Old Demon Jiangbei

All these years, only mindless ghost creatures would dare approach Nameless Mountain. Yet... The crimson triangle in his pupils spun rapidly as he ran through his plans. Once the rainy season ended, he would break through to ghost king and take Qiu Kui as his bride! He would formally step into an era that belonged to him. If he waited another year to scheme, he would never encounter another rainy season so rich in ghostly energy. The rainy season did not arrive early every year; he had to make his breakthrough to ghost king during this very one. The right time, the right place, and the ghosts in alignment. This opportunity could not be missed. After a long silence, the man made up his mind, his voice raspy. "A hundred and eighty years have passed. That person will never return." "Go." "Cross the Dead Sea and land on Nameless Mountain. As long as you find the Mountain Skeleton Embryo, I will credit you with great merit. Once I advance to ghost king, I will devote all my resources to nurturing you." "Understood, King." ... Jiangbei Wasteland, within Nameless Mountain. Dawn broke. No ghost creatures had attacked the previous night; it had been entirely peaceful. "..." After Chen Fan finished a simple wash, he walked out past the wall of Cave No. 1 and stood inside the sinkhole, gazing at the sheer cliffs rising on all four sides. He glanced at the crocodile sprawled asleep in the cave sheltering from the rain, and a broad smile filled his eyes. So this fellow slept after all. He had genuinely thought it was made of iron. The progress was remarkable. A full seventeen hollows had been carved into the surrounding cliff faces, all of them access tunnels the crocodile had excavated overnight. Chen Fan did not delay; he entered the cave immediately, stepping into the internal passageways the crocodile had hollowed out to set up cannon towers one by one. The tunnel wound upward. Before long, he arrived at the first opening on the cliff's exterior. The crocodile’s excavation layout followed a "vascular" system: it first dug a main artery through the mountain's interior, then branched outward like limbs of a tree, linking to nodes along the sheer precipices and opening chambers toward the rock face. This minimized the workload to the greatest extent possible. Tier-5 cannon towers were erected one after another. Walls concealing the cave openings materialized alongside them. Copper pipes were laid throughout the passages, connecting the cannon towers to the ghost fire to provide them with an energy supply. None of the seventeen excavated hollows sat higher than fifty meters up the cliff face, placing them well within the camp's boundary, so there was no need to build additional ghost fires to extend the camp's vertical reach. ... An hour later. Chen Fan stood in the center of the sinkhole, looking up at the four cliff faces shrouded in rain and mist. Directly before him was his Cave No. 1, where the dark crimson Ghost Blood Patterns on the tier-3 wall gave the entire structure an imposing solidity. The next instant— With a shift of his thought, a portion of the copper pipes connected to the ghost fire lit up. Eighteen dark hollows abruptly emerged along the surrounding cliff walls. Tier-5 cannon towers perched at the edges of the openings, looking down over the sinkhole. Their range covered the entire expanse of the crater; once activated, these towers would form a ferocious crossfire network. Any ghost creature bold enough to step into the sinkhole would suffer a devastating blow. "Mm..." Chen Fan rested his chin in one hand, looking up at the sight with a satisfied nod. When upgrading these tier-5 cannon towers to tier 3, the path he had chosen for nearly all of them had been: *"Crossbow bolts will carry the lightning element, effectively paralyzing enemies and dealing chain damage to up to three creatures near the hit target."* Upon reaching tier 5, the attack method had changed from crossbow bolts to beams of light, but they retained the upgrade path's effect and could inflict chain damage. Each of these towers could inflict massive damage on groups of creatures. The only flaw was... the quantity was still a bit too low. If only he could place a hundred tier-5 cannon towers along the surrounding cliffs. Eighteen did not feel entirely secure. It was worth mentioning that for three of the tier-5 cannon towers, he had chosen the upgrade path of Arrow Rain Storm—the camp's sole active skill. Activating it on a tier-5 cannon tower cost fifty ghost stones each time, and since he had yet to test it, he did not know its actual effectiveness for the moment. Zhou Mo and Da Yu had already set out early in the morning, each riding a Skeleton Horse into the wasteland to scavenge supplies from abandoned outposts and bring back any ghost creature corpses from the unmanned outposts along the way. With the retreat of the darkness, the camp grew busy once more. The camp had 2,135 ghost stones remaining. "Running low again..." Chen Fan sighed softly. Ghost stones simply did not last; they vanished before he even felt he had spent them. He wondered how other factions managed to earn ghost stones. He had dug up two latrine pits and obtained over ten thousand ghost stones, which should have been an enormous haul. An ordinary outpost would have to lodge more than ten thousand travelers to earn that many, yet in his hands, they were gone in the blink of an eye. Shaking his head, he gave it no further thought, mounting his horse to continue setting up unmanned outposts. An unmanned outpost cost only 160 ghost stones, making it exceptionally cost-effective. ... "Old Demon Jiangbei." In Jiangnan, amidst a vast expanse of forest. A woman in a white dress stood on the grass, looking calmly at the blue-robed middle-aged man before her. "Are you truly unwilling to marry me? My father has no other children. Once he steps down, you will be the master of the city behind me. "Ghost creatures run rampant across the continent now. Wandering around day in and day out will get you killed sooner or later. "Stay here, and you will live." The city behind the woman was immensely sturdy. Nestled in the dense woods, its walls stood ten meters high, completely covered in dark green vines as thick as wrists that bound it like iron chains and trailed from the base into the forest. The entire city seemed fused with the forest as one. "It really is impressive." The blue-robed man wearing a conical bamboo hat casually plucked a stalk of foxtail grass, held it in his mouth, and clicked his tongue in admiration as he looked at the city behind her. "The whole city is built of tier-3 walls. "And an unbroken set of Vine Patterns at that. It's the most suitable pattern for a forest environment, allowing the city to draw nutrients from nearby flora through the vines during battle and repair damaged sections almost endlessly. "The patterns gained when upgrading walls to tier 3 are entirely random. To create a uniform set, one would have to tear down and rebuild any wall that rolled a different pattern, repeating the process over and over until an unbroken set was achieved. "Building this city back then must have consumed an immense amount of manpower and wealth. "A true marvel of craftsmanship. "Not a single city in all of Jiangbei looks this decent." "Construction began fifty-seven years ago under our ancestors," the white-dressed woman said, a flash of pride and satisfaction in her eyes. "Vast resources were poured into this city, and it took two full years to complete. Since then, it has never fallen to ghost creatures even once, and over the years it has only grown more fortified. Well? Are you tempted? Will you marry me? "As long as you don't leave Jiangnan and stay to marry me, this city is yours. "We can consummate our marriage tonight." "No." The blue-robed man slowly shook his head. Looking languidly toward the distant horizon in the direction of the Jiangbei Wasteland, he spoke absentmindedly. "The rainy season in Jiangbei has arrived early. In a little over two months, it will be that old bastard's grand birthday celebration. "Every member of his family will gather that day. "I need to go and slaughter to my heart's content. "That will feel far better than a wedding night."