Damn, They Really Thought of Everything!

Atop the wall. Chen Fan carefully set the miniature incense altar down in an embrasure, preparing to ask the heavens. No fire was needed to light it. With a mere thought, the leftmost stick of incense ignited on its own without a flame, wisps of blue smoke drifting into the air and blending into the rainy night. It smelled quite pleasant. He sniffed instinctively, then took a deep breath and spoke with a solemn expression. "I beseech the heavens." "I want the 'Training Chamber' structure. What methods are there to obtain the building blueprint for the Training Chamber?" A question too simple was not worth it. A question too complex, he could not afford the price. So the only course he could think of was: Ask nothing about the future. Ask nothing about later on. Just ask about things he could use right now. He truly needed the Training Chamber building blueprint. It could effectively boost the personal strength of his subordinates in the camp. A camp couldn't rely solely on structures; the individual strength of his men was also vital. For instance, when venturing out on trading runs, they needed some skills to ensure both their own safety and the safety of the cargo. Soon. The wisps of blue smoke rising from the incense altar slowly gathered together, forming a line of text: "Sacrifice of 10 ghost stones required." Chen Fan's brow furrowed slightly. In the storage, ten ghost stones shattered into milky-white liquid and flowed into the incense altar. *Only ten ghost stones? Did I ask too cheap a question?* He had thought this ought to be quite a rare structure. After all, in his memory, the Training Chamber building didn't exist at all—let alone in the Chen family, not even in the entirety of Jiangbei City. The next moment, the wisps of blue smoke formed another line of text: "The Training Chamber has no building blueprint." "It is a qualitative change upgrade path with a certain probability of appearing when the white-grade structure 'Wooden Cabin' is upgraded from Level 3 to Level 4. This qualitative change upgrade path is rated as 'Rare.'" "This is the sole method of acquisition." Chen Fan stood frozen in place, expressionless. Looking at the dissipating blue smoke and the stick of incense that had burned down to ashes, he didn't know what to say. This basically meant that for the short term, he definitely had no shot at a Training Chamber. Building a wooden cabin from scratch and upgrading it to Level 4 required eighty-two ghost stones. It was just like drawing from a blind box. Maybe after drawing a hundred times, you'd get it. Or maybe after drawing a thousand times, you still wouldn't. There was no clearly defined probability—only the rating of 'Rare.' God only knew how many pulls it would take. He was still relatively well off. At least he could see the panel. For other factions to acquire a Training Chamber, the cost would be far steeper. First, building wooden cabins cost them more ghost stones than it did him. On top of that, they couldn't see the panel; even if they were lucky enough to encounter the Training Chamber upgrade path, because they couldn't see the panel, they could only acquire an upgrade path at random. The probability was slashed even further. No wonder there wasn't a single Training Chamber in all of Jiangbei City. This kind of structure simply wasn't something ordinary factions could afford. However— This only reinforced his determination to obtain this structure. As long as he could acquire a Training Chamber, it meant he could rely on it to let his subordinates surpass Jiangbei City in personal cultivation within a short time. Total, crushing dominance. After pondering for a moment, he lit the second stick of incense and asked again: "I beseech the heavens." "What methods are there to obtain the rare upgrade path of 'Training Chamber'?" The next moment, wisps of blue smoke drifted upward, forming a line of text: "Sacrifice of 1,000 ghost stones required." *Bingo!* A flash of delight crossed Chen Fan's eyes. He had made a gamble: if the price for this answer was very low, it would mean there was only one way—slowly grinding by trial and error. But a very high price meant there was a shortcut! What he was betting on was precisely this shortcut; at worst, he would only lose a single stick of Ask-the-Heavens Incense. There weren't many ghost stones left in the camp. Most of the ghost stones originally in storage had been spent building that fifty-meter wall just now. However, there were still more outside the walls, all within camp boundaries, ready to be used at will. Once the one thousand ghost stones were consumed, the wisps of blue smoke formed another line of text: "When the white-grade structure 'Wooden Cabin' is upgraded from Level 3 to Level 4, obtain the natural spirit treasure 'Mountain Skeleton Embryo' and place it inside the wooden cabin." "During the upgrade process, the wooden cabin will absorb the Mountain Skeleton Embryo." "There is a ten-in-ten probability of obtaining the qualitative change upgrade path of 'Training Chamber.'" *Worth it!* Chen Fan let out a breath of relief. These thousand ghost stones had been well spent. He looked toward the final stick of incense in the burner; he didn't plan to use this last stick of Ask-the-Heavens Incense right now, but rather save it for later. He couldn't bear to part with it yet. Better keep it for now. As for that... Mountain Skeleton Embryo. Chen Fan turned and walked down the wall, heading deep into the cave until he arrived before a wall. Behind this wall lay the Level 5 ghost fire; the entrance was sealed by the wall, preventing anyone from entering. The wall sank into the ground. The ghost fire pedestal rested inside the pit, its cold white flames gently swaying. And amidst the flames, a dark-red fleshy tumor roughly the size of a human brain slowly pulsated. This object was the Mountain Skeleton Embryo. It could be used to refine pills, lay formations, and forge artifacts. A natural spirit treasure. A creation of the heavens. He naturally couldn't use this Mountain Skeleton Embryo to construct a Training Chamber; the cavern's stability entirely depended on this Mountain Skeleton Embryo holding it up. But... according to the intelligence brought by Qianhu, there was another Mountain Skeleton Embryo in this Nameless Mountain. Where it was, he didn't know. Yet perhaps a local native would. He turned and looked toward the crocodile lying outside the wall with eyes full of anticipation, its front claws clutching a massive porcelain vat against its chest. This vat was what they used to feed the fellow, and it had already committed it to memory; earlier, when the ghost tide attacked and it hid in the corner, it hadn't forgotten to snatch the porcelain vat with its jaws. Its lantern-sized eyes stared unblinkingly at Sick Monkey and the others. Evidently, it was extremely excited for tonight's seafood feast. After all, it had never eaten such things before. "Hey!" Chen Fan shouted loudly. Hearing his voice, the crocodile lying outside immediately scrambled up, trotting over to him with the porcelain vat in its mouth. The crocodile's limbs were thick and short, making its run look rather comical and endearing. "Sniff this." Chen Fan motioned for the crocodile to sniff the Mountain Skeleton Embryo resting inside the ghost fire, then asked tentatively with a trace of hope, "Have you smelled this scent anywhere else?" Weiwei obediently stepped forward and sniffed. Then, without much hesitation, it nodded vigorously. "You really know?" Chen Fan could hardly believe that such a pleasant surprise had arrived so suddenly. Unable to help grinning, he patted the crocodile's head. "Go on, go play. Tonight I'll fix you up some seafood to eat, and first thing tomorrow morning, you'll take us to go check out this place." This fellow. It was practically his lucky star. It really had helped him out immensely. "Wait, come back, don't play just yet!" "Work overtime tonight to dig the cave deeper." "Get to work." "Yeah, right at this wall, keep digging." The warehouse had to be constructed as soon as possible. The copper pipes he had accumulated over these days were piled at the bottom of the sinkhole, and during this ghost tide assault, some of them had been damaged. Even though they had all been crafted for free, once built, they were his, and losing them still stung a bit. Having a warehouse would change everything. Although the construction cost for a warehouse was relatively steep, the panel explicitly stated that it contained its own pocket world within. Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night. At the bottom of the Nameless Mountain sinkhole, the crowd bustled about like hamsters, swiftly sweeping the battlefield. Everything was useful; even ghost creature bones had their uses. Nothing went to waste. "No specific numerical values or anything..." Chen Fan stood outside Cave No. 1, gazing at the Level 3 wall. During the battle earlier, large amounts of ghost blood had poured into the Ghost Blood Patterns on the wall. The Ghost Blood Patterns could absorb ghost blood to enhance the wall's durability. He wasn't sure exactly how much it had improved. But it was definitely stronger than when it was first built. Only ghost blood generated during battle could be absorbed by the patterns; the blood of ghost creatures that had previously died falling off the cliff had not been absorbed. Shaking his head, he pushed the thought aside. Looking at the copper pipes piled at the bottom of the sinkhole, he laid them one meter underground, connecting the newly built wall to the ghost fire. This wall spanned across the boundary between the canyon and the sinkhole. Once raised, the entire sinkhole would become like a seamlessly sealed deep well. Any creature daring to trespass into it would suffer the baptism of the Meat Grinder. Soon, milky-white liquid from the altar flowed along the copper pipes toward this wall, swiftly repairing its damaged sections. "When will I be able to obtain another building module blueprint?" Chen Fan sighed as he stood on the ground. To this day, he had only obtained a single building module blueprint: the copper pipe. Such module blueprints generally served to facilitate interaction between different structures. Although they couldn't function as standalone buildings, they could dramatically enhance the synergy between different structures within the camp. This allowed them to produce unexpected effects, achieving a whole far greater than the sum of its parts. Yet building blueprints were rare to begin with. And this kind of building module blueprint was extraordinarily rare. Finally— After a busy first half of the night, the battlefield cleanup was practically finished. And the crocodile had excavated a sufficient depth. Chen Fan walked through Cave No. 1 and looked toward the opening on the left wall, roughly five meters tall and four meters wide. This was the entrance to the warehouse. Though the doorway was not large, within lay vast hidden depths; the cavern chamber behind it covered an enormous area—equivalent to the main chamber of Cave No. 1. This chamber had been excavated by the crocodile over the past couple of days. "Warehouse No. 1." Taking up a broadsword, he carved the characters for "Warehouse" into a wooden plank before setting it beside the entrance. Then he stepped into the chamber. The next instant, the illusory silhouette of a warehouse building, composed of countless white lines, slowly materialized inside the chamber. Three hundred ghost stones shattered into milky-white liquid and flowed into the silhouette, which rapidly solidified. This was a green-grade structure. Currently, there weren't many green-grade structures in the camp. It counted as a rare item. Its appearance was truly different from the cabins he had constructed. Not the slightest trace of human craftsmanship could be seen. The entire structure was a single colossal, uncarved boulder of verdant jade, its surface smooth and warm to the touch, while faint emerald-green mist emanated from within. There was only a single doorway leading inside. Upon the lintel, dim runes he couldn't comprehend were inscribed. Beside it was an opening used for placing ghost stones. He installed another copper pipe linking the warehouse to the ghost fire. Once the pipe activated, the runes on the lintel began to pulse with light like breathing, and the warehouse began to function. Taking a deep breath, Chen Fan strode through the doorway into the warehouse, eager to see what lay inside. He had come to realize something: Only white-grade structures stayed down-to-earth—things like arrow towers, wooden cabins, and farmlands still resembled mortal creations. Once a structure had a slightly higher grade or level, it looked thoroughly grand and dignified, immediately recognizable as something beyond mortal reach. The first sensation upon entering the warehouse was comfort. Inhaling that faint emerald mist into his lungs brought an extraordinarily soothing feeling, almost like taking a drag from an opium pipe. Pushing open the door, a long corridor met his eyes. There were four doors flanking both sides of the corridor, and another door facing him directly at the far end. Each chamber possessed a different effect. The first chamber: "Mustard Seed Chamber": Interior space is fifty times that of the exterior, and the emerald mist can be manipulated to freely retrieve and place items. He pushed open the door and looked in. At that moment, he felt as if he had opened a door into a vast sports arena. The inside was an exceptionally cavernous space. Experimentally, he drew the copper pipes from outside into the room; linked together, the pipes were cradled in midair by the emerald mist beneath them. There were no shelves. The emerald mist served as natural shelving. The emerald mist could be controlled to retrieve goods freely and function as storage racks, ensuring every bit of space could be utilized perfectly, with virtually zero waste. "High-class," Chen Fan exhaled, offering his assessment. Compared to the wooden cabin he had previously used as a warehouse, it was like the sun and moon beside a firefly. Not even in the same league. He toured the remaining four chambers, each offering a distinct effect: "Vitality Chamber": Possesses preservation and cold storage capabilities. Stored grain is extremely resistant to spoilage, and the dissipation of medicinal potency from rare treasures such as ghost plants can also be slowed. "Concealment Chamber": Blocks all fluctuations and auras of items within. Items placed inside are extremely difficult to perceive or detect from the outside. "Heavenly Treasures Chamber": Automatically generates corresponding storage environments tailored to certain rare and special heavenly treasures. The consumption of ghost stones varies depending on the environment generated. "Archives Chamber": All operations within the warehouse will be recorded here. "Damn, they really thought of everything!" Chen Fan couldn't help letting out another long sigh, gazing at the warehouse interface on the Eternal Night Lord panel deep within his soul. Was this truly just a green-grade structure? This was vastly superior to white-grade structures! What kind of pig slop had he been eating before this? Take the Concealment Chamber, for instance. A perfect accomplice for murder and plunder. If the great clans of this world possessed tracking items to identify where their young masters died, Chen Fan could bring someone straight here to kill them; even in death, no one would know who had done the deed, leaving no way to seek vengeance against him. He had no use for this function for the time being. He hadn't reached that level yet. However— Waiting until you actually needed such a function to figure out how to get it would be far too late. He pushed open the door to the Archives Chamber at the end of the corridor. It was an open room. A bamboo scroll drifted in midair inside. With a thought, the bamboo scroll floated into his hands. Unrolling it, a line of clear characters was recorded upon it: "Year 378 of the Eternal Night Calendar, 15th day of the 10th month, third quarter of the Yin hour." "Camp Lord Chen Fan placed 12,830 copper pipes into the Mustard Seed Chamber." Every withdrawal, deposit, storage timestamp, and operator would be recorded in detail within the Archives Chamber. Furthermore, this dossier could neither be destroyed nor altered. It was, for all intents and purposes, a modern warehousing management system.