, "War Pavilion squad member Zhang Qitian reporting. At the east gate of Fuyao City, we have apprehended someone suspected to be from the Guanxi Plain. Requesting backup." The Domain Lord had long anticipated that people from the Guanxi Plain might come to Jiangnan once the rainy season ended. After all, over the past year, word of Fan Domain had inevitably spread to the Guanxi Plain. They would surely send people to investigate. And their very first stop in Jiangnan would undoubtedly be Fuyao City. Consequently, half the members of the War Pavilion had been stationed in Fuyao City over the past few days, waiting for prey to walk into the trap. Unlike other Fan Domain personnel, aside from rotating patrols, they had no other duties—the rest of their time was spent entirely in cultivation. Their cultivation was the highest in Fan Domain. A Martial King? They ate, drank, and slept inside the Spirit Accumulation Pavilion. Was being a Martial King supposed to be rare? "Backup?!" Lying gravely injured in the pit, hovering on the brink of death, Hu Zi heard the Fan Domain member calling for reinforcements through the talisman. Despite the excruciating pain tearing through his body, he couldn't help roaring with furious laughter...