I'd Rather Call It... Where Heaven's Mandate Rests

Seventh Elder stood frozen where he was, dazed. He had never known the identity of the man before him. Shao Qiu had told him plainly, back then, that the power behind him was unwilling to reveal too much about itself. Before this. He had never heard the words Jiangbei Fan Domain. Before the Guandong Plain fell, the Guandong Plain and the Guanxi Plain had kept some contact, yet he had still never heard of a power called Jiangbei Fan Domain. Fan Domain was too far from the Guandong Plain, and it was a barren land besides. News truly had a hard time reaching the Guandong Plain. The look on the man before him told him this person was not lying. Every word was true. It was only... only... How could a power—and a Jiangbei power, at that—come up with enough ghost stones to build a defense line? Chen Fan did not explain much either. He only patted Seventh Elder's arm and said with a smile, "Relax. Things will get better. If there's anything in particular you want to know, you can ask Shao Qiu." "The urgent matter now is this." "Have your people load those ghost-creature corpses onto the high-speed rail as soon as you can." "There are still two years until the Jiangbei seabed ghost tide makes landfall. The more thoroughly we prepare, the greater the chance we'll hold when the time comes." "Defense Line No. 7 is responsible for holding Guandong." "Fan Domain is responsible for holding Jiangbei." "No big problem." He said it lightly. In truth, only he himself knew how much effort building this Jiangbei Defense Line had cost him. The reason he had worked so hard was precisely so that he could now say, lightly, that it was no big problem. "Good, good, good!" Seventh Elder was already frozen in place. He nodded blankly in agreement, his mind still not caught up. Then he suddenly remembered something. He drew two anomalous treasures from his robes and held them out to Chen Fan. Only after a deep breath did he speak, hoarse, his lips trembling faintly. "Chen... Domain Lord Chen." "These are two anomalous treasures dropped by a ghost creature Defense Line No. 7 met during the rainy season. Thank you for your support these past days. We've never had anything we could give in return. This trifling repayment—please accept it." "No need." Chen Fan laughed and gave them a casual glance. "Fan Domain's support for Defense Line No. 7 is—" His voice cut off. He paused a moment, then gave a light cough. "Never mind. Since it's your kindness, refusing really wouldn't be proper. I'll accept these two anomalous treasures." He had not wanted to accept them. After all, Fan Domain was not short of these two anomalous treasures now. But when he saw the panel of the stone-shaped anomalous treasure among them, he felt he ought to take it after all, if only for the sake of the gesture. "Anomalous Treasure Name": Heavenly Dao Stone. "Anomalous Treasure Grade": Yellow. "Anomalous Treasure Effect": Used on any building, it grants that building one "Heavenly Dao Blessing effect," and the effect can apply to every building of the same type under the camp's name. "PS: Can be used only on max-level buildings." A Heavenly Dao Stone! This was the third Heavenly Dao Stone Fan Domain had obtained. The first Heavenly Dao Stone had given the God-Slaying Cannon a Heavenly Dao Blessing of damage overflow. The second Heavenly Dao Stone had given ghost fire a Heavenly Dao Blessing that let it be upgraded without heavenly materials and earthly treasures. He was even a little impatient to return to Fan Domain and see what Heavenly Dao Blessing this third Heavenly Dao Stone might bring him. A defense line was perilous, of course. If it fell, countless people would die because of it. But once a defense line held, it would be like Defense Line No. 7, gaining great quantities of ghost stones, ghost-creature corpses, anomalous treasures, and ghost materials. That return was generous enough. "Pretty good." Chen Fan smiled and looked up at Seventh Elder. "Then I won't stay long. I'll head back first and leave Shao Qiu here to settle the details with you. The rainy season has just passed. Defense Line No. 7 must have plenty to handle." "Once you've had some time to catch your breath." "You're welcome to take the Fan Domain high-speed rail to the Jiangbei Defense Line. After all, our defense line has never seen real combat. There may be places where the layout falls short, and we'll still need you, Seventh Elder, to point them out." "I'll certainly come after a while!" Seventh Elder nodded, his face grave. Fan Domain had built the Jiangbei Defense Line, so the walls ought to be level 4 at the very lowest. Otherwise a level-3 wall could not be called a defense line... That would just be a wall, only a little longer. But Fan Domain had never experienced a ghost tide making landfall. They did not understand many of the situations. The placement of cannon towers, the laying of traps, supply and logistics, command in battle—they truly had no experience. This might really need him to go and offer some guidance. Saying so was a little conceited. But he had stayed at Defense Line No. 7 for so many years. He might know nothing else, but how a defense line ought to be laid out—that, he understood all too well. "I'm off. Oh, right. When the Eternal Night Hall contacted you, did you mention me?" "Absolutely not. I have kept your instructions firmly in mind, Domain Lord Chen." "Pretty good." "Um, Domain Lord Chen, Defense Line No. 7 is about to serve the meal. Why not eat before you go?" "No." Chen Fan laughed and waved a hand, already turning to walk toward the Fan Domain high-speed rail behind him. He had planned to return with the first batch of ghost-creature corpses, but now he only wanted to get back quickly and use that Heavenly Dao Stone. "Tonight it's dumplings. By Defense Line No. 7's custom, after we survive a rainy season we always eat a meal of dumplings. They really do taste good. Stay and have some." The urging left Seventh Elder's mouth by habit, but his body had already stepped forward, ready to see Chen Fan onto the rail. This was only courtesy. Since Chen Fan had refused, he naturally would not stay. But Seventh Elder also could not, the moment Chen Fan said he would not eat, immediately answer, "All right, then." He had to make a token show of keeping him. And yet. "Is that so." Chen Fan, who already had one foot up on the high-speed rail, suddenly drew it back. After thinking a moment, he looked at Seventh Elder and said with a smile, "That works too. Then I'll eat before I go." "Uh." Seventh Elder was a little stunned, but he still hurried to gesture. "Domain Lord Chen, this way, please." The meal was very pleasant. Fish filling. Chen Fan ate with great satisfaction. They had a flavor all their own. Dumplings tasted different in every region, and so long as they were not made sweet, he liked them all. The rainy season had just ended, and winter was coming in. The temperature dropped sharply. Shivering in the cold wind and finishing a bowl of scalding dumplings was truly comfortable. After the meal, Chen Fan did not linger. He boarded the Fan Domain high-speed rail at once and set off back into the night. Seventh Elder stood on the wasteland, looking toward that ghost fire passage piercing into the depths of Eternal Night, and the Fan Domain high-speed rail racing away along it. A little dazed, he turned his head toward Shao Qiu beside him. "Can you tell me about Jiangbei Fan Domain?" "Mm." Shao Qiu propped his chin on one hand. Only after thinking a long while did he smile. "Let me think where to begin. I was not among the first to join Fan Domain." "In other words." "I was forced to join Fan Domain. I joined back then to save my life." "And by the time I joined, Fan Domain already had some size." "Fan Domain first rose on the Jiangbei Wasteland." "That was in the rainy season three years ago. Domain Lord Chen was targeted and pushed out by the Jiangbei Chen Family and sent to the Jiangbei Wasteland. As it happened, the Jiangbei rainy season came early that year." "During the rainy season, Domain Lord Chen awakened as an Architect. Together with his personal attendant, Quehou, he built a camp bit by bit, and in that time he also took in quite a few outposts trapped on the wasteland." "And so." "The first shape of Fan Domain was formed." "From the Old Camp being destroyed, to moving to Nameless Mountain." "From barely hanging on at Nameless Mountain, to heading south into Guanxi." "Fan Domain was founded in that rainy season three years ago. In less than three years it grew to the scale it has now. I think that if a miracle is to appear on the Eternal Night Continent, Fan Domain is that miracle." "In that rainy season..." Shao Qiu began, bit by bit, to tell the story of how Fan Domain rose. He had not lived through that rainy season. Yet he was very familiar with it. For one thing, during that rainy season he had been in Jiangbei City, watching Chen Fan's ghost fire the whole way through. For another, the few who had walked out of that rainy season alive with the Domain Lord loved far too much to bring up the rainy season of that year. At the drop of a hat it was "back in that rainy season," and so on. It had become those people's favorite thing to talk about. Once they started, that pride nearly overflowed. Seventh Elder stood where he was, listening blankly as Shao Qiu told how Fan Domain had risen, and gradually he was drawn in. When Shao Qiu came to the Mourning Ghost invading the Old Camp, he could not help knitting his brows in worry. When he heard they had made it through the rainy season, he could not help letting out a breath. As he listened, he also came to understand why Fan Domain was unwilling to reveal its identity. And unwilling to make contact with the Eternal Night Hall. A power that had risen so quickly, and that possessed some unfathomable means, might, after a few more years of growth, truly be able to sway a thread of the fighting at the front. But... the Eternal Night Hall had quite a few traitors within it. If those traitors learned of this, and then leaked it to the Ghost Clan. Then Fan Domain, not yet fully grown, would meet a disaster that could wipe it out. And that Fan Domain was willing to let him know this. Also showed Fan Domain's trust in him. At the least, it meant Fan Domain did not think he was a traitor, and believed he would keep his word. The night was deep and still. In Fan Domain, aside from the members on watch, most had gone to sleep. A Fan Domain high-speed rail slid into Fan City along the dark. When the rail came to a steady stop. Chen Fan strode out of it. He tossed the Heavenly Dao Stone in his hand into the air, grinned, and swept a glance around. Only then did he snap his fingers lightly. The phantom of a length of copper pipe appeared out of nowhere and rapidly condensed. He had already decided on the way here. This Heavenly Dao Stone would be used on the copper pipe. Although a copper pipe was only a building module, not even a complete building, the copper pipe held no low place in Fan Domain. The Fan Domain high-speed rail, the Jiangbei Defense Line, the works everywhere including the undersea tunnel and the New Continent—none of it could do without copper pipes. To put it plainly. Fan Domain could do without the God-Slaying Cannon. At worst, cannon towers could hold for now. But without copper pipes, Fan Domain would be about seventy percent ruined. Without the slightest hesitation. He slapped the Heavenly Dao Stone onto the copper pipe. Very soon a panel appeared before him. "You have used a Heavenly Dao Stone on the copper pipe and obtained three Heavenly Dao Blessing effects. Choose any one within a hundred breaths." "A building may possess only one Heavenly Dao Blessing effect." "1: Heavenly Dao Blessing effect (Fox Borrowing the Tiger's Might): The copper pipe releases the aura of a great ghost, effectively cowing most ghost creatures." "2: Heavenly Dao Blessing effect (Absolute Illusion): Laid copper pipes may be set to an illusory state or a non-illusory state. While illusory, they ignore any attack." "3: Heavenly Dao Blessing effect (Unearned Gain): The cost of forging copper pipes is reduced by nine-tenths." Chen Fan stood silent. He lifted his head toward the darkness spread like a curtain over Nameless Mountain and murmured. "Dumb luck?" "No." "I'd rather call it... where Heaven's mandate rests." Almost without hesitation. He chose the second Heavenly Dao Blessing effect, Absolute Illusion. The moment he confirmed. A panel popped up before him, asking whether to set every copper pipe he had forged before to the illusory state, freely switchable. Chen Fan did not confirm at once. Instead he forged a level-1 ghost fire where he stood and began to test. Copper pipes in the illusory state could still carry ghost fire and energy. There was no difference at all. He tried an attack. One slash went straight into the ground. The blade passed clean through the copper pipe and did not harm it in the slightest, as if no copper pipe were there at all. The ghost fire flowing inside met no obstruction either. Perfect! After several tests. Only then did Chen Fan smile. With a thought, every copper pipe he had forged before was converted to the illusory state. Now he no longer had to worry that anyone could destroy its tracks. Most of all. This illusory means did not cost even one extra ghost stone. Pretty good. If it had been before, he would also have considered the third Heavenly Dao Blessing, Unearned Gain. That would mean forging ten meters of copper pipe would cost only one ghost stone, a sharp cut in what was spent. But if one thought in terms of the upper limit. Heavenly Dao Blessings of the resource sort were the worst. After all, that kind of blessing could be made up for with ghost stones, while Absolute Illusion could not be bought no matter how many ghost stones one spent. Just as, if there had been no Sovereign of All Under Heaven quest he could complete. When he chose ghost fire's Heavenly Dao Blessing, he actually would not have taken the one that let upgrades do without heavenly materials and earthly treasures. After all, he did not really need to forge that many ghost fires. "Not bad." Chen Fan grinned and hacked several more heavy blows at the copper pipe on the ground. But just then he suddenly froze, with the faint sense that something was off. After a while. He called over two Fan Domain members who were passing and had not yet slept, and had the two of them take shovels and quickly dig out all the soil beneath this copper pipe. Soon a small pit deep enough to bury a person had been opened. And that copper pipe, in its illusory state, with no support of any kind, simply floated in the air. Expressionless, Chen Fan looked at the pipe hanging in the air. He tried again and forged a copper pipe that was not illusory. The instant it solidified, it dropped into the pit. He tried forging an illusory copper pipe in midair. When the forging was done. This pipe likewise fell to the ground. He changed his approach. He picked up the pipe that had just fallen into the pit, the one still in its non-illusory state, lifted it high, and only then converted the pipe in his hand to the illusory state and slowly let go. A startling thing happened. The copper pipe simply hung in midair. With nothing supporting it. He understood. A copper pipe originally had no way to float with no support at all. But if it had support while it was not yet illusory, then once it was converted to the illusory state, whether that support vanished or not, the pipe would keep its present condition. As for what use this discovery had... After thinking a while, Chen Fan forged in one go several dozen meters of illusory copper pipe suspended in the air, and also forged a max-level hanging basket fixed against the pipe. Activate! The hanging basket shot at once to its fastest speed, and after rushing to the end of the copper pipe, stopped short. A high-speed rail in the sky? Chen Fan turned it over in his mind. It sounded like a useless discovery. He would certainly have to deal with the Eternal Night Hall later. An underground tunnel was safer. What use was a high-speed rail in the sky? It felt like a living target. He could not think of a use for the moment. But he felt he would certainly use it later. Only then did he stretch, climb back aboard the Fan Domain high-speed rail behind him, and, seen off by the two Fan Domain members, race toward Nameless Mountain, ready to sleep. Sleepy. The next day. Day broke. On the second day after the rainy season ended, Fan Domain also had a great deal to handle, and Fan City returned to its usual bustle. People from the major powers kept riding the high-speed rail back and forth. He had no idea what all these people were busy with. Running about day after day, as if they had made a fortune in ghost stones. As usual, Chen Fan sat on the city wall of Cave No. 1 and studied the anomalous treasure in his hand. It was a banner-type anomalous treasure, and it too had never been appraised. A Defense Line No. 7 so vast could not possibly lack even a single appraiser. So he was more inclined to think that Seventh Elder had judged these two anomalous treasures to be worth a great deal, and so had wanted to give them to him. He had not had them appraised because he feared that, once they were appraised, he would be unwilling to part with them. This was not stinginess, and it was not selfishness. It was simply human nature. "Anomalous Treasure Name": Heaven-Commanding Banner. "Anomalous Treasure Grade": Yellow. "Anomalous Treasure Effect": Can summon wind and call rain. A very simple panel. Put more plainly, it could make thunderstorm weather over a small area. It was the same sort of anomalous treasure as the Tribulation Cloud. The effect was roughly the same; only the name and the panel differed. This sort of anomalous treasure was exactly what Fan Domain lacked. It could charge the Heaven-Reaching Pillars better. He could forge more Heaven-Reaching Pillars and charge them even outside the rainy season. Two yellow-grade anomalous treasures. Both were things Fan Domain needed. "Not bad." Quite satisfied, Chen Fan tucked the banner into his robes and prepared to go down from the wall and have a look at the port. Just then— The voice transmission talisman grew faintly warm. Shao Qiu's voice came from it. "Domain Lord, the first batch of ghost-creature corpses has entered the Jiangbei Wasteland and will soon reach Fan Domain. There are many more corpses behind them. Where should they be placed?" "Place them at the foot of Rear Mountain." Chen Fan thought a moment, then gave his answer. With so many corpses, the foot of Rear Mountain was the more suitable place. Once he finished here, he would go there, forge a Sacrificial Tower, sacrifice all these ghost-creature corpses, and see what came of it. Fan Domain. The port. The entrance of the undersea tunnel to the New Continent was here. Even now, quite a few high-speed rails could be seen coming and going, and beside the port those two hundred or so Heaven-Reaching Pillars stood on the ground. They were extremely conspicuous. Fan Domain now had two hundred level-6 Heaven-Reaching Pillars in all, and fifteen level-10 Heaven-Reaching Pillars. Those fifteen max-level pillars were still storing energy without cease beneath the thunderstorm of the Tribulation Cloud. Even though the rainy season had ended, a great stretch of dark cloud still hung above the fifteen max-level pillars, lightning flashing and thunder rolling. They needed to store energy for three continuous years of thunderstorm weather before storage would be complete. Of the remaining two hundred level-6 Heaven-Reaching Pillars. One hundred had been forged two years ago. They had now weathered two rainy seasons, and their stored progress had reached a little over sixty percent. One more rainy season, and storage would be complete. The remaining one hundred level-6 Heaven-Reaching Pillars had stored only a little over thirty percent. These hundred he had forged in a hurry when this rainy season arrived. They had been through only one rainy season, and would need two more before storage was finished. A level-6 Heaven-Reaching Pillar was quite cheap. It needed only 150,000 ghost stones. Even a level-10 Heaven-Reaching Pillar needed only 455,000 ghost stones. As for how powerful they were. He did not know yet. He had tested only the power of a level-1 Heaven-Reaching Pillar, and he was very satisfied with it. As for the level-6 and level-10 pillars, none had finished storing energy. Even if he wanted to test them, he could not. Each upgrade of a Heaven-Reaching Pillar increased its range. A level-6 Heaven-Reaching Pillar could roughly fire as far as Defense Line No. 7 and Yellow Springs Mouth Canyon. A level-10 Heaven-Reaching Pillar could fire past Yellow Springs Mouth Canyon, into the deeper heartland of the Eternal Night Continent. "A pity." Chen Fan looked at the pillars before him with a trace of regret, each one like a supporting pillar of the Heavenly Court. If only he had one more Heavenly Dao Stone. He wanted to see what Heavenly Dao Blessing a Heaven-Reaching Pillar would have. If. If only he had ten more Heavenly Dao Stones. That would be fucking incredible. Only then did he begin to activate the anomalous treasure in his hand, the Heaven-Commanding Banner. As spiritual energy drove it, the originally pocket-sized banner suddenly grew huge, a full several meters wide. Each wave. Stirred up a fierce wind. Soon black clouds formed overhead, lightning flashed and thunder rolled, and an endless downpour came sheeting down with the lightning. The range was a little larger than the Tribulation Cloud. But. "Kind of damn stupid." Chen Fan gave the anomalous treasure his own verdict. The Tribulation Cloud worked entirely on its own. Once activated, it hung in the air and made rain by itself. This Heaven-Commanding Banner had to be driven by hand. It had to be waved the whole time. Wave it for a little while and one's strength gave out. To keep it running all day, enough people had to be set in rotation. Fortunately. He was not doing this alone. Fan Domain was not short of people. He summoned Wang Kui through the voice transmission talisman. Soon. Wang Kui arrived with people. The rainfall range of the Heaven-Commanding Banner was marked out beside them, and within that range Chen Fan packed the ground with max-level Heaven-Reaching Pillars. Thirty of them, consuming roughly fifteen million ghost stones. This batch of max-level pillars certainly could not finish storing energy before the Jiangbei seabed ghost tide made landfall, but they could be kept for later. It was not as if he would stop living once he got through the Jiangbei ghost tide. He tossed the Heaven-Commanding Banner to Wang Kui. Wang Kui would arrange the hands. This ought to have been work for Xiao Qiu's Logistics Pavilion, but Xiao Qiu and most of the Logistics Pavilion were busy on the New Continent with the Prairie Fire Project. When all of this was done. Only then did Chen Fan let out a breath. He stood gazing toward the sea, his sight as if it passed through thousands of li and saw the Thunderstorm Sea at the edge of the sky, and murmured. "Sooner or later, I have to get the Heaven-Reaching Pillars to the Thunderstorm Sea." Storage here was still too slow. If they could be moved to the Thunderstorm Sea, storage would certainly be faster. How to move them, and whether a Heaven-Reaching Pillar could withstand the lightning in the Thunderstorm Sea, were both problems. Before a Heaven-Reaching Pillar was activated, it was an enormous pillar several hundred meters tall! This building was not immovable once forged. It was not a fixed building. It could be moved. It could be carried. But possible in theory did not mean they could do it. First, the undersea tunnel certainly could not hold it. Sea ships might manage it, but it would take a number of sea ships and several days before there was any chance of moving one enormous Heaven-Reaching Pillar to the Thunderstorm Sea. And then, once storage was complete, they would still have to bring it back smoothly and haul it to Jiangbei. The work was far too much, and it did not sound worth the cost. But. If there really was a way to do it. That would be a divine miracle. The forging price of a Heaven-Reaching Pillar could be called cheap. Its only flaw was that storage took too long. If he could find a way to shorten that time, then for Fan Domain it would mean more than merely gaining one more great foundation. Most important of all. He could sell the things to the Eternal Night Front. Chen Fan bowed his head in thought. He had a faint feeling that the illusory state of the copper pipes might let him do it. A thread of inspiration seemed to flash through his mind, but it flashed too fast. He could not quite catch it. Couldn't it flash a little slower? Just then— The voice transmission talisman in his robes grew faintly warm. Seventh Elder's voice came from it. "Domain Lord Chen, I've already boarded the Fan Domain high-speed rail and will soon reach the Jiangbei Wasteland. I wonder if you're free now?" "So soon?" Chen Fan was slightly startled. It had only just gotten light. That meant Seventh Elder had come with the second batch of ghost-creature corpses, and had set out last night? Did Defense Line No. 7 have nothing at all to do after the rainy season? But he understood quickly. Seventh Elder had probably not slept last night. Tossing and turning, he still needed to see the Jiangbei Defense Line with his own eyes before he could set his heart at ease. As the saying went, seeing was believing. He smiled at once. "Of course I'm free. Tell the train chief to come to the Fan Domain port. I'll wait for you there." Soon. Seventh Elder, with two trusted aides, stepped off the Fan Domain high-speed rail onto the port platform. The instant he stepped down. Seventh Elder froze. Scene after scene before him was utterly unfamiliar. He felt as if he had entered another world. This was a world nothing like Defense Line No. 7. On the sea beside the port, several sea ships came and went without cease, and now and then a special sort of vessel could be seen, diving and surfacing again and again. On the ground, Fan Domain tracks dyed with scarlet liquid ran one after another, and great numbers of Fan Domain high-speed rails shuttled back and forth along them. Members in Fan Domain clothing came and went without end. It was extremely lively. Not far off, several hundred enormous pillars stood between heaven and earth, a shocking sight. At a glance. Two enormous cities could also be seen not far away, and behind the arrivals was the Jiangbei Defense Line, standing guard along the Jiangbei coast. No end in sight. A full twenty meters high. Level-5 city walls. Huff. Huff. Seventh Elder's breathing grew rapid. Everything here was completely unlike the Jiangbei in his memory. For a moment he even thought he had gone to another world. If the Guandong Plain was an aura of death across the whole sky. Then this place was bursting with life. Merely standing here, he could feel Fan Domain growing at a furious pace. Even though he had not seen much at all, he still felt that aura. "Everyone." "Welcome to Fan Domain." Chen Fan, leaning on his emerald cane, came forward with a laugh. "Please. The Jiangbei Defense Line is just behind. I'll trouble you, Seventh Elder, to point out whatever you can." "We of Fan Domain are also only planning battles on paper. We've never been through a proper ghost tide. In this, you, Elder, are the one with experience." These were words from the heart. He was still not entirely easy about the Jiangbei Defense Line. He always felt it was not strong enough. "Let's go, let's go..." Only now was Seventh Elder jolted back to himself. He drew a deep breath and followed Chen Fan toward the Jiangbei Defense Line. They drew gradually nearer. Seventh Elder had only one thought: new. The Jiangbei Defense Line had almost no traces of battle, unlike Defense Line No. 7, which ghost-creature blood had dyed red. But when he got close enough. He saw the great stretches of Ghost Blood Patterns on the Jiangbei Defense Line. He gave a slight start, looked to both sides, and when he found Ghost Blood Patterns everywhere his eyes could reach, a flash of shock passed through them. "Chen... Domain Lord Chen, the Jiangbei Defense Line isn't entirely Ghost Blood Patterns, is it?" "Of course it is." Chen Fan walked toward the line with a smile. "I think Ghost Blood Patterns are quite useful. The more they fight, the stronger they get." Who would think Ghost Blood Patterns were not useful? Seventh Elder forced out a strained smile. Who the hell didn't know Ghost Blood Patterns were useful? But to forge an unbroken field of them, a full 170 kilometers—how many ghost stones would that take? The moment a pattern rolled wrong, tear it down and rebuild. Repeat that without end. After vast quantities of ghost stones and labor had been poured in, one could have Ghost Blood Patterns and nothing else. Not difficult. Just expensive. An expensive thing's only flaw was that it was expensive. Then he saw Soul-Devouring Sculptures, one after another, at the foot of the wall. This was normal. Since Fan Domain could supply them with so many Soul-Devouring Sculptures, Fan Domain would of course have them too. He climbed the wall. Seventh Elder looked over the God-Slaying Cannons and Anti-Air Cannons set along it. His brows drew faintly together, and he said hoarsely, "Domain Lord Chen." "The seabed ghost tide the Jiangbei Defense Line faces is not as great as the ghost tide Defense Line No. 7 faces." "But it is not small either." "This firepower layout of yours is a bit off." "What is this cannon tower called?" "God-Slaying Cannon." "All right." Seventh Elder drew a deep breath. First he watched Chen Fan from the corner of his eye, as if by chance. Only when he saw that Chen Fan was not angry did he begin to explain. He truly wanted the Jiangbei Defense Line to be better. But he also feared this would anger Chen Fan. After all, no one liked hearing others speak ill of their own child. He already treated Defense Line No. 7 as his child. For someone like Chen Fan, whose defense line had been built by Fan Domain itself in every detail, it was even more his own child. "First, the Jiangbei Defense Line is entirely level-5 walls plus Ghost Blood Patterns. On defense, that is already enough. After all, in the ancient era the Jiangbei Defense Line was only level-4 walls." "But the firepower is somewhat short." "A cannon tower for clearing ghost tides, like the God-Slaying Cannon, placed once every twenty meters—the fire is too thin. At the very least, at the very least, there ought to be one every fifteen meters." "The tower Defense Line No. 7 uses to clear ghost tides is the Sword Rain Cannon Tower. One is placed every ten meters. There are a full 9,700 Sword Rain Cannon Towers on Defense Line No. 7." "One every twenty meters cannot handle a ghost tide." "Second." "The Jiangbei Defense Line has no cannon tower for great ghosts." "Defense Line No. 7 has a Dark Tower every kilometer, for the great ghosts in a ghost tide. The power against a single target is immense." "The Jiangbei Defense Line must have this kind of tower, immense against a single target. Otherwise it cannot deal with the great ghosts in a ghost tide. It's only that Defense Line No. 7 has no Architect who can forge Dark Towers. In the past the Eternal Night Hall always sent people to forge them. Let me think whether there's some way—" "Uh." Chen Fan, his expression a little odd, cut into Seventh Elder's thoughts. "Seventh Elder, we do. The Jiangbei Defense Line does have a tower of immense single-target power, meant specially for great ghosts." "Where?" "This God-Slaying Cannon." Seventh Elder froze. A little blank, he looked up toward the depths of the Jiangbei Defense Line, at the God-Slaying Cannons set out neat and even along the wall. "The God-Slaying Cannon is for killing great ghosts?" "God-Slaying Cannon, God-Slaying Cannon. It's called god-slaying. It can't be for killing little ghosts, can it?" "Then what do you use to clear a ghost tide?" "There. The God-Slaying Cannon." "How does a tower with immense power against a single target clear a ghost tide?" "Oh. It has a special effect. Damage can overflow. It's quite good at clearing a ghost tide." Chen Fan looked around with some regret. "Pity the rainy season is over." "Otherwise I could show you." "The sight is beautiful." "One shot, and a whole stretch is cleared." "It's only that the corpses are blasted to pieces. Not leaving an intact corpse is a bit of a headache." "Whether clearing small monsters or fighting great ghosts, it's very useful." Seventh Elder froze blankly where he stood, staring at those God-Slaying Cannons. A tower of this level—on their Defense Line No. 7, one every kilometer. Here, one every twenty meters? Even a great ghost that showed up would be struck dumb. After a while. Seventh Elder recovered a little and murmured, "Put that way, there isn't really a problem. I also saw the Anti-Air Cannons. You've even accounted for ghost creatures that can fly." "This doesn't look like planning battles on paper. The layout is quite complete..." "But a ghost tide doesn't have many flying ghost creatures. Scattered ones won't pose much of a threat." "The few that break the line and get into the rear won't make much trouble either." "Not many?" Chen Fan's brows drew slightly together. "Then was this upgrade path of nothing but Air Denial a bit of a waste? I was still thinking of not letting ghost creatures fly over the line." Seventh Elder stood silent, expressionless. "Seventh Elder, any other thoughts?" "I've forged two hundred altars in all for the Jiangbei Defense Line, so the walls can be kept in repair. Besides that, the line has a jumble of other effects, such as Thorn Rebound, which can rebound damage." "But I always feel it may not be quite enough." "What if the Jiangbei seabed ghost tide suddenly grows stronger? What if the ghost tide suddenly grows more numerous? What if some accident happens?" "What if this place of yours suddenly became the Eternal Night Front?" Seventh Elder added quietly. "Right!" Chen Fan nodded with a perfectly serious face. "I'm worried about that too." "Then, Domain Lord Chen, you may be... worrying more than you need to." Seventh Elder drew a deep breath, then turned and gazed toward the sea, murmuring a little absently, "Domain Lord Chen, the Jiangbei Defense Line doesn't even count as a secondary defense line. The ghost tide under the sea here is not all that strong." "In fact, you don't need to build the Jiangbei Defense Line to the standard of the Eternal Night Front." He was not worried at all, now, that the Jiangbei Defense Line would fall. Fall? A joke. Aside from its walls being one level lower than his Defense Line No. 7, the Jiangbei Defense Line was stronger in every other respect. Even if Defense Line No. 7 fell, the Jiangbei Defense Line still could not fall. He even felt they ought to switch. Let the Jiangbei Defense Line go hold the Guandong Plain. And let them come hold Jiangbei. He had thought that, since Fan Domain had never faced a ghost tide, a line built by planning battles on paper might not be practical. After he arrived, he found that Fan Domain truly was planning battles on paper. It was only that they had imagined their enemy far too strong. That planning on paper could be carried this far truly left him somewhat dumbfounded. "Is that so?" Chen Fan stood on the Jiangbei Defense Line as well, gazing toward the sea, and said quietly. There was one thing he had not said just now. No one knew when the Thunderstorm Sea might suddenly shatter. The ghost creatures imprisoned there were not small in number. Ever since he had seen even the level-10 walls of the New Continent fall, he had felt only that he was not strong enough. He ought to be stronger. "It's truly enough." Seventh Elder let out a long, helpless sigh. "There is absolutely not the slightest problem. If this line of yours were a little stronger, I think it could serve as the Eternal Night Front." "The front is still too dangerous. Fan Domain's foundation still isn't enough." Chen Fan shook his head. "Right. Have you seen the Eternal Night Front?" "Never. I was guessing." After that, neither spoke. Seventh Elder and Chen Fan simply walked the Jiangbei Defense Line like this, unhurried along the wall, in no rush. After a long while, feeling the solid weight of the line beneath him, Seventh Elder looked at Chen Fan and said hoarsely, "Domain Lord Chen." "In fact, when you learned the seabed ghost tide would come in two years, you could perfectly well have run. But you poured out everything to build a Jiangbei Defense Line and shelter all living beings under heaven."