"Vile Enough!"

"Besides," Wang Mazi paused before continuing, "the Jiangbei Chamber of Commerce possesses immense strength. We cannot wage war against the Pingtian Chamber of Commerce without valid justification, or the Jiangbei Chamber of Commerce will intervene. "The Jiangbei Chamber of Commerce will not tolerate such cutthroat competition, as it would disrupt their stable trading environment. "When that time comes, the enemy we face won't just be Pingtian, but Jiangbei as well. "Unless we have a justification that no one can fault." Wang Mazi's reasoning made complete sense. However— Chen Fan refused to listen. He felt that approach was far too troublesome. Establishing a chamber of commerce was an absolute necessity. He could discern the effects of exotic treasures without appraising them, which meant that as long as he founded his own chamber of commerce, he could keep all the finest treasures for himself and sell off the inferior ones. The profit margins would dwarf those of any other merchant group! Yet he believed there was a far simpler way. Instead of slowly chipping away at the competition, he could just wipe out the Pingtian Chamber of Commerce directly. He had already thought of the perfect pretext. Chen Quan, the current heir of the Jiangbei Chen family, was the son of the Pingtian Chamber of Commerce president's only daughter. They had conspired to banish Chen Fan to the wasteland. Returning to Jiangbei City for vengeance, he would destroy the Jiangbei Chen family first and the Pingtian Chamber of Commerce second. It was entirely reasonable and justified. No one would be able to utter a word against it. As the saying went, one needed a righteous banner to deploy an army. Could there possibly be a more compelling banner than: "The legitimate eldest son of the Jiangbei Chen family, persecuted by villains, returns in force to reclaim the heirship that rightfully belongs to him and exterminate the clan of traitors"? "Heh." Once the logic clicked into place, Chen Fan suddenly chuckled. This pretext was simply too useful. That left only one remaining question: how to obliterate both the Jiangbei Chen family and the Pingtian Chamber of Commerce. A frontal assault with cultivators was out of the question—they couldn't win, and it would mean certain death. He had previously devised a design mounting arrow towers onto tricycles built from ground spikes, but the payload was too heavy, the speed too sluggish, and they lacked defensive protection. In a barrage exchange, they would never outgun arrow towers mounted atop city walls. "Whew..." He let out a long sigh, unable to come up with a better solution for the moment. Cross-territory warfare was indeed a headache. If his predecessor had only studied diligently, there would surely have been precedents in history to draw upon. Unless... A strange look gradually crept onto his face. A seemingly feasible plan crossed his mind. "Wang Mazi." "Tell me, if I locate the Pingtian Chamber of Commerce's territory, erect a ring of walls around it to encircle them, and line those walls with cannon towers, could I destroy them?" "That would definitely work." Wang Mazi nodded firmly. "As long as our walls and cannon towers are higher tier than theirs, it's guaranteed to work. But... it would be quite a loss. High-tier walls and cannon towers are extremely expensive. "On top of that, territories have patrols around their perimeter. "The moment a single structure goes up, it would be spotted..." "Understood. You may go." Chen Fan smiled, waving his hand to signal that Wang Mazi could head off to sleep. It seemed... He had found his solution. A loss? Building structures didn't cost him nearly as much as it did others. Spotted by patrols? His structures were erected instantaneously—what chance was there of being spotted? By the time anyone noticed, the walls would already have formed an enclosure. He finally understood how the other factions earned their ghost stones. A fine method indeed. He needed his own marketplace and chamber of commerce. Whatever others possessed, he would have as well. The night slipped away. By mid-morning the next day, the camp gradually began to bustle. Today was the eighteenth day of the rainy season. In roughly ten days, the rains would end. Over the past several days, Qianxi seemed to have vanished, never showing up. To lure Qianxi here, Zhou Mo had even gone out of his way while patrolling the wilderness to leave trails of ghost creature carcasses leading directly toward the chasm. Still, nothing took the bait. There had been no activity whatsoever. Inside the cave today, the group gathered to deliberate a matter of utmost importance. To officially establish a faction, they naturally needed a banner to present to the outside world. Over the past few days of pondering, each member had come up with their own proposal. "Stationmaster." Xiao Qiu was the first to speak. "According to your instructions, we need a banner design that is both low-key and conspicuous—one that doesn't appear overly ostentatious, yet won't let others think we're a pushover. "My idea is to name our faction 'Heavenly Chasm,' with the single character 'Tian' on our banner." Zhou Mo gave Xiao Qiu an odd look. "How is that low-key? You've left only the conspicuous part! Still, your train of thought matches mine. "Since we live in a chasm, we should use 'Valley' as our suffix. "Jiangnan has two very famous alchemy factions: one called the Dan Sect, and the other called Medicine King Valley. "I think we should call ourselves 'Villains' Valley.' "With the single character 'E' on our banner. "Vile enough! "Overflowing with deterrence!" Zhou Mo was visibly pleased with his own idea, his eyes brimming with anticipation, as if expecting Chen Fan to be struck with wonder in the very next breath, slam the table in applause, and settle on the suggestion right then and there. And yet... He saw the stationmaster staring at him as though looking at a fool. Zhou Mo promptly shrank back, speaking no further other than a timid murmur: "Or perhaps 'Benevolent Valley,' with the character 'Shan' on the banner?" A few days earlier, Chen Fan had instructed everyone to take some time and think it over. Sitting here today to discuss it was meant to formally settle on the faction's name and banner. Once the rainy season concluded, this faction that had grown up amidst the deluge would officially take the stage! "I think we shouldn't cling to tired conventions—we should make an instant splash!" Wang Mazi appeared exceedingly enthusiastic. After all, banners were primarily used by chambers of commerce, meaning this emblem would keep him company more than anyone else—virtually serving as his second layer of skin. Naturally, he attached greater importance to it. "Existing factions are all named things like 'Dan Sect,' 'Jiangbei Chen family,' 'Qiuhe Wang family,' 'Medicine King Valley,' and 'Jiangbei Chamber of Commerce'—stereotypical, utterly lacking character. "Some name themselves after bloodlines. "Some after their trade. "Some after their specialty. "We should choose something domineering right off the bat! "Let's call it the Eternal Night Hall! "The banner will show you, Stationmaster, gripping a greatsword with both hands, planting it into the earth, and gazing toward the distant horizon." The moment the words left his mouth, Zhou Mo turned to Wang Mazi with a speechlessly flat expression. "That's a bit too..." Before he could finish, the stationmaster's voice of admiration reached his ears: "Sounds decent." "...too decent," Zhou Mo choked down his original remark and conceded. "Young Master," Sick Monkey spoke up. "In this faction of ours, you are the absolute backbone. Without you, the faction would dissolve on the spot. "I suggest naming it 'Fan's Domain.' "Every realm your feet tread upon belongs to your territory. "Every realm your feet have yet to tread upon is an objective for your conquest. "The banner will bear the single character 'Fan.'" "Hmm... that sounds pretty good too." Even Weiwei wandered over, acting as though it understood, and enthusiastically used its forepaw to sketch a wriggling caterpillar on the ground. "What's that supposed to mean?" Zhou Mo glanced at Weiwei. "Name it 'Caterpillar'?" "Roar!" Sprawled on the ground, Weiwei patted the dirt a few times with its forepaw before turning its head toward Zhou Mo and letting out a displeased low growl. After a stick of incense's worth of deliberation, the faction's name and banner were finally settled. Faction name: "Fan Gate." Faction banner: "The solitary character 'Fan.'" The *fan* of ordinary. The *fan* of mortal. Or perhaps the *fan* of refusing to remain ordinary, of rising far above the common crowd. In the end, they decided against "Fan's Domain." The word "Domain" carried too grand a scope, feeling completely out of proportion to their current strength. Naming themselves something so lofty might provoke some major power into attacking them out of pure spite. "When the time comes, we'll erect a small gate outside the chasm. "Anyone who steps through that gate belongs to our Fan Gate. "Xiao Qiu." "I'll leave the banner design to you." "No problem," Xiao Qiu agreed with full confidence. With the faction's name decided, the crowd gradually dispersed, each returning to their respective duties. Chen Fan accompanied Qi Chong to the farmland, walking up with a smile as he looked upon the rows of sunflowers and brought up his interface. Qi Chong had informed him that the batch of sunflowers planted seven days ago was fully ripe. Chen Fan had watched closely over these past few days. Qi Chong had guarded the field practically day and night, his throat parched and voice rasping hoarsely. Still, the harvest looked quite bountiful. A considerable yield. [Exotic Treasure: Sunflower (Mature)] [Rank: Green] [Effect: Consuming it after maturity increases personal cultivation. Due to exceptional care during cultivation, its quality is pristine. Upon consumption, it yields fifty percent more cultivation progress than a normal mature sunflower.] [Note: An individual can only refine one stalk per day.] "Not bad." Chen Fan gave his nod of approval, sighing inwardly with emotion. Everyone truly had their own strengths. He promptly plucked a sunflower and made his way toward the Spirit Accumulation Pavilion to test its effects. There were easily sixty to seventy sunflowers here. He recalled there hadn't been nearly that many seeds. Inside the Spirit Accumulation Pavilion. One stick of incense later. Chen Fan opened his eyes. Clenching his fists, he felt the surge of power circulating through his limbs, a flicker of astonishment passing through his gaze. The refinement speed was exceptionally fast; in just a stick of incense's time, he had completely absorbed the sunflower. What was more... He felt capable of continuing to refine. The Spirit Accumulation Pavilion's tenfold cultivation acceleration actually applied to refining ghost plants as well. He sensed his cultivation had risen by roughly one-tenth. Absorbing nine more stalks would advance him to a Level 2 cultivator. Time to test it. No sooner said than done. He returned to the field, picked nine more sunflowers, and brought them back to the Spirit Accumulation Pavilion, leaving Wang Kui bending over to pull up the rest of the harvest to store in the warehouse. Another four hours passed. Sitting cross-legged on the floor with eyes shut, Chen Fan vaguely felt something rupture within his body, immediately followed by a surge of warmth flowing from his dantian out toward his four limbs. A successful breakthrough. He was now a Level 2 cultivator. "Phew..." Chen Fan slowly opened his eyes, exhaling a long plume of foul air before sighing in reflection. "The cultivators of this world are truly pitiful." Before this, he hadn't known the precise difference between a Level 1 and a Level 2 cultivator. After breaking through, everything became clear. There was fundamentally little difference. A slight increase in physical strength. And that was about it. There were no feats like projecting spiritual energy outside the body to harm foes, let alone flying on swords. Perhaps those would come later, but one thing was certain: a Level 2 cultivator stood no chance against a Level 1 arrow tower. "Still, not bad at all." Chen Fan stood up and stretched with satisfaction. After advancing to a Level 2 cultivator, his body felt significantly more agile and comfortable, and his previous aches and stiffness had vanished. At this moment, he could clearly feel that he could no longer refine any more sunflowers. The Spirit Accumulation Pavilion aided the refinement process, allowing him to absorb ten stalks in a single day. Only then did he speak into the empty air. "Zhou Mo." "The sunflowers in the camp are ripe. With the help of the Spirit Accumulation Pavilion, you can make a swift breakthrough. Back at the old camp, I promised to help you advance. Return early today and report to Wang Kui at the warehouse to claim your sunflowers so you can break through to Level 3 cultivator as soon as possible." His voice traveled across space, carried through the Flesh Ghost Mother-Child Fruit straight into the mind of Zhou Mo, who was galloping across the wasteland astride a Skeleton Horse. Having taken care of that, Chen Fan walked out of the cave feeling refreshed. He gazed toward the alcoves that Weiwei had excavated along both cliff faces of the chasm the previous night, preparing to resume positioning cannon towers and bring Meat Grinder Phase Two to completion. The camp's ghost stone reserves were currently ample. A full ninety-two thousand. More than enough to finish fortifying the Meat Grinder setup! As for the twenty ghost fires illuminated the previous night, they had already been dismantled. He needed to build twenty fresh, unlit ghost fires to plant in their place, as Meat Grinder Phase Two relied entirely on the element of surprise. If the enemy grew vigilant, its lethality would be vastly reduced. Expending 1,260 ghost stones, he finished burying the ghost fires once more. Then, in the twenty new alcoves excavated the night before, Chen Fan spent another 10,800 ghost stones to install a Level 5 cannon tower in each. Work had progressed far faster last night. The first night had been slow primarily because the passage leading from the cave to the chasm was difficult to dig; once the main Meat Grinder corridor was fully excavated, things went much smoother. And now— There were forty Level 5 cannon towers along the chasm's cliffs. Combined with the thirty-eight lining the sinkhole's rock walls, that made seventy-eight in total! Factor in the ones on the walls, and the count reached eighty-nine Level 5 cannon towers and one Level 6 cannon tower! "Awesome." Standing inside the sinkhole, Chen Fan looked out at the pockmarked indentations left along the chasm walls by the previous night's flesh worm ghost tide, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction. At long last, he felt a modest sense of security. Ghost king?! Do you dare come face me? I'll show you what it means to face the King of Mortals! He wondered what the defenses of Jiangbei City looked like in comparison. How would his camp measure up against Jiangbei City? The remaining ghost stones couldn't be spent just yet; Weiwei's digging speed couldn't quite keep pace with the rate at which he accumulated ghost stones. Still, he understood. The rock of the mountain was exceptionally hard, after all; carving into it demanded substantial effort. Meanwhile, on the other side. Inside Jiangbei City. Within the council hall of the Jiangbei Chen family. The Chen Family Head, his temples touched with gray, sat in the primary seat. Leaning against the backrest with lids half-lowered, he remained silent and appeared somewhat weary, yet his spine remained as upright as ever, as though he would rather die than bend his back. The Chen family retainers, Chen Quan, and the family elders were all seated in the chamber. No one spoke. After a long silence, a Chen family elder finally looked toward the ghost-skin map on the table and remarked with hesitation: "Today is the eighteenth day since the rainy season began, and Jiangbei City has yet to be breached. As things stand, provided no catastrophic disaster follows, Jiangbei City shouldn't suffer too many casualties this time around."