In the cabin.
Chen Fan sat by the stove, gazing at the light rain outside. In order to conserve resources, the core area inside the wall had been kept somewhat small. With the camp's development, space was getting insufficient—there was hardly room to place more Archery Towers. In a few days, it would be time to expand the area.
Then he began tallying the previous night's gains.
Several types of Eerie Materials, such as "Monkey Skin" and "Mantis Arms."
A total of 478 Eerie Stones.
Among them, the female Eerie Creature had contributed ten Level-2 Eerie Stones, equivalent in value to 100 Eerie Stones.
Three Extraordinary Treasures.
Building blueprints were among the rarest of Extraordinary Treasures, and now in his hand was a brand new one as thin as a cicada's wing.
「Extraordinary Treasure Name」: Altar.
「Extraordinary Treasure Grade」: White.
「Extraordinary Treasure Effect」: Can be used to construct an Altar. Within the Altar, wounds can be healed.
"Heal wounds?"
Chen Fan nodded thoughtfully. It was a useful building that was currently lacking in the camp, though last night no one had been injured.
Only Zhou Mo, who had engaged in confrontations with an Eerie Creature multiple times, had suffered a minor injury, bleeding at the web of his thumb. Nothing serious.
The construction cost wasn't high either.
Only 10 Eerie Stones were needed.
He would build it inside the wall later.
Space inside the city was becoming increasingly insufficient. There was a cabin, a Watchtower, and a Sacrificial Tower. Now, with the addition of an Altar, it was urgent to upgrade the Eerie Fire to expand the camp and build an additional ring of wall.
However...
This would not be cheap.
He needed to quickly complete the testing of the small car, then send Zhou Mo to those abandoned Stations out in the wasteland to bring home the Eerie Stones stored there.
He looked at the two remaining Extraordinary Treasures in his hand.
「Extraordinary Treasure Name」: Torch.
「Extraordinary Treasure Grade」: White.
「Extraordinary Treasure Effect」: A one-time-use Extraordinary Treasure. Once lit, it can burn for 6 shichen, with the effect of Level-1 Eerie Fire. Illumination range is a diameter of 1 meter.
A mobile version of Eerie Fire.
It could be somewhat useful outside the rainy season, but otherwise had little use, if any.
During the rainy season, frenzied Eerie Creatures might well rush into the safe zone of Eerie Fire.
The last Extraordinary Treasure and also the most valuable item from this haul, dropped by the female Eerie Creature. Its grade was green.
A piece of hide.
「Extraordinary Treasure Name」: Eerie-hide.
「Extraordinary Treasure Grade」: Green.
「Extraordinary Treasure Effect」: A special piece of Eerie-hide. Requires moistening with the sap of "Human-Blood Eerie Flower" to reveal its content.
"..."
Chen Fan furrowed his brows, looking at the palm-sized Eerie-hide in his hand. It appeared extremely ancient, with faint traces of the passage of time. He didn't know what the "Human-Blood Eerie Flower" was, nor where to obtain it.
He could only store this item safely for the time being.
He would deal with it later once he found the flower.
After the rainy season ended, he definitely had to go to「Rivernorth City. Out here in the wasteland, the flow of information was too limited.
However...
An Architect's sphere of influence was confined to their own camp.
In others' territories, in terms of physical strength, he certainly couldn't defeat those cultivators.
In terms of external means.
He could indeed quickly construct several Archery Towers. Cultivators could hardly stand up to a defensive structure unless their level was overwhelming. Even Zhou Mo, a Level-2 cultivator, would be instantly killed by a single bolt from a Level-1 Archery Tower.
But a few makeshift Archery Towers he built definitely couldn't compare to the defensive structures in others' long-established territories.
How to ensure his safety during his visit to Rivernorth City, this was something he needed to plan with care. However, for now, he had to first survive the rainy season.
In a drowsy state, he lay down on the wooden bed and fell asleep.
"Rumble..."
The faint sound of flowing water could be heard—it was the noise from the「2.0 Heating System」operating outside the city. The outdoors were cold and damp, but inside the cabin, it was relatively warm and dry.
...
When there were still three shichen until the arrival of the Perpetual Night, Chen Fan woke up.
After a simple wash, he stood up, stretched, and walked out of the wooden cabin, ready to further bolster the camp's defenses.
Currently, he had a total of 795 Eerie Stones.
He first walked to the Eerie Fire to check the consumption of Eerie Stones from the previous night. When the Eerie Fire was upgraded to Level 2, the upgrade direction he chose was to reduce the consumption of defensive buildings.
Last night, a total of 17 Eerie Stones were consumed.
Most were consumed when unleashing the 'Arrow Storm'.
He took out another 17 Eerie Stones to replenish the Eerie Fire's reserves to 50 stones.
Then he took out 50 more Eerie Stones to upgrade the Eerie Fire to Level 3.
The next moment—
A panel popped up before him.
「Eerie Fire upgraded to Level 3. Safe range increased to a diameter of 50 meters. Deterrence against Eerie Creatures enhanced.」
「Please choose an upgrade direction.」
「1: Safe range increased to 100 meters.」
「2: Deterrence against Eerie Creatures is moderately enhanced.」
「3: Qualitative Change: cost of each construction within the camp reduced by 1 Eerie Stone. This effect can be used 10,000 times per day and is only effective during the rainy season (Rare).」
"..."
Chen Fan stared at the panel in front of him, slightly stunned. In the past, the panel for a building upgrade looked quite plain with black text against white.
But this time.
The first two options were also in black.
The third option, however, had turned into shimmering, multicolored characters, appearing extremely eye-catching.
If he wasn't mistaken, this third upgrade direction wasn't something that always appeared when any Eerie Fire reached Level 3. Instead, it turned up only with a small probability. When buildings leveled up, there was a tiny chance of a relatively rare upgrade direction.
Namely,「Qualitative Change」.
He looked at this third upgrade direction, his breathing gradually growing rapid.
Reducing the cost of each construction by 1 Eerie Stone.
It sounded rather unimpressive.
After all, constructing one meter of city wall required 20 Eerie Stones. Reducing it by one stone meant 19 Eerie Stones—almost no change.
But for something like "Animal Trap," which originally cost 2 Eerie Stones to build, reducing it by one stone meant it would only require 1 Eerie Stone.
That was equivalent to halving the cost.
Most importantly—
「Copper Pipe」.
This building module required only 1 Eerie Stone per meter.
Under this effect, it would essentially be free.
Constructing at no cost.
It could be used 10,000 times per day, meaning...
He could construct 10,000 one-meter-long copper pipes every day without cost.
Although it was only effective during the rainy season, it was still incredibly overpowered.
Almost without a moment's hesitation, he chose the third upgrade direction. The way it would strengthen the camp was epic.
...
"..."
On the city wall.
Chen Fan placed both hands on the parapet, looking at the expanded 50-meter safe zone. Ambition burned in his eyes. Feeling the chilling coolness of the drizzle, he couldn't help but grin.
So far, he had discovered several uses for copper pipes.
One of them was extending the range of the "safe zone." It allowed Eerie Fire to flow through the copper pipes, thereby expanding the safe zone. Originally, he didn't have what it took to use copper pipes like that, as the Eerie Stone consumption was prohibitively high.
But now—
He had a new plan.
The straight-line distance from「Ping City」to「Rivernorth City」across the wasteland was 170 kilometers.
During the dry season, numerous merchant caravans, cultivators, hunters, etc., traveled between the two cities, either on camels or horses.
They traveled during the day and stayed overnight in nearby Stations.
It took several days to cross the wasteland.