Upgrade Approved!

The Eternal Night Continent had finally been rebooted. A massive infrastructure campaign swept across the Fan Domain. Countless people toiled from dawn till dusk, building a homeland of their own. Whenever night fell, they still looked up at the sky from time to time. Although dense darkness still hung overhead, seemingly no different from before, people no longer believed it would last forever. Even if they had caught only a fleeting glimpse of the star-filled sky through the golden rain, a seed of hope had been planted in every heart. Everyone looked forward to the day when the sea of stars would truly grace the heavens, and the eternal night would truly recede. Just like that... The grand construction drive continued for more than two months. Then, on a certain day in the third month, under a bright sun, a sudden roar tore through the sky like a thunderbolt from the blue. Everyone froze in their tracks, instinctively looking up. In the next instant, boundless heaven-and-earth spiritual energy—so thick it was practically solid—gathered and swirled high above the entire Eternal Night Continent. It spun faster and faster. The spiritual energy grew denser and denser. Until, with a resonant sound like the beating of a mighty war drum, the swirling energy formed four massive characters in the heavens: "Eternal Night Continent." No matter which corner of the continent people were in, looking up revealed those four sky-spanning characters. Standing atop the Heaven-Reaching Pillar on the rear mountain of Nameless Mountain, Chen Fan looked down across the whole of Jiangbei. Deep within his soul, the Eternal Night Lord panel flashed with golden light. "Eternal Night Continent prosperity has surpassed three million." "Heavenly Dao of the Eternal Night Continent is condensing..." These days, he preferred daydreaming atop the Heaven-Reaching Pillar rather than standing along the Jiangbei Defense Line. From this height, he could take in much of Jiangbei's great construction boom at a single glance. He loved watching the scene unfold. He loved building. He loved watching this land change because of him, gradually transforming into something new. He wanted to forge a continent prosperous enough to endure for generations. The Eternal Night Continent. Vaguely, he saw faint azure mist abruptly rise above the Dead Sea of Jiangbei. Twisting and coiling together, it soared straight into the clouds, plunging into those four sky-high characters. The corners of his mouth curved upward. It seemed he had made it in time. In the next breath, the four characters blanketing the sky slowly dispersed. The heavens and earth returned to their former state, seemingly unchanged. Yet Chen Fan felt a faint sensation of being accepted by this world. A race without a Heavenly Dao—a continent without one—was essentially severed from the world itself, completely unacknowledged by the heavens. While it didn't bring intense rejection, it had always felt slightly suffocating. Now, things felt much better. "Mr. Na," Chen Fan murmured softly atop the Heaven-Reaching Pillar. His voice was quiet, but he trusted that if Mr. Na had truly returned, he would hear it. No answer came to his first call. "Mr. Na," he called again. Still no response. Just as he opened his mouth a third time, a wisp of spiritual energy rapidly converged before him, condensing into the silhouette of a middle-aged man. As always, he wore a green robe and had sharply chiseled features. But this time, his eyes were cold and devoid of emotion. He spoke each word with chilling frost: "I am the Heavenly Dao of the Eternal Night Continent. Are you the master of this realm's faction, the Fan Domain?" Only his appearance remained familiar; his tone and the emotion in his gaze were entirely different from the past. "Sigh." Chen Fan let out a quiet breath, turned, and headed toward the edge of the Heaven-Reaching Pillar to take the hanging basket back down, muttering under his breath, "Seems Mr. Na didn't make it back after all. Guess I'll just stew Big Crocodile and Little Crocodile for dinner. Wonder how a Heaven-Swallowing Crocodile tastes. Bound to be good." Before the words had even settled... "Hey, wait!" The rigid, aloof expression behind him instantly collapsed into helplessness. The figure rushed forward, grabbing Chen Fan's sleeve. "It's me, it's me! I was just joking with you! How on earth did you see through it?" Chen Fan turned and shot him a sidelong glance. "Didn't you say it yourself? A Heavenly Dao would never contact mortal factions. What kind of normal Heavenly Dao acts like you?" "Heheh." The middle-aged man grinned, a trace of gratitude surfacing deep in his eyes. He pinched his fingers to calculate, then tapped his forehead. His perspective soared rapidly into the clouds until the entire Eternal Night Continent lay beneath his gaze. Dazed, he murmured, "I truly never expected I would return to Jiangbei. In less than three months, the Fan Domain raised the Eternal Night Continent's prosperity enough to reconverge the Heavenly Dao. It's simply... inconceivable." "Save the sentiment for later. Time to get to work." "Work? What work?" "Sigh..." Chen Fan sighed again and patted Mr. Na on the shoulder. "Did you spend so long out of the job that you forgot your primary duties, old gentleman? The Eternal Night Continent has met every single requirement to advance to a Tier 2 continent. All that's left is for you to submit the report up above." "Right, right, right!" The middle-aged man smacked his forehead. "Hold on, I'll take care of it right now!" With that, he vanished, dissolving back into the heavens and earth. Chen Fan stood alone atop the Heaven-Reaching Pillar, looking at the boundless, clear skies and chuckling. A Heavenly Dao you could actually communicate with wasn't half bad. It made getting things done much easier. You could even nudge him along. Right then— A deafening roll of thunder cracked across the cloudless blue. Every mountain range across the Eternal Night Continent released a low, dragon-like roar in unison. Rivers rippled without wind, and leaves throughout every forest began to tremble. Immediately after, across the vast sky, countless hundreds of millions of ultra-fine, pale-gold threads cascaded from the heavens. In the next instant, those fine threads formed three-dimensional characters. They belonged to no known writing system, yet their meaning was understood instinctively. "The Eternal Night Continent." The first line surfaced. As if confirming the continent's true name, the text rapidly dissolved into a shower of light that soaked into the mountains, rivers, and earth. "Endured thirty-seven thousand three hundred years." The second line appeared. Along those hundreds of millions of threads, images flickered into existence like luminous diodes. Among them were scenes from the ancient era, when living creatures were first born upon this land. There were visions from millennia ago, when ghost tides ran rampant and an architect known as the Undying Heavenly Master cast aside his blueprints before the falling defense line, picked up a broadsword, and roared as he launched one final charge. There were also scenes from recent days—Qiu Yisi and Tian Yi declaring that even if mayflies plunged into the sea, they would burn their blood to scorch the heavens; the great evacuation of the Eternal Night Continent; and the desperate, bloody stand of Jiangbei's Fan Domain. Visions flashed by in rapid succession—every ordeal the Eternal Night Continent had suffered, and the indelible history it had carved into time. "Calamities redoubled, hardships ran deep, bones flowed like rivers. "Yet the kindling was never extinguished. Today, the Fan Domain takes up the crusade on behalf of all living beings, cleansing filth and opening the new. "Spiritual veins open of their own accord; the heavenly path is unsealed. "Though the night has not yet ended, the continent shines bright from within." Line after line appeared. After each one manifested, it shattered into glowing rain, soaking into the land. Chen Fan faintly heard a series of crisp fractures by his ears, like glass breaking apart. Then, the billions of golden threads rapidly fused together until four colossal, glittering golden characters formed above the Eternal Night Continent: "Upgrade Approved!" The moment those four characters settled, it felt like an iron seal stamped on reality. The Eternal Night Continent trembled slightly. The four characters hung in the air for the span of an entire incense stick before dissolving into a gentle, soothing rain of light that showered across the land. This rain added nothing to anyone's lifespan, yet when it touched the skin, it held not the slightest chill. It was exceptionally warm. Standing alone atop the Heaven-Reaching Pillar and looking down at Jiangbei, Chen Fan paused for a long while before breaking into a grin. Deep within his soul, a prompt slowly surfaced: "The Eternal Night Continent has advanced to a Tier 2 continent." Several years had passed since he crossed over into this world. Today, he finally had something to show for it. Just then, he felt the Heaven-Reaching Pillar tremble beneath him. Descending to the base, Chen Fan noticed a change in the pillar: a slot resembling a letterbox had appeared on its surface. He pulled the continent-wide ghost-hide map from his robe and slid it inside. Instantly, the complete ghost-hide map materialized across the pillar's surface like an embossed relief. Gray areas indicated zones beyond range. Green areas indicated zones within range. With a simple tap on any green region, the Heaven-Reaching Pillar would activate and bombard that location. This was the operational authority granted to the Heaven-Reaching Pillar by a Tier 2 continent. Chen Fan stood quietly in place. He had always assumed the Eternal Night Lord panel was like a player interface—something that ought to belong to everyone, except no one else in this world happened to have it. Now it was clear that wasn't the case. This world had its own complete, established system. His Eternal Night Lord panel was more like a custom plug-in, packed with features that bypassed permissions. For instance, while the Eternal Night Continent was still a Tier 1 continent, he had already been able to use the Heaven-Reaching Pillar and integrate Heavenly Dao Cannons. Both actions had circumvented the underlying rules of this world. "Plug-in" might sound a bit foreign. A more familiar term would be: A flat-out cheat. The panel had also updated slightly. "Building Name: Heaven-Reaching Pillar" "Building Quality: Yellow" "Building Level: Level 10" "Building Effect: City defense building" "Level 10 Max-Level Effect: Devastation (Power increased)" "Heavenly Dao Blessing Effect: One Qi Transforms into Three Purities (When launched, the Heaven-Reaching Pillar splits into three pillars upon arriving above the target area, each carrying the same power as the original)" "Note: Upgrading to Level 11 requires 20,000 ghost stones." The Heaven-Reaching Pillar was no longer capped at max level. Its previous max-level effect had become a "Level 10 Max-Level Effect," and it could now be raised to Level 11. He had considered this issue a while ago: the pillar's strike range could not cover the entire Eternal Night Continent. Since the Heaven-Reaching Pillar was an installation officially unlocked for Tier 2 continents, inter-continental bombardments might eventually become a reality. How was one supposed to solve insufficient range? Now he had the answer: keep upgrading. He turned his attention back to the panel's Building Compendium, which clearly listed thirty-two max-level buildings across the Fan Domain. Several everyday civilian structures had been brought to max level by him over the past few months. The next threshold was fifty max-level buildings, which would unlock higher-tier rewards. In the compendium, the icon for the Heaven-Reaching Pillar was still glowing rather than dimmed. In other words, as long as a building hit Level 10—or possessed its first max-level effect—it still counted toward the max-level total. Chen Fan pondered the implications. He hadn't splurged on ghost stones lately, even though the Fan Domain now possessed nearly eight hundred billion of them. Things were different from the old days in Jiangbei; their enterprise had grown massive, and every single stone had to be spent where it counted most. He decided to test upgrading one Heaven-Reaching Pillar first. After pouring in three million ghost stones, the pillar beneath him reached Level 20. Another panel popped up: "Heaven-Reaching Pillar has reached Level 20." "Maximum level reached; cannot be upgraded further." "Acquired Level 20 Max-Level Effect: Far Across the Ocean (When the Heaven-Reaching Pillar's point of impact is outside the Eternal Night Continent, damage is tripled)." The Fan Domain's very first Level 20 Heaven-Reaching Pillar! The most direct reflection of the continent's advancement to Tier 2 was that the pillar's cap was no longer Level 10, but Level 20. As for other buildings, he hadn't inspected them yet. Arriving at the Jiangbei Defense Line, Chen Fan ran a hand over the battlements. The wall's level cap was no longer Level 10 either; it could now reach Level 11. Upgrading each meter to Level 11 required ten thousand ghost stones and... a handful of soil from another continent. The cap had been broken. If forced to choose between three Level 10 defense lines and a single Level 11 defense line, he would pick the latter without hesitation. Three Level 10 lines—much like the New Continent's former seven lines—were merely a desperate compromise. When the ceiling couldn't be breached, stacking numbers was the only option. Once a Level 10 wall fell, the ones behind it merely bought a little extra time. Previously, taking one meter of wall from Level 9 to Level 10 had cost fifty thousand ghost stones plus five rare natural treasures of any kind. Now, going from Level 10 to Level 11 cost only ten thousand ghost stones plus a handful of soil from another continent. The upgrade cost had dropped drastically. Chen Fan stood in contemplation. By now, Wang Kui had already dispatched men to deliver soil from the New Continent. Chen Fan tried upgrading the meter of wall beneath his feet to Level 11. A prompt appeared: "Wall upgraded to Level 11. Durability and strength increased." "No upgrade branch available for this level." Upgrading to Level 12 cost twenty thousand ghost stones and a handful of soil from another continent. He continued pushing it upward until that one meter reached Level 15. Only when attempting to reach Level 16 did the cost rise to fifty thousand ghost stones and a handful of soil—finally matching what it had once cost to go from Level 9 to Level 10. "Phew..." Chen Fan let out a long breath. He understood the pattern now. No wonder upgrading the Heaven-Reaching Pillar from Level 10 to Level 11 had cost a mere twenty thousand ghost stones. Building upgrades didn't just become endlessly more expensive. Rather, Level 10 was a threshold. Once that hurdle was cleared, the cost plummeted, dropping even lower than the jump from Level 9 to Level 10. Costs would only ramp up again around Level 16 or 17, peaking with a massive jump from Level 19 to Level 20. Once the Level 20 hurdle was cleared—marking the jump from a Tier 2 continent to a Tier 3 continent—the cost from Level 20 to Level 21 would reset to a lower baseline until the next threshold was reached. This led to a simple reality: a Tier 2 continent held absolute superiority over a Tier 1 continent. By spending only a modest amount of extra materials, a Tier 2 continent could exert total dominance. For example, a Level 15 defense line was something a Tier 1 continent could never possess in its lifetime, whereas a Tier 2 continent needed only a few more ghost stones to build it. Furthermore, the required material for upgrading the wall—a handful of soil from another continent—made the overarching design clear. If a Tier 1 continent was a starter village intended to let players learn how to build, grasp the basic gameplay, and familiarize themselves with the world, then a Tier 2 continent was all about exploration—venturing outward. Only by discovering a new continent could one continue upgrading walls. He strongly suspected many other buildings would likewise require soil from a new continent to advance. He glanced toward the nearby God-Slaying Cannon. Sure enough, raising it to Level 11 required a handful of soil from another continent. Chen Fan couldn't help but chuckle. This world truly resembled a game. Tier 1 was the starter village, Tier 2 was exploration, and Tier 3 would surely be conquest—marching straight into the quagmire of war that Mr. Na had spoken of. What he needed to do now, during the Eternal Night Continent's three-year grace period, was develop the continent as aggressively as possible. Meanwhile, the Commerce Pavilion could embark on exploratory voyages once more, seeking out other continents that belonged to the human faction to see how they developed. Isolationism was never the answer. Standing alone on the Jiangbei Defense Line as the sea breeze washed over him, Chen Fan wondered if it was just his imagination, but the wind no longer smelled of brine today. It carried a hint of sweetness—the sweet taste of freedom. "Chen Fan." Mr. Na appeared beside him at some point, a smile in his eyes. "It feels pretty good being the Heavenly Dao of a Tier 2 continent for the first time. I can see the hidden Heavenly Dao blessings for Tier 2. Care to hear them?" "Can we complete any of them right now?" "No." "Then keep it to yourself for now. Let me sweep up all the hidden blessings from Tier 1 first." Chen Fan yawned lazily and stretched his arms wide. There was still a mountain of work to do, but this time they had plenty of drive, ample time, and abundant resources—a far cry from the desperate, dying struggles of the past. Time slipped by. Without realizing it, six months had passed since the end of the war. On this day, all members of the Commerce Pavilion began withdrawing from the New Continent. Their mission there was complete, and it was time to return to their primary duties. Hundreds of flying boats touched down along the New Continent's shores. Thousands of Commerce Pavilion members stood in neat, orderly ranks. "Everyone!" Wang Mazi stood on an elevated platform in formal attire. The pockmarks on his face had long faded, revealing weathered features tempered by time. His gaze swept over every member of the Commerce Pavilion. "Comrades! We are about to set sail. This is not a military campaign, but an expedition of discovery! "For thirty-seven thousand three hundred years, eternal night shrouded our continent. We once believed the Eternal Night Continent was the entirety of heaven and earth, and that black night was the eternal backdrop of existence. "Yet the Heavenly Dao bore witness to our continent's elevation, granting us a glimpse of a sky full of stars. Fleeting though it was, it showed us that this world holds boundless possibilities! This is not merely the recognition of heaven and earth; it is a blank canvas handed to our Fan Domain to paint upon! "Who are we? We are the people of the Fan Domain! "Today, we must temporarily step out from this cradle forged of blood and iron!" Wang Mazi's voice surged with passionate resonance as he pointed toward the cloudless sky and roared, "What lies out there? Perhaps ancient ruins of forgotten civilizations, perhaps burgeoning new continents, or perhaps alien races bearing goodwill or hostility! "Of course, I fear it too. I fear the unknown, and I fear loss. I fear that the lights of home will dim once we leave. But do you know what is far more terrifying? It is the thought that ten thousand years from now, our descendants will still sit huddled on this single continent, telling the exact same stories, believing that the edge of our land is the end of the world! "What was the very first lesson the Fan Domain taught us? It was not how to hide from the dark, but how to become the light! "Now, we shall carry that light outward! "If we lose our way and never return, do not mourn for us! Tell our descendants that we died upon the Fan Domain's march! "But if we return..." Wang Mazi drew a deep breath, veins bulging along his neck as he roared, "...then we shall make the name of the Fan Domain thunder across heaven and earth! "Brothers and sisters! Are you willing to march with me, Wang Mazi?! To see just how vast this world truly is, and to tell the world what the Fan Domain stands for?!" As the speech concluded, thunderous applause erupted from the thousands of Commerce Pavilion members below. Every face, young and old alike, burned with a fervent sense of purpose! Below the stage, Sick Monkey clapped along with a helpless smirk, muttering to the crowd beside him, "Man, Wang Mazi's sounding more and more like a high-and-mighty official these days..." "Is he? I think he did great," Chen Fan replied with a laugh, clapping alongside him. His eyes were filled with admiration and fond nostalgia. Once upon a time, during that very first rainy season, Wang Mazi had been a terrified, trembling wretch who sidled up to him and promised that if he survived the season, he would follow Chen Fan forever. Back then, timidity had filled his eyes, and his every step had been cautious and hesitant. Now, he could stand proudly before thousands of people and deliver a stirring speech, swaying the entire crowd without showing the faintest hint of stage fright. It felt almost like watching one's own child grow up. Chen Fan felt genuinely proud of him. The growth of the Fan Domain had never been about him alone; everyone was growing together. "Domain Lord, would you say a few words?" Standing on the platform, Wang Mazi looked down toward Chen Fan with expectant eyes. The thousands of Commerce Pavilion members turned to look as well, hoping for their lord's blessing before departing. Several months ago, when the Eternal Night Continent had advanced to Tier 2, another hidden Heavenly Dao blessing had been completed almost simultaneously: "Will of the People: Following total unification, over seventy percent of the continent's population acknowledges the faction." He didn't know the exact percentage, but it was well over seventy. Chen Fan smiled, stepped onto the platform leaning on his emerald cane, and discreetly activated the anomalous treasure in his robe, amplifying his voice across the square. He looked over the thousands of Commerce Pavilion members below, paused for a moment, and spoke clearly: "Three things. "First, we held our ground. Not merely because we held our walls, but because we held onto what it means to be human. "Second, the Heavenly Dao granted us elevation. The heavens finally acknowledged that the blood we shed is thicker than the eternal night, and the fires we kindle burn hotter than the abyss! "Third... once you set sail, if you meet friends, tell them the Fan Domain has fine wine. If you meet foes, the Fan Domain also has torches. "Go forth, and tell this world that the Fan Domain has arrived. "And above all else, I sincerely wish for every one of you to return safe and sound!" The moment his voice faded, a tidal wave of applause erupted. The eyes of every Commerce Pavilion member burned with fervent reverence as they gazed up at the figure on the stage, their faces tilted toward the sunlight. The thunderous applause lasted for dozens of breaths, cutting off instantly the moment Chen Fan raised his hand. Chen Fan gave a slight nod, placed his right hand over his heart, and bowed to them all. Below, the crowd bustled into feverish action. Before long, flying boats lifted off one by one, charting courses in various directions. Because the flying boats carried limited ghost stones, logistics supply depots would need to be established across the open waters to ensure resupply during long voyages. As Chen Fan stepped down from the platform, Mr. Na shrugged helplessly from the edge of the crowd. "The Heavenly Dao doesn't have emotions, you know. The Eternal Night Continent was promoted to Tier 2 simply because it met the upgrade criteria, not because the heavens felt your blood was thicker than the night." "Look at you," Chen Fan shot back with a roll of his eyes. "We've been building private academies in bulk lately. If you have some free time, go sit in on a class. You still have a lot to learn about human culture." "Well, maybe I should." The middle-aged man stroked his chin thoughtfully. Having no productive duties, he was essentially an unemployed vagrant wandering around all day. Even so, being a Heavenly Dao was far more comfortable now than in the past; he could take human form and roam freely, something he could never do before, let alone wander onto other continents. "Young Master!" Sick Monkey gave an excited thumbs-up, his face glowing with shared pride. "That got my blood pumping! That speech had real class!" Chen Fan couldn't help laughing. "When Wang Mazi speaks, you call it bureaucratic posturing, but when I speak, it's classy? Your favoritism is a bit too obvious." "Heheh." Sick Monkey rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I just think Young Master is amazing, that's all." "All right, let's head back." Chen Fan stretched and walked toward nearby New Continent Outpost No. 1, intending to take the high-speed rail through the undersea tunnel back to the Fan Domain. There were plenty of matters awaiting his attention over there. For instance... with more and more private academies being established, another hidden Heavenly Dao blessing was nearing completion.