Sovereign of All Under Heaven, the Ghost Tide Makes Landfall

Plain days, fleeting as a night-blooming cereus, passed in the blink of an eye. When long-absent rain pattered down upon the Jiangbei Defense Line, it also meant that this year's rainy season had come. This might also be... the last rainy season of relatively low danger that Fan Domain of Jiangbei would pass. The time had come to the end of the tenth month, Year 381 of the Eternal Night Calendar. Chen Fan stood on the city wall of the Jiangbei Defense Line. His gaze crossed the Jiangbei wasteland toward the sky in the distance, which was gradually darkening. The coolness the rain brought left him especially clear-headed. When night fell tonight, this year's rainy season would open with it. The Jiangbei Defense Line, as usual, enclosed the whole of Fan Domain, Jiangbei City included. This was also the last ordinary rainy season Fan Domain would pass. Next year's rainy season. The seabed ghost tide would make landfall. He stood where he was, gazing into the distance, silent for a long time. He kept thinking over what preparations were still unfinished. It seemed they were already enough, and yet he always felt they were still not quite enough. Just then— Wang Kui came over from one side with an oil-paper umbrella. He walked to Chen Fan's side. The brim of the umbrella sheltered the top of Chen Fan's head, and he reported in a low voice, "Domain Lord, the wind is cold out here. Better to go back inside first." "Cold wind?" Chen Fan shook his head and laughed lightly. "Have you forgotten us in the first rainy season? Back then we didn't even have a bamboo hat or a rain cape, and still we worked in the rain every day." "Let's go. Time to head back." He said nothing more. He only turned and walked down from the wall. Before he left. He glanced at the Soul-Devouring Sculpture set at the foot of the wall, laughed lightly, shook his head, and walked through the rain toward the Fan Domain high-speed rail waiting beneath the wall. Several months ago. He had obtained a Heavenly Dao Stone from the Sacrificial Tower. It was the fourth Heavenly Dao Stone Fan Domain had gained. In the end he had used it on the Soul-Devouring Sculpture. An auxiliary structure that could greatly reduce the ammunition consumption of nearby city-defense buildings. His thoughts drifted. He faintly recalled the panel he had seen that day. "You used a Heavenly Dao Stone on the Soul-Devouring Sculpture 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 (Every Shot Hits): increases the accuracy of city-defense buildings within range. "2: Heavenly Dao blessing effect (Domain of the King): increases the range of city-defense buildings within range, and may break past the limit of ghost fire range." "3: Heavenly Dao blessing effect (Out of Ammunition and Grain): when no ghost stones remain to supply energy to the city-defense buildings within range, they may keep firing for three shichen, after which the Soul-Devouring Sculpture and the city-defense buildings within range shatter together." In the end he had chosen the third Heavenly Dao blessing. Out of Ammunition and Grain. He did not need accuracy. The Jiangbei Defense Line struck in saturation coverage, and with the max-level effect of overflowing damage, he had no need of accuracy. He did not much need range either. The range provided by max-level ghost fire was already enough, and for anything farther he had the Fan Domain cruise missiles. By comparison. The third was better. Though it could keep firing for only three shichen once ammunition and provisions were gone, those three shichen were basically enough to hold through a night. The next day, whether they withdrew or waited on logistics, they would have one more margin for error. Chen Fan, returned once more to Cave No. 1 of Wuming Mountain. Sat on the city wall as usual, listening to Wang Kui's report beside his ear. "Domain Lord." Wang Kui looked at the little notebook in his hand and said quietly, "Over this past year, Fan Domain has developed steadily. Multiple projects are advancing in good order." "The New Continent side of Spark Sets the Prairie Ablaze has basically entered its final stage. It is expected that once the rainy season ends, the laying can be completely finished." "Some of the logistics personnel maintaining the project have already begun an orderly withdrawal to Fan Domain." "A total of 3.406 billion ghost stones were consumed." "And—" "After the loss of this great expenditure, the ghost stones in Fan Domain's storehouses have begun to keep increasing again, little by little. Fan Domain's reserves now stand at 617 million ghost stones." "At Fan Domain's present rate of extraction, before next year's rainy season descends, we can hope to stock around 4 billion ghost stones." "Extraction on the New Continent is also proceeding in good order. There are still many ancient battlefields waiting to be worked. It is estimated that only in about four years will they be completely extracted." "Mm." Chen Fan sat in the rocking chair and gave a slight nod. Spark Sets the Prairie Ablaze was finally ending. To this day, it was the project on which Fan Domain had consumed the greatest number of ghost stones. He had also to be thankful that nothing had happened this year. Otherwise, if anything major had occurred this year, Fan Domain, which had put its entire foundation into pushing this project forward, would have had almost no strength left to strike back. So vast a Fan Domain might very well have collapsed overnight because of it. After the brief report. Wang Kui walked down from the wall. Chen Fan remained sitting alone on the wall. Night officially fell then. Darkness like melting dark chocolate swept in from the edge of the sky and swiftly wrapped the whole world inside it. He lowered his head to a small object he had been turning over in his hand all the while. A. glazed hand-piece. A little figure, with a slight resemblance to him. It looked just like a little toy sold in the common markets. This was a blue-grade special resource he had obtained from the altar through sacrifice. Special resources came in many kinds. They might be ghost stones, they might be anomalous treasures, and they might be building blueprints, and so on. Over this year, through sacrifice, he had obtained four blue-grade special resources in all. The first two and the last had all been ghost stones. Thirty million ghost stones in total. Not a small number. But not what he particularly wanted. The third, by contrast, had been a stroke of luck. "Anomalous treasure name": glazed figurine. "Anomalous treasure grade": blue. "Anomalous treasure effect": After it acknowledges a master by a drop of blood, when you meet a crisis that would certainly kill you, it can block that calamity for you. A protective anomalous treasure. Ever since obtaining this anomalous treasure, he had carried it on him, and the feel of it in the hand was indeed quite good. It had become his hand-piece. He already had a protective anomalous treasure, but no one ever thought they had too many of such things. What was more, as Fan Domain continued to develop, the emerald cane was gradually becoming not quite enough. To say nothing else. He could be certain of one thing. Holding the emerald cane absolutely could not withstand the wild bombardment of a max-level God-Slaying Cannon. But an assassin like Shao Qiu still could not do a thing to him. "It'll do." Chen Fan leaned back against the chair, looking out of the cave at weather that had at some unknown time changed from a pattering drizzle into a violent storm. He stretched, felt the cool sense of the rain, and lazily found a comfortable position in the rocking chair. Just then— The Eternal Night Lord panel deep in his mind suddenly began flashing red without cease, and a panel popped up. "You have lit ghost fire in every region of a continent and obtained the special reward 'Sovereign of All Under Heaven'!" "You have lit ghost fire in every region of a continent and obtained the special reward 'Sovereign of All Under Heaven'!" "You have lit ghost fire in every region of a continent and obtained the special reward 'Sovereign of All Under Heaven'!" "Please go to that continent at once to claim the reward." Chen Fan was slightly stunned. Then, without the slightest hesitation, he sprang up from the chair and strode toward the Fan Domain high-speed rail waiting beneath the wall. He had never seen the Eternal Night Lord panel pop up a notice at such high frequency. But. The project he had spent more than three billion ghost stones to build was finally about to be completed! It was time to reap the harvest! "Domain Lord." At that moment Wang Kui rushed over from one side in some haste, still pinching a voice transmission talisman in his hand. "Word from the New Continent. They say Spark Sets the Prairie Ablaze has been completed ahead of schedule. I just received the message, Domain Lord..." "I know." Chen Fan waved a hand and did not pause in the slightest. "You stay in Fan Domain and watch the house. I'm making a trip to the New Continent." With that. The Fan Domain high-speed rail waiting at the mouth of the wall soon raced through the curtain of rain across the Jiangbei wasteland, and before long vanished at the Port. At a still greater speed, it raced on through the undersea tunnel. Overhead were hundreds of millions of tons of seawater. Ahead were the fruits Fan Domain was about to harvest. This was not the first time Chen Fan had gone to the New Continent, but it was the time he looked forward to most. The New Continent. Night had already fallen. It ought already to have been time to rest, but tonight, at New Continent Outpost No. 1, every core member was gathered in the dispatch room, faces excited, not a trace of sleep in their eyes. On the Heaven-Deriving Sand Table set in the center of the dispatch room. At a glance now. Dense yellow points of light were laid in orderly fashion across the whole Heaven-Deriving Sand Table, like... a sky full of stars. Since the day they were born, they had never seen what a sky full of stars looked like. But if there truly were stars. Perhaps this was what they would look like? Quehou's expression was extremely excited. He swept again and again over every detail on the Heaven-Deriving Sand Table, afraid of missing a single region. He had already notified Fan Domain. The Young Master was on his way. One year. In this one year, Fan Domain had poured nearly all its strength and resources into this one matter, Spark Sets the Prairie Ablaze. Before this. No one in this room had ever thought that one day they could complete a project on so great a scale, that they could lay ghost fire across an entire continent. But— they had done it. They had truly completed this project that could be called a miracle. No one knew how long had passed. The excitement in the room still had not dispersed, when a voice suddenly came from among the crowd saying the Domain Lord would arrive soon. Everyone at once rushed out of the dispatch room and charged toward the platform. At that very moment. The Fan Domain high-speed rail Chen Fan rode pulled into the platform. When Chen Fan stepped off the train and truly stood upon this continent. A miracle occurred. Countless people at New Continent Outpost No. 1 poured madly out of the city. Before they left, they did not forget to wake companions still asleep. At every logistics station, the monitoring personnel on the islands likewise came out of their rooms together. They stood stunned where they were and lifted their heads toward a sight in the sky that could be called shocking. The moment both of Chen Fan's feet fell upon this continent. The 169,988 max-level ghost fires set upon the New Continent, including those on those several hundred islands, as if answering a summons, suddenly burst forth in blinding golden pillars of light that shot into the sky! Nearly 170,000 max-level ghost fires covered the entire continent. They made the whole continent bright as day. This was perhaps the first time in the history of this New Continent that it had been so clear through. Yet high above, it was still wrapped in endless darkness. The night covering the whole New Continent seemed without end, still hanging over the New Continent's sky. But— when the golden pillars bursting from nearly 170,000 ghost fires drove straight into the sky, the darkness was receding. The pillars kept rising swiftly. Wherever they passed, the darkness was swiftly driven off. Faster and faster. Faster and faster. Until! Boom. A vast sound, faintly like the splitting open of heaven and earth, rang in everyone's ears. They seemed to hear an enormous balloon being punctured. The darkness above the New Continent was utterly driven away. They saw it. They saw the stars filling the sky above the nine heavens. They saw a wash of moonlight above the nine heavens. They... saw the true face of this heaven and earth. Not one person spoke. Everyone stood dumbly where they were, staring at the sight. This was the first time since they were born that they had seen a sky full of stars, the first time they had known what the poems about stars in the ancient books meant. The shock made them hold their breath without thinking. As if everything before their eyes were an illusion. Afraid that, if they were not careful, all they saw would scatter like flowers in a mirror or the moon in the water. Chen Fan stood on the city wall of New Continent Outpost No. 1, gazing at the sight with a somewhat dazed expression. At this moment he had even forgotten the reward of Sovereign of All Under Heaven. He had even forgotten what he had come to the New Continent to do. The commotion and the scale before his eyes had already surpassed anything he had seen in his life. This reward. Was not a panel that only he alone could see. It was. A shocking scene that everyone could see. Those 170,000 golden pillars, after driving off all the darkness, continued to rise, higher and higher, and at last, at the end of sight, gathered over and over into something like a single golden pillar, charging straight above the nine heavens! The next moment! The 170,000 golden pillars exploded violently and shattered completely! The New Continent welcomed its rainy season. A great golden rain. Billions of raindrops fell evenly from above the nine heavens across the whole New Continent, falling upon every member of Fan Domain. In places the crowd could not see. Dozens of rifts left by the ancient battlefields, a thousand zhang deep and churning with chaotic, foul gas, began to grow rapidly shut. At the wounds, waterfalls and river valleys of luminous white spring water flowed. Though they still kept their jagged outlines, the baleful air had faded, and green covered them. Purple-black poisoned soil, beneath the golden rain, turned once more into fertile soil containing spiritual energy. Countless tender green shoots broke the earth. Even the river water, in the instant the rain fell in, began to grow clear from the source, clear enough to see through. Fan Domain members who had been somewhat weary, the moment the golden rain fell on them, felt the weariness on their bodies vanish at once, and some hidden ailments and the like were repaired in an instant as well. "Young Master, Young Master..." Quehou, standing behind Chen Fan, lowered his head to the leg that could now stand perfectly straight. His eyes reddened at once, and he said in a trembling voice, "I'm not lame anymore. Not lame anymore." Some Fan Domain affiliate members who had lost limbs now grew new buds of flesh at the stumps, and before long the severed limbs had actually been reborn. And some older Fan Domain affiliate members suddenly had the silver hair on their heads turn black strand by strand, and the wrinkles on their faces faded a good deal. "Roar." That was Weiwei's roar. Weiwei was rolling over and over in the golden rain with an excited look, the scales on its body continually shedding and swiftly growing out a coat of scales tinged with gold. The monkeys that had always followed behind Weiwei now sent up shrieks one after another, appearing extremely excited. This was a rain. A golden rain falling across the whole New Continent. Chen Fan, standing on the wall, looked at the sight before him and suddenly laughed. He finally knew what the reward of Sovereign of All Under Heaven was. Under ordinary circumstances. If one wanted to lay ghost fire across a continent, it could certainly be done only after the ghost creatures had been thoroughly driven off. Then this golden rain would repair every mountain and river destroyed upon the continent. It would repair everyone's injuries. It would extend everyone's lifespan. Like a golden rain of victory, it would bring new life to this continent that had endured the flames of war. This golden rain ought to have fallen at the close of a great war. And besides that— he looked into the depths of his soul, at the panel that had popped up on the Eternal Night Lord panel. If this golden rain was a reward for the whole continent. Then that panel was a reward for him. The two as one. Were Sovereign of All Under Heaven. "You have lit ghost fire in every region of a continent and obtained the special reward 'Sovereign of All Under Heaven'!" "For the next three years." "This continent will continually draw in Eternal Night energy to form ghost ore. The soil will be fertile. Within three years, this continent will not be invaded by ghost creatures." Chen Fan stood on the wall, looking into the distance, quietly watching this golden rain. He finally understood why that stick of Incense of Asking Heaven had said that if there was enough time, then it would be worth it, and otherwise it would not. Sovereign of All Under Heaven. The true reward was the three years of peace and stability granted once a great war ended. Within those three years, this continent could develop rapidly, recover its former prosperity, and would not suffer invasion by ghost creatures. He did not know how much ghost ore would form. But he could be certain it would not be a small number. Was it worth it? He felt that it was. As for what mattered most now— he took a voice transmission talisman from his breast and, through the signal tower set inside the undersea tunnel, contacted Wang Kui. "Immediately bring every Fan Domain member. All of you, come to the New Continent." "Be quick." This great rain could extend lifespan and repair hidden ailments. It was a great opportunity. Once missed, it could not be regained. He did not know how long this golden rain would last, but better to have the Fan Domain members come first. As for the Jiangbei Defense Line, it could operate entirely on its own. An ordinary rainy season did not need too many people guarding Fan Domain either. After this order went down. Fan Domain began to move. Train after train, loaded full of Fan Domain members, sped toward the undersea tunnel. For many members, this was the first time they had set foot in the undersea tunnel. The New Continent had always been Fan Domain's highest secret. Though many members had faintly guessed a thing or two, in the end no one had witnessed it with their own eyes. Only after arranging all of this did Chen Fan go on standing on the wall, watching the golden rain. This golden rain ought to have fallen only after the ghost tide was beaten back and every continent subdued. Three years of safety. This meant— even if they beat back the ghost tide, on this vast sea there were still more enemies eyeing them like tigers. These three years of safety were perhaps the greatest reward. "Are there many enemies?" He looked toward the sea in the distance, at those several hundred islands lit by ghost fire, and murmured, "Then come." Three years. He could feel that, after he obtained the reward Sovereign of All Under Heaven, a faint connection had arisen between him and the New Continent. For example, he could now vaguely sense that the continent, which had been continually collapsing because it had lost the Heavenly Dao, was having those seams rapidly repaired beneath this golden rain. In other words. This continent would not collapse again for a very long time. This place would be their great rear. Two shichen later. Fan Domain members arrived one after another. The moment they walked out of the platform they saw the golden rain covering the whole New Continent, and they saw the sky full of stars. That golden rain falling from among the stars. "Domain Lord... Domain Lord!" Just then— Qi Chong rushed to Chen Fan's side in some excitement and said in a trembling voice, "I've checked. The soil of the whole New Continent is extremely fertile... quite a few places are as fertile as grade-ten farmland!" "This is natural grade-ten farmland. And in stretch after stretch." "Medicinal herbs, ghost plants, and the like planted on the New Continent will all mature much faster." "I want to apply to establish a medicinal planting garden on the New Continent." "Plant." Chen Fan glanced around and laughed. "So large a place. Plant wherever you want. Go and plant." Every Fan Domain member looked extremely excited. They could clearly feel that the hidden ailments on their bodies had all recovered. Those left in Fan Domain, besides Fan Domain members, included the families of Fan Domain affiliate members and others, and now they too were arriving train by train. Bathing in this golden rain. Extending lifespan for everyone. "This is a bit much." Gongyang Yiyue sat on a rooftop, looked at the golden rain all around, and let out a rather long sigh. "Why is it the two of us don't get our lives extended? Aren't Nightwatchers people?" "Ah?" This golden rain extended everyone's life, but theirs alone it did not. As if the lifespans of the two of them were already fixed dead. Everyone else had room for change. The endings of these two had been set from the moment they were born. "Hush!" Da Yu looked at Gongyang Yiyue with some displeasure and pointed a finger at the stars filling the sky overhead. "Look at the stars. We might not be able to see them in a moment." "All right. They really are quite pretty." "My father used to tell me that when people die, they become stars in the sky. How many people would have to die to make this many stars?" "Then when I die and become a star, will you be able to find me?" Da Yu tilted her head toward Gongyang Yiyue. "I will." Gongyang Yiyue nodded with absolute certainty. "I will definitely find you. After all, you'll surely be the brightest one." Da Yu let out a pfft of laughter and said nothing more. She only leaned on Gongyang Yiyue's shoulder, lifted her head toward the stars overhead, her gaze gradually unfocusing, and raised a finger to start counting stars. She knew she could not finish counting these stars. But she still wanted to count just how many there were. Gongyang Yiyue was one of the few people of outside clans who could remain in Fan Domain during the rainy season. Gongyang Yue had come as well. Before, Gongyang Yue had not been allowed, but ever since Qi Yue made things clear, Gongyang Yue could stay this year's rainy season too, and could likewise enjoy the treatment given to family of Fan Domain members. Fan Domain had a systematic set of benefits for members' families. It ensured that the families of those working for Fan Domain at the front could live steadily and securely in Fan Domain. After a day and a night. The golden rain gradually stopped. Endless darkness once more covered the sky over the New Continent, and the stars, as usual, were hidden away. The 170,000 ghost fires laid across the New Continent had shattered together. But the whole continent of the New Continent was covered by an enormous golden eggshell. Though the ghost fires had already shattered, the ghost fire range they provided had been retained, and merged into one. Chen Fan could feel it. This ghost fire covering the whole New Continent would last three years. Within three years, the New Continent would not suffer invasion by ghost creatures. Though in these days he had not seen any ghost creatures invade in the first place. After the Eternal Night descended. Threads of darkness could be seen, like ink dropped into clear water, piercing this enormous ghost fire eggshell, falling to the ground of the New Continent, and gradually forming ghost ore. No need to dig. One had only to pick it up. And this naturally formed ghost ore would continue for three years. With the support of so many resources. Fan Domain would meet with even faster development. This rainy season was, as usual, extremely plain. All of Fan Domain's core members quietly enjoyed this rainy season as well, because everyone knew this was very likely their last moment of peace. And the last peaceful rainy season they would pass. And so. A year passed quickly. "Hurry, hurry!" Urgent, noisy voices rose along the Jiangbei Defense Line. By now quite a few people had gathered on the line, busily laying trap after trap of ground spikes in front of the Jiangbei Defense Line. Chen Fan stood on the Jiangbei Defense Line, one hand braced on the emerald cane, looking toward the Dead Sea in the distance, where the waves surged. A year had already passed since Fan Domain obtained the reward Sovereign of All Under Heaven. The time now was. The end of the tenth month, Year 382 of the Eternal Night Calendar. Only a few days remained before this year's rainy season descended. This year's rainy season would not be an ordinary one. It would be the moment That Person's aura dispersed, and the seabed ghost tide made landfall. The Jiangbei Defense Line, fully 170 kilometers long, stood upon the Jiangbei coastline. Quite a few Fan Domain members hurried back and forth along it, making final preparations for the ghost tide's assault. "Four years." "Four years." Chen Fan exhaled a mouthful of white mist. The weather was gradually turning cold, a little earlier than in years past. It had also been more than four years since he came to this world. Four years ago, he had learned that the seabed ghost tide of Jiangbei was about to make landfall. For these four years he had been preparing for this. Now... the moment had finally come. All of Fan Domain, high and low, had begun to move, of one heart and one effort, all for this one battle. "Domain Lord." Wang Kui strode to Chen Fan's side and lowered his head to the notebook in his hand. "People have already been sent to check. Every cannon tower and Soul-Devouring Sculpture on the Jiangbei Defense Line is placed in its designated position. None are damaged." "And in the rear there are another one hundred spare Soul-Devouring Sculptures, ready to fill in at any time." "Besides that—" "In the deep rear of Wuming Mountain, all two hundred altars are in normal condition and can provide sufficient repairs for the Jiangbei Defense Line." "And Fan Domain's ghost stone reserves have now reached 7.8 billion ghost stones." "Mm." Chen Fan gave a slight nod. Originally Fan Domain's ghost stone reserves had not been so many. Mining the New Continent alone, a year's work could not have extracted so many ghost stones. But after they obtained the reward Sovereign of All Under Heaven, the ghost ore naturally born of it had, in a single year alone, produced more than three billion ghost stones for them. They had already made back the cost. Recouped in a year. Everything after that was pure profit. Of course. The reward Sovereign of All Under Heaven would let the New Continent naturally give birth to ghost ore without cease for the next three years. They had not extracted all of this year's ghost ore. They had dug only a small part. Chiefly because there were not enough hands for the extraction. Fan Domain had originally intended to add new Fan Domain affiliate members. But... after that great rain ended, they discovered that only people who had bathed in the golden rain could reach the New Continent. As for the others, let alone going to mine, they could not enter the New Continent even through the undersea tunnel. That enormous ghost fire protective shell had completely protected the New Continent. It not only refused invasion by ghost creatures. It also refused others from landing. After Chen Fan discovered this, he roughly understood. It should be that, in the three years after Sovereign of All Under Heaven, countless deposits of ghost ore would be born on the New Continent, and this protection existed so the reward would not be seized at such a time. Though progress would be a little slower. On the New Continent there were, after all, one hundred thousand Fan Domain affiliate members. However slow, it could not be that slow. In a year they had still produced several billion ghost stones. This was a reward for an entire continent to rest and recover, enjoyed by Fan Domain alone. They were getting more than they could comfortably swallow. "There is one more thing—" Wang Kui continued his report. "The Jiangbei Defense Line is fully 170 kilometers long. We need a great many hands before we can, like Defense Line No. 7, go out of the city after resisting the ghost tide each night, collect the corpses of ghost creatures, and dig out the ghost stones." "But we don't have enough people now." "If we are to recruit Fan Domain affiliate members on a large scale..." Before Wang Kui had finished. Chen Fan cut him off. "No need to recruit. Issue a notice. Have every faction of the Four Lands of Jiangbei and the Guanxi Plain send people to come and support us, mainly to handle part of the logistics, and the collection work after the battle." "People who aren't ours... might there be..." Wang Kui said with some hesitation. "There won't." Chen Fan shook his head. "Have the lord of each faction personally manage his own people, and supervise them. If anything goes wrong, we will hold the faction's lord to account. Supervising and managing is what they do day to day. It is also what they are good at." "This can greatly reduce cases such as stuffing ghost stones into one's own breast." "Go." "Understood." Chen Fan watched Wang Kui's figure go into the distance, set both hands on the battlements of the Jiangbei Defense Line, let out a long breath, and stirred his mind. The several hundred million ghost stones stored in Fan Domain's storehouses suddenly shattered all at once, turned into milky-white liquid, and surged swiftly along the copper pipes toward the Jiangbei Defense Line. The Jiangbei Defense Line began to light up in neat succession, like dominoes. The walls began to rise one after another! With the support of 850 million ghost stones, the walls of the Jiangbei Defense Line, originally grade five all across, now rose neatly to grade six! Panels popped up before him one after another. "Wall raised to grade 6. Sturdiness increased." "Please choose an upgrade direction." "1: The wall may self-destruct and burst forth with enormous power. The power depends on the wall's sturdiness and grade." "2: Enemies attacking the wall at close range have a relatively low chance of suffering a certain amount of reflected damage." "3: Enemies attacking the wall from a distance will deal relatively low damage to the wall." He swiped through panel after panel and chose the third option every time. Occasionally a qualitative upgrade direction would pop up. But none of them were of any use. If that qualitative direction happened to appear as the third option, he would still have to tear that wall down and build a new grade-six wall to plug the gap. Qualitative upgrade directions that could act only on a single wall, and not on every wall that could be linked, were all of no use. Before long— the Jiangbei Defense Line, made entirely new, stood upon the Jiangbei coastline beneath the dusk of the setting sun. Grade-six walls, all of one kind. The same scale as Defense Line No. 7. Compared with Defense Line No. 7, it also had Ghost Blood Patterns. Longer, and harder. "This time it ought to be enough." "Time to work!" On the Guanxi Plain, the Holy Lord of Tuxian Holy Land lowered his head to the letter in his hand, grinned, sprang up from the couch, and strode outside. "Urgent Dispatch from Jiangbei." "The rainy season is about to descend. Now black clouds weigh upon the city, and the ghost tide is about to make landfall. Jiangbei's hundred-li defense line is in urgent need of hands. We specially send this feathered dispatch to seek aid from every side." "Every sturdy man is one we need." "—Fan Domain of Jiangbei, the twenty-seventh day of the tenth month, Year 382 of the Eternal Night Calendar." Walking outside, the Holy Lord of Tuxian Holy Land looked at the disciples of Tuxian Holy Land already standing ready in the courtyard. He nodded in satisfaction and swept out a hand. "Move out!" The next moment! Box after box of ghost stones was carried onto the high-speed rail at the foot of the mountain. Disciple after disciple of Tuxian Holy Land, dressed in black and bearing sabers, followed the trains. He had long been ready. He had only been waiting for Fan Domain to issue a jianghu summons, and then he answered at the first moment. These past few days. Fan Domain had released word outward that the Jiangbei Sea Tide was about to make landfall. Only then did the factions of the Guanxi Plain learn that the node of Jiangbei had long since shattered. They finally understood as well why Fan Domain of Jiangbei had spent such vast resources to build the Jiangbei Defense Line. For a time. Countless factions answered. Train after train, loaded with sturdy men and ghost stones, set out toward Fan Domain from the Four Lands of Jiangbei, the Guanxi Plain, and other regions. Not only because they admired what Jiangbei had done. More importantly... it was because Fan Domain could move. Dare you not go? Fan Domain would dare to come. "Domain Lord Chen." Chen Fan was staring blankly out at the sea from the wall when a voice both familiar and strange reached his ear. He turned his head. Seventh Elder was striding toward him. "How are the preparations? Whether Jiangbei can be held depends on these next few days." There was no great worry on Seventh Elder's face. Especially after he saw that the wall was no longer twenty meters high, but thirty, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly. If this Jiangbei Defense Line could be broken, that would truly be seeing a ghost. "Well enough." Chen Fan stood on the wall in the sea wind and said with a smile, "Any news of the Eternal Night Hall lately?" He had few channels for obtaining news of the Eternal Night Hall. It came mainly through Seventh Elder. "Well enough." Seventh Elder let out a long sigh. "Last rainy season, the Eternal Night Front lost another position, but after the rainy season they took it back." "The main thing is that during the rainy season, the pressure on the Eternal Night Front is greater." "On ordinary days it's still all right." "All we can do is hold this little plot of ours. The rest can only be left to the Eternal Night Hall. If the Eternal Night Front truly falls, then we can only accept our fate." "Mm." Chen Fan gave a slight nod. "Right." Seventh Elder suddenly swept a somewhat puzzled glance around. "Your Fan Domain hasn't recruited any more people? Your Jiangbei Defense Line is no less than 170 kilometers. If you don't recruit more people, the collection work after the battle won't be easy to carry out." "Defense Line No. 7 has several hundred thousand people at the least, and more than half of them are responsible for collection after the battle." A defense line's main source of ghost stone income was these ghost stones collected after battle. "It ought to be enough." Chen Fan said with some hesitation, "I issued a notice outward and asked the major factions for aid. I had them send some people over. It should be roughly enough." "That won't do." Seventh Elder's face turned ugly at once, his brows tightly knit. "Domain Lord Chen, you think a bit too well of the factions of the Four Lands of Jiangbei and the two plains of Guanxi." "They are not the sort who will answer just because you send out one plea for aid." "Even though this Jiangbei Defense Line of yours is sheltering them, before the ghost tide truly reaches their faces, they will not appreciate it." "Is that so?" Chen Fan heard the whistle of a high-speed rail behind him, turned, and looked back. When he saw what was there, he suddenly laughed. "There. They've come." Seventh Elder followed Chen Fan's line of sight. On the wasteland behind the Jiangbei Defense Line, several high-speed rail tracks ran, and seven or eight trains were traveling side by side along them, racing across the wasteland. Soon they arrived beneath the Jiangbei Defense Line. The first train came to a steady stop. Several hundred people stepped down from the train and kept carrying box after box of ghost stones off it. At their head was none other than the Holy Lord of Tuxian Holy Land. He stood at the foot of the wall, cupped his fists, looked up at Chen Fan on the wall, grinned, and roared. "Seven hundred and twenty-nine disciples of Tuxian Holy Land have all arrived. We bring our own three months of dry rations, and support you with five million ghost stones. We ask only for a battle!" "For Jiangbei! For Guanxi!"