Never Again Like the Outings of Youth

"How did that human saying go again?" On a colossal desolate island. Ghost Emperor Jiuwu stood atop a high mountain at the center of the island, pondering. "Something about buying sweet osmanthus and carrying wine along, and then learning how to swim, or whatever." Soon, however, he cast those thoughts from his mind and looked into the distance with a sigh of sentiment. He had resided on this desolate island for half a year now. It felt pretty good. Retirement was always enjoyable. Except... Jiuwu looked out at the illusory Xuanwu sprinting toward him once more across the distant sea. He let out a soft sigh, stepped into the air, and flew away from the island, preparing to lure the illusory Xuanwu back into the ocean depths again. Six months ago, when he saw this old companion on the sea again, he had been utterly dumbfounded. He had already forgotten what he had felt at that moment. Hadn't he died and revived? Why the hell was this Xuanwu still following him! Forget it. Same as before, an unshakeable morning run every single day. He would just treat it as working out. Across the vast ocean. Standing on the deck of a flying boat, Wang Mazi held a voice transmission talisman, his voice grave. "Everyone remember: if you encounter any unknown creature, or even an unknown continent—" "Do not advance to investigate under any circumstances." "Transmit the information back immediately." "Acknowledge receipt." "Copy." "Copy." One acknowledgment after another sounded from the voice transmission talisman. Only after this was done did Wang Mazi look toward the deep sea with a solemn expression. No one knew what lay in the ocean depths, but that was precisely the purpose of their Commerce Pavilion's existence. Exploration. Exploring this realm, exploring this world. Eternal Night Continent, Jiangbei. Chen Fan looked at the Vehicle Workshop before him, which he had upgraded to Level 10. The piece of Heavenly Scourge Wood he had just obtained had now been consumed. Having reached Level 10, the workshop's overall appearance had also undergone a change, looking far grander and more imposing. It was now the thirty-third max-level building in the Fan Domain. An additional vehicle had become available for crafting. "Vehicle Workshop upgraded to Level 10." "No branching paths for this upgrade." "New craftable vehicle unlocked: Digging Puppet. Capable of subterranean excavation. Crafting cost: 1,000 ghost stones." Chen Fan promptly expended one thousand ghost stones to craft a Digging Puppet. It stood a little over a meter tall, made entirely of bronze and wearing a small bronze cap, looking like a bronze sculpture. In its hand, it held a small bronze shovel. Upon receiving the order, the Digging Puppet went to work. Raising its shovel, it dug straight into the ground, quickly scooping out a small pit and burying itself. "This isn't bad at all." A gleam flashed across Chen Fan's eyes. It was not as fast as Weiwei, but it could be mass-produced, which meant large-scale infrastructure projects could be carried out. Weiwei would no longer need to dig underground tunnels personally; crafting a batch of Digging Puppets would suffice. Whenever they encountered particularly tough spots to dig—such as the seabed soil in the Thunderstorm Sea—they could send Weiwei in then. "Not bad." Chen Fan smiled. Upgrading the Vehicle Workshop to Level 11 required ten thousand ghost stones and another piece of Heavenly Scourge Wood. He could not upgrade it for now; he would have to wait and see when the Thunderstorm Sea produced another piece. He had also gained the Level 10 max-level effect. "Vehicle Workshop Level 10 Max Effect: 'Heavy Traffic.' Unlocks the compatible yellow-grade architectural blueprint 'Road.' Vehicles traveling on roads gain doubled speed and exert an intimidating aura against ghost creatures." There was no physical blueprint. Directly on the Eternal Night Lord interface, a craftable structure named "Road" appeared. Constructing one meter required merely a single ghost stone—the same price as a copper pipe. "A pity..." Chen Fan felt a slight pang of regret. This effect could not be applied to the high-speed rail, which was not considered a vehicle; in essence, it was merely a hanging basket. Still, the construction cost of these roads was extremely cheap. They could be paved throughout the Eternal Night Continent, enhancing communication and circulation across all territories. He retrieved a Heavenly Dao Stone from his robes. The Fan Domain currently possessed sixteen Heavenly Dao Stones remaining. The Vehicle Workshop certainly deserved one. "You have used a Heavenly Dao Stone on the Vehicle Workshop. Three Heavenly Dao Blessings have been generated. Please select one within one hundred breaths." "A structure may possess only one Heavenly Dao Blessing." "1: Heavenly Dao Blessing (Incessant Stream): Travel consumption is halved for all existing and future vehicles." "2: Heavenly Dao Blessing (Lightning Speed): Speed is doubled, and travel consumption is doubled, for all existing and future vehicles." "3: Heavenly Dao Blessing (Returned Intact): If the operator of the vehicle is worldly-innocent, vehicle speed is doubled while travel consumption remains unchanged." Chen Fan looked at the three options before him, hesitating slightly. All three were quite good. For vehicles, the two core requirements were speed and consumption. After a moment of contemplation, he chose the second. This world was simply too vast; speed was paramount for vehicles, and doubling the fuel consumption was well worth it. As for the third option, it was workable in theory, but the condition was somewhat troublesome. With so many people on the Eternal Night Continent, finding candidates would not be hard, but managing the requirement would be inconvenient. Inconvenience meant another administrative chore to track, and it ran counter to the Eternal Night Continent's current policy of encouraging childbirth. With that finished, Chen Fan walked back toward Nameless Mountain. He had numerous structures to upgrade and was terribly busy. Take the signal tower, for instance. Up to this point, all signal towers in the Fan Domain had remained at Level 1. First, the upgrade requirements were exceptionally steep: going from Level 1 to Level 2 required one of a Sea Embryo, Mountain Embryo, or Forest Embryo, along with two thousand ghost stones. For the Fan Domain of the past, such rare natural treasures were scarce. More importantly, a Level 1 signal tower already amplified the range of voice transmission talismans to one thousand kilometers, which had been sufficient. Now, however, peace had returned to the Eternal Night Continent, the surrounding seas were free of ghost creatures, and submersible ships had been officially deployed. As a result, Sea Embryos were being harvested in steady numbers. The Fan Domain currently held 781 Sea Embryos in reserve. The submersible ship was one of the vehicles unlocked by upgrading the Vehicle Workshop, though it had never been put into regular service before. Soon, after consuming a total of 45 Sea Embryos and 500,000 ghost stones, the signal tower standing atop Nameless Mountain reached Level 10. "That was bloody expensive..." Chen Fan muttered as he looked up at the tower towering over the peak. Each level consumed an additional Sea Embryo; in the past, the Fan Domain could never have afforded this. "Signal tower upgraded to Level 10." "No branching paths for this upgrade." "Communication range boost for voice transmission talismans expanded to 100,000 kilometers." "Level 10 Max Effect (Flying Messenger): Regardless of distance, communication suffers no latency and arrives instantly." "Hah!" Chen Fan grinned. The cost had been steep, but the outcome was flawless. A communication range of one hundred thousand kilometers was more than sufficient. Never mind that the Eternal Night Continent was currently only a Tier 2 continent; he suspected this range would be enough even if they eventually advanced to Tier 3. "Xiao Qiu." He pulled out a voice transmission talisman to contact the Logistics Pavilion Master. "Call back the personnel burying signal towers. No need to plant them anymore." When the Commerce Pavilion ventured out, ensuring uninterrupted communications was critical. Previously, because the towers had limited range, they had resorted to a clumsy method: using several flying boats to carry signal towers and drop them into the deep sea to serve as relays. That was no longer necessary. Whether on the Eternal Night Continent, the New Continent, or with the Commerce Pavilion's expedition fleet, real-time communication was now guaranteed. This provided an enormous boost to the Fan Domain. Naturally, it warranted a Heavenly Dao Stone. "You have used a Heavenly Dao Stone on the signal tower. Three Heavenly Dao Blessings have been generated. Please select one within one hundred breaths." "A structure may possess only one Heavenly Dao Blessing." "1: Heavenly Dao Blessing (Fish Delivering Letters): Intercept one random communication within this realm every day." "2: Heavenly Dao Blessing (Flying Messenger): Doubles voice transmission distance." "3: Heavenly Dao Blessing (Confidential Communications): Communications are completely confidential and cannot be intercepted by any means." This time, Chen Fan chose the third option without hesitation: Confidential Communications. The importance of secure communications went without saying. Next, he checked the upgrade requirements for the signal tower. Reaching Level 11 required one Sea Embryo and ten thousand ghost stones. After a brief pause, he hesitated no further. He directly expended 105 Sea Embryos and five million ghost stones, pushing the signal tower all the way to Level 20 in one go. "Signal tower upgraded to Level 20." "No branching paths for this upgrade." "Communication range boost for voice transmission talismans expanded to 1,000,000 kilometers." "Level 20 Max Effect (Continuous News): You may designate up to three keywords. Any voice transmission within communication range that mentions these keywords will be intercepted." "Maxed out!" "Completely done!" Chen Fan exhaled a long breath. The signal tower was fully maxed; he would never have to worry about it again. What did one million kilometers mean? The straight-line distance across the Eternal Night Continent, from the Western Desolate Isle to the easternmost edge, was twelve thousand kilometers. One million kilometers could pack in nearly a hundred Eternal Night Continents. Such a sweeping communication range would suffice for a very long time. Moreover, the newly acquired Level 20 effect was fascinating. In this world, where there was a spear, there was a shield. That was why he had chosen Confidential Communications so decisively. As for the three keywords, he pondered for a moment before entering them: "Tier 1 Continent," "Tier 2 Continent," "Eternal Night Continent." Across a one-million-kilometer radius, other continents and races were bound to exist. These three keywords would help him gather external intelligence. Before long, across the Eternal Night Lord panel deep within his soul and across a bronze mirror on the signal tower's surface, lines of messages began flashing by rapidly. "—Reporting to Master: twenty-seven thousand kilometers to the west, a new Tier 1 continent has been discovered. Awaiting instructions." "—...Still have no idea what the conditions for advancing to a Tier 2 continent are. The Holy Lord has been pulling his hair out in clumps over this lately..." "—...About to advance to a Tier 2 continent! Hahahahaha! I am the chosen one, destined to unify heaven and earth! Wherever I tread, all shall bow in submission!" "—..." Messages scrolled past in rapid succession, all captured from voice transmissions mentioning the keywords within the coverage area. Chen Fan skimmed through them quickly. There was not a single message regarding the Eternal Night Continent. It appeared the outside world remained unaware of its elevation to Tier 2, or simply did not care. After some thought, Chen Fan replaced the keyword "Eternal Night Continent" with "Black Abyss." He then took out his voice transmission talisman to contact Shao Qiu, instructing the Shadow Pavilion to dispatch someone whose daily duty would be reviewing this intercepted intelligence, summarizing it, and presenting it through Shao Qiu to him. "Black Abyss." A mystical phenomenon that appeared exclusively in sea territories, formed where dense dark qi coalesced. There, the Ghost Clan could summon ghost creatures on a massive scale; humans could do the same, rapidly acquiring copious ghost stones. It was a strategic prize contested by all. In essence, it was a supreme version of a ghost ore vein—a phenomenon that could feed an entire continent to repletion. If possible... While he would not provoke a clash with other continents in the near term—since he doubted they could win, given the Eternal Night Continent's current weakness—if the opportunity arose, he might be able to pick up some scraps. "Six months have passed since the great war." At the Jiangbei Defense Line. Chen Fan stood on the battlements, gazing out toward the sea. He had yet to acquire many architectural blueprints unlockable only by Tier 2 continents. For instance... The Xuantian Thruster. He had only unlocked the access permission. It dropped by chance from ghost creatures killed on the Eternal Night Continent or slain by its people. Recently, not a single ghost creature had appeared on the Eternal Night Continent, making it impossible to acquire. Ghost creatures no longer coalesced in the adjacent seas either, leaving the entire world far quieter. "Mr. Na." He glanced aside at Mr. Na, who was currently holding a bowl of shaved ice, relishing it under the blazing sun. "How is the fusion of the Primordial Continent fragment proceeding?" He had not forgotten to fuse the fragment of the Primordial Continent—the former habitat of the Ghost Clan. Merging primordial territory fell entirely under the Heavenly Dao's purview. The Fan Domain had already planted ghost fires across every corner of that fragment to claim complete dominion. Only once the Fan Domain fully secured the territory could the Heavenly Dao initiate the fusion. When the ghost fires were planted across the fragment, there had been no golden rain, no three-year protection period, nothing at all—as if nothing had transpired. "Soon, soon," Mr. Na said, smacking his lips. "Estimated to take another six months. After all, fusing a fragment of the Primordial Continent takes considerable work." "What are the specific benefits?" Chen Fan asked. "Hard to say." Mr. Na shook his head. "In the short term, there are certainly no tangible benefits. The fragment of the Primordial Continent will be completely broken down and integrated into the Eternal Night Continent, and our landmass won't expand." "The finer details elude me as well. But I can tell you what I do know: the Primordial Continent was the sole landmass in heaven and earth before the dark invasion. In other words, it represents the legitimacy of this world." "Any continent that assimilates a fragment of the Primordial Continent acquires that legitimacy." "You have no use for it right now. But once you do, you will realize how priceless that word is. You'll also understand why so many continents bombard each other madly just to seize a single fragment." Chen Fan said nothing more. He simply shrugged, leaned on his jade cane, and strolled aimlessly along the ramparts, enjoying the ocean breeze. The Fan Domain was advancing on all fronts, yet its most vital assets—the Heavenly Dao Cannon and the defensive line—remained unupgraded. The required resources were simply astronomical. The Fan Domain currently lacked the capital for continent-to-continent warfare. "Chen Fan." Perhaps reading his thoughts, Mr. Na finished scraping his bowl clean and offered comforting words: "The situation in this world isn't as chaotic as you imagine. Continents engaging in direct bombardment almost never happens." "Think about it. How many ghost stones does a single volley from your Level 10 Heavenly Dao Cannon consume?" "No one can afford it." "A full-scale war is a pure financial loss; there's no profit in it." "So aside from exceptional circumstances, all-out war is rarely waged. Develop steadily; there's no rush." "How can I not rush?" Chen Fan looked wistfully at Mr. Na. "The Eternal Night Continent doesn't have a single mountain range right now. Once the three-year protection period expires, how vast a defensive line will we have to build to protect it?" "There's no need," Mr. Na replied, shaking his head. "Why do you think the protection period is three years? Because three years is precisely how long the Heavenly Dao needs to construct the grand formation. I've been laying it since the very beginning. Once the protection period ends, a complete grand formation will emerge beneath the earth, turning even Jiangbei into a flawless node. You won't have to worry about ghost tides." "Can a mountain range stop other continents from bombarding us with Heavenly Dao Cannons?" "Can it stop them from using Heaven-Reaching Pillars to strike our heartland?" "No." "And no other continent has cannons or pillars with that kind of range either." "What if they sail their continent right up to ours?" "Then can't you just sail yours away? Besides, even with Xuantian Thrusters, continents move at a crawl. Generally speaking, bringing a continent forward is the ultimate showdown, an act of desperate all-or-nothing." "The Eternal Night Continent is minding its own business. Which continent would be crazy enough to ram forward just to annihilate you? Even if they tried, they couldn't breach the Thunderstorm Sea." "Ah, forget it." Mr. Na sighed suddenly. "Your personality makes you an ideal faction leader. You always anticipate the worst-case scenario and prepare accordingly. But on a personal level, it makes it very difficult for your mind to find peace; you become anxious too easily." "In truth, extreme scenarios rarely unfold in most cases." "Take it slow. Once you discover another continent and establish contact, you'll see how they develop, and you'll understand." "Pfft." Chen Fan could not help laughing. He shook his head and dropped the subject. He was somewhat anxious, but such anxiety was not fit to share with Sick Monkey or Wang Kui; Mr. Na made for a wonderful confidant. It was slightly unfair to Mr. Na, though. As a Heavenly Dao, he had to serve as a receptacle for negative emotions. Without realizing it, thirty days slipped by. Seven months had now passed since the great war ended. The Fan Domain continued its orderly development. Meanwhile, on a desolate island over ten thousand kilometers from the New Continent. "One, two, three, four, five; five, four, three, two, one." Along the beach, the dozens-of-meters-tall Jiuwu stretched his muscles, preparing for his daily morning run. By routine, his old companion would catch up to gnaw on him in about an hour. He hummed a jaunty nursery rhyme under his breath, one he had composed himself. Right at that moment— Ghost Emperor Jiuwu froze in his tracks. Far on the horizon, he seemed to glimpse a flying boat. The vessel was extremely hazy and indistinct, yet the banner planted upon it appeared unmistakable. "Fan." A black-and-white banner bearing the single character *Fan*. In that single instant, his heart felt as though it had stopped beating. Intense terror flooded his gaze. No way... He didn't even know where he was, yet the Fan Domain had tracked him down? No! This couldn't be directed specifically at him, or they wouldn't have dispatched just a single flying boat. The Fan Domain had to be exploring outward. He didn't know how far this desolate island lay from the Eternal Night Continent, but he was certain of one thing: It was definitely beyond the Thunderstorm Sea. How on earth had a Fan Domain boat flown through that sea? "I'm done for!" His heart dropped. He had a sinking feeling that his retirement was about to come to an end. Just then, he saw it. The flying boat was closing in rapidly, but as if it had spotted the swarms of ghost creatures blanketing the island, it had already begun executing a swift turn. Without the slightest hesitation, blood leaked from the corner of Ghost Emperor Jiuwu's mouth as he ignited a secret technique. He erupted with horrifying speed, pursuing the boat faster than the naked eye could track. He had to catch up and explain the situation; otherwise, once that boat returned to the Fan Domain, the next thing visiting him might be their Heaven-Reaching Pillars. "Level 1 Alert! Level 1 Alert!" Aboard the Fan Domain Commerce Pavilion flying boat, a middle-aged man roared into his voice transmission talisman, his face deathly pale. "This is Commerce Pavilion Boat 372. I am Boatmaster Wang Ke! Fourteen thousand kilometers east of the New Continent, we have discovered a large island crawling with ghost creatures!" "A creature suspected to be a Ghost Emperor is closing on us at extreme speed!" "Its speed is terrifying!" "Pavilion Master Wang..." The middle-aged man paused, trembling, eyes wide with horror as he rasped through gritted teeth: "We cannot return. We cannot return! Boat 372 is preparing to ignite the Mustard Seed Chamber for self-detonation. Please... take care of my wife and children." He then looked at the young men beside him. Their bloodshot eyes held fear and despair, but not a shred of retreat. Seeing the Ghost Emperor closing in, now only a few hundred meters away, he drew a deep breath and bellowed: "Everyone, prepare for the sacrificial blast!" Right at that moment! The Ghost Emperor arrived. With a single hand, he caught and halted the flying boat. His towering body, dozens of meters tall, dropped to its knees in midair as he wailed in absolute terror, his voice tearing from his throat: "Fan Domain, spare my life!" "It's me, Jiuwu!" "Six months ago, I helped guide and blow up a batch of ghost tide commanders for you! Remember me?" "Don't strike yet, let me explain!"